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Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2017
The capper is made of metal and appears to be very sturdy. I bought it because the red plastic cappers that I have been using have broken in the past. During one bottling session, my only plastic capper broke part way through, leaving me with no way to finish the job. The beer store was closed, and my only capper had broken. So I always keep at least two working cappers just in case. When I saw this model made of metal I tried it to see if I could solve the problem better this way.
The capper did a fine job of capping the bottles with a few caveats, which I address in this review.
1. Other reviews say that the capper will stick to the caps, and I found that to be true. However, once I had lubricated the cone with some cooking oil I did not see that problem again. I lubricated the other moving parts of the capper with light machine oil as indicated in the instructions, but I put cooking oil inside the cone since I do not want to have petroleum oil directly on the bottles or caps.
2. It has also been reported that because of the separate steel fingers in the cone, the teeth of the cap get caught in the slots between the fingers and not crimped properly. I also found that to be true. There are 21 teeth on the cap and 12 fingers in the cone (see photo). So I calculated the relative positions of the teeth and the slots and found that the teeth and the slots will align at the angles of 0 degrees, 120 degrees, and 240 degrees, thus trapping the teeth in the slots in those locations.
But that problem is easy to get around. Each of the 12 fingers spans 30 degrees of the circle, so if you crimp twice, rotating the capper 15 degrees between the two operations, you are guaranteed to place the errant teeth in the middle of a finger for the second press. So that is how I capped my bottles.
- Put on the cap.
- Crimp the cap down.
- Rotate the capper a small amount.
- Crimp again.
It takes less than a half second longer to do the second motion, and all of the caps were seated perfectly.
3. Another reported issue is that it puts a dimple in the center of the cap. That is true as well. Some reviewers have stated that the purpose of the dimple is to pop out once the beer has carbonated. That is not true. My beer is now fully conditioned, and none of the dimples have popped up. See attached photo of the bottle cap that I removed from the first bottle. This is only a cosmetic issue, and is of no consequence to me because I put a sticker on each cap with the bottling date on it, so I cannot see the dimple anyway. However it might be a showstopper issue for others. The plastic cappers that I have rarely dimple the top of the cap.
I use only new, standard 12 ounce beer bottles, so I cannot speak to the ability of the capper to handle all of the various rogue bottles that people use. The capper works fine on my standard bottles, and it seats the cap with a satisfying pop. There is a mechanical stop on the capper that sets the depth of the compression, so I could simply lean on the arms to pop the caps into place. There is no need to be careful of the force applied (within reaon). It takes a bit of force to put on the caps, but it is not excessive, and once you get used to it, it feels good.
I have downgraded the review a bit because of the stated issues, but all in all the capper works fine if you take the time to work around the problems. The workaround is quick and easy. Lubricate the cone with cooking oil, set the cap twice rotating the capper slightly between presses. Then it works fine.
And I am convinced that the capper will not break in the middle of a bottling session, which is why I bought it in the first place.
Update: I took another look at that bottle cap and found that the teeth at 0 degrees, 120 degrees, and 240 degrees were, indeed, pinched in the slots of the capper as predicted. See my additional photo. The three teeth are called out with arrows. Those three teeth are sharp, and all the others are round, so they were caught between the fingers. The cap worked fine anyway, and the bottle was sealed properly. I will update again if I find any bottles with flat beer.
The capper did a fine job of capping the bottles with a few caveats, which I address in this review.
1. Other reviews say that the capper will stick to the caps, and I found that to be true. However, once I had lubricated the cone with some cooking oil I did not see that problem again. I lubricated the other moving parts of the capper with light machine oil as indicated in the instructions, but I put cooking oil inside the cone since I do not want to have petroleum oil directly on the bottles or caps.
2. It has also been reported that because of the separate steel fingers in the cone, the teeth of the cap get caught in the slots between the fingers and not crimped properly. I also found that to be true. There are 21 teeth on the cap and 12 fingers in the cone (see photo). So I calculated the relative positions of the teeth and the slots and found that the teeth and the slots will align at the angles of 0 degrees, 120 degrees, and 240 degrees, thus trapping the teeth in the slots in those locations.
But that problem is easy to get around. Each of the 12 fingers spans 30 degrees of the circle, so if you crimp twice, rotating the capper 15 degrees between the two operations, you are guaranteed to place the errant teeth in the middle of a finger for the second press. So that is how I capped my bottles.
- Put on the cap.
- Crimp the cap down.
- Rotate the capper a small amount.
- Crimp again.
It takes less than a half second longer to do the second motion, and all of the caps were seated perfectly.
3. Another reported issue is that it puts a dimple in the center of the cap. That is true as well. Some reviewers have stated that the purpose of the dimple is to pop out once the beer has carbonated. That is not true. My beer is now fully conditioned, and none of the dimples have popped up. See attached photo of the bottle cap that I removed from the first bottle. This is only a cosmetic issue, and is of no consequence to me because I put a sticker on each cap with the bottling date on it, so I cannot see the dimple anyway. However it might be a showstopper issue for others. The plastic cappers that I have rarely dimple the top of the cap.
I use only new, standard 12 ounce beer bottles, so I cannot speak to the ability of the capper to handle all of the various rogue bottles that people use. The capper works fine on my standard bottles, and it seats the cap with a satisfying pop. There is a mechanical stop on the capper that sets the depth of the compression, so I could simply lean on the arms to pop the caps into place. There is no need to be careful of the force applied (within reaon). It takes a bit of force to put on the caps, but it is not excessive, and once you get used to it, it feels good.
I have downgraded the review a bit because of the stated issues, but all in all the capper works fine if you take the time to work around the problems. The workaround is quick and easy. Lubricate the cone with cooking oil, set the cap twice rotating the capper slightly between presses. Then it works fine.
And I am convinced that the capper will not break in the middle of a bottling session, which is why I bought it in the first place.
Update: I took another look at that bottle cap and found that the teeth at 0 degrees, 120 degrees, and 240 degrees were, indeed, pinched in the slots of the capper as predicted. See my additional photo. The three teeth are called out with arrows. Those three teeth are sharp, and all the others are round, so they were caught between the fingers. The cap worked fine anyway, and the bottle was sealed properly. I will update again if I find any bottles with flat beer.
Images in this review
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