Decent capper

RasTa · 21-06-2014 1:21pm #1

I'm using this and it's a piece of crap.

https://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/twin-lever-capper-p-57.html

Only seems to be one more on the market. Guess it has to be that one, bit pricey.

Tube · 21-06-2014 9:10pm

Get one of these and you'll never look back

http://www.homebrewwest.ie/counter-top-capper-x28yellow-blue-green-redx29-3739-p.asp

ian_m · 21-06-2014 11:43pm

Can you use it without bolting to a bench?

Richie71 · 21-06-2014 11:57pm

Yes, no need to bolt to a bench.

Tube · 22-06-2014 12:05am

ian_m wrote: »

Can you use it without bolting to a bench?

Yes.

groom · 25-06-2014 1:12pm

I can recommend the linked one above. I snapped a plastic 2 handled one first use. I bought the attached one and it is very controlled and gives a very satisfying feel when you're capping.
Good price too

And I used it without it being bolted to a bench

lee_baby_simms · 26-06-2014 11:04am

I've just ordered one.

jonziepoo · 27-08-2014 11:05pm

lee_baby_simms wrote: »

I've just ordered one.

Can I ask if you liked it in the end? It was not working with the bottles I had.

lee_baby_simms · 28-08-2014 3:13pm

jonziepoo wrote: »

Can I ask if you liked it in the end? It was not working with the bottles I had.

It's great yeah. It took me a few bottles to get the hang of using it.

It requires a fairly firm press down on the handle and then while holding it in place you twist the bottle anticlockwise to release the bottle.

thenightrider · 31-08-2014 11:04pm

If i bought the above capper can i just buy a pack of http://www.homebrewwest.ie/crown-caps-yellow-100s-112-p.asp
And use them on any glass beer bottles as i am using the pet bottles at the moment and was thinking of going glass.

jonziepoo · 01-09-2014 12:23am

I Bought it not long ago and in was on offer with 2 bags of caps for free at home brew west. You can use it on most bottles but not all. It turned out most of my bottles were the wrong size

Personally even with the right bottles I didn't find it very good, if I were to go back I'd rather invest in a good hand capper.
So now it's sitting there not used.

ladhrann · 02-09-2014 2:41am

jonziepoo wrote: »

I Bought it not long ago and in was on offer with 2 bags of caps for free at home brew west. You can use it on most bottles but not all. It turned out most of my bottles were the wrong size
Personally even with the right bottles I didn't find it very good, if I were to go back I'd rather invest in a good hand capper.
So now it's sitting there not used.

Any advice on good hand cappers?

RasTa · 02-09-2014 9:24am

It's fine for me tbh, no issue at all. It came with a free adapter so you can use it on 26mm or 29mm although haven't found any need for an adapter yet.

groom · 02-09-2014 9:52am

RasTa wrote: »

It's fine for me tbh, no issue at all. It came with a free adapter so you can use it on 26mm or 29mm although haven't found any need for an adapter yet.

This would be my experience also.

Buona Fortuna · 02-09-2014 10:00am

RasTa wrote: »

It's fine for me tbh, no issue at all. It came with a free adapter so you can use it on 26mm or 29mm although haven't found any need for an adapter yet.

groom wrote: »

This would be my experience also.

jonziepoo wrote: »

I Bought it not long ago and in was on offer with 2 bags of caps for free at home brew west. You can use it on most bottles but not all. It turned out most of my bottles were the wrong size
Personally even with the right bottles I didn't find it very good, if I were to go back I'd rather invest in a good hand capper.
So now it's sitting there not used.

Are you guys using begged, borrowed, re-used or bought bottles?

Just looking for a steer on the route to go without wasting (famous last words :mad:) too much cash.

I just hate buying stuff and ending up with Jonzie's experience.

RasTa · 02-09-2014 11:43am

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Are you guys using begged, borrowed, re-used or bought bottles?

Just looking for a steer on the route to go without wasting (famous last words :mad:) too much cash.

I just hate buying stuff and ending up with Jonzie's experience.

Re-used bottles, generally tyskie or lomza's. I think I'm on my 3rd cycle with the same bottles now.

groom · 02-09-2014 1:01pm

If you can't recycle enough bottles then you aren't drinking enough

jonziepoo · 03-09-2014 9:03am

I use recycled bottles too, didn't work on the spaten beer bottles. Apart from that, I just found it a bit cumbersome and awkward to use, you have to giggle the bottle to release it from the capper. Time consuming.

RasTa · 03-09-2014 9:34am

jonziepoo wrote: »

I use recycled bottles too, didn't work on the spaten beer bottles. Apart from that, I just found it a bit cumbersome and awkward to use, you have to giggle the bottle to release it from the capper. Time consuming.

You just pull it off once it's capped.

jonziepoo · 03-09-2014 9:40am

I would look for something in metal, that you can adjust at any height, as opposed to the plastic one from home brew west, that has a series of fixed positions for different heights. Inevitably there are going to be bottles you can't cap.
They are very difficult to find here in Ireland, I have not managed to far, see an example here: but you'll find some on ebay co uk (agata bench capper metal).

jonziepoo · 03-09-2014 9:42am

RasTa wrote: »

You just pull it off once it's capped.

