Beer cappers

[TomR]

Bottle Capper Including 300 Free Caps for Home Brew Beer Making or Lemonade Glass Bottles - Easy to Cap https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G4BP94C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Are these kind of cappers any good?
Or do I need the often more expensive table top rappers?

 

[Oneflewover]

I know that some people get on with them, but I didn't and quickly moved on to a bench capper.

 

[Wilfy]

I had one of those give up the ghost after about 4 batches. If you don’t go for a bench capper, I have one of the below link and it’s still going strong after about a dozen batches.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crown-Capp...338386&hash=item5b3e356a0a:g:X-MAAOSw401aL9qB

 

[AdeDunn]

For a few quid more you can get a bench capper, with an extra head for 28mm (champagne bottle size) caps from Get Er Brewed. That's exactly what I did the week before last in fact, and I'm now slowly building up my stock of glass bottles, the fun way.

 

[TomR]

Haha I must admit collecting glass bottles is a great excuse for buying a bottle or two of beer. So it seems like a bench capper may be a better option.

 

[AdeDunn]

Haha I must admit collecting glass bottles is a great excuse for buying a bottle or two of beer. So it seems like a bench capper may be a better option.

It's led to my wife and I tasting some beers for the first time (first time I'd tasted a milk stout, Wee Heavy (yach! Too sweet!) or Old Peculiar (yum) for example), so yeah it's been a good journey for sure. lol I did look into the price of buying empty ones, but my wife expressed a preference for buying them full and then emptying them....

Oh, and the capper was green when it arrived, not yellow like the photo on the site. Really high quality too, very happy with it. My wife had a practice (I'd bought some caps off eBay) and soon got the hang of it. The only con was the nerve wracking "Have Parcel Farce lost this parcel or not?" roulette game I go through every time something comes with them (they once lost an order full of PC components worth over £600 on me.... Lost been a polite way of putting it...).

 

[MyQul]

I used one of those cappers for about a year, then a wynchwood bottle killed it so I bought another one which lasted two batches so I bought a bench capper. £20 for one of those cappers is too expensive. You can get one from wilko for £10

 

[Graz]

Whilst this subject has been done to death I'll say it again, don't waste your money on the above, this is all you need: http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk...ed-suits-26mm-and-29mm-crown-caps-p-2187.html

Forum discount code available.

 

[MickDundee]

I had one of those give up the ghost after about 4 batches. If you don’t go for a bench capper, I have one of the below link and it’s still going strong after about a dozen batches.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crown-Capp...338386&hash=item5b3e356a0a:g:X-MAAOSw401aL9qB

I second this recommendation. I’ve been using this one for 3 years now and it’s great - it can even handle Wychwood bottles.

 

[private4587]

I had one of those give up the ghost after about 4 batches. If you don’t go for a bench capper, I have one of the below link and it’s still going strong after about a dozen batches.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crown-Capp...338386&hash=item5b3e356a0a:g:X-MAAOSw401aL9qB

Its not often i agree with a Macam but this time i do have the same as Wilfy and have had no problems with it

 

[Pope]

Bottle Capper Including 300 Free Caps for Home Brew Beer Making or Lemonade Glass Bottles - Easy to Cap https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G4BP94C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Are these kind of cappers any good?
Or do I need the often more expensive table top rappers?

I had one of these when I first started. It was awful...lasted one brew and then wouldn't work anymore.

I invested in a table top one which is much better. I haven't looked back since.

 

[TomR]

This is getting complicated!
So there are some two handled capper which are good but most appear to break after a couple of batches. I wonder whether a bench top one will be better value in the long term

 

[Mavroz]

I use a wilko capper and caps.
Still going strong after 200 plus bottles.

 

[AdeDunn]

This is getting complicated!
So there are some two handled capper which are good but most appear to break after a couple of batches. I wonder whether a bench top one will be better value in the long term

My understanding, 2 handled cappers tend to struggle with Wychwood bottles, and are also more prone to the neck of the bottle breaking. I don't think they can cope with 28mm caps either (champagne bottle size, used for higher volume CO2 brews, eg. some Belgian styles, that need a stronger bottle).

I decided to just not bother, and went with this one https://www.geterbrewed.com/table-top-capper/.

Wife tested it on Wychwood and Guinness bottles (have odd stumpy necks) and worked just fine.

 

[Mavroz]

Most of my bottles that have beer I them conditioning now are ex hobgoblin bottles from Wychwood that cap fine with the Wilko capper.
My latest colllection of bottles are predominantly kopparberg bottles which iused for my last batch and these were a little more tricky with the capper.
Stand bottle on a tea towel and use the capper firmly but gently. Ease the handles slowly down on the capper rather than be gung ho and everything seems fine.

 

[stan.distortion]

This is getting complicated!
So there are some two handled capper which are good but most appear to break after a couple of batches. I wonder whether a bench top one will be better value in the long term

I'd say go with the bench top model too. I also have the metal two handled one linked and considering the quality it's an absolute gift at 10-12 quid, really well made and dependable (it does like an occasional squirt of WD40 on the sliding parts) but with the benefit of hindsight I'd have gone for a benchtop model instead. It doesn't take much effort to cap a batch of bottles with the two handled one but it would be far less effort with a benchtop capper.

 

[The Baron]

In this case it is dearer is better go for a bench capper it will work out cheaper in the long run and last years. I had the wilko one and a very old boots one and they do break bottle necks

 

[RichK]

I only cap the odd bottle (to give away) so find this style of capping OK. However, if I was to cap a full brew, then I'd definitely go bench...

 

[braziliain]

This is getting complicated!
So there are some two handled capper which are good but most appear to break after a couple of batches. I wonder whether a bench top one will be better value in the long term

Yes, from my experience this really is a case of buy cheap, buy twice. That's what I did after my double handled Wilko hand capper gave up on me! My bench capper will last a lifetime.

 

[Burtie]

I'm currently using a Wilko hand capper and although it's worked OK[ish] for 6 23L brews I find it's best suited to a two-person operation.

Do the bench cappers have to be screwed down in order to work single handed?