'Wing Capper' bottle seal difficulties

[Rhu]

Hey all,

I just capped my first batch and noticed that bottles have different lip areas, some of mine capped really nicely others capped with the bottom of the cap still slightly flared. there are some pics below showing an uncapped bottle and a capped.

Most of the stubbies and some of the long necks had a rounded 'underlip' that my capper couldn't seat against perfectly. It rode up and over resulting in the cap shape that you can see. All of the bottles had a water tight seal (I know that doesn't mean airtight) but some of the stubbies that I tried to bottle, the cap could be popped off with one's thumbs. I didn't use those ones.

I ended up messing around loads to try and get all my carbed cider into the bottles that sealed 'properly' and the still cider into the bottles that didn't.

I had a fair old mission running around washing/sanitising and de-labeling bottles that 'sealed properly' to make sure I had enough for my 'to-be-carbed' cider.

There's also a picture of my capper so people can compare with what they have. I'm assuming a bench capper would solve all my problems but that's not all that feasible just now.

Anyway, hopefully this is some info. for anyone else that might need it. If it's useless I apologise.

 

[rocketsan]

Had the same problem. Get a bench capper - they give a great seal.

Problem solved.


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[rocketsan]

Where do you live? I see nice trees and sand...


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[Rhu]

about 20 yds from the Caribbean sea in Southern Mexico, it's not bad if you can get away from the sand.

unfortunately my local LHBS is about 1000 miles away in Mexico city and I live 4 hrs away from the nearest FedEx so getting a bench capper probably isn't going to happen.

 

[Rhu]

If I bash the capper on with a mallet will that work?

 

[The10mmKid]

I'm in the same situation.
LOVE my Founders but their damn stubbie bottles.
So far mine have been sealing, but the cap comes off way too easy when opening.

The metal piece on my wing capper is removable.
I was thinking of a way to use it without the wing capper.

No solution yet.
I was thinking of some kind of spacer around the neck that would make up the "lip" difference. Have to be hard plastic or two pieces of metal.

Yes, I'm shopping for a bench capper.

I share your suffering, except the Caribbean part . . . . . . .

'da Kid

 

[Hello]

This is one of the few reasons I found a used bench capper for a pretty good price and grabbed it. Between those, fat tire bottles and a few of the thicker long necks, the wing capper became the backup capper quickly.

 

[Rhu]

I thought about that..I put a coin into the metal cup to lower the whole thing (that's how I figured out it was the neck ring), tried putting zip ties around the neck but they just stretched and rode up as well..at this point I'm thinking that using a soft mallet is the way forward.

The problem is just that the cup doesn't get pulled down far enough, if you can push it down with the mallet the bit that pushed the bottle out from the cup should still work fine.

Bear with me I'm going to run down the beach and give it a smack (on an empty bottle...)

 

[Rhu]

It seems like, as with most things in life, smacking it with a mallet solves the problem..quite possibly significantly reduces the life of your capper though as you can't be shy about hitting it.

Also makes it a little difficult to remove the bottle from the cup afterwards.

aaannnddd the neck of the bottle has to be slim enough to allow the capper to be fully closed otherwise you punch a hole in the top of the cap with the 'ejector' bit/risk snapping the neck off the bottle.

but it works..which is the main thing. I'll probably being spending the evening hitting my cider with a hammer now, just to be sure they're sealed.

 

[oljimmy]

Hey Rhu... I've noticed this too but to be honest, I doubt it will matter much. I have a 9-month old batch with caps like that and there's no sign of a broken seal of any kind.

 

[MaxStout]

I use a wing capper ("Red Baron"), and never had problems with bottles, EXCEPT those stubbies with the 2 rings close together. Summit uses that type and I had several leakers from them. I tossed those bottles in the recycle bin and only keep the ones with the regular shaped mouth.

 

[rocketsan]

about 20 yds from the Caribbean sea in Southern Mexico, it's not bad if you can get away from the sand.

unfortunately my local LHBS is about 1000 miles away in Mexico city and I live 4 hrs away from the nearest FedEx so getting a bench capper probably isn't going to happen.

I'll bring you one for free if I can stay with you for two weeks


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[Randzor]

What type of Caps where you using? I got some colored ones for Christmas, and they seem like they don't like the same model of Capper you have. Also is it the one made in Italy of China... I feel like the one from Italy was higher quality.

