Swing top bottles - dangerous?

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Never had any tops come flying off either, even when I had real gushers. I remeber one brew that was so bad I had to hold the glass on one side of the sink and the bottle on the other, pop the top and the beer shot out, arced over the sink and landed in the glass. Happy days.

That's my only gripe with swingtops, it's all or nothing when opening a beer. Even when the beer isn't a gusher, just a naturally highly carbonated style they can't be opened carefully avoiding a sudden off gas that can rouse less flocculant yeasts.
I gave all mine away in the end.
 
Switched to swingtops exclusively after just a few months of homebrewing, mostly to speed up the bottling process. Never had a problem with them. The Hacker-Pschorr ones are great, seem to be made of thicker glass than most commercial beer bottles.
 
they can't be opened carefully
The info is too late for you but for general info I have a method I use.
Yes, if you just release the clamp/lock/hinge or whatever you call it, you get what you get. But if one places a steady, firm hand on the top of the bottle and then pops the clamp, you can then slowly release hand pressure from the top and you can let gas out as slowly as you please.
 
I like the pop sound from swing top bottles. I’ve got an overcarbonated batch at the moment (for me seems to be kit beers which take an age to finish compared to all grain). Anyway I open the swingtop s with hand over the top, then leave beer in bottle for about a minute. Then pour a heady pint. Oddly this was probably the best tasting kit beer I’ve done.
 
I like the pop sound from swing top bottles.
I do as well. I make extract with steeping grains exclusively. Belgian Tripel might be my favorite. I prime with 1 cup of sugar and after five days they're carbonated. After two weeks, they're really carbonated and have to be opened carefully. I actually used to cringe a little waiting for the explosiveness. I open them slowly nowadays as well.
 
Hi Chris, the pertinent words there are 'Cheap Capper' The italian metal model with red handles or a bench capper should solve that issue for ya athumb..
Any particular one you'd recommend?
I tried sealing some more bottles with my hammer capper last night and they looked like they were on but they just fell straight off again... aheadbutt
 
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This one's only 924 pounds. A beautiful pneumatic capper!!! Semi-automatic pneumatic capping machine in 304 stainless steel suitable for small production of champagne, cider or beer. It might be a little more capper than you need though.
 
I had a Ferrari Emily plastic one, which was quite good, the metal and red plastic ones are also good and both are about £15. Bench cappers are easier to use, especially if all your bottles are the same height and cost £20 - £30.

The cheap one I had worked for a while, then started snapping the tops off bottles.
 
I have about 100+ swing top bottles, mostly Bernard, and never ever had any problem. Usually when I am bottling let's sat 20+ liters I bottle like 5-10 liters in 1 liter pet, and the other equally between swing tops and capped bottles - PETs are good when travelling, swing tops at home, and capped when I would like to bring some beers at a party or to give it to a friend.
 

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