How long to wait before capping bottles?

[Brew_Meister_General]

After filling a bottle shall I cap it...

Straight away?

After a few minutes?

Or right at the end when they've all been filled?

 

[Sailingeric]

When I bottle, my wife would fill and I would cap, I would wait until I had 4 bottles and then cap them. The less time open to the environment the better

 

[iijakii]

I'd always throw the cap on while filling up the next bottle, then stop and cap once I had quite a few in a row.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I typically fill them all, and then cap. The time difference shouldn't be significant enough to make a difference, but in theory capping each as you go would be ideal (but requires a second person to be practical). My wife stopped capping for me years ago.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I've never waited or been in a hurry to press the caps on. On 'beer is ready' day I siphon some beer into bottles until I get down to my 'keg line' and let the rest go into the keg. I put the full bottles on the counter, throw some sugar in them, and rest the caps on them. I go about my routine taking OG, sliming the o-rings, and cleaning the ferm bucket. I will press the caps on at some point during all this, but never by or avoiding a certain time.

 

[IchLiebeBier]

I fill about 5 bottles at a time, and place a cap on each one after filling it to keep out the nasties. Then I cap the 5 at once and repeat.

I do five or so at a time because I don't want to knock one over and start a domino effect with a lot of bottles.

 

[slym2none]

I have been almost done bottling a batch, placing caps on the bottle but not crimping, and had a couple of the caps pop off. I always put the cap on just to keep floaties from falling in the bottles, but after that, I started pressing the caps on every 6-8 bottles.

 

[Konadog]

I've always filled and placed the cap on without crimping. After 6 are filled, then I crimp and move them into a storage box for conditioning. Keeps my bottling area clear and clean.

 

[beergolf]

I fill 12 bottles, place the caps on them. Then fill 12 more, place caps on them and them crimp the whole case. Put them in the case.. repeat.

 

[Kevin79]

Wow, didn't realize people were so adamant about capping so quickly. On a five gallon batch, I fill up a case (24) at a time then cap.

Just out of curiosity, are you guys worried about a mass cloud of wild yeast floating in the sky and magically landing in that 1 inch opening of all your bottles and infecting every last one? I figure that if anything is going to happen to spoil my beer it's going to happen when I'm transferring from fermenter to bottling bucket. I don't cover my bottling bucket either while I'm filling my bottles and never had infections or the like.

 

[BobBailey]

After filling a bottle shall I cap it...

Straight away?

After a few minutes?

Or right at the end when they've all been filled?

When I bottled, I filled all of the bottles, laying a cap on top of each one immediately, and when they were all filled, I crimped all of the caps. This prevents anything falling into the bottles and allows residual CO2 to purge out most, if not all of the oxygen. Crimp the caps in the order that the bottles were filled.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

Like most people I currently do several at a time (resting the caps on top as I go) as I was under the impression that the yeast consumes the sugars and pushes out the oxygen with CO2 (sometimes my caps even pop while on the bottles).

But if I am just exposing it unnecessarily to oxygen then I'll cap them one at a time and save myself the concern of knocking them over.

 

[Cockfighter]

Funny that people move to cap their bottles as quickly as possible. Like BobBailey I've actually always left the crimping right to the end on purpose.
I put the loose caps on after filling and then crimp once I've filled all the bottles, starting with those I filled first.
I also once read that the CO2 pushes the oxygen out. So I tend to even delay crimping as much as possible.

 

[Trox]

I will fill a bottle, start the next bottle, set the full on to the side, place a cap on it, and then rinse and repeat until all bottles are filled. At which point I go through and crimp them all.

 

[Auger]

Wow, didn't realize people were so adamant about capping so quickly. On a five gallon batch, I fill up a case (24) at a time then cap.

Just out of curiosity, are you guys worried about a mass cloud of wild yeast floating in the sky and magically landing in that 1 inch opening of all your bottles and infecting every last one? I figure that if anything is going to happen to spoil my beer it's going to happen when I'm transferring from fermenter to bottling bucket. I don't cover my bottling bucket either while I'm filling my bottles and never had infections or the like.

For me, its less worry about infection and more worry about my own klutziness. I generally fill 6, cap 6, put them away and repeat. I just know if I had 24 bottles sitting out uncapped I'd either drop the case or knock them all over.

 

[evchenko]

I rest the caps on there until I'm finished filling bottles, let them burp a little.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

Fill all then cap all it is then!

 

[Moose_MI]

The correct answer is 6.769. You are welcome.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I'd always throw the cap on while filling up the next bottle, then stop and cap once I had quite a few in a row.

This is what I do too, cover with the cap once full, then press them down once I'm out of room.