Capping Twist Off Bottles

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Question:

I never have any problems with screw top bottles. They cap just fine with a benctop capper. I will continue to use em until my stock of grolch bottles and kegs are up to scratch. I ya get the right caps it aint no problem – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Here in Australia, twist off bottles are rapidly becoming the only bottles available . My 2 handled capper doesn’t handle them very well – although it works very well on normal crown seal type bottles. I just use my old hand capper (using a rubber mallet) when I need to cap a screwcap bottle. Barry in Brisbane

Response:

My only caution is that the walls of the bottles are quite a bit thinner than those of regular bottles. It is therefore necessary to use caution when bottling. While bottling my last batch I put too much pressure on one of the bottles, and had it collapse and explode. Other than the mess, I had one small piece of glass lodge in the skin of my arm. Glad it wasn’t an eye. Cheers, Ken..

Response:

My only caution is that the walls of the bottles are quite a bit thinner than those of regular bottles.

Not on our bottles up here in Canada.cheers, -Alan — "Brewers make wort. Yeast makes beer". -Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide http://www.magma.ca/~bodnsatz/brew/tips/

Response:

… I’ve never bothered using twistoff bottles myself, since I’ve seen more recommendations against them than for them and I don’t care to waste my beer to find out if they work, but if I were to use them I think I’d prefer to have a bench capper. Mark

I have *ALWAYS* use twistoffs, and have found them to be very convenient (but then thats why they caught on eh?). I’ve used the same bottles numerous times and have yet to see any indication of wear. Most last capped about 3 months or more. I’m using regular Canadian bottles. Perhaps they are thicker than US bottles. Anyway, not a spoiled batch in 2 years of steady bottling b.

Response:

Here in Australia, twist off bottles are rapidly becoming the only bottles available . My 2 handled capper doesn’t handle them very well – although it works very well on normal crown seal type bottles. I just use my old hand capper (using a rubber mallet) when I need to cap a screwcap bottle. Barry in Brisbane

I always found that the Sheaf Stout and Steinlager bottles worked great. They are BIG and help save a little time. I think both beers are pretty darn good. Particularly the Sheaf stout. I haven’t bottled in a while, have they changed them to twisties? Brew Soon, JG — …The waiting is the hardest part… [Tom Petty]

Response:

When I first started brewing and bottling I exclusively used twist off bottles. All Henry Weinhards thin green bottles using a lever capper and standard production overrun caps. I never had a bad seal, a spoiled beer or a burst bottle. I brew mostly stouts, IPA’s and heavy ales, so not too much carbonation, but I think the cap would go before the bottle would. The standard recommendation now is no twist offs, no green bottles, not standard caps, and heavy thick walled bottles. All fine and good, but for a beginning brewer on a budget, I would suggest you use whatever you can get your hands on and experiment. The main thing is to brew. As you brew, you grow. …gpk

Response:

Almost all of the complaints I’ve seen about bottle cappers ahve been about the 2-handled cappers. Bench cappers will handle a wider variety of bottles, including sparkling wine bottles. However, I’ve never had a problem with my 2-handled capper, except that I can’t cap sparkling wine bottles (which I really don’t care to use anyway). I’ve never bothered using twistoff bottles myself, since I’ve seen more recommendations against them than for them and I don’t care to waste my beer to find out if they work, but if I were to use them I think I’d prefer to have a bench capper.

Response:

Nospam hasn’t tried to cap twistoffs w/ his double lever, but he is right-that is where the problem is. At least with mine, the lip that the capper jaws grab is too low on the twistoffs, so the capper can’t come down far enough to crimp the cap around the upper lip. I’ve suspected the bench capper would have a much better shot at it, not having that restriction, but I can’t confirm that from experience. So from what I know, the safest is to get a couple of cases of regular (not twistoff) bottles. If you have a bench capper, it may work on the twistoffs, you could give it a try. Good luck! Timo

Response:

I am purchasing equipment to brew my first batch, and have been reading this group and surfing the web for the past week or so. I know that this has been recently addressed, but I wanted to ask in addition to whether or not using twist off bottles is a good idea, what kind of capper should one use? Does a bench top capper do a better job, even on twist off bottles? Any models better than any others? Would it be easier to just get a couple of cases of regular bottles? Thanks in advance.

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