Bottle capper

[quixoticgeek]

I have been using a bottle capper that got from Wilko best part of 10 years ago, a bit like this one. It works, but it's not ideal, and the insides are starting to rust.

Given that I bottle rather than keg my beer, I'm thinking of treating myself to a better bottle capping device.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

J

[killer]

I bottle most of my beer too.

I bought one of these

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/counter-top-cap ... black.html

I'm very happy with it. Well worth the money. Takes some of the pain out of bottling and speeds thing up.

[sbond10]

As above I use one of them awsume piece of kit

[oldbloke]

Yep the Colt is cool.
I started out with one of those two-handed cappers, but it was always hard work and one day it snapped the neck off a bottle...
So, since they're cheap, I started using a hammer-on capper. Not that bad if you take suitable precautions - cushioning under the bottle, rubber mallet rather than hammer, etc
But when I got my Colt capper I nearly cried, it was so much easier all around.
NB I do hit the cap twice, with a 45 degree rotation between, Just In Case. But never had any leak.

Just remember to set it as low as it'll go and still let you slide the bottle in under the cap; if too high it can struggle to get the reach for a seal

[BenB]

I recently got given one of these

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... oonyh6TUVI

and very nice it is too. Previously I was using a black two-armed capper. The new one allows one-handed bottling and makes bottling less of a chore. Some will also do 29mm caps (used on champagne bottles) but that is not currently an issue for me. The one shown above will only do standard bottles which is fine with me.

[IPA]

This is the best money can buy. Automatic height adjustment and it takes both sizes of crown caps without changing the head.http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=560

[Jocky]

If you don't have the room for a bench capper and want to get another two handled job, I recommend the better brew one. It's all steel with red plastic handles:

[bobsbeer]

I have the one above and it works great. Although I only bottle about 6-10 at a time, but seems to seal all types of bottle.

[JamesF]

I have a couple of two-handed cappers that must be getting on for twenty years old and they've worked fine, though they do struggle with Wychwood bottles because they have a very shallow lip for the bottom of the capper to pull against.

When I start increasing my brew length beyond twenty five litres though I'll get a bench capper. It has to be far easier.

James

[JonoT]

I recently got given one of these

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... oonyh6TUVI

and very nice it is too. Previously I was using a black two-armed capper. The new one allows one-handed bottling and makes bottling less of a chore. Some will also do 29mm caps (used on champagne bottles) but that is not currently an issue for me. The one shown above will only do standard bottles which is fine with me.

+1 for this bench capper. I've had mine over 4 years and its going strong and we bottle a lot of beer. Only one tip, sort bottles into size order or just use one size bottle for each batch.

[lord groan]

I've used a hammer capper, a two-hander and now use a homemade bench capper. I'd definitely recommend the bench capper whether shop bought or homemade they're so much better and quicker.
I used the bell from my elderly boots hammer capper screwed to a round block of wood mounted in a drill press for my homemade one, would probably have been easier just to buy one though!
Hth

[JamesF]

I used the bell from my elderly boots hammer capper screwed to a round block of wood mounted in a drill press for my homemade one, would probably have been easier just to buy one though!
Hth

Perhaps it would have been easier to buy one, but there's something rather appealing about that approach

James

[donnyo]

I have the bench capper that killer uses after my 2 handed one kept breaking bottles and then itself.
Pretty obvious and a lesson I learnt the hard way:
- best case scenario - have all your bottles the same size so your bench capper can whizz through the job and make you smile at the time saved.
- Worst case scenario - mix up all your different sized bottles in a line so each bottle requires the bench capper to be adjusted individually for optimum height capping and you spend as long tinkering with capper height- swear next time to do it better.
- Realistic scenario - for me at least- store your bottles in milk bottle cases with all same size bottles in logical order . I have so many bottle sizes that i start bottling the taller bottles then progress down to the smaller ones. And find a comfortable bench-like height- 100 bottles to be capped is tedious in the extreme!

Wonder if anyone is sad enough to enjoy bottling !?

[dylanharrison85]

Bench capper in my shed of got it off the bay and it also came with the 29mm attachment I'm sure 33 quid posted but I forget the name of the company sorry

[Collingwood]

If you're handy in the shed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3_8qYSxgYY