Wax Removal

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by BeanBump, Feb 26, 2018.

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  1. DVMin98

    DVMin98 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,501) Nov 1, 2010 North Carolina
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    Im a surgeon. Knife everytime.
     
  2. AyatollahGold

    AyatollahGold Initiate (0) Nov 28, 2016 Indiana

    Don't get the hate for wax bottles.
    To me it's always been as simple as ringing around underneath the cap with a knife and then open with a regular bottle opener.
     
  3. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,282) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    I've said it before, but, here goes again: Y'all must be getting some thinly waxed bottles if ya can get an opener onto the cap through the wax. About the lightest wax I regularly see are Abyss bottles, and they're not thinly waxed.
     
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  4. AyatollahGold

    AyatollahGold Initiate (0) Nov 28, 2016 Indiana

    FFF's isn't thin wax. And that's how I do every one of them.

    EDIT: but this is after I make a ring underneath the whole cap with a knife.
     
  5. HouseofWortship

    HouseofWortship Pooh-Bah (2,629) May 3, 2016 Illinois
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    FFF's wax the past couple of years is almost more plastic than wax. It cracks off.
     
  6. AyatollahGold

    AyatollahGold Initiate (0) Nov 28, 2016 Indiana

    I can't argue with its more like plastic now, but I've not had any crack on me.
     
  7. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,326) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
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    Exactly! Everyone should put away the fancy doohickeys, flame throwers, and scalpels - and just use any metal opener, push through the wax, and open as usual. Not rocket science folks.
     
  8. anfield86

    anfield86 Pooh-Bah (2,594) Nov 21, 2006 New Jersey
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    I usually just take a knife or blade of some sort and cut around the cap of the bottle. Pop off the wax and open it. Easy.
     
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  9. TonyLema1

    TonyLema1 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2008 South Carolina

    I want to personally slap whoever is responsible for the wax on Terrapin special releases
     
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  10. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,282) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    I am yet to meet the opener that can under the lip of the cap, without removing the wax first, of most of the waxed bottles I see. Admittedly, I mostly buy local/regional beers, and maybe our breweries have a heavy hand with the wax, but even the occasional bottle I get from out of area tends to lean to unapproachable.

    When you can't even see the shape of the cap under the wax, it's too much wax.
     
  11. AyatollahGold

    AyatollahGold Initiate (0) Nov 28, 2016 Indiana

    Still remember my first ever wax dip. It was a BBA Plead the 5th given to me by a friend as I was first getting into stouts. What a treat. Thanks Jared.
     
  12. BalancingBrooms

    BalancingBrooms Pooh-Bah (2,800) Aug 22, 2013 California
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    No Bovie?
     
  13. beergoot

    beergoot Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,596) Oct 11, 2010 Colorado
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    Use a knife or some similar "pointy" object, make a small slit in the wax below the cap that allows enough room for your bottle opener of choice, and voilà...
     
  14. bbtkd

    bbtkd Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,326) Sep 20, 2015 South Dakota
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    This is what I use. This is upside down - the small lip pushes through the wax, goes under the lip of the cap, and lifts the cap. I've used this on thick wax and the plastic kind. No, the edge is not sharpened. I actually collect these - have a dozen or so.

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,282) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
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    Maybe next time I encounter an example, I'll send you one to see how it works. I do need the SD/ND ticks after all. :wink:
     
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  16. rudge75

    rudge75 Initiate (0) Mar 12, 2003 Canada (MB)

    Wrong.

    A cap or cork are never an absolute seal. Due to the law of partial pressures, gas leaves the bottle over time and an ingress of oxygen occurs. The wax is meant to stop that ingress of oxygen by sealing the cap completely and thereby extending the shelf life of the beer.

    Cork is worse because cork is chosen specifically because it breathes - oxygen in, gas out. Similar to a barrel where some oxygen is good, too much is very bad (resuting in cardboard oxidation notes eventually).

    This is one of the reasons you see the wax on beers meant to be aged for long periods of time. For example a 30 year old bottle of Thomas Hardy's still tastes strikingly like a Thomas Hardy's but is usually loaded with port/sherry notes from the oxidation. They only used the foil finish on Hardy's and in good bottle collections you may find the collector has waxed the cap themselves.

    Take a good barleywine or imperial stout then wax that bottle cap - under good cellar conditions, this beer will taste fantastic with an extended (3 + years) cellar sleep. Our brewery still receives reviews on the regular for barleywines we produced from 2006 - 2010. The main reason those reviews are still good is because of the cellar conditions and the wax.
     
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  17. GuyFawkes

    GuyFawkes Grand Pooh-Bah (5,364) Apr 7, 2011 Illinois
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    What's the name of your brewery? Curious.
     
  18. rudge75

    rudge75 Initiate (0) Mar 12, 2003 Canada (MB)

    Half Pints
     
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  19. Ranbot

    Ranbot Pooh-Bah (2,389) Nov 27, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Strawman. I never said or implied a cap or cork are an absolute seal.
    There's actually no empirical evidence that this is true for beer [or for wine, which is where most of the studies of wax and oxidation come from]. The cap or cork is orders of magnitude better at stopping oxygen ingress than wax, such that the partial pressures you speak of will be imperceptibly different between a waxed and unwaxed bottle. Wax can protect the cap/cork from excess moisture [rotting/rusting], but that's about it. Adding wax to a bottle and claiming it keeps oxygen out is like adding a coat of paint to a concrete dam and claiming the paint holds the water back.

    http://draftmag.com/wax-beer-seal-caps/
    https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/02/lets-face-it-waxed-beer-bottles-suck.html
    http://www.winespectator.com/drvinny/show/id/How-Does-Wax-Capsule-Affect-Wine-Aging-54513
    http://mentalfloss.com/article/60233/why-are-liquor-bottles-sometimes-sealed-wax
     
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