Rip tops are applied similar to crown tops, except you pull a tab on the edge & rip it off, instead of using a bottle opener. Mikes is correct that it is the same principle as a can of drink [known as a ?tinny? or ?tube?]. The ?home-brew? shops sell various cap applicators - not that I know much about brewing beer at home, as I don?t like the stuff! The bod next door, has quite a large brewing plant in his back shed, with all the paraphernalia, for producing beer & spirits, under his own personlised labels.

We only have one local beer here with a screw top as such, that?s the ?Darwin Stubby?, which comes in 4 litre bottles. However some of the imported beers have screw tops, all the rest are the normal small ?stubby?s? are crown twist tops, which come in ?slabs? of 12 or more. There are some local boutique beers, like ?Red Ant? & ?Dog Bolter?, that have a crown twist cap. But they are not that popular, as it?s takes practice to twist them off, without possibly cutting yourself at the first attempt!

What we do for props here, is use a ?Ginger beer? which comes in a Stubby or Tinny, that looks like the normal ?Swan? or ?Emu? beers available from the pub & stick our own labels on, as suggested by Mike.

I have never fallen for the idea, suggested by some actors, to substitute the low alcohol beers available. It?s still alcohol, no matter what they say & you can still suffer the same problems, when you mix it with the heat of stage lighting.

Chookas