Breaking Bottles

[TKWoody]

I've lately had a problem with bottles breaking when I cap them. I've lost about 8 bottles the last two times I've bottled. The top of the bottle seems to snap off as I put the cap on. I'm trying to figure out why.

Has my equipment gone bad? I'm using a royal crown bottle capper. (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/royal-crown-bottle-capper.html)

Is it my bottles? I've been using recycled bottles. Do they fatigue with age and multiple uses? It seems like most of the breakage has been with three breweries, Summit, Moreland and Anchor IPA.

Or is it my technique? I'm guessing not since I never had this problem before, although perhaps I've built up my arm muscles by hoisting home brews.

Thanks for your help, Tim

 

[Homercidal]

Wing cappers are notorious for breaking (some) bottles. They require a certain strength of glass and a certain shape to the neck to work well. Most bottles bought from a supply shop should work fine, but you have to be careful about some brands of beer you buy at the store.

If you can swing it, I think a cheap bench capper is a wise investment.

 

[Foosier]

I have seen this issue with my wing capper on short, squat bottles. Bottles like Sierra Nevada uses do not work as they are very prone to snapping off. Sam Adams and pretty much any other taller bottle seems to be no problem with my wing capper. I have reused them quite a few times.

 

[Jeff180]

Have you changed anything else? This happened to me once when I bottled on top of a new table that was a few inches higher than I was used to. It took a lot more force to cap and I broke a few before I figured out the issue.

 

[Schecter]

If bottles get too old they can crack more easily. It used to happen to me as well, but not 8 in one session...are you going too hard? I like Jeff's idea of using a tabletop instead of perhaps the floor, I never did that but I feel it would provide a lot more control of angle and power. Best of luck with your bottles.

Personally, I recommend getting into kegging. But, all in good time I suppose...

 

[Homercidal]

Brand new bench cappers can be found on amazon for $30-40...

I've only ever seen 1 bottle break when using my OLD capper and that bottle was suspect before I tried to cap it.

 

[SmokeyMcBong]

If bottles get too old they can crack more easily.

not sure if this is true or not. I use only circa 1970's stubby bottles for my beer and circa 1940's Allens soda bottles for my highly carbonated wines. never had one break.

I have however broken lots of regular bottles with a wing capper. Got me a bench capper and the problem disappeared.

 

[TheCADJockey]

I've never broken one with my wing capper, reusing 4 cases of LHBS bought bottles and miscellaneous tall bottles I've collected. I am painfully meticulous about it though and even clutch each bottle between my knees when I cap so it has some give and I do it slow. It also takes me way to long to accomplish bottling of five gallons but, it's all love.

 

[normonster]

I use recycled SN and Lagunitas bottles with a wing capper and haven't broken one yet.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

I have busted a few over the past year, but i suspect operator error. After having few while bottling, it seems like the last few necks get a tad bit weaker (or i get stronger). Huge reason why i keg as much as i do.

 

[estricklin]

I've had some randomly break, either when capping or opening. Usually it's just one in a few hundred but ya never know. I think you may have had some bad luck. Just try to be a bit more gentle when capping is all I know to tell ya.

Edit:

Oh and they do seem to do this more with age, especially if you've boiled them put them in the dishwasher. Just and observation of mine.

 

[agrazela]

Long-necked bottles tend to have more "lip" as defined in the diagram on this page:
http://www.sha.org/bottle/morphology.htm

And I think that makes them less prone to crack when capping. I've cracked a few necks off shorty's with a bench capper, but never cracked a long-neck 12oz'er or a bomber.

I also think the shorty bottles are just not as thick a glass. They certainly feel lighter in weight. I only ever had one bottle bomb episode, in a batch that I filled into both shorty's and long-necks (whatever I had on hand), and only some of the shorty's blew.

Also I can fit one or two more long-necks in a milk crate because they have a slightly smaller diameter.

So I only use long-necks now. Which is a shame, because I love Lagunitas.

 

[TKWoody]

Thanks everybody, lots of good information. I actually lost 8 altogether not with each batch, but it's still too many to lose.

Here's the clue that made me realize what I was doing differently:

Oh and they do seem to do this more with age, especially if you've boiled them put them in the dishwasher. Just and observation of mine.

The last two times I bottled I put the bottles through the high temp sanitary rinse in the dishwasher. The other times I've brewed I boiled or used ez clean.

The dishwasher option is a lot easier, so I think I'll keep using that, I'll just ditch any short bottles (like Summit and Anchor) and be careful with bigger bottles (the Morland bottles that broke were 16oz while their 12oz bottles worked fine). Eventually I'll upgrade my capper.

Tim

 

[Wynne-R]

There’s nothing wrong with stubby bottles. I use them exclusively, and I’ve used some of them hundreds of times. I’ve used them for high carbonation Belgians and only had one bottle bomb in many years. Just for fun, I weighed a stubby and a long neck, both 195 grams.

Wing cappers suck. They scare me. I’m afraid I’m going to cut my wrist. I have one I’m willing to give away, but I’ve yet to find anybody that wants it.

It’s the distance from the rim to the bottom of the collar that is critical for the stupid wing cappers. Too little and they don’t seal. Too much and they break. I’m not willing to experiment to find the Goldilocks distance.

Bench cappers work with everything.

