Bench Cappers

[daveyk]

Thanks for the replies one and all.

I'm reassured this would be a worthy investment.

thanks for the idea of the B&D workmate.... hadn't thought of that one.

I was unaware of the height adjustment required. Is this a faff or relatively straight forward?

Dave

[TheMumbler]

Height adjustment is very straightforward. Just a spring mounted bolt(?) and a series of holes in the pillar. Pull trigger, move to desired height, release, push up or down a little so that the bolt finds a hole.

[fiat84]

After a few batches found it is much easier and faster to cap when the capper gap is about 1cm higher than the bottle. This helps get that smooth complete "snap" like wrap around closure seal with less force for both twist-off and standard beer bottles. The more space between the capper and the bottle the harder it is to cap. At first we set the bench capper too high and almost never got the complete "snap" like wrap seal with twist off bottles. Goes faster when you put the caps on all the bottles first, then proceed to start capping. Agree with others to sort bottles by height as some twist-off and standard bottles are the same height so you only have to adjust for each different height group of bottles.

The easiest way to bottle beer is using a bottling bucket with spigot, then attach a 2 inch piece of clear hose, then attach the bottling wand. Turn spigot on and initially slightly tilt each bottle at an angle when filling which keeps the foam down. Have more control and if needed can fine tune the fill volume by using a light tapping action with the bottling wand at the bottom of the bottle to top up without spilling over. Previously we had used a long 5 foot hose attached to the spigot with the bottling wand on the floor which was far messier since the increased pressure foamed up most bottles and we over filled many more bottles wasting beer.

[garwatts]

we over filled many more bottles wasting beer.

Sacre Blue

[themadhippy]

screw the capper to a bit of wood,then use a couple of quick fit G clamps to clamp to the worktop,works for me.

[6470zzy]

I use a Colonna Bench Capper and have been happy with it for many years, I have found it to be much superior to the 2 handed model.

Cheers

[djrm]

Has anybody used one of the cappers? Santa wants to buy one for me and I'm wondering what kind she should buy.
It would probably be this one or the usual plastic and metal one shown before.
--clicky--

[scottmoss]

Has anybody used one of the cappers? Santa wants to buy one for me and I'm wondering what kind she should buy.
It would probably be this one or the usual plastic and metal one shown before.
--clicky--

Hi,

I use the 2 handed capper and find it really easy. Can't comment on the bench cappers.

How do you find the Black Pearl just placed mine in the Barrel yesterday and it tasted pretty good!

[djrm]

Hi Scott, regarding the Black Pearl.

It stopped its fermentation at 1016 in just over one week at about 22C, After that I let it settle for another week when I bottled quite a lot of it and the remainder went into a Corny keg.

Even when bottling it it tasted really nice. I'm regularly having a glass out of the corny keg. I was unsure what to expect and woried that it would be a sharp guinness like taste instead of a fruity old perculiar or rigwelter. Im glad to say its better than either. I cant wait to try some bottles at Christmas. The beer has not gone clear, I dont think it is going to either. It doesnt taste of yeast I expect this may be normal.

Brewing notes on Black Pearl:
13 Nov 2009 22 Litre Milestone Black Pearl 24 C OG 1044 Secondary 21 Nov 2009 FG 1016 Isinglas fining 29 Nov 2009, 18*500 ml + 4*750 ml primed with tsp LCM, remainder in corny keg#1

and the capper.
I'm looking for a bench capper and cant decide which one to get, Ive seen the all metal one but I dont know if it is better that the usual metal/platic one more usually seen.

[scottmoss]

Thanks djrm for the info. Can't wait to try mine, going to put some Nitrogen into mine to get a nice creamy head!

[djrm]

As well as my usual bottle of CO2 I've got a bottle of 70/30 pub gas and a creamer insert for the Dalex tap. I've never used the pub gas bottle but I had thought of trying that combo on the Black Pearl. But its really just fine at about 8 psi / 10 C through the normal tap. Ideally I would like to serve my beer a bit warmer and I'm thinking of insulating my kegs with an old sleeping mat.
David.