The modern bottle cap was invented by William Painter in 1892. In addition to inventing the bottle cap, bottle opener, counterfeit money detector, and inspiring King C. Gillette to invent the disposable razor, Mr. Painter also invented the focus of our article today, the bottle capper.
Bottles were originally designed with a rounded bottom so they could not be stood upright and instead lay on their side. The manufacturer did this because they did not want customers to sit the bottles upright and dry out the cork. When the cork dried out it would pop out of the bottle and the product inside the bottle would be ruined.
Thankfully, Mr. Painter solved this problem for us by inventing a way to seal the bottle so that it could sit in an upright position. The next time you grab a bottle of finished homebrew from your freshly packed fridge, raise one to William Painter, bottle cap extraordinaire!
While visions of bottle cappers aren’t what aspiring homebrewers daydream about, bottling fifty-four bottles of beer can be an attention grabber. Fifty-four is the approximate number of bottles it takes to bottle five gallons of homebrew.
With the right capper, you can knock those fifty-four bottles out before somebody can finish a song about ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall!
Now that we have given you a brief history of bottle caps and cappers, let’s review the best options for capping bottles of homebrew today.
Table of Contents
Homebrew Bottle Cappers Buyers Guide:
Cost:
The cost of a homebrew bottle capper ranges from a fast food dinner for two up to a sixteen-year subscription to Netflix!
While most bottle cappers we are reviewing are on the very low side of that spectrum, as with most purchases, it can be a lot of fun to look at the top of the line options.
Reliability:
Reliability and cost are two important factors to consider when choosing between similar types of bottle cappers.
If you are just starting out and are unsure of your level of future commitment you might want to go with the cheapest option available but if you know you are homebrewing for life, it is only natural to assume that reliability is what you are looking for.
Type:
Perhaps the most important factor in picking a bottle capper is the type of homebrewing operation you have. If you are a beginner or only brew occasionally, a hand capper might be perfect for you, but if you brew quite often you may want to invest in a benchtop capper since most people report it being easier to cap more bottles, at a faster pace.
Finally, if you are an advanced brewer and are looking to break into the world of craft brewing you may want to start exploring pneumatic options. The more bottles you can cap per hour, the higher the price of the bottle capper.
Best Homebrew Bottle Cappers
Red Baron Bottle Capper
The Red Baron Bottle Capper is probably the most famous and most widely used bottle capper for homebrewers. This classic hand capper is compact, easy to store, and is a cheap option for beginners or homebrewers on a budget.
There are a couple different brands that make this style of bottle capper, and most are made of high quality, dense plastic material. The weight is great for helping you put enough pressure to seal the cap and keep the bottle steady.
The main downside to these is that you need to apply equal pressure to both “wings” of the device to get a proper seal. You can't one-hand it!
Pros and Cons of the Red Barron Bottle Capper
PRO: It is a low cost.
PRO: It is time tested and reliable.
PRO: It is easy to handle and use.
PRO: It is easy to store.
CON: It can be time-consuming and hard on your hands to cap a lot of bottles.
CON: Grips are not deal for hand shape
CON: Bulky shape makes storage awkward
Brooklyn Brew Shop Bottle Capper Set
The Brooklyn Brew Shop Bottle Capper Set contains 50 caps, and the handles of this capper are designed to give you better leverage and control during the capping process since it has long handles with round grips. This model is effective for capping many different types and sizes of pop-top beer bottles.
However, it's made of tin, rather than plastic, which makes a little more heavy. That means more weight behind your capping (less effort on your part), but it also means more lifting for your arms (just a bit).
Pros and Cons of Brooklyn Brew Shop Bottle Capper Set
PRO: Low cost.
PRO: It comes with caps.
PRO: It is easy to handle and use.
PRO: It is easy to store
CON: It may leave a small dimple on the top of the cap.
CON: May stick slightly to cap sometimes after crimping.
CON: It can be time-consuming and hard on your hands to cap a-lot of bottles.
Mr. Beer Hand Capper and Caps Bundle
The Mr. Beer Hand Capper and Caps Bundle also comes with a packet of beer caps and has an ergonomically designed handle. This capper is accommodating to various sizes of beer bottles.
Pros and Cons of Mr. Beer Hand Capper Bundle
PRO: Low cost.
PRO: It comes with caps
PRO: It is easy to handle and use
PRO: It is easy to store
CON: This model has difficulty capping certain types of non-standard bottles.
CON: It can be time-consuming and hard on your hands to cap a-lot of bottles.
CON: Unreliable capping quality
Ferrari Super Agata Bench Capper
Ferrari Super Agata Bench Capper is a bench-top capper that comes at a higher price when compared to similar products. The unit is made in Italy and, come on people, it is a Ferrari!
Bench cappers in general will cost more than hand cappers, and although this Ferrari product is slightly more expensive.
Unfortunately, that price doesn't guarantee quality. There are multiple complaints of plastic components breaking on this unit, or other problems like the cap bell needing to be lubed or bottles get stuck.
That being said, this is one of the more popular and widely used models of bench capper, and there are plenty of people who are happy with this product. Plus, of course, it's a novel buy for Ferrari enthusiasts!
Pros and Cons of Ferrari Bench Capper
PRO: It is adjustable for different size bottles.
PRO: Widely used and generally like benchtop capper
PRO: It allows you to cap faster than hand-held cappers.
CON: It can be prone to mechanical and hardware issues
Professional Bench Beer Bottle Capper by G. Francis
The Professional Bench Beer Bottle Capper by G. Francis is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, benchtop cappers available. For almost the same price as a hand capper you can be knocking out personal best times for bottling up your homebrew.
