Ok its official

[Jag75]

I hate bottling! My capper is the basic hand held one you would get in a starter kit . Already pulverized one bottle and cracked 2 more . I didnt want the lemon shandy in my keg now I'm starting to regret that decision. Something is wrong with this . As a apply the pressure down the capper flops to one side , like it cant stay centered on top. A better capper is indeed in my future.

 

[MaxStout]

I've been happy with this one, the "Super Agata." About $40.

I've also heard good things about the Colt capper from Morebeer.

 

[Jag75]

Thanks Max . Yeah I've seen this very one at my LHBS . Gonna get it next time I'm in town. Tired of this cheapie.

Does that one seem like it holds the bottle good and does it cap with ease ?

 

[seatazzz]

I would check the 'bell' on your capper that you have now; sounds like it might be loose, or maybe dented? Yes, cheap cappers are cheap, but shouldn't do that.

 

[JB_Brewing2]

I've been happy with this one, the "Super Agata." About $40.

I've also heard good things about the Colt capper from Morebeer.

I have this capper and it has worked flawlessly on many cases of beer.

 

[BobBailey]

+1 on the Super Agata. Have used one for several years and love it. Not only does it not break bottles, but it caps many bottle types that the lever type cappers won't.

 

[bracconiere]

empty soda bottles with screw top lids... don't even need to keep buying caps...

 

[Jag75]

empty soda bottles with screw top lids... don't even need to keep buying caps...

True , but then I wouldn't have my logo ontop of my custom caps lol

 

[MaxStout]

Thanks Max . Yeah I've seen this very one at my LHBS . Gonna get it next time I'm in town. Tired of this cheapie.

Does that one seem like it holds the bottle good and does it cap with ease ?

Yes, it holds the bottle well. Make sure you set the bottle right under the bell, don't set it off-axis. Pull the handle down and you will feel it bottom out with the crimp. I find it to be a very smooth process with each bottle.

 

[El Nino]

I love bottling, it's so bad.

 

[Jag75]

I love bottling, it's so bad.

Haha , where were you when I needed you

 

[El Nino]

Haha , where were you when I needed you

lol, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. I don't particularly enjoy the bottling process, but after it's done I like looking at how much filled bottles of beer that I have

 

[Jag75]

Just curious El Nino is that avatar you surfing ?

 

[El Nino]

Just curious El Nino is that avatar you surfing ?

Yep, it is!

 

[Jag75]

Dude that's fricking awesome . What a cool pic . Love the ocean and respect it but I dont get in lol. I've watched too many episodes of shark week

 

[El Nino]

Dude that's fricking awesome . What a cool pic . Love the ocean and respect it but I dont get in lol. I've watched too many episodes of shark week

Growing up in Hawaii it's hard to avoid the ocean lol. Thankfully Hawaii isn't known for shark attacks very often, different story in california or especially florida!

 

[bracconiere]

True , but then I wouldn't have my logo ontop of my custom caps lol

lol, custom caps? you're hard core! my kegs just have stickers that say possessing them is possessing stolen property, even though i bought them from morebeer....

 

[Wayne1]

I hate bottling! My capper is the basic hand held one you would get in a starter kit . Already pulverized one bottle and cracked 2 more . I didnt want the lemon shandy in my keg now I'm starting to regret that decision. Something is wrong with this . As a apply the pressure down the capper flops to one side , like it cant stay centered on top. A better capper is indeed in my future.

Get one of these:https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Pneumatic-Capper-P4460.aspx

You will LOVE bottling ;^)

 

[Jag75]

Dang ! does this ^^^^ double as a reloader for ammo as well lol

 

[Jag75]

lol, custom caps? you're hard core! my kegs just have stickers that say possessing them is possessing stolen property, even though i bought them from morebeer....

yup custom caps by @ ChrisVz here in HBT.

 

[mongoose33]

You may not want to hear this given all the love being shown the super-Agata, but I've gone back to using the two-handed wing capper.

I have the Super-Agata, and maybe it's because my setup is a little weird (I bottle off the keezer using a growler filler), but I've grown to not like it as much. I found it seems to be faster w/ the wing capper.

When I first started brewing, I had the same experience you did. It seemed like I was going to break the bottle and, not knowing when the cap was actually on, actually cracked the necks of several bottles.

But I got the hang of it.

