Reusing bottle caps

[Mr. Awesome]

Just on a whim tonight I filled a bottle up with water and capped it with a sam adams bottle cap I had used from the night before. It seemed to hold a completely tight seal as no water was leaking out. Does anyone have experience reusing bottle caps? Does it work, or is there some unforseen badness that can come about from doing it.

 

[blacklab]

I personally would rather just buy cheapo new caps from the LHBS than risk using old ones.

 

[loopmd]

I usually don't tell people you should or shouldn't do something as in this hobby there are many ways to skin the cat. With that being said....do not reuse your bottlecaps!!!!! They are really, really cheap when you buy in bulk. Too many bad things can happen to your brew by reusing caps.

Loop

 

[bigjohnmilford]

I personally would rather just buy cheapo new caps from the LHBS than risk using old ones.

+1 if you can spend the money for a 6 pack you can splurg and buy some new caps.

 

[chemist308]

...I filled a bottle up with water and capped it...

I'm still very much a novice, but I do have canning experience. Once thing I can tell you is air tight and water tight are two completely different things...You need air tight to hold the carbonation, right?

 

[abracadabra]

I have a buddy that reuses twist off caps. By simply twisting them back on.

Never heard of anyone reusing pry off type caps. But I can't see any reason it wouldn't work unless the cap was mangled up or the top was bent. So if they were pryed off carefully it seems perfectly reasonable to me that they could hold pressure.

Whether or not it's worth the extra second or 2 inorder to gently pry the cap off and the risk of not having your beer carbonate is a personnal matter I would think.

If I were going to do it. I would just try a couple at first or you could uncap a beer then recap let it sit for a day then see if it still held pressure as the beer inside the bottle would release CO2 until the pressure in the head space equalized with the CO2 still in the beer.
If it hissed the next day you'd know it held pressure.

 

[splat]

I would not reuse caps...At my LHBS for 3 bucks I can buy 250 or so new caps...Any color, design, anything...Totally worth 3 bucks for 4 batches or so...

 

[BigKahuna]

I would not reuse caps...At my LHBS for 3 bucks I can buy 250 or so new caps...Any color, design, anything...Totally worth 3 bucks for 4 batches or so...

We get them in the "Fill The Bag" deal. $3.00 for as many as you can fit in the bag and still seal it...I usually get about 350. If it's $3.00 for 350, that's less than a penny each...that's almost...FREE.
I'm not going to risk $30 - $50 worth of beer when I can get "Almost Free" caps.

 

[Tag]

WOW!! $3.00 for 350!! Must be nice. The closest thing to a LHBS we have wants $6.00 for 144. Still cheap enough to always use new but $3.00 for 350!!!

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I pay $2.50 for a gross. I haven't tried reusing them, but thought about it.

 

[Surly]

I just don't understand. Why would anybody spend the time and money to make beer and then gamble it away on used caps?

Have I missed something?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

At $1.00 for 50 caps, I never considered trying to recycle them.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

I wish I could find caps at those prices around here.

 

[BigKahuna]

We should see who would sell them to us, and see what it would cost to purchase a box. That is how I get them...It's just a box about the size of a box of bottles...filled with caps. There must be about 10 boxes stacked there. Maybe a KOGILLION caps in a box...If we all took one....could be real chea p.

 

[EvilTOJ]

Gah you homebrewers are such penny pinchers! Are you suggesting a group buy.... on BOTTLECAPS?

Put me in for a few lbs.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

im in for a few pounds too

 

[Movinfr8]

I just don't understand. Why would anybody spend the time and money to make beer and then gamble it away on used caps?

Have I missed something?

Well, as sad as it is, my wife and I love Newcastle brown ale, but she never likes the clones I can make. I have opened a couple of NBA's very carefully, and will one day, bottle some from the tap into real NBA bottles and cap them with real caps, just to test her! they will be drunk in a day or two, so there is little chance for infection...

 

[the_bird]

See, I'm not even thinking it's an infection worry as much as it's a worry that if they don't seal well, the won't carbonate.

 

[EdWort]

I would never risk my beer to save a couple pennies by reusing bottle caps.

 

[IowaStateFan]

I'm cheap. I mean real cheap. But reusing bottle caps???? Naw, I'll spend the penny or two per bottle.

 

[evermuse]

I've thought about this too. We've been saving caps at my house for a while now. I (at least) have been very careful when prying them off. But I have yet to risk even one beer by reusing a cap, as they are fairly cheap. Being cheap for us isn't the issue so much as just being hell bent on reusing everything allways. One day, perhaps I'll risk a beer and see how it goes. For now, I'll just let the used cap collection grow. Least then I'll get to pick and choose more carefully.