Bottling with twist-offs
Moderator: slothrob
Bottling with twist-offs
Okay, I've heard the mantra chanted over and over: "Don't re-use bottles with twist-off caps." Why? What technology is available to the big boys that we homebrewers don't have? How can they get a good seal on their bottles while we are forced to toss their refuse in the recycling bin?
Weaker Glass
The reason not to use the twist-off bottles is that they're made from a thinner glass. If you use a standard crimp-on crown cap, the force will break the bottle. I know this from personal experience with AB bottles If you want to reuse bottles from the commercial guys, I'd stick with ones with standard crown caps, ie. Sam Adams.
v/r
Bill
v/r
Bill
It's the capper
The hand-held cappers that most homebrewers use won't work with the thin glass of screw-off bottles. The "technology" the big boys have is superior cappers. There are bench cappers available to homebrewers (yes, they cost more than the Red Barron handheld kind) that can also handle screw off bottles without shattering.
Bottling with twist offs
I broke a few twist off bottles using the heavy duty gold caps but I discovered that the cheap no name caps with printed logos worked fine because they are much thinner and don't subject the bottles to as much stress. I never had one leak using these caps.
i have found that when i cap a twist off bottle i have to use more force than with a non twist off and i have never had a bottle break and i have naver had a problem with carbonation always open with a load pssssss,and have never had a twist off's explode during carbonation,and my bottle capper cost me $12.00,it's nothing fancy.i was quite worried about using them after all i read about it on the threads but i haven't had any problems what so ever, and i don't need a bottle opener.i've also never noticed a difference with bottle thickness where i live,twist off's are far less hassle to find as well.