Someone was saving bottles for me and I just realized they are all AB twist off bottles. Will a standard bottle capper crimp tight enough to hold the carbonation correctly or should I just pitch these bottles?
Thanks.
I’d ditch them. Some people claim they can get them to seal, but I don’t trust them. Thinner glass too.
I’ve never tested it myself but I’ve always been told that it won’t work.
If you are using a “wing” capper instead of a bench capper, you will not be able to get a good grip on the bottle to set the cap.
Even with a bench capper, I would ditch them. To many micro brews to try that will work.
I have tried to bottle with twist offs, and it does work, just not 100% success rate. I do not use twist off anymore because I have enough non-twistoffs, but when I first started I used them. I would say that I had about 70% success rate with twist offs. 7 out of 10 carbonated, the others I had to throw out and I wasted the beer.
I’ve done it with a wing capper in my early Brewing days. It worked, but was kinda hard. I wouldn’t recommend it. Was neat to twist off a homebrew though.
You can try them. I’ve picked up a few twist-offs and have put beer in them, was able to cap them, and they seemed to hold pressure just fine. The glass is much thinner at the top so go slow.
The real trick about reusing any bottles is that the neck needs to have the right shoulder shape so the capper can grab on and pull down the cap.
I would also throw away your wing capper and get an adjustable-height bench capper!
Remember when Sierra Nevada was twist off?
I remember testing a few and they worked fine, but never could fully commit.
