I’ve asked this before and I’m pretty sure I know the answer I’m gonna get but I am having a really hard time finding “pop” top bottles at something even close to a reasonable price. I don’t wanna pay $1 per bottle for new bottles and not get them back to re-use.
So, is there any capper that can be used to cap screw tops? I can get new screw tops for $0.15 per bottle which is obviously a lot better.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
I would use my regular wing capper. Then test the tightness by twisting in the on-direction. When I first started back brewing I had to use a lot of twisties until a sufficient amount of pry-offs were collected. The primary problem is that the glass is thinner than regular bottles so is inclined to break. I’d lose one every batch or so.
Otherwise the twisties work just fine for holding carbonation.
One thing I should add is that in Canada, we have a great re-use system for bottles so I think that screw-top bottles used here are much thicker walled than the bottles used in the US which are primarily single use bottles.
I don’t have a wing capper, I have a bench capper but I’ll get a wing if that’ll work.
Is there any difference in the cap at all? Anyway, I think I’m sort of forced to give these a try because I have to bottle up 5 cases worth for an event and there’s no way I can (or want to) get that many used pop-tops and wash them all etc.
I’ve always heard that, if you’re going to use twist-offs, a bench capper actually works better.
Any reason you have to buy bottles? Can’t you just drink enough beer that comes in non-twist-offs to build up a goodly supply?
I’m doing 6 cases of beer for an event (it’s as much about the labels as the beer so I can’t do kegs).
So, I need some bottles. Plus, now that I’ve been home brewing a lot for the past couple years, I just don’t buy much beer anymore.
Also, since this is for an event, I don’t want to risk a dirty bottle.
I have some pop tops that I’ll reserve for the few competitions I go in cause I don’t want to risk screw offs for that.
I’ve heard that regular caps and a caper will work on screw top bottles, but never tried it myself.
This is good to know. I have always believed that you couldn’t re-cap twist off bottles. And my wife still drinks a beer that comes in those. I will be giving this a try soon.