eli5 Why aren’t all beer bottles twist tops? Is it just a style thing?
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the bottles, caps, and machine to cap them automatically are all cheaper in poptop than twist. Some will argue that poptops also provide a better seal and are less prone to burst failure.
Pop-off tops are incredibly simple. You take the mouth of the bottle, which has a simple lip in the glass, put a piece of metal over it, then crimp it – that is, compress it in a mold – over the mouth. You then have a sealed bottle and it takes very little effort – for an example of how simple these devices can be, see [this example from Amazon](https://www.amazon.ca/Manual-Bottle-Capper-Brewing-Capper-1/dp/B07TZNP2T3).
Twist-off caps are more complicated. First, you need to mold the caps to have a screw, and the bottle too, both things that require much more work. Then assembling it is more complex – instead of just pressing down on it, you need to add rotation too, and some crimping as well to ensure a good seal.
So, for small brewing operations, or operations that already have extensive systems of pop-off crimping machines, it would be a big investment to switch over, and the benefits for them are basically non-existent. And for smaller brewers, investing in a simple crimping machine versus a much more complex, expensive twist capping machine, probably isn’t worth the money. Thus many beers (and other things like sodas) continue to come in pop-offs.
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