The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros (2024)

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As the craft beer industry has changed over the years, so have bottle openers. When craft breweries adopted aluminum cans over the last decade, openers evolved to include a little nub to help pick up a pull tab or puncture the tear strip. Other models now include a serrated blade to help cut through wax that many brewers use to coat caps and necks of special-release beers. Some openers are designed to keep bottle caps intact, allowing them to be reused or utilized in art projects or installed on bar tops.

While fancy or functional openers are handy, just about anything else that can be leveraged between the glass lip and crown cap will work. This includes, but is not limited to, a BIC lighter, a table or counter corner, a beer can and a wedding ring.

“I find the best way to meet people [at parties or events] is just shout, ‘Who can open this?’ ” says Augie Carton, co-owner of Carton Brewing in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. “Then watch the hilarity or awesomeness ensue. And obviously share said beer with [that] person, which is why I’m drinking a bottle in the first place.”

We asked six beer professionals and enthusiasts which openers they swear by. Here are a few to consider for your next pour.

The Best Bottle Openers Recommended by Six Pros

1. The Best Overall: The Mamba: Snake Bite

The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros (1)

The Mamba “opens bottles like a traditional opener but also is able to pierce holes in cans,” says Paul Alphen, a beer enthusiast. He finds it “really does make for a smooth pour.”

He first saw a Mamba used at a bar “and thought it was a gimmick,” he says, “but [it] has become a go-to opener for cans and bottles.”

The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros (2)

Features we love: Durable, made of stainless steel and allows for a smooth pour

Get the Mamba at Snake Bite→

2. The Best Dual-Function Opener: Paint Can Opener

The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros (3)

This dual-purpose tool can open a beer and, as the name suggests, paint cans, making it handy for work and fun.

Steve Parkes, brewmaster and founder of Drop-In Brewing in Middlebury, Vermont, praises this inexpensive tool for having the right width at the handle for popping open bottles.

Features we love: Affordable and acts as a dual-purpose beer bottle opener

Get the paint can opener at Amazon→

3. Most Functional: Westmark Germany Hermetus Steel 3-in-1 Resealer Beer Bottle Opener

“The Hermetus opener is my go-to tool for cracking open a bottle of beer,” says John Scholl, certified Cicerone and author of Eat Street: The ManBQue Guide to Making Street Food at Home. “It’s sturdy, opens even the waxiest of bottles with ease and seals large-format bottles to keep beer fresh and carbonated.”

Features we love: Made of stainless steel, able to reseal beer bottles, ergonomic handle and easy to clean

Get the Westmark opener at Amazon→

4. Most Unique Bottle Opener: Whale Shark Opener

The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros (4)

“For most bottles, I use a standard flat bartender’s opener,” says Maryland-based homebrewer John Thompson. “If the bottle has a wax seal, I use a Whale Shark.”

The latter is his favorite. “If I could only have one opener, it would be the Whale Shark,” says Thompson. “[It’s] simply the best opener I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot.”

Features we love: Handmade, customizable, cuts through wax seals, does not bend caps and is magnetic

Get the Whale Shark Opener at Etsy→

5. Best for Home Bartenders: YOpeners

The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros (5)

“YOpeners are the perfect size; easy to find, hard to lose and feels just right in the hand,” says David Wingo, cofounder of Seasoned Sundays, a series of food and beer charity events at Wedge Oak Farm in Lebanon, Tennessee. “I also love that it was founded by a father who wanted to spend time with his autistic son.”

Features we love: Sustainably made, handmade, magnetic and does not bend caps

Get the YOpener at Etsy→

6. The Best Budget Bottle Opener: The Bar Blade

In a bar setting two things are necessary: durability and speed. The bar blade, sometimes called a bartender’s opener, is a favorite.

“I’ve tried others in the past, but these are just easy and the right tool for the job,” says Moshe Atzbi, the owner of Hailey’s Harp & Pub in Metuchen, New Jersey. “No need to overcomplicate it, no need to reinvent the wheel.” He, like other bartenders, will use openers even for screw cap bottles to prevent calluses from forming on his hands and fingers.

Atzbi has about 30 bar blades in his collection. He favors all-metal ones, rather than some that have rubber grips because those have “too many places for germs to hide,” he says. On days when he is working behind the bar, he will place several at strategic spots, ready to be grabbed and used quickly.