This unit can be secured to the counter-top or bench you are using by utilizing the pre-drilled screw mounts in its base. It is also adjustable to various size bottles.
Pros and Cons of the Francis Bench Capper
PRO: It is the cheapest option for a counter-top unit.
PRO: It is adjustable for different size bottles.
PRO: It allows you to cap faster than benchtop cappers.
PRO: It can be mounted to bench or countertop.
PRO: Good reviews!
CON: It is not as heavily constructed as more expensive models.
Colt Strong Bench Capper
The Colt Strong Bench Capper is slightly more expensive than comparable models but is known for being sturdy and mechanically reliable. This capper is adjustable to many sizes of bottles, an upgrade over hand capping, and is a nice balance of price and optimal performance.
Though it's more expensive, if you've ever bottled 5 gallons of beer, you know that reliability and speed is worth the slight increase in cost. Since this unit is so reliably constructed, an extra ten or twenty dollars over the lifetime of this product won't make much difference to your wallet long term.
Pros and Cons of Colt Strong Bench Capper
PRO: It has a sturdy construction.
PRO: It is mechanically reliable.
PRO: It allows you to cap bottles more quickly than a hand capper.
PRO: Can cap multiple sizes and styles of bottles
CON: There is often a “breaking in” period in which the lever can be hard to get down.
E.C. Kraus Professional Heavy-Duty Bench Capper
The E.C. Kraus Professional Heavy-Duty Bench Capper is a nice pick for the serious homebrewer that knows they will be capping bottles of homebrew for the rest of their life.
The up-front cost is significantly more than most benchtop cappers but its heavy-duty construction makes it a smart grab for serious homebrewers.
Pros and Cons of E.C. Kraus Heavy-Duty Bench Capper
PRO: Allows for quicker bottling than hand cappers.
PRO: It is built for frequent use and to outlast cheaper models.
PRO: It is sturdy enough to cap champagne bottles on a regular basis.
CON: Costs much more than many of its competitors.
CON: It is very heavy (22.5 pounds).
Air-Matic Pneumatic Bottle Capper
Some of us love gadgets and we really enjoy having the latest and greatest technology when it comes to our hobbies.
If you can’t get enough of innovative new ways to use technology or need to cap bottles more quickly than possible on a manual machine, the Air-Matic Pneumatic Bottle Capper is the next step in bottle capping technology for homebrewers.
The Air-Matic Pneumatic Bottle Capper will take the job of capping your homebrew bottles out of your hands, literally! This sleek-looking pneumatic capper will give you the ability to cap between 500 to 600 bottles per hour!
While it might be nice to leave the heavy lifting (or should I say squeezing) to the machine, it will cost you a pretty penny. The Air-Matic Pneumatic Bottle Capper costs about ten times what a mid-range manual counter-top capper does and a great deal more than traditional hand cappers.
Pros and Cons of Air-Matic Pneumatic Bottle Capper:
PRO: It can be used to cap 500 to 600 bottles per hour.
PRO: Reduces physical stress on hands and body when bottling on a consistent basis.
PRO: It is adjustable to fit various bottle sizes.
PRO: The unit is heavily constructed with a painted steel finish.
CON: This unit is much more expensive than its manual counterparts.
CON: It takes up a lot of room when it is used or is left out for use on countertop.
Kinnex Crown Capping Machine
We started out our reviews with a handheld capper that many homebrewers used to bottle their first six-pack out of a one-gallon glass fermenter. This capping machine is for the homebrewer who has taken their game to a whole level.
The Kinnex Crown Capping Machine is an industrial pneumatic capping machine that can cap up to 1200 bottles in an hour! The surprising thing is this machine doesn’t take up much space for an industrial-style machine and, if you have an air compressor, is not very complicated to set up and use.
Whether you are an aspiring craft brewer already selling your product for money or just an enthusiast with plenty of money to burn, this is the absolute top of the line bottle capper for homebrewing.
Pros and Cons of Kinnex Crown Capping Machine:
PRO: It can cap up to 1200 bottles per hour
PRO: It can accommodate bottles up to 15 inches tall and 8 inches in diameter.
PRO: It doesn’t require any tools to adjust for different size bottles.
PRO: Industrial machinery that is built to last.
CON: It is a very expensive piece of equipment,
CON: It requires an air compression system to operate.
CON: It is an industrial machine not made for display and is larger than “hobby” models.
CON: Good luck fixing or troubleshooting this thing!
Homebrew Bottle Cappers FAQ
Can I cap the beer bottles I save or is there a certain type of bottle I should save?
Twist off beer bottles will not work with most cappers for homebrewing. While using “shorty” bottles is possible, it increases the chance the bottle will shatter or incorrectly seal during the capping process.
Using a standard long neck pop-top beer bottle gives you the best chance for success when re-capping used bottles. Be sure to properly clean, sanitize, and inspect all bottles prior to re-using them to make homebrew!
Bombers, AKA 22oz bottles work great too, but unfortunately, cappers are not meant for corking, so you'll need a special corking machine, plus corks and cages for your highly carbonated Belgian style beers.
Which is better, a handheld capper or a countertop capper?
The answer to this question depends on your unique homebrewing situation.
If you make large batches of beer and homebrew quite often, a countertop capper might be a better option for you. If you are making small batches or a homebrewer on a budget, a handheld capper may be the perfect choice for you.
Can bottles of homebrew explode?
Yes, but bottle bombs has nothing to do with the physical act of bottling and capping the beer. Bottles of homebrew usually explode because the beer was prematurely bottled before the fermentation process was complete.
It is very important for homebrewers to have patience and let the fermentation process finish before bottling their homebrew.
Adding too much priming sugar can also cause excess secondary fermentation, so make sure to calculate that properly!
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