Swing top bottles

[Perrin_Abara]

Does anyone else have snags with them?

I swear like 4 out of 10 of my beers end up flat as a witches ***!!!

 

[Dutto]

Does anyone else have snags with them?

I swear like 4 out of 10 of my beers end up flat as a witches ***!!!

Never had a problem - sorry!

However, it’s worth checking:

1. Caps are properly designed, lock properly and are not porous.
2. Seals are not perished, cracked or porous.
3. Cap and seal are properly suited to each other and to the top of the bottle.
4. The bottle is not cracked or otherwise damaged.
5. The carbonation of the brew is within the limit of the flip-top. (*)

If that lot is okay then you should have trouble free brews.
:hat:

(*) If you are carbonating the brews above the limit, a flip-top may release the CO2 as it builds up rather than become a “bottle bomb”. If this happens then the seal may not re-seal and therefore the brew will go flat!

Personally, I hate “gassy” brews so that may be why I didn’t have a problem.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Never had a problem with them.
I do replace all the rubber seals with silicone ones though and I think they are better.

 

[Perrin_Abara]

Never had a problem with them.
I do replace all the rubber seals with silicone ones though and I think they are better.

View attachment 68750

These look promising, ill give them a whirl

 

[DavidDetroit]

The silicone idea has helped me as well. I had years of uninterrupted, quality gaskets--nice and soft rubber--and then poof! The company switched to a nearly unusable substance that was so inflexible, I could barely fasten it on.

 

[phildo79]

I've had the odd issue. Only happened a few times but the odd bottle would be flat. But it's fixable. Just add a 1/2 TSP of sugar and recap. Always worked for me. Couldn't figure out why it was happening but someone said that perhaps a tiny bit of debris got on the lip of the bottle and stopped the cap from forming a perfect seal. Sounds plausible.

 

[Alastair70]

Never had a problem with them.
I do replace all the rubber seals with silicone ones though and I think they are better.

View attachment 68750

Bloody Hell TETB, is there anything in this world that you haven’t deconstructed and then made back even better!

 

[Dutto]

Bloody Hell TETB, is there anything in this world that you haven’t deconstructed and then made back even better!

Had a query from a lady who’s son wanted to be an “Engineer”.

I pointed out that, in the UK, the term could be applied to anyone from the guy who spent his life underneath motor cars (Mechanical Engineer) to a designer of bridges (Structural Engineer) and asked her to be more specific.

The lady replied “Not under a car!” as if anything else would do! My guess is that she didn’t consult the lad.

I reckon that TETB will be an Engineer within a category that solves real life puzzles. The kind that can replace a new tap (+£40) with a homemade “gizmo” (a spring, a washer and a bit of string etc) in order to rectify a design fault in the tap.

Enjoy.
:hat:

 

[rocketman_k]

I bought 45 swingtops from brew2bottle, the seal was not the usual washer with a hole in the middle but a cone shape that covered the whole of the stopper......they were useless, beer had no carbonation after a few weeks. I did a few experiments comparing them to the more conventional type (used vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to generate some CO2 quickly in the bottles) ......... concluded they were hopeless and stopped using them, went back to recycled German bottles.

 

[Perrin_Abara]

I bought 45 swingtops from brew2bottle, the seal was not the usual washer with a hole in the middle but a cone shape that covered the whole of the stopper......they were useless, beer had no carbonation after a few weeks. I did a few experiments comparing them to the more conventional type (used vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to generate some CO2 quickly in the bottles) ......... concluded they were hopeless and stopped using them, went back to recycled German bottles.

They’re the ones I have!! I’ve just bought som silicone replacement seals for them fingers crossed

 

[rocketman_k]

That’s really interesting, I’ll be really interested to hear how you get on with the new deals.

 

[RichardM]

Had a query from a lady who’s son wanted to be an “Engineer”.

I pointed out that, in the UK, the term could be applied to anyone from the guy who spent his life underneath motor cars (Mechanical Engineer) to a designer of bridges (Structural Engineer) and asked her to be more specific.

The lady replied “Not under a car!” as if anything else would do! My guess is that she didn’t consult the lad.

I reckon that TETB will be an Engineer within a category that solves real life puzzles. The kind that can replace a new tap (+£40) with a homemade “gizmo” (a spring, a washer and a bit of string etc) in order to rectify a design fault in the tap.



View attachment 68804

Enjoy.
:hat:

The guy under the car is mechanic or technician. The guy who designed the car is the engineer.

 

[Dutto]

Problem is that I’ve heard both of them described as an “Engineer”!

Want to guess what a “Sanitation Engineer” does for a living?

This is a very respectable companies take on things:

JOB TITLE	FUNCTIONS
Mechanic	Engineering
Road Works Coordinator	Engineering
Assistant Landscape Architect	Engineering
Surveyor	Engineering
Construction Foreman	Engineering
Contract Agent	Engineering
Ecologist	Engineering

I know that the title “Engineer” should mean something, but in the UK I’ve heard the title given to almost anyone who can write their own name!
:hat:

 

[DavidDetroit]

The simple thing to look for in gaskets is that they not be too thin, for one, and that they are flexible. With those two factors in place and decently made mechanisms, there's no way you can go wrong.
Grolsch bottles are superior to the knock-offs produced. Do any of those companies realize that we would buy flip-tops of very high quality and pay more because they would be worth it?
I'm a bit tired of cheap, cheap, cheap products.

 

[moto748]

Most of the swing-tops I have are the clear ones from Wilcos, and I've never had any problems with them.

 

[oldchap]

They’re the ones I have!! I’ve just bought som silicone replacement seals for them fingers crossed

I have these too. Got them about a year ago. I find they're a bit fussy about having the tops seated straight, but still maybe 1 in 5 doesn't seal well. I got some replacement seals, regular O type, from ebay and replace them whenever one results in a flat beer. that seems to have fixed it.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Comparison between the silicone seals and the rubber ones

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Problem is that I’ve heard both of them described as an “Engineer”!

Want to guess what a “Sanitation Engineer” does for a living?

This is a very respectable companies take on things:

JOB TITLE	FUNCTIONS
Mechanic	Engineering
Road Works Coordinator	Engineering
Assistant Landscape Architect	Engineering
Surveyor	Engineering
Construction Foreman	Engineering
Contract Agent	Engineering
Ecologist	Engineering

I know that the title “Engineer” should mean something, but in the UK I’ve heard the title given to almost anyone who can write their own name!
:hat:

I’m not a great fan of attaching labels to people because it tends to lead to confusion between what someone ‘does’ and who they are :-)

 

[Begbie]

I bought 45 swingtops from brew2bottle, the seal was not the usual washer with a hole in the middle but a cone shape that covered the whole of the stopper......they were useless, beer had no carbonation after a few weeks. I did a few experiments comparing them to the more conventional type (used vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to generate some CO2 quickly in the bottles) ......... concluded they were hopeless and stopped using them, went back to recycled German bottles.

This is very coincidental! I had the same discussion at the weekend. I've got two batches of swing tops, just the same as described by rocketman, and the brew2bottle ones are nowhere near as carbonated as the the other batch. They also seem to have lost the hoppiness (Juicy IPA in them) compared to the other batch which is still great. I'll need to replace the seals now and see if that helps. Thanks for raising this thread @Perrin_Abara !