Oxygen caps..

So, do you use oxygen absorbing caps or just normal caps? Are the oxy absorbing caps just a bunch of hype and overkill, or are they worth using?

I've never used them and don't plan on it. None of my beers were oxidized in the bottle either.

Bought them once and never noticed a difference. BS if you ask me.

If you are priming with sugar then the fermentation created by the sugar may help eat up any oxygen that left in the headspace.

I bottle a few bottles after kegging and force carbing, I use the oxy caps. What few bottles I make, the extra cost is cheap insurance.

Postalbunny, I've read you're not supposed to sanitize oxygen caps. Is that true? That would concern me a bit...

Stauffbier said:

Postalbunny, I've read you're not supposed to sanitize oxygen caps. Is that true? That would concern me a bit...

Click to expand...

If they are using iron filings as O2 absorbers, sanitizing would probably ruin it.

Frankly, I agree with the BS vote.

Some shops carry "regular" caps that are complete crap and don't seal well. After having three really good beers fail to carb correctly due to crappy caps I'd rather pay an extra couple of bucks for a sack of caps for a thicker barrier than guess at whether the shop's regular caps are crap or not.

I bought some recently and bottle up a 12 pack with them. Figuring I'm going to age these Tripels/Dubbels for a couple of years. Can't hurt. Whether it helps I can't say. Here's a thread about sanitizing them. I gave them each a quick dunk in star-san, then capped. Then inverted the whole 12 pack once they were done.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/o2-caps-activated-star-san-257978/

The rest of the bottles get the cheaper regular caps. Honestly the cost difference is not that much between the two.

How long do you keep them inverted for?

I use them. I can't provide any evidence that they are any better but when I bottle it is usually for competition so I figure they can't hurt and they don't cost that much extra. I also do a quick Star San dunk before capping. I've never had a judge tell me my beer was oxidized at all but then again they probably are not in the bottle long enough.

This might be a stupid question, and I think I already know the answer. I'd like to hear what you all say, though...

So, if oxygen was accidentally introduced into the beer before bottling would the oxygen absorbing caps "rescue" the batch, or are they just designed to remove the oxygen in the headspace of the bottle?