Waxed bottles--is there a point beyond visual appeal?

I wish I knew how to reliably remove bottle wax. I do think it likely started as a scheme to protect the bottle seal as well as looking cool and think that as packaging equipment has gotten better its morphed into more of the latter. I'll suffer through it for some beers ( all the Pohjala I've had comes to mind) but ya I could generally do without it. To me just cork and cap if you want it to be extra safe for aging

 

Cue Greg from Greg's Beer Reviews: "Useless! Tits on a boar-hog!"

 

I don't like waxed bottles and think there's no reason for it, but deal with them using the opener below. I push the shorter bottom lip through the wax/plastic then lift the cap, ripping the wax. Sometimes it slips out and I have to shove it in deeper, but it always works. Before that I used a knife, which works too. I have a longer handle version of this opener if I need more leverage. These can be found on Ebay, though not very cheaply and often rusty.

 

I use the bottle opener in my kitchen shears to remove the wax. Not the serrated thing at the top in this photo, but the four-points opener between the handles. Clamp the wax just underneath the bottle cap between those so that the four points stick into the wax, then twist 180 degrees. It cuts right through the wax without having to deal with knives or anything. Then you can use whatever other bottle opener you like to open the bottle like normal.

 

This

 

Wine key. Use the serrated blade to carve just below where the cap is. Even if you get just about 1/4 of the circumference chiseled away, you can go in with a bottle opener and get a good pry on the cap.

Edit: And yes, the wax is useless

 

The point if waxed bottles and corks 'n cages is to teach my kids naughty words. I have strong feelings about both.

 

I always appreciate the way Side Project and Perennial put the little pull ribbon on their waxed bottles. You get the great looked of the waxed bottle but none of the hassle of cutting through it when it’s time to open.

 

I've heard of people softening the wax/plastic with a lighter, but I'm thinking that's riskier than a knife because you could actually harm the beer vs. cutting a finger off.

 

I was skeptical about the lighter trick until I tried it. The first time I tried it was on a bottle of Brew Gentlemen's Doublemex that had a particularly thick wax coating on it. It only took two seconds to soften the wax, and I was able to easily pry the cap off from there. I think this is my preferred method now, but I still plan on buying a Yopener in the near future.

 

What I've hated are waxed bottles covering a bottle cap. How stupid. If it's corked I just always used my most stout corkscrew, drilled through the wax and pulled the cork straight through it all. Never had a problem. The waxed bottles are a cosmetic and needless complication.

 

Keegan Ales sells Super Kitty in 1 litter swing top bottles with thick wax covering that is like a bad joke. We used to kid around and say it's because Tommy doesn't want anyone to be able to open them.

I have a hard time believing wax on beer bottles is anything more than pretty packaging, like a bow on a gift.

 

I hate wax on a bottles. It just makes getting to the beer a pain. But use a lighter to soften/melt the wax. I've been doing this for a while now and haven't ever harmed the beer. Wine keys are fine but some of the wax is hard coming out of the fridge and splinters into small pieces.

 

Yup. The only beneficiary of waxed bottles are Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aid® sales.


And if waxed bottles are a nuisance... don't forget this happened last year:

 

I thought the wax signified the beer wasn't for drinking, only trading?

 

The presence of wax on the bottle represents the brewery can price the beer even higher - more profit.

Cheers!

 

Oh my gosh, that's genius! I can't believe I've never thought of this. I wasted exactly three minutes of my life with a pocket knife the other day whittling like a boy scout with a piece of driftwood. So irritating.

I'll admit though. The bottle was very pretty before I massacred it's face.

 

That's the way, aha aha, I like it.