Wax dipping questions

Local homebrew store should have bottle wax. If not, Google mixing crayons and hot glue gun sticks. Use an old soup can in a double boiler set up. You could try putting a piece of strong string around the neck before waxing to make it easier to get off but it hasn't ever been a problem for me.

 

I use the crayon and glue stick method outlined by paulys55 myself and it's always worked for me. I think my ratio was 2:1 crayon:gluestick, but I don't remember off the top of my head. I'm able to remove them with any non-cheapie bottle opener.

 

At the brewery where I work, we use wax beads sold by L.D. Carlson. We heat them in a crock pot until they are melted, then turn the crock pot down to the coolest setting. Once the wax is the proper consistency, we dip the upside down bottle into the crock pot, pull it out at a 45 degree angle and spin it repeatedly until the wax stops dripping back into the crock pot.

 

I've done the hot glue sticks and melted crayons. First batch did really well. 2nd & 3rd cracked really bad in the cellar. For the brewery I will be going with @koopa recommendation above.

 

Just watch the temperature and you´ll be ok. And don´t let any water get into your wax.

 

@jbakajust1 I find that, when the wax is too hot, I get one or two tiny holes in the wax dipped portion of the bottle (just below the crown prongs). You can see them appear as the wax is drying while you are twirling the upside down bottle over the crock pot. So, if you notice those, try letting the wax cool down more!

 

When I did my wax dippings I copied @jbakajust1; not only can he think like a wild bacterium, he willingly shares his crayons.

A couple of tips, the ratio of crayons to glue isn't critical . . . I kept upping the crayons and minimizing the glue. None of this seals anything, decorative only. Don't be afraid to use multiple colors . . . you're going to get a package of crayons, might as well use them all. This was my Christmas Saison distributed as gifts:



I found the caps a major PITA to open with the wax. Tried cutting, using a bigger opener, cursing . . . nothing worked till I added a "rip-chord":



This is the back-side of the bottle above. It's a simple nylon twine wrapped around the neck (underneath the lip of cap) with a loop hanging down. Easy to pull it like a hand grenade pin and your cap is exposed . . . easy to open.

A couple of tips: Before you wax any of your precious brews, cap a bottle of water and practice dipping and twirling. It's not hard and you can re-melt and start over, but it just feels better not to have any beer at risk until you master the technique. Also decide how hard they are to open and if you want the twine as shown above. Several of my bottles developed cracks after cooling, no big deal, just re-wax. You'll have your crayons/glue in some sort of soup can that can be re-heated easily. If doing this over an indoor stove put down some serious cardboard as a splash guard.

 

I've used wax beads once before, which I bought from my LHBS and they worked really well, only downside is that they are rather expensive. Only other recommendation would be to get more than you think you need, I ended up using way more wax than I thought I would.

 

I use beads from Northern Brewer, etc and they work great. They aren't the cheapest, but they peel right off the bottle so you can reuse them indefinitely really. One pound of beads will last forever.

Here's a batch I dipped recently using the 'holiday red' beads. I cut a pop can in half and filled it with beads and had more than enough to double dip these 20 bottles.

 

I've used cheese wax in the past.