recommend a capper

[Maylar]

I bottle from a keg once in a while. No more than a 6-er at a time to bring with me or a couple bottles for entering comps. The black wing capper that I use has one major annoyance - it doesn't release the bottle after capping. I have to yank the bottle out with enough force that I'm afraid it'll "uncap" the bottle. Grr.

I've considered a bench capper, but I bottle on my kitchen counter and I'm not gonna screw something to it.

So... what's your favorite wing capper that doesn't break bottles or get jammed?

 

[ncbrewer]

I use a Ferrari Duemila, from Williams Brewing. I don't bolt it down - just set it on the table. It works really well. I wax the bell before each case. If not, it sticks a little - it pulls up on the caps and sometimes loosens the cap. But with some lubrication, no problem.

 

[IslandLizard]

An all steel bench capper mounted onto a board or so, to give it more stability, would be your best universal capping choice, as you can cap any bottle with it using the correct sized bell.

However, good bench cappers are hard to find anymore. Most have a plastic head which will crack, sooner or later. There's nothing super about a Super Agata, it's utter garbage! If you can find an old, all steel one in a yard sale, Craigslist, eBay, etc. get it! Clean it up and be a happy capper. Or save up for an all steel one. I wouldn't trust the ones with aluminum composite heads to survive the test of time either.

I've been using an all metal wing capper, like this one. Although it's not perfect, e.g., it leaves a dimple in the cap, but the best I've used. I simply hate the flexing feel of the all-plastic ones.

 

[passedpawn]

I bottled a lot of beers with that metal capper above. It’s the best. It does leave a dimple. I also have one of those red plastic ones and it’s far inferior.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I picked up a pair of vintage Everedy brand cappers for $12 on shopgoodwill.com. One is a very heavy duty stamped steel, riveted and welded together. The other has a cast iron frame with a solid steel capping head and a rack-and-pinion lever action. I cleaned up the second one, glued a thin silicone washer into the bell to eject the cap after crimping, and bolted it to a small cutting board to set on the kitchen counter. So stable, caps like a champ and waaaay easier on the wrists than a wing capper. The patent numbers marked on the cast iron one date it to the prohibition era, when these were sold in the Sears Roebuck catalog as 'root beer' cappers.

 

[Dade0]

I attached a board to the bottom of my bench capper to add stability. Works great.

 

[SEndorf]

Maylar, you say you "bottle from a keg once in a while".
Another vote for a metal wing capper. IMHO, don't bother with a bencher.
I have both and prefer the wing capper for occasional bottling.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I bottle all my beer though I only brew 2 gallon batches. After trub loss, I get 16 to 19 beers. I suppose that I have capped about 300 beers successfully with my red baron wing capper. After seeing an injury on here that resulted from a wing capper, I now using kevlar gloves while capping.