kit upgrade recommendations?

[chirs]

I bottled the Altbier I made with my Brewers Best equipment kit and ingredient kit on Friday. Looks like things are running along pretty smoothly. SWMBO can't get me to shut up about brewing...

The worst thing with this kit, however, is that f***ing bottle capper (you know, the red clampy thingy). 1 out of 4 caps I had to redo because that thing just can't get a grip.
Any recommendations on common upgrades? A table top bottle capper?
I got an autosiphon...probably the best $10 i've spent.
I have about $100 to upgrade.

 

[Arkador]

I use the red swingcapper, and have never had a failed cap......

swingtop bottles, while more expensive, require no capper....

 

[JMSetzler]

You could get a tabletop capper and possibly have better luck. I haven't had any issues with my double-lever capper though. It seems to work great. I am in the process of collecting THESE BOTTLES though. I prefer them over the regular ones for obvious reasons. In the future, I'll only cap bottles that I intend to give away... At this price, it's hard to say no

 

[SmugMug]

I bottled the Altbier I made with my Brewers Best equipment kit and ingredient kit on Friday. Looks like things are running along pretty smoothly. SWMBO can't get me to shut up about brewing...

The worst thing with this kit, however, is that f***ing bottle capper (you know, the red clampy thingy). 1 out of 4 caps I had to redo because that thing just can't get a grip.
Any recommendations on common upgrades? A table top bottle capper?
I got an autosiphon...probably the best $10 i've spent.
I have about $100 to upgrade.

Kegging is your best bet but if you want to keep bottling I would say a table capper is a good idea. I still use my butterfly capper, but I have to be careful because I've broken 5 bottles in the past from clamping too hard and have had 5 or 6 bottles break on me when opening them. I blame some of that on using cheap bottles though. Grolsch/swing caps are the way to go.

 

[gator_brewer]

to answer the question of how to spend the $100, get the bench capper (since your having issues with the butterfly) and then I'd recommend getting more fermentors (better bottle or just another brew bucket) so you can make more batches at once!

Or get a good pot/fryer set up so you can start trying to move on to full batches outdoors (even better quality beer, and easier to move to AG).

Kegging is nice, but you're looking at closer to $600 for a decent set up (2-3 kegs, CO2 tank, regulator, all hoses/fittings, kegerator)

 

[Arkador]

Kegging is nice, but you're looking at closer to $600 for a decent set up (2-3 kegs, CO2 tank, regulator, all hoses/fittings, kegerator)

my keezer set me back about $500 including everything to chill, carb and serve 4 kegs.

my next $100 is definatley going to be a propane burner and 8-10gal stainless pot...

 

[chirs]

I did some testing with 4 gallons in my SS kettle and it took way too long to get to a boil...so I think the turkey fryer is good advice for when I want to go AG.

as far as the red bottle capper is concerned...i inspected some of my bottles and noticed that the peroni bottles I was saving were the ones that were hardest to cap. Is there a best and worst brand of beer for re-capping/delabelling, etc.

Also picked up 20 of these...
IKEA | Food storage & organizing | Jars, tins & food savers | SLOM | Bottle with lid

 

[DRoyLenz]

I did some testing with 4 gallons in my SS kettle and it took way too long to get to a boil...so I think the turkey fryer is good advice for when I want to go AG.

as far as the red bottle capper is concerned...i inspected some of my bottles and noticed that the peroni bottles I was saving were the ones that were hardest to cap. Is there a best and worst brand of beer for re-capping/delabelling, etc.

Also picked up 20 of these...
IKEA | Food storage & organizing | Jars, tins & food savers | SLOM | Bottle with lid

One issue with the SLOM bottles is that they are clear as opposed to brown. Make sure to keep them in a dark place while conditioning. Exposure to UV light will skunk the beer pretty bad. They look like nice bottles though.

 

[chirs]

I'll probably just use them for apfelwein and general laziness.

 

[beerkrump]

The worst thing with this kit, however, is that f***ing bottle capper (you know, the red clampy thingy). 1 out of 4 caps I had to redo because that thing just can't get a grip.

It could be the bottles your using. My Red Baron likes Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada bottles, but balks at Mexican beer bottles, or others that don't have a hefty collar.

I have about $100 to upgrade.

Get a wort chiller and a big aluminum pot (8-10 gal.). Your beer gets better with full boils and you can use these as you brewery grows.

 

[jtrainer]

Not to answer your OQ but kegging is your answer....

I use the red double wing capper and have learned to use it very effectively. I bottled a batch for a friend and at least 25% of the bottles were twist off style... whoa the naysayers in the forum say... stay away... well, with a little practice, I've found most bottles can be capped, including twist offs.

My technique goes something like this....

Prep and get all your stuff ready and sanitized.
Place cap on bottle
Place capper on bottle.
Squeeze the capper wings inwards towards each other, note the silver metal plates lifting up on the lower portion of the band. (at this point your not applying capper forces... just trapping the bottle in the capper.
While maintaining inward presure, swing the wings down to seal the bottle.

I served a case of beer this weekend with twist off bottles filled with homebrew. This was 6 months old and all were sealed fine.

I suggest taking a dozen bottles or so and practicing....