[Review] Counter Top Capper (Yellow, Blue, Green, Red)

[pob]

Review for the Counter Top Capper (Yellow, Blue, Green, Red) priced at €24.95 http://www.homebrewwest.ie/counter-top-capper-x28yellow-blue-green-redx29-3739-p.asp

Big thanks to HomeBrewWest & LordEoin for organising the raffle.

I have (borrowed) used a twin lever manual capper previously. Whereas it has been generally good for most bottles, it doesn't like the Hob Goblin or German Spaten-type 500ml bottles, either being a PITA or just refusing altogether to cap, as they have unusual shapes for the bottle openings.

Therefore it's a great opportunity to test a bench capper that should solve these problems.

First appearances suggest a very sturdy plastic mechanism, with solid cap bells for both 26mm & 29mm.

As delivered, in fetching Yellow (actually a good choice, easier to find in shed).


Includes the 29mm adapter.


The thumb spring latch allows you to adjust the height of the lever mechanism.


It uses these round holes to adjust the height.


It's a good idea to sort your bottles into the separate heights prior to bottling. This reduces the number of times you need to adjust the lever up & down.

Ready for action, at the suitable height for the bottle. Put your bottle in & adjust height to allow the lever to pull down so it's parallel to the table when capped).


The caps are held in place by a magnet within the capper.










Pulling lever, seals cap in place.



It does hold onto the cap once crimped.



A bit tight, so a twist to the right (left ways will unscrew the capper bell over time) & out it pops.



I tried it with all sorts of 500ml & 330ml bottles, the previously mentioned difficult Spaten /Franziskaner type were no problem at all, likewise some of the more unusual Belgian sizes & shapes.
(Caveat: these were all tried dry/empty, a pressure test hasn't been done, I'll add an update after my next brew, but the seal created looked a lot better than the existing two handled version)

A lovely clean, tight seal (with no round marks as seen on some of the two handled capers, when using too much effort).


To change to a different cap size (or to replace when you've worn it out), just unscrew the bell and it drops out.




Not quite a Belgian special, but shows the range it can handle,


It does seem to flex slightly & lean forward when in use, by holding the stand it balances and works fine. By screwing it down, this issue would be solved, it is a bench capper after all.

Next plan, screw it to a old wooden seat to give it more rigidity in use.


I'll keep an eye on the weld on the base to see how time & use effects it, hopefully it should be fine.



Pros: Way, way better than the two handed version.
Excellent prIce, nearly a tenner cheaper than the original red Ferrari version.

Cons: The base could be slightly sturdier, remedied by bolting/screwing it to a base board or bench.
Bit of a knack in removing capped bottle from capper bell once sealed, should loosen up once it's been given more use.

Overall: A recommend to buy from me on this one. Previously bench cappers were nearly 3 times the price of the hand cappers so I was put off buying one, where now it's less than double the price, at only €11 more than the two handed one, and such a big improvement, it's the only one you should be looking at.

Good work from Brian & HomeBrewWest again, in sourcing good value alternatives.

[LordEoin]

Great thorough review Pob!
My brewsmarter twin handle capper packed it in after only about 10-15 batches, so I've been holding off on buying a new capper until I saw what these are like.
This one looks like a winner, and more sturdy than expected for that price

[pob]

Very impressed with it, solid plastic mechanism.

Very good value compared to twin lever model now.

[Dunkel]

Good review pob. As I bottle all my beer, and have had problems with certain bottles before, certainly looks like another shiny toy to spend money on. Only thing to slightly put me off is the plasticky bit - is it sturdy enough?

[pob]

Plastic is very solid (had Fishjam45 over earlier, he was very impressed as well).

Not sure what plastic type it is, but it's more (excuse the crap description), like a teflon-y solid wheelie bin, rather than a hard, snappy, brittle type.

Base probably needs to be bolted/screwed down though, a square sheet of 300-500mm ply or mdf should do.

[Boycott]

Here is my more mini review and I think its nearly all cons:

>Needs to be screwed down somewhere or else it has to be held down as it will fall over while capping
>Its a bit fiddly changing the height as its hard to judge if its high or low enough for the bottle until you pull it down which if its meant to save time, this costs it
>It takes a surprising amount of strength to actually cap a bottle (more than my twin lever)
>The bottle get totally stuck after capping and really needs a good effort to get it out
>It takes up more space

A few of the above would be ironed out/improved with practice maybe but I thought it would save time and save energy but I think it actually makes the process more labour intensive and longer. Arranging bottles by size and changing the level are extra things, My twin lever doesnt get stuck either and doesnt require a surface to bolt into either.

[imark]

I've the older black capper and it has a larger base. It's very solid and wouldn't need to be screwed down. Also, it's got a nicer mechanism for height adjustment also.

[pob]

I agree with you on those points.

I'll be adding a base (an old wooden seat) to it to aid stability.

I think if you can build up a stock of the same bottle over time it would make changing height less of an issue.

The caps sticking in the capper & strength required will (hopefully) reduce, as it gets more use and the capper bell wears in slightly.

With the twin handled capper, damage to the metal gripping area will mean it becomes unusable over time, whereas the replacement capper bells for the bench model keep it functioning.

One pro is that it allows capping of Spaten & Hobgoblin type bottles, which were a pita with the twin handled capper. This alone (for me) makes it worth the extra €12 over the twin capper model.

[Dunkel]

I've only used mine once so far, and I had the same problem with the caps sticking in the capper. I found rubbing a little vegetable oil (or olive oil, if you're posh  ) inside the bell head made for a simple twist to get the bottle out.

[LordEoin]

I used mine for the first time tonight and was impressed with it.
The first bottle was a balls, very tight and set to the wrong height, but the rest were a walk in the park.
It does take more force than I thought it would, but after a few bottles it was plain sailing.
I found that removing the bottles from the metal twin lever capper was more difficult than removing them from this counter capper.
Overall I'm happy with it, and it'll be even better once I get to bolt it to my brewdungeon countertop

[Greg2013]

Many thanks for the link to this review Pob,great review and i think the cons are only minor ones that can be worked on over time,tbh also for around €25 you can afford to take a punt,if it was one of the more expensive bench cappers it wouldn't be worth getting one for the amount of bottling i do or plan on doing.

[Archsnapper]

I've had one of these for over a year now. Got it from the Homebrew Company. The previous twin handled yolk was shite. This one is fantastic. The capper bell does wear down to make it easier to extract the capped bottle. Mine is not screwed down and I've never had a problem (just hold the bottle).