Features we love: Budget-friendly, easy to use, durable and opens both beer bottles and cans

Get the bar blade at Amazon→

Last Updated: May 8, 2023

The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros (2024)

FAQs

The Six Best Beer Bottle Openers of 2021, According to the Pros? ›

A bottle opener is a specialized lever inserted beneath the pleated metalwork, which uses a point on the bottle cap as a fulcrum on which to pivot.

What are beer bottle openers? ›

A bottle opener is a specialized lever inserted beneath the pleated metalwork, which uses a point on the bottle cap as a fulcrum on which to pivot.

What is the top of beer bottle? ›

Bottled beer is sold with several types of bottle cap, but most often with crown caps, also known as crown seals. Some beers (for example Grolsch) are sold in "beugel" style bottles, known as "flip-top" or "swing top" in some English speaking countries.

How many types of bottle openers are there? ›

Bottle openers come in different types - crown openers, cork openers, wall-mounted openers and simple openers. Popular brands such as Anni Creation, AEC, Anokhe Collections, and Apricot offer different models of bottle openers used for opening your bottles of wine or beer with ease.

What is the most expensive bottle ever sold? ›

A prohibition-era bottle of whisky aged for 60 years before it was bottled sold for US$2.7 million at auction on Saturday, auction house Sotheby's announced. There were only 40 bottles made of the Macallan 1926 single malt, a Scotch whisky bottled in 1986 prized by collectors that comes in a variety of custom labels.

Why is a bottle opener called a Churchkey? ›

Originally, church keys actually resembled large keys (thus the name) and were used to pry open caps or corks from bottles. Then, when beer cans began being marketed in the 1930s with flat metal covers, the same name, church key, was given to the devices used to open them by piercing them with triangle-shaped holes.

What can I use instead of a beer bottle opener? ›

A house key will certainly work. It's typically thin enough to place under the lip of a bottle's cap, but it works best if you leave it on your key chain, as the other items attached to your keys will give you more to grip. Grip the neck of the bottle and position the ridged side of the key sideways under the cap.

What is the slang for bottle openers? ›

A church key or churchkey is a North American term for various kinds of bottle openers and can openers.

Can you refrigerate beer after opening? ›

Beer that has been opened can be kept by placing it in the refrigerator or another airtight container and waiting until it is cold enough to drink. Beer, once opened, can be kept for up to a week if stored properly; nevertheless, it should be checked for signs of spoilage and discarded if present.

Why do they put a napkin in the beer bottle? ›

It's for hygienic purposes, flies love to get on the bottle head and you wouldn't want to go lips-to-lips with whatever that fly's feet got on to. And also, sometimes bottle heads from beer get a little rusty so you get an instant bottle-head wiper.

What is the rarest beer bottle? ›

The rarest beer bottles are those made either during or just after Prohibition, because very few breweries were operating at those times.

What was the first ever bottle opener? ›

William Painter's original bottle opening device was called the crown cork. His son, in his Reminiscences of William Painter, would recall that period with the elation of a child set loose in a toyshop.

What are the old can openers called? ›

Church key initially referred to a simple hand-operated device for prying the cap (called a "crown cork" or "bottle cap") off a glass bottle; this kind of closure was invented in 1892. The first of these church key style openers was patented in Canada in 1900.

How much is the most expensive bottle? ›

Priced at $44 million, the world's most expensive bottle blows all other spirits out of the water. British designer Stuart Hughes, known for customizing luxury items, crafted the bottle. He adorned its neck with three 13-carat diamonds and its body with a central 18.5-carat diamond.

What is the most expensive specs bottle? ›

D'Amalfi Limoncello Supreme can run up to a staggering $44 million per bottle, and a big part of that value is its stunning bottle. Ornate vessels are par for the course when it comes to spendy spirits, with elements like gilding and filigree. This limoncello goes big time with actual diamonds.

What is the best made corkscrew? ›

If you're looking for the best all-around corkscrew, we recommend Pulltap's Double-Hinged Waiter's Corkscrew. It's a durable, high-quality bottle opener that professionals swear by. If you prefer something more budget-friendly, consider the True Truetap Waiter's Corkscrew.

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