 

[BrewerE]

I've busted 3, 2 putting the caps on and one taking the cap OFF (it 'opened' on the bottle neck, below the lower lip)

ALL THREE were reused Sam Adams bottles.

They (long-necks/stubbies) are all brown glass.

It will all depend on how much they have been stressed all the times you use them.

If one happens to have a micro-crack in it from manufacturing time, it is only going to get worse with a round or two through the dishwasher and if you are torqueing on it with your capper, then, SNAP...



I really make an effort to be even with my hands on both wings of the capper as far as equal pressure and trying not to twist.

 

[Cyclman]

+1 on bench cappers, never broke a bottle...until of course when I posted this, I'll probably break many on my next batch.

 

[TKWoody]

Been a while, but I have a bit of follow up information.

I wasn't too enthused about bench cappers because I have various size bottles. But a friend passed on a bunch of bottles that were all the same size, so I bought a bench capper.

As I was telling the clerk in the store (Brew and Grow) about my bottle problems he gave me some advice. He asked if I was getting dimples in the bottle caps when I put them on. (I was.) He said that's a sign that I'm using too much force with the hand held capper.

 

[glenn514]

I've broken one or two long necks with my wing capper. I do have a bench capper, but, for whatever reason, I have much more success with my wing capper! And those bottles that I broke were probably due to me using too much force in the capping process.

glenn514

 

[estricklin]

I've busted 3, 2 putting the caps on and one taking the cap OFF (it 'opened' on the bottle neck, below the lower lip)

ALL THREE were reused Sam Adams bottles.

They (long-necks/stubbies) are all brown glass.

It will all depend on how much they have been stressed all the times you use them.

If one happens to have a micro-crack in it from manufacturing time, it is only going to get worse with a round or two through the dishwasher and if you are torqueing on it with your capper, then, SNAP...



I really make an effort to be even with my hands on both wings of the capper as far as equal pressure and trying not to twist.

The ones that break on me, are almost always Sam Adams, in fact it's Sam Adams 95% exclusively.

I've broken one or two long necks with my wing capper. I do have a bench capper, but, for whatever reason, I have much more success with my wing capper! And those bottles that I broke were probably due to me using too much force in the capping process.

glenn514

Good to hear from you again. Yeah I prefer the wing capper too. It's faster and simple as it doesn't have to be mounted or clamped to anything. I try not to put my body weight into the wing capper.

 

[unionrdr]

The Red Baron wing capper I used the first couple years didn't like shorter neck bottles. Especially those where the neck has a good taper to it right up to the collar. Those are the ones that broke for me, like SN. Smithwick & Sapporo short necks didn't want to allow the cap to clamp down without getting stuck trying to pull the capper off. Never had one problem with Sam Adams bottles, save for the cast-in logo on the shoulder.
So I bought the Super Agata bench capper that slides up & down to adjust for the height of the bottle. Pull the lever up to slide it down so the bell is on the cap. Then pull the lever down to crimp the sides of the cap over the lip of the bottle. I get the best seal this way on any bottle now, be it a bit short or regular. The German bottles seem to seal the best with their lip/collar design. And my bench capper isn't bolted down. I set a couple pot holders under it so as not to scratch the bottling table & make it stay in place. Yeah, sometimes I have to use both hands, but getting a good seal on any bottle is worth it till I bolt it down.

 

[jschein]

I have found the Sam Adams bottles are a pain to cap. Never broke any but I don't use them anymore. They have that rounded top. The Rebel IPA bottles are regular and work the best.

 

[gundarak]

Long-necked bottles tend to have more "lip" as defined in the diagram on this page:
http://www.sha.org/bottle/morphology.htm

I have 3 identical wing cappers, and never have broken a bottle in my couple years of homebrewing.. what i can say is with the diagram agrazela posted, its the collar the wing capper grabs onto and pushes the cap on.. and a few bottles I like to use are a PAIN due to collars the capper cant grab so well..

the bottles that are perfect every time are the standard american neck bottles like sam adams.. long neck or euro bottles (like Paulaner) dont like to cap so well.. its possible that where the capper grips the collar is actually cutting into the glass causing it to break from pressure.

I also have no problem with lagunita, red hook, or anchor bottles..

I found that guinness recently changed the bottle for their xtra stout.. its like an anchor bottle, but a little taller.. those are hard to cap.. and actually you press so hard on them you can see a small dented imprint of the capper magnet on it..

i make sure to cap on some of that grip material.. you know that people use to put in their showers or whatever.. just keep the bottles stable and apply equal pressure..

 

[unionrdr]

Idk...I never had any problems with Paulaner or other German bottles with the Red Baron or bench capper? They actually seal a bit better in my experiences.

 

[dstockwell]

Reviving this thread.

So before starting brewing I saved about 120 bottles for 3.25G batches. I first started out I had bought oxygen absorbing caps, worked well no issues using the wing capper.. So on my second order of caps I did not go with the oxy caps just standard gold caps. To me it seems like the oxy caps are ever so slightly larger than the standard gold. The only reason I believe this is in my last two batches I have snapped the neck on 12 bottles, never snapped on the other caps. So any ideas on how many times bottles are expected to last before fail. I am now keeping more bottles to slowly have more newer ones.

 

[TKWoody]

I bought a table top capper and haven't had any bottle breaking problems with it. It's not as big of a deal changing heights as I was expecting.

 

[TimH]

Sam Adams bottles are the only ones that have ever broke on me.