Bottling

[MarconiBrew]

Hello all. I've never bottled before and would like to bottle a few from each batch. Question is, which is the type of capper to go for? I assume I can recap Bishops Finger/Hobgoblin bottles? I don't have any bottles, so in between brews may pick up a few of those and keep the bottles behind. Thanks.

 

[MmmBeer]

If you are only going to bottle a few from each brew, then a two handled capper is probably adequate, bench cappers are better, but expensive and bulky. I have a couple of old two handled ones in my drawer that I wil probably never use again and I'm sure that is true of most seasoned homebrewers.

As for bottles, you can use any crown capped bottles. Brown glass is better as it protects the beer from UV rays which can cause skunking (off flavour) of the beers. Bottles made of thinner glass (including Badger & Wychbold beers) can break at the neck during capping, but from my experience, its maybe one in a hundred bottles that I have broken.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Not disagreeing with @MmmBeer but I only bottle 4-5 bottles per brew, the rest goes in a PB. I started using swing-lid brown bottles but now use PET screw top brown bottles as you can fill them to within 1” of the top then give the bottle a squeeze to get the beer to the rim then screw down the cap. As the beer carbonates the gas expands the bottle back to normal and you can see and feel the carbonation.

 

[phildo79]

PET bottles have lots of advantages over glass. If you are going for glass, I would recommend swing tops. Brown ones if you can. But if it is just crown cap bottles you are going for, make sure they are the variety that has a deep collar (the bit above the next but before the lip). So much easier to cap with a hand capper. If you want to try out an experiment, trying capping an empty Miller bottle vs an empty Corona bottle. Be sure to seat them on a tea towel first and watch your wrists with the Corona bottle.

 

[Hanglow]

Hobgoblin bottles were notorious for being tricky to recap because of the shape of the neck, I don't know if they've changed the bottle in recent years.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Hobgoblin bottles were notorious for being tricky to recap because of the shape of the neck, I don't know if they've changed the bottle in recent years.

This is still the case, yes. They're ok if you have a bench capper I think.

 

[yrhendystu]

Another vote for PET from me except I use 2L bottles. Put about 3 pints in each and squeeze the air out.

 

[damienair]

I’ve only bottled twice so far. First brew was with Coopers PET bottles. Second brew was a Wheat beer which I bottled in a mix of brown glass beer bottles. I purchased a crown capper from The Homebrew Company which worked great. Picture attached.
I have built up a collection of 500ml beer bottles for my 3rd brew. I buy different coloured caps for each brew so as I know which brew is which rather than putting labels on the bottles.

 

[Subtle Duck]

I've got a collection of bottles scrounged from work. As Phildo said earlier look for ones with a deep collar. Thatchers and cabbies are useless with a hand capper so had to recycle most of them.

 

[Drunkula]

You've all got those crap plastic cappers is the problem, and that includes that black one. A lot of us on here have this one

And have no problems with Koppaberg or Thatchers bottles.

If you have a bottling wand on a pipe so you can leave it in the bottle and it still fill then you can cap the bottle you've just done while the next one fills.

Put a torch behind the bottles as you're filling, too. Some bottles are pure evil dark.

 

[Subtle Duck]

Yes, I have the shady wilco black hand capper. Served me right for 6 long years, as long as I've got the right bottles
Plus one for the torch or phone light behind the bottles

 

[Merkin]

I assume I can recap Bishops Finger/Hobgoblin bottles?

Most, and working towards all, of my bottles are Bishops Finger / Spitfire bottles. Shape and size suit me, and being clear makes bottling, pouring and cleaning so much easier.
I've never had problems with UV, as my brews are seldom exposed to daylight.
I use a bench capper (bought as part of a bundle from someone who was retiring from the hobby), which has proved excellent.

 

[moto748]

I have a red plastic two-armed capper and it works fine. Seems to me the vast majority of beer bottles work fine, there are just a few, as noted, that don't have the deep collar below the lip (one or two have a *very* deep collar which is too big, but that's rare) which require the lo-tech 'hammer it on' technique.

I use Hobgoblin bottles, they are fine, but my favourite is Black Sheep: a good beer, and, unlike most, the labels are easily removeable, just float off on washing.

 

[Ezza]

"Sharps Atlantic" bottles are great, a ten minute soak in warm water and the labels just float off.

 

[MarconiBrew]

Thanks for the tips guys, gives me something to look for.

 

[Hanglow]

I tend to only use Belgian and German bottles now, as they are meant for higher carbonation and many are returnable bottles, if you buy them from Germany/Belgium. Well worth making a few orders to build up a supply if you want a lot of bottles. All the labels easily come off too as they have to be reused

 

[Maxonian]

I bottle up all my beers. I got most of my empty bottles from a local pub that sold a lot of Rekorderlig and these were incompatible with my standard twin lever capper so I bought a bench capper based on recommendations from people on the forum. Never looked back. You can buy one for £17.95 on Brew2bottle.

https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/twin-lever-bench-capper?_pos=1&_sid=d7cd0e17e&_ss=r

 

[IrishH]

After many years of capping I made the switch to swing tops on my last batch. I wouldn't ever go back to caps. I just find the swing tops that bit less hassle. Of course if you are looking at repurposing some bottles your choice of beer is extremely limited!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Finally after many years using a two handled black hand capper I bought a bench capper. The reason being the hand cappers struggle with the small neck shoulder on the bottle on the left. However the bench capers doesn't seem the secure the cap as well as the hand one, as seen above. I have attached the bench capper to a bench which should allow more pressure, do I need to use the hand capper after the bench capper.

 

[phildo79]

I imagine that would make the bench capper all but useless, if you have to then use the hand capper. With the right bottle, the hand capper makes a circular dent in the top of the cap and you know that cap is on fully. I have never used a bench capper but given the rave reviews they get on here, I would have thought it did a similarly impressive seal.