 

[troy2000]

I picked up an old bench capper on ebay for $24.99, and shipping was free. You may not get free shipping to Mexico, but if I were you I'd be checking ebay religiously for a while; it wasn't the only good deal I found. Some weren't rusty and missing the handle like the one I bought, either. That's just the one that struck my fancy... mostly because of the old linoleum pad on it.

I recently brewed a 2 gal batch of 'American Light Beer,' because that's what was in a Mr. Beer kit I picked up on clearance sale from Kmart. And I wound up with a rough approximation of lite beer, that was almost drinkable. Although the experience may have scarred me for life, it didn't scare me away from brewing. Instead, I decided to learn how to do it right - which takes more equipment than the 2 gal little brown jug and handful of 1 liter PET bottles Mr. Beer gives you. So I made a list.

In the time-honored tradition of enthusiastic noobs everywhere, I started at the wrong end of that list. I bought a case of 12 oz bottles, a cheap wing capper, and a gross of bottle caps. It took me about fifteen minutes mano-a-mano with that wing capper, to decide it was a toss-up who was gonna wear who out first..... so I decided to get a bench capper instead.




I looked at the ugly and relatively expensive chunks of plastic online, and decided to go with a solid golden oldie instead. This one cost me $24.99 on ebay, shipping included. I sandblasted the rust and old paint off, repainted it, and added a wooden file handle from Ace Hardware. It works great.

I didn't have the heart to get rid of that cracked, brittle and worn old piece of real linoleum on it. So I spent twenty minutes carefully removing it before I sandblasted, epoxied it back into place when I was done, and started soaking linseed oil into in hopes of making it flexible again - or least least keeping it in one piece.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Switch to fliptops. I bottle almost exclusively with 1 liter fliptops, make bottling go 3 times as fast & it's much more fun to drink a full liter instead of just 12 or 22 oz.
Regards, GF.

 

[Rhu]

Unfortunately I again, don't have much access to flip tops, whilst I do have almost unlimited access to 12oz's.

I would gladly let you visit for two weeks in exchange for a bench capper. Especially if it's as pretty as the one Troy's got.

Troy, noticed the signature (and I apologise for going off topic, but it's MY thread, so I don't care). Have been playing with Saison yeast in cider. First attempts sat at around 26/27˚C (78/80 ish) and I didn't notice a huge amount of spice/pepper when I took them out of Primary after 2 weeks. They are now in (sort of) Secondary, they started fermenting again at any rate and I've wrapped them up in blankets and they are hovering around the 30c (86F) mark. AM I likely to see anything develop further?

I've just started another that I've wrapped up and got around the same temp (30/86) from the get-go..likely to see a difference? I realise it's a complete guessing game on your end. If it's any help I'm using Danstar "Belle Saison".

Cheers

 

[troy2000]

Unfortunately I again, don't have much access to flip tops, whilst I do have almost unlimited access to 12oz's.

I would gladly let you visit for two weeks in exchange for a bench capper. Especially if it's as pretty as the one Troy's got.

Troy, noticed the signature (and I apologise for going off topic, but it's MY thread, so I don't care). Have been playing with Saison yeast in cider. First attempts sat at around 26/27˚C (78/80 ish) and I didn't notice a huge amount of spice/pepper when I took them out of Primary after 2 weeks. They are now in (sort of) Secondary, they started fermenting again at any rate and I've wrapped them up in blankets and they are hovering around the 30c (86F) mark. AM I likely to see anything develop further?

I've just started another that I've wrapped up and got around the same temp (30/86) from the get-go..likely to see a difference? I realise it's a complete guessing game on your end. If it's any help I'm using Danstar "Belle Saison".

Cheers

I use the Belle Saison also. It starts off dramatically, but seems to keep quietly chugging away under the radar for quite a while after it settles down... I've been leaving mine in primary for a month, then bottle conditioning it.

It definitely gets better with age. My best batch so far (from the Shipwrecked Saison recipe) seemed to hit its peak after about three months in the bottle. It wasn't really what I'd call spicy, though; more like rich and smooth. I think I need to let the temperatures rise more, at least for the first week.

 

[Rhu]

ok, good to know.

Mine wil be one month old this week, it'll probably stay in primary/secondary for another 3 weeks or so befoer moving to bottling. The second batch I've got on is definitely staying in primary for at least 3 weeks, maybe longer.

Anyway, to try and pull this back on course.

I just saw a photo of a guy crimping the caps on by tightening a jubilee clip around them. Seems like it would work, but boy...how slow would that be!