First Brew Success

[BigggJack]

First Brew 2.5 gallon batch of a Vanilla Porter. It's a relatively easy recipe with a short grain mash and LME during the boil with only one dose of hops. I was a little intimidated and probably over thinking it all, I did use some of the tips found in the bottling forum to make that go easier.

Here is a pic of my first pour after only a week of bottle conditioning, I think that's plenty of carbing for a porter and will probably throw the rest in the fridge tomorrow.

The only little issue I had was, it seems I had a few of the caps didn't seal tight. Not sure if you can see it in the picture of the dried beer under the cap. I had maybe an ounce or two dried on the bottom of the tub I had the bottles laying sideways in to carb up. Not sure if it was bad capping technique or just over pressured from the carbonation. Any suggestions on which is more likely?

 

[thehaze]

I have bottled 39 batches since August 2017, which results in about 1800 bottles, maybe a bit more, as I use both 330 and 500 ml bottles and never had that happen.

Note that some bottles will not cap as well as others, due to the lip design. I always choose bottles which I know my butterfly capper can cap. Should look something like bottles from Weihenstephaner, Schneider, belgian beer bottles and the classic 0.33 l. The under lip of the bottle should be lower than the one from your picture.

I avoid bottles that look like the one you pictured above. When you cap the bottle, you should somewhat " feel " if it capped correctly.

But aside from that, that beer looks very tasty. Nice head formation with tighly compacted bubbles.

 

[IslandLizard]

Pretty much any 12 oz longneck bottle with commercial craft beer is suitable for recapping, as are the regular 12 and 22 oz bottles from your homebrew store.

As @thehaze said, that under lip looks a bit high for a wing capper to make a good seal, or more accurately, any seal at all.

Did you use a bench capper perhaps?

 

[ncbrewer]

I had maybe an ounce or two dried on the bottom of the tub I had the bottles laying sideways in to carb up. Not sure if it was bad capping technique or just over pressured from the carbonation.

In my experience, over pressure from carbonation won't break the seal on the caps. It would cause gushers or bottle bombs. You can expect the bottles that leaked to have no carbonation - hopefully that will be just a few.

 

[BigggJack]

Pretty much any 12 oz longneck bottle with commercial craft beer is suitable for recapping, as are the regular 12 and 22 oz bottles from your homebrew store.

As @thehaze said, that under lip looks a bit high for a wing capper to make a good seal, or more accurately, any seal at all.

Did you use a bench capper perhaps?

I didn't use a bench capper, it was the butterfly wing style capper that I used. The bottle pictured is a 12ounce Bass Ale, I also used a couple 22 ounce Guinness Bottles. One out of the two Guinness caps seems a little skewed as are a couple of the Bass caps.

I do know there was quite a few bottles that I didn't think felt right when I was capping them and I redid them. Is there a trick to it?

Is there a picture somewhere of a good bottle for recapping so I can see and try to understand the difference between that and what I have?

 

[BigggJack]

I also think somewhere shortly down the road I'd like to make switch to all swing tops, but, nothing I drink commercially uses them

 

[Chorgey]

I didn't use a bench capper, it was the butterfly wing style capper that I used. The bottle pictured is a 12ounce Bass Ale, I also used a couple 22 ounce Guinness Bottles.

I had issues with Bass Ale bottles, either they wouldn't cap correctly or would break. Whenever I bottle, I either use Sam Adams bottles or Grolsch swing-top bottles.

 

[jack13]

I haven't had any of the issues you describe. Here are some bottles I've used with a butterfly capper, so you should be OK with them:

Sam Adams
New Belgium
Fordham/Dominion
Dogfish Head
Anchor Steam
Sweetwater
Sierra Nevada
Dos Equis
Lagunitas

I'm sure I'm forgetting some. But bottom line I'd say funky bottles that don't cap right are the exception rather than the rule. Another possibility, though a much less likely one, is that it was just dumb luck that the types of beer I bought had bottles conducive to capping with a butterfly capper.

EDIT: Almost forgot: welcome to The Greatest Hobby on Earth!

 

[BigggJack]

I had issues with Bass Ale bottles, either they wouldn't cap correctly or would break. Whenever I bottle, I either use Sam Adams bottles or Grolsch swing-top bottles.

That's a bummer about the bass bottles [emoji17] one of the few pry top beers I'll buy a case at a time to get enough bottles.

I'll take a look at the Guiness 22 oz tops when I open one and see how those are. I was trying to avoid getting into kegging right away, but, I guess that's something I'm going to have to look into more since I think I have what I need for that

 

[BigggJack]

I haven't had any of the issues you describe. Here are some bottles I've used with a butterfly capper, so you should be OK with them:

Sam Adams
New Belgium
Fordham/Dominion
Dogfish Head
Anchor Steam
Sweetwater
Sierra Nevada
Dos Equis
Lagunitas

I'm sure I'm forgetting some. But bottom line I'd say funky bottles that don't cap right are the exception rather than the rule. Another possibility, though a much less likely one, is that it was just dumb luck that the types of beer I bought had bottles conducive to capping with a butterfly capper.

EDIT: Almost forgot: welcome to The Greatest Hobby on Earth!

I'll ask around at work to see if anyone drinks any of those brands. I'll have an occasional Sam Adams when I'm out for dinner, but, that's all off that list.

Thanks for the welcome

 

[IslandLizard]

All my local craft breweries use those same bottles, Heavy Seas, DuClaw, Flying Dog, etc.

 

[ncbrewer]

I was trying to avoid getting into kegging right away, but, I guess that's something I'm going to have to look into more since I think I have what I need for that

You could get a bench capper. They will cap bottles that a wing capper can't because they just push down, rather than pulling up on the bottle lip while pushing down on the cap. Bottles with twist-off caps should be avoided with either type of capper.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Sam Adams bottles work very well; lately I've been using Estrella Damm bottles, with success.

 

[El Nino]

Bottles from Deschutes and Ballast Point work well also. I think they're the same exact bottles you get from most kits or LHBS. I had a 12 pack of bottles that came with a Northern Brewer kit, and also looking at the empty bottles sold by my LHBS, I can't tell them apart. Except for the Ballast Point ones, only because they have some printing on the bottom.