rusty caps safe?

last batch that i bottled i just threw all my caps in sanitizer then picked them out from there. once done i set the caps aside to dry(or so i thought) and then put them in a sealed plastic bag, now there is some rust goin on around th edges of most of the caps but not where the actual beer would touch(which is the rubber of course)
Toss or keep?
i realize theyre cheep but my lhbs is kinda far away

Caps are cheap, why risk getting an infection?

rust beer...mmmm.

i wouldnt use em.

Every cap I've used had all plastic where beer may come in contact. I don't think it will touch the beer. It's only about structural integrity. I bet they last for years anyway.

toss. iron oxide gets inside the metal where you can't see it, but will get inside the beer. throw away 50 cents of caps or many dollars of beer, weeks of fermenting, and still the caps anyway? but getting metal caps that will develop rust instead of aluminum alloys? odd...

lumpher said:

toss. iron oxide gets inside the metal where you can't see it, but will get inside the beer. throw away 50 cents of caps or many dollars of beer, weeks of fermenting, and still the caps anyway? but getting metal caps that will develop rust instead of aluminum alloys? odd...

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I agree 100% on tossing them, but I have had plenty of caps rust where they crimp. I am surprised you have never seen this. Pay really close attention, perhaps use a magnifying glass if you're an older fellow, and you'll see it happen on caps that have been sanitized a time or two before. I use the more expensive "Oxygen Barrier" caps too that come some the same maker that makes all the DME in bags, so it isn't like I buy low-grade caps. My LHBS guy sells caps by the pound, but I shy away from those in favor of the former.

I had this happen with my caps as well, I didn't use them though. Now when I bottle, I roughly count how many I throw in the sanitizer (50-60 depending on how much beer I am actually bottling) When I'm done I dry the ones off that I didn't use and possibly use them another day. I always check the underside of the caps before they go on a bottle though.

Any extra caps I sanitize get a complete drying before being put away. I try to plan the perfect number of caps and try to be short. It only takes a few seconds to sanitize any additional caps needed.

And no, I would not use any caps that had rust on the underside. They are too cheap to even think about.

I use a paper lunch bag to store caps, so they won't rust in there. I did the same thing with my caps in a plastic ziplock once too.

rusty caps reminds me of my year in the Philippines and that awesome San Miguel Beer. I swear, every cap was rusty....

Caps are cheap......toss the rusty ones and buy new ones

I think the caps are "safe," meaning they won't kill you or send you to the hospital, but I sure as heck wouldn't use them especially after committing 5 or so hours to make a batch.

Had the same thing happen to me after storing after sanitizing. Now I save the desiccant packets out of vitamin bottles and throw them in the ziplock bag after bottleing. Havn't had any visible rust since.

I used caps with a bit of rust and I'm not sure if they were the cause but my beer was all a bit metallic. I now toss any caps that get wet and are not used.

I'm certainly not going to say it's safe, but I have used caps that had rust on the crimp. My lack of organization caused me to fail to see the rust until I started filling the bottles. It was late and the LHBS wasn’t open and I was going out of town in the morning. I didn’t have enough extras and ended up using about 20. I’ve finished drinking them and forgot the caps were rusted until reading this thread. So no ill effects for me, but again, they’re cheap and you might as well get new ones.