Re-use twist off caps?

[AugustDerleth]

Revvy: SKETCHY! hahaa. I was just about to make some root-beer for my girlfriend and it'd be kind of counter-productive trying to be nice, if I give her a six pack and a bottle explodes in her face. >_> heh.

COLO: Good suggestions! I shoulda thought of that. X_x and yeah, honestly put something up on craigslist in your area and I bet (eventually) some other homebrewer will contact you to buy those bottles! Charge him a quarter each or something. Heh.

 

[CaptainCoconut]

I am not sure where you live, but bottles are not that cheap down here. If you'd care to donate some to a lowly beginner brewer, that'd be fantastic! :cross:

Pretty ridiculous, but for the same price of 12 amber bottles (empty) from LHBS I can buy a 12 pack of Sam Adams lager. Not the best beer, but I can reuse the bottles and also get a mini-buzz! What kinda sense does that make!?

If you're really interested in being "green", roll up your sleeves and go through the recycling bins at an apartment a couple times a week. That would help out WAY more than reusing a few ounces of caps or buying new bottles (which is both expensive and wasteful), and you wouldn't be wasting good beer (or root beer) on a dodgy seal, either.

 

[starrfish]

It is possible... I capped a twist top up by mistake a few batches ago. Made it all the way through my sanitation process! (don't know how I missed it! I even capped the sucker!!!)

Capped and held carb.... Plausible, YES... Recommended, NO! I think I just got lucky. Did the same thing Years ago when I was first starting, that one didn't hold a seal and was weakly carbed and a bit oxidized.

 

[Bob]

I apologize for being a ******. I should have thought about that. Around here, we don't even have to separate our metals. Ferrous and non-ferrous go in the same bin. If your local recycling won't take certain kinds of metals, all I can say is, "Wow." Sure you can't take 'em to someplace that will take 'em?

I still think trying to re-use crown caps is a terrible idea that you will regret.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[tunoffun]

I'm big on recycling and these caps are trash unless I can reuse them. Thanks in advance! :fro:

Perhaps you could collect them, bring them to your local alum recycler, and use the money to buy proper caps.

 

[AugustDerleth]

It is possible... I capped a twist top up by mistake a few batches ago. Made it all the way through my sanitation process! (don't know how I missed it! I even capped the sucker!!!)

Capped and held carb.... Plausible, YES... Recommended, NO! I think I just got lucky. Did the same thing Years ago when I was first starting, that one didn't hold a seal and was weakly carbed and a bit oxidized.

Thanks for your response! Especially on-topic and a direct answer to the question originally posted! After all of the feedback based on experience, it appears this idea's cons outweigh the pros. I've still got a crown-top bottle, capped with a twist off cap which has carbonated water in it. I'm going to open it in another 6 days and see if the beverage is still carbonated, but more as an experiment than anything else, because I think either way I'll be contacting the local recycling plant and seeing if they will accept the tops, since the city's pick-up bins does not. Thanks to all for your input!

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Bottle caps should be recyclable at a scrap yard. They are steel. The scrap yard will likely not pay you for them, but they should take them.

 

[jfr1111]

^^^ This. Find someone that takes all steel material (there's always some dude in a pickup that picks up scrap, always) and drop them at its place.

 

[smata67]

For six years I used the six quart bottles that came with my Mr. Beer kit and their screw on plastic caps. I also used recycled carbonated water quart bottles. Probably used them 30 times before donating to the thrift with no problems whatsoever.

 

[CaptainCoconut]

I've never seen six quart bottles, and don't think I'd use them, because I usually can't drink six quarts in one sitting.

 

[octo]

I've never seen six quart bottles, and don't think I'd use them, because I usually can't drink six quarts in one sitting.

youve never seen 6 32 ounce bottles? go to a gas station, they usually contain old english 800.

 

[CaptainCoconut]

*sigh*
No, I got that he was talking about 6 one-quart bottles. That's what the was there for. Sorry you didn't think it was funny.

 

[AugustDerleth]

So I opened that sam adams bottle that I had capped with a twist-off and there was a loud hiss as it was opened and there were a LOT of bubbles still in the carbonated water as I poured it into a glass, and there was a layer of foamy bubbles on the top of the glass. Tastes just like it was fresh out of the plastic bottle. Sooo if you actually take care to make a good seal, twist-off caps appear to be just as viable as crown tops. Only way to be more certain would to have been to create 10 of them and see out of that ten how many had good seals, alas, I did not do that. However, in this one instance the twist-off cap did a perfect job!
Still, I do not intend to or suggest that anyone re-use non-crown caps for bottling. They aren't as reliable, even if I did have success here. :fro: