Complete newbie

[grandy]

Yep there is a heirachy of capping equipment.

You've found the weakness of the simple bash & pray devices.

Next up is a lever capper. I used one for 20 years & found them good when you have a mix & match collection of different sized bottles.

Then you go on to a bench press capper. I've just got one & I have to sort my bottles in height order so I don't have to adjust it for every bottle. It also takes up more space. Yes it's better, but I need a bit longer to get used to it.

I'm gonna go for 1 litre screw cap fizzy pop bottles next batch. Is this a good plan? I'm thinking of covering the outside with a dark labels because I've read that light affects the brew .Any other pitfalls to using plastic bottles?

 

[jof]

I also use 1l "tonic water" bottles sometimes when I've run out of glass ones.

I don't think plastic bottles work well for long term storage.
(anything over about 6 months)

When I use them I store them in a dark garage.

Be wary of the new trend of the plastic caps being attached to the bottle. I know it's so idiots recycle the lid along with the bottle, but its very inconvenient.

 

[Twostage]

Yep there is a heirachy of capping equipment.

You've found the weakness of the simple bash & pray devices.

Next up is a lever capper. I used one for 20 years & found them good when you have a mix & match collection of different sized bottles.

Then you go on to a bench press capper. I've just got one & I have to sort my bottles in height order so I don't have to adjust it for every bottle. It also takes up more space. Yes it's better, but I need a bit longer to get used to it.

There's another level to the hierarchy - bench cappers that auto adjust to bottle size. I've got a non-adjusting one like you but regret not getting the self adjusting one. Having said that, even with having to do the sort they are still quicker and you can cap any bottle (some bottles you can't cap with a lever capper) and you can do champagne bottles too (with the bigger caps).

 

[old dog new tricks]

I find the Cooper type PET bottles work well and stuff never goes longer than 6 months in my house haha

they are brown so less of an issue with light the Coopers one have an oxygen theif cap (better seal) easy to check when carbonated and the shape at the bottom is very good at catching settled yeast.

light and easy to store i pack them in plastic boxes i got from asda rinse after use and quick spray before being stored they come out great

 

[Omega]

I'm gonna go for 1 litre screw cap fizzy pop bottles next batch. Is this a good plan? I'm thinking of covering the outside with a dark labels because I've read that light affects the brew .Any other pitfalls to using plastic bottles?

I started with 2 litre plastic water bottles before I got myself couple of kegs - larger bottles mean less things to wash. Ideally, they should be from lemonades or other gassed drinks, but Aldi, Lidl etc often sell their sparkling and still water in the same bottles, so you can buy them for sake of getting bottles
However, I do bottle into 0.5 litre glass bottles too - I give those bottles away. I use twin lever Capper to avoid smashing bottles plus simpler
Welcome to the forum

 

[jof]

I would recommend matching your bottle size to your minimum consumption.
You can always open a 2nd bottle, but pouring a pint from a 2 litre bottle risks upsetting the sediment every time you tilt it.

 

[Omega]

True, there are sediments at the bottom of 2 litre bottle, but they are in any bottle. However, 2 litre loses bubbles if you leave it unfinished, this is true

 

[grandy]

I would recommend matching your bottle size to your minimum consumption.
You can always open a 2nd bottle, but pouring a pint from a 2 litre bottle risks upsetting the sediment every time you tilt it.

500ml it is then.

 

[Deadhead]

If you want plastic, the Coopers PET ones are much better. I think they even have a screw cap version. I didn't like them much, but keep a few around for checking if bottles are carbonated. I struggled along with a hand capper for years, but after getting an absolute kicking at a competition where I realised my caps weren't on very well, I got a benchtop capper. Works a treat. The other option is swing top bottles as well.