 

[Jag75]

@mongoose33 . I've had the capper for 3 years now. Never had a problem with it till I bottled the blueberry sour and now a Lemon shandy. I think the mechanism is broke . One side doesn't articulate like the other . When i first started brewing i bottled everything. Now it's just periodically. Maybe my capper just doesn't want me doing fruit beers lol.

 

[mongoose33]

@mongoose33 . I've had the capper for 3 years now. Never had a problem with it till I bottled the blueberry sour and now a Lemon shandy. I think the mechanism is broke . One side doesn't articulate like the other . When i first started brewing i bottled everything. Now it's just periodically. Maybe my capper just doesn't want me doing fruit beers lol.

You're right, sounds broken.

 

[kh54s10]

If the two arms on the capper don't work the same way I would say it is broken.

I have bottled well over 400 bottles with a Red Baron wing capper. Never broke a bottle. Many people use them wrong. They put all their weight on the outside end of the handles. It doesn't take that much pressure. A better way is to kind of roll your wrists, putting downward pressure on the outside and kind of pulling up on the inside. When the cap crimps you get a sudden quick movement, the cap should be set then. No further pressure should be needed.

I have the Agata, I need to lubricate the inside of the bell regularly or the cap sticks inside. It is easier, but I had no real problems with the wing capper. My main reason for having both is for a back up. The wing capper is mostly plastic after all, and I keep hearing stories of a handle breaking off in the middle of a bottling session.

 

[IslandLizard]

You may not want to hear this given all the love being shown the super-Agata...

Glad you mentioned this, let me add this: The super-Agata has a plastic head that can crack.
There have been reports on that occurring. Not sure if due to hulk power, operator error, or internal stresses from the lever action.

I'd prefer an all steel bench capper from the past. They may need some TLC, but have no plastic parts.

 

[IslandLizard]

I have an all-metal wing capper from Morebeer (~$15). Still works as it should after being used for a few years and 100s of bottles, before I started kegging. It still gets used from time to time.

Just make sure the bottles you use have the standard distance between the lip and the grip rim.
A bench capper can handle anything, it doesn't use that grip rim.

 

[El Nino]

Get one of these:https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Pneumatic-Capper-P4460.aspx

You will LOVE bottling ;^)

For $660? Jesus man, I'd buy a couple 5 gallon kegs, co2 and a chest freezer to convert to a kegerator for that price

I will say that thing does look cool though.

 

[grampamark]

Get one of these:https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Pneumatic-Capper-P4460.aspx

You will LOVE bottling ;^)

I have a 3 tap kegerator, 8 pinlock kegs, all of the regulators, manifolds, and plumbing to make the whole setup work, plus a substantial stash of spare parts. I have less than the cost of that capper in my entire storing/serving system.

Unless that thing can clean and sanitize all the bottles, make me a sandwich and pour me a beer, I ain’t interested.

 

[El Nino]

After doing 25+ 2.5 gal batches, I finally bottled my first 5 gal batch, and I have to say, now I'm really understanding where people are coming from with this hate for bottling haha. Not saying I hate it, but if I had to do anything bigger than a 5g batch (like upping to 10), I would definitely start throwing kegs into the picture.

The main thing for me would be keeping empty bottles around, a 5g batch is nearly my entire bottle tree full of bottles, much more than that would kinda be an eyesore (I'm kind of a neat freak lol)

 

[Jag75]

It must be easy to bottle if your in Hawaii lol.

My max is 5 gallon as well . Ain't no way I'm bottling 10 gallons !

 

[El Nino]

Bottle conditioning is definitely fast here with the room temps being in the high 70s / low 80's. Usually full carb in 3-5 days depending on the ABV Living here basically there's no sense in kegging if your motivation is getting faster grain-to-glass, you basically save a day or 2 tops. If I'm that desperate to drink a beer that quickly I'll just go to the store

Of course though, kegging for sure if I ever got into high-volume batches. Keeping 100 empty bottles around = no thanks lol.

 

[Immocles]

Keeping empties around was a bit of an annoyance at first, but after some cleaning I managed to take advantage of the shelving underneath the basement steps. Just the main shelf can hold 4 empty cases in cartons, and a dozen stragglers, plus my bottling day box. I've managed back to back 5g bottling sessions a few times, but mostly because I'd rather do it all in one shot than bottle two weeks in a row. Most of the time its 1-2.5G sessions though.
I strangely don't dislike the bottling time. I guess I enjoy the peace and quiet in the basement. Stream some TV on my MacBook and catch up on WWE programming more often than not. It could be a bit cooler temperature down there, though.