Capping

[UB2]

Recently had 2 failures that came to light when I uncapped 22 oz bombers. 2 others from the same batch were fine. Can the bottle capper go bad? It appears that air got in there because inspection revealed that there was residue about 1/2" above the level of the beer so it appears that air got in. Both bottles also broke (small chunck of glass came off the top). I have capped approximately 30 cases with this capper.

 

[brewmer]

I think it would be fault with your bottles rather than the capper if some are ok and some leaked and have chips.
i have a bench capper thats quite old now and never had problems although you can buy new bells for it so maybe they do wear out and get loose..

 

[chessking]

If you suspect a cap may be leaking pressure, you can place a deflated balloon over the cap and check on it in a few days.

 

[EPV Brewing]

Question, are you boiling your caps first, or at least using VERY hot water. If not you should, this helps soften the rubber to get a better seal. I boil about 2 cups of water, then toss my caps in and pull them out one at a time when bottling.

 

[sbaclimber]

What kind of capper are you using?
I've been using this one since I started brewing almost 10yrs and thousands of bottles ago, without any problems...
(and without ever needing to heat caps either...)

 

[MrBIP]

I've got 15 batches bottled so far with the red cheapy that comes with the starter kit and no issues at all. Have never heard of heating bottle caps up or boiling them, I just have them a bowl of santizer, pick 'em out and cap.

 

[EPV Brewing]

Heat, especially moist heat, can effectively inactivate most microorganisms and can do so relatively rapidly. A temperature of 175 degrees F (80 degrees C) for 5-10 min, for example, will destroy all active bacteria, yeast, and fungi.

For most home brewing purposes, boiling in water for 20-60 min (approximately 212 degrees F [100 degrees C]) is sufficient to sterilize liquids such as wort for brewing and starters and solutions of priming sugar. Boiling water can also be used in place of bleach to sterilize bottle caps, stainless steel kegs, and other utensils. It is also an effective way to remove residual bleach or other sanitizing agents from brewing equipment.

Put as many caps as you will need into a pot and cover them with water. Bring this mixture to a boil for one minute - not longer - and then turn off the heat and put the pot on a cold burner. Cover the pot with a lid and let the caps sit, submerged, for ten to fifteen minutes in the hot water. This pasteurizes the caps. Remember: if you boil caps too hard, too long, you can peel the rubber liners out of the inside of the caps.
Do not boil for more than a minute, but the caps DO need to sit in the hot water for at least ten minutes....

http://www.beertools.com/html/tutorial/ ... step01.php

you can find this on the page of the above website

Caps
Unused bottle caps are pressed onto bottles with a bottle capper to seal and maintain pressure. They are sanitized by boiling.

Although none of the info above says it will make them seal better, I'm sure it does. Softer liners will compress better allowing for a better seal.

 

[Jimminator]

I read you shouldn't boil the oxygen absorbing caps. As that's what I have now, I've just been tossing them in the sanitizer prior to capping. If that's not right, please let me know. I used to boil the caps all the time, but haven't since I restarted.

I have that same black capper and used it for many years. The only problem is the magnet got pushed up into its socket so the caps don't 'stick' on it, but I place the caps onto the bottle first anyway.

Are you sure the caps are the right size for the bottles? I know some larger bottles have very slightly larger tops, and that might cause leaking and/or bottles getting chipped. I'm speculating here, but I have one large bottle, and my normal caps will almost fit. I'll bet I could get a regular cap on it, once.

 

[UB2]

The problem appears to be something else entirely. I have several wall mounted bottle openers, one of which seems to have been nicking the bottles when used. I inspected over 50 capped beers and identified 2 where pressure loss was evident by a small amount of krausen (sp?) in the neck. I opened them very carefully and noted the nicked glass.
Thanks for the responses