I know, that's the time consuming part, plus having to adjust the height every time you change bottle type. With a hand capper I find it quicker (of course this is my personal take).

groom · 03-09-2014 10:22am

jonziepoo wrote: »

I would look for something in metal, that you can adjust at any height, as opposed to the plastic one from home brew west

The capper we are discussing is 90% metal. Are you referring to a different one?

counter-top-capper-x28-yellow-blue-green-red-x29--3739-p.jpg

I did a search on ebay and found this
$(KGrHqYOKo8E4iY7HLkvBOLZ96pDsw~~0_35.JPG

So it would seem the Homebrewwest one is an Agata one or at least the same design

drumswan · 03-09-2014 11:13am

jonziepoo wrote: »

I know, that's the time consuming part, plus having to adjust the height every time you change bottle type. With a hand capper I find it quicker (of course this is my personal take).

Bottling is a pain in the arse, only way around these headaches is to move to kegging.

jonziepoo · 05-09-2014 9:53am

groom wrote: »

The capper we are discussing is 90% metal. Are you referring to a different one?

So it would seem the Homebrewwest one is an Agata one or at least the same design

That's the one that didn't make me too happy and yes seems to be an Agata too, what I had seen was this:
ebay. co. uk /itm/AGATA-BENCH-BOTTLE-CAPPER-ALL-METAL-CONSTRUCTION-FOR-HOME-BREWERS-/131282861125?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e91117c45

Buona Fortuna · 05-09-2014 10:09am

jonziepoo wrote: »

That's the one that didn't make me too happy and yes seems to be an Agata too, what I had seen was this:
ebay. co. uk /itm/AGATA-BENCH-BOTTLE-CAPPER-ALL-METAL-CONSTRUCTION-FOR-HOME-BREWERS-/131282861125?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e91117c45

The link

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AGATA-BENCH-BOTTLE-CAPPER-ALL-METAL-CONSTRUCTION-FOR-HOME-BREWERS-/131282861125?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e91117c45

Jonzie, have you got one of these? Is it different to the HBW model?

jonziepoo · 05-09-2014 10:51am

Hi, yes it is different in the fact that the "lever part" can be adjusted at any height with a screw, while with the one by HomeBrewWest you are stuck with a series of pre-drilled holes/positions on the vertical bar, this means that you won't be able to use it on bottles whose height falls between two positions/holes, while with the one I posted there are infinite possible positions. It is also different because it is all metal construction.
I don't have one, it's the old agata model, I don't think you can find it new online but there are other ones with the same system for height regulation but with plastic parts, still better than the HBW one: ebay. co. uk/itm/BENCH-COUNTER-TOP-BEER-BOTTLE-CAPPER-/161346784767?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item2591048dff

cython · 05-09-2014 12:38pm

jonziepoo wrote: »

Hi, yes it is different in the fact that the "lever part" can be adjusted at any height with a screw, while with the one by HomeBrewWest you are stuck with a series of pre-drilled holes/positions on the vertical bar, this means that you won't be able to use it on bottles whose height falls between two positions/holes, while with the one I posted there are infinite possible positions. It is also different because it is all metal construction.
I don't have one, it's the old agata model, I don't think you can find it new online but there are other ones with the same system for height regulation but with plastic parts, still better than the HBW one: ebay. co. uk/itm/BENCH-COUNTER-TOP-BEER-BOTTLE-CAPPER-/161346784767?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item2591048dff

I'm pretty new to this, but I would have imagined that this is a minor enough issue that could be overcome with a couple of thin/varying thickness books or magazines/similar, is it not? They don't compress that much, and unless the holes are miles apart something could surely be improvised....

I would imagine the "digital" way of setting it is more solid/secure and less prone to sliding/wear in the long run.

groom · 05-09-2014 1:20pm

cython wrote: »

I would imagine the "digital" way of setting it is more solid/secure and less prone to sliding/wear in the long run.

Exactly what I thought. I could imagine a free mechanism being liable to slip or become loose.

In addition with the one with defined holes there a certain amount of overlap with each setting so I wouldn't think there is any bottle size that falls between settings.

Also when I'm bottling a batch I usually use 3 different bottle sizes in a 30 bottle batch. That means I have to change the height setting twice. That takes about 3 seconds each time.

jonziepoo · 05-09-2014 1:21pm

cython wrote: »

I'm pretty new to this, but I would have imagined that this is a minor enough issue that could be overcome with a couple of thin/varying thickness books or magazines/similar, is it not? They don't compress that much, and unless the holes are miles apart something could surely be improvised....

I would imagine the "digital" way of setting it is more solid/secure and less prone to sliding/wear in the long run.

That's a simple and effective idea

but if you are just about to buy one, you might just buy the one were you don't have find the right book for the right thickness.

cython · 05-09-2014 1:50pm

groom wrote: »

Exactly what I thought. I could imagine a free mechanism being liable to slip or become loose.

In addition with the one with defined holes there a certain amount of overlap with each setting so I wouldn't think there is any bottle size that falls between settings.

Also when I'm bottling a batch I usually use 3 different bottle sizes in a 30 bottle batch. That means I have to change the height setting twice. That takes about 3 seconds each time.

See I had hoped that any designer for something like this would have the cop on to do that too, but as I said, new to this lark, and have never looked into any of these cappers, so didn't know well enough to say with certainty.

Decent capper

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