Question about caps sealing

[jtwilliams31]

I bottled two batches, and while they don't seem to be leaking - they all have pressure/bubbles inside them - if I push up on the caps some of the bottles let out a hiss as if they aren't sealed as well as they should be. They are all bottled in a variety of bottle types (22oz bomber style, 500ml European style, 12oz longneck and steinie bottles) using the same bench capper, so I'm assuming this isn't bottle related as it happened with all the bottles across these two batches. I think it might be cap related, as I'm using a new type of cap, but I've never had this issue before.

I wanted to see what everyone thinks - should I go out and buy some new caps (I have a LHBS about 20 mins away), or should I ride it out and see if they're ok? Like I said, the bottles are all carbonating as they all have foam and pressure inside of them, the caps just don't seem super-well seated as they aren't as tight as others and hiss when I push on the caps. One is a dunkelweizen at about 2.7 vols that's been carbonating for 1.5 weeks and the other is a Czech lager at 2.3 vols that's been carbing for bout 4 days. Thanks!

 

[CodeSection]

Pushing on the cap and hearing a hiss sounds like the cap is not fully seated. I'm guessing the European bottles use a 29mm capper. I would think the neck/top on the 22oz bombers and the 12oz long necks are the same and use a 26mm capper. Could that be the issue?

Do you have any pics of the bottle tops?

 

[KevBrewski]

There shouldnt be any hissing coming out of the bottle. It should be airtight. You either have bad caps or malfunctioning capper. I would probably try some new caps first since it's cheaper and if that doesnt work then you will need to buy a capper

 

[KevBrewski]

Also are you reusing older bottles? If the mouth of the bottle has gunk on it your caps wont sit properly and can cause the leak

 

[dwhite60]

Go get some new caps. Take the current ones off and have a look at the bottle mouths. If all looks good put a new cap on them.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[jtwilliams31]

Go get some new caps. Take the current ones off and have a look at the bottle mouths. If all looks good put a new cap on them.

All the Best,
D. White

Sort of what I was thinking. You think there'll be an appreciable loss in final carbonation by recapping?

 

[jtwilliams31]

Pushing on the cap and hearing a hiss sounds like the cap is not fully seated. I'm guessing the European bottles use a 29mm capper. I would think the neck/top on the 22oz bombers and the 12oz long necks are the same and use a 26mm capper. Could that be the issue?

Do you have any pics of the bottle tops?

I don't have any photos, but this seems correct - I believe I was using 26mm instead of 29mm for European bottles. Do you think recapping at this stage - about a week or so into the carb process - will negatively affect final carbonation?

 

[dwhite60]

Sort of what I was thinking. You think there'll be an appreciable loss in final carbonation by recapping?

Yes. You will lose some carbonation. Hard to tell how much though.

I don't have any photos, but this seems correct - I believe I was using 26mm instead of 29mm for European bottles. Do you think recapping at this stage - about a week or so into the carb process - will negatively affect final carbonation?

3mm is about an eighth of an inch. You'll never make one cap fit the other size bottle.

If your beer was done when you bottled and you know what the final gravity was you could measure the gravity you have now and plug it in to Brewers Friend or the like and figure how much total sugar you need to get the CO2 level you want. You would have to dissolve this in some water and add a measured portion, using a syringe or like, to each bottle based on volume. Adding dry sugar to the bottle will give you geysers which while entertaining are not practical.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[CodeSection]

I don't have any photos, but this seems correct - I believe I was using 26mm instead of 29mm for European bottles. Do you think recapping at this stage - about a week or so into the carb process - will negatively affect final carbonation?

I'm glad I was able to help. At this point, I would probably just recap using the correct size capper. Since not all bottles were affected, to slightly carb each bottle would involve a little more calculation and work based upon the bottle volume. You would only be calculating for the bottles and their volume that were affected, not the whole batch.

For instance, a 22oz volume equals .171875 gallons. When putting that into a priming calculator for a 2.5 CO2 level at 70F it indicates to use .2 oz of corn sugar. Since you probably still have some priming sugar still in the bottle, I would use only half (.1 oz). Then I would mix it with a small amount of sterile water and inject using a syringe.

Again, not knowing how many bottles were affected, it may be easier to chalk this up to a learning experience and just recap....

 

[ncbrewer]

it may be easier to chalk this up to a learning experience and just recap....

Easier and safer. Since you don't know how much carbonation is lost when you open them, you might overprime and get bottle bombs.