Twist cap bottles

[Richard Hemmerde]

Hello all, I am new to HB and I am currently fermenting my first batch, hopefully I'll should be bottling in a few days.
My question is about the twist cap bottles I have. Do I need a special cap and capper for them or are they capped as any regular bottle?
Thank you for any help

 

[tellyho]

I've never successfully reused twist cap bottles. Perhaps it's possible.

 

[mongoose33]

Hello all, I am new to HB and I am currently fermenting my first batch, hopefully I'll should be bottling in a few days.
My question is about the twist cap bottles I have. Do I need a special cap and capper for them or are they capped as any regular bottle?
Thank you for any help

If you mean the brown twist-cap glass bottles, they're not made to be used again with caps. You need the kind with the pry-off cap. With the twist-off bottles, capping them sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't, and you risk a lot of beer with caps not sealing.

One theory about Sam Adams and their pry-off bottle caps is that they knew home brewers would want those bottles for re-use, so they made them with pry-off caps. Don't know if it's true, but it's a good story.

My local homebrew store sells cases of 24 bottles for $12/case. That's not free, but it's not bad. Maybe you can look into that.

Another option is craigslist. Sometimes people have beer bottles for sale there. Sometimes even for free: https://madison.craigslist.org/zip/d/madison-beer-brewing-bottles-wine/6934010761.html

 

[El Nino]

No, twist off bottles won't work, if you try to cap them they won't seal. Then you'll probably end up with uncarbed and oxygenated beer lol.

Buy a wing capper / caps from the LHBS if you don't already have em. Bottles can be got from there, or you can reuse bottles from beers that use the same 'craft brew bottles'. I most often go with deschutes or ballast point. My girlfriend likes angry orchard cider, those bottles also work.

On a side note, I have a current dillema where I'll be needing 20+ more bottles soon, and the LHBS where I live sells 24 for $20. The same cost as a case of craft beer from Costco. I have a thing about not buying empty beer bottles, especially for the same cost of actual beer, but at the same time, I'm not a heavy drinker and it'll take me a long time to go through 24 beers myself, especially since the Costco beer which kinda is ok at best (I'm being nice here).

I guess one option too is ask your friends for their empties, especially if they like your beer they'll be more than happy to supply you with bottles. If you're really in a pinch, you can also use clear or green bottles, just make sure they're stored in a completely dark place.

 

[MaxStout]

Don't use twisties. Is it worth it to cut corners there after all the expense and work brewing your beer? Twisties don't always seal well and their thin necks are susceptible to breakage when capping. Since you will be bottling in a few days, it's probably not practical to drink 2 cases of beer to get a collection of pop-top bottles by then.

Better to go to your brew store and pick up a couple cases of new bottles.

 

[RM-MN]

I love all the nay sayers. I accidentally got a twist top or two mixed into my pop off bottles and they always seal. Maybe I just have the right touch.

With that said, empty bottles are pretty cheap at most LHBS, especially when you amortize that cost over 20 or more batches. With care they can last for years and years.

 

[InspectorJon]

I wonder if one couldn’t go to a recycling place and offer them twice the deposit value for some bottles. That would be a win win for both parties.

 

[Tim H]

I wonder if one couldn’t go to a recycling place and offer them twice the deposit value for some bottles. That would be a win win for both parties.

"hey.......you got any more of them bottles?

 

[Richard Hemmerde]

Thank you guys. I guess I'll just get rid of the twisties and get regular ones at my LHBS, they go for $17 a case of 24.

 

[bracconiere]

Thank you guys. I guess I'll just get rid of the twisties and get regular ones at my LHBS, they go for $17 a case of 24.

bottling sucks, so make them the 22oz variety....lol, and ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ all of the above...

 

[El Nino]

I wonder if one couldn’t go to a recycling place and offer them twice the deposit value for some bottles. That would be a win win for both parties.

lol, there's a recycling center literally a 1 minute walk from my place, I should try that

 

[tellyho]

lol, there's a recycling center literally a 1 minute walk from my place, I should try that

Then you'd have a lot of cleaning to do. Not many drinkers are careful about the cleanliness of their bottles.

 

[WiSilverBrewer]

Then you'd have a lot of cleaning to do. Not many drinkers are careful about the cleanliness of their bottles.

They don't need cleaning.......cigarette butts add flavors that are hard to get from hops

 

[bracconiere]

They don't need cleaning.......cigarette butts add flavors that are hard to get from hops

damn...now i want to use the flowers from my tobacco plants in a beer!

 

[Factor]

Here in Canada we have returnable twist top beer bottles the are reused by the manufacturers.
I can cap then fine with a stand capper and they seem to seal as well as pry off bottles

 

[CJ-3]

You can also get them for free from your local bar. Just ask the bartender for rhe empties

 

[ncbrewer]

I used to buy them from the local distributor - heavy duty, long neck returnables for the price of the deposit. Those were the good old days. It's a shame they don't use returnables any more. They were great for bottling, and has to be way less energy used to clean them than melting them down to make new ones.

 

[MaxStout]

You can also get them for free from your local bar. Just ask the bartender for rhe empties

This. Stop in around Monday morning, there will likely be a bunch from over the weekend.

 

[Murphys_Law]

They don't need cleaning.......cigarette butts add flavors that are hard to get from hops

Would this be considered “dry butting”?

 

[madscientist451]

Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams labels come off easy. Buy some variety packs and go on a drinking binge. Or look on your local craigslist for brewing stuff, someone always has bottles included with their gear.

 

[MaxStout]

Check the free bottles thread from time to time. Maybe someone close by has some to get rid of.

 

[z-bob]

1 liter plastic pop bottles, like seltzer, club soda, ginger ale, and tonic come in, work well for beer. And you can reuse the caps. (2L bottles work too, but 1L is a nicer size) Even when I'm using glass bottles, I always do a couple of plastic bottles so I can monitor how the beer is carbonating.

 

[Soulshine2]

Hello all, I am new to HB and I am currently fermenting my first batch, hopefully I'll should be bottling in a few days.
My question is about the twist cap bottles I have. Do I need a special cap and capper for them or are they capped as any regular bottle?
Thank you for any help

I wouldnt use twist off bottles and caps. I doubt as a home brewer youd get a good enough seal . Best to use the standard caps and longneck 12 oz bottles.

 

[Soulshine2]

Would this be considered “dry butting”?