Sterilizing Caps?

Do you guys sterilize your caps, and if so, how? Would sterilizing "oxygen barrier" caps deactivate the oxygen absorbing component?

I never used the oxygen absorbing caps, so I don't know about them. I always sanitize my caps (the regular ones, and the Grolsch gaskets) in star-san, and they are just soaking in a little bowl while I fill bottles. I just lift them out and stick them on the bottles as I fill, then cap a bunch of them.

The O2 absorbing caps are activated when they get wet, so soaking them would defeat the purpose. Perhaps giving each one a quick spray of starsan right before capping would be safe?

Ive used the O2 absorbing caps straight from the bag for my last three batches. So far no infection problems. As far as I know the big breweries dont sanitize their caps either.

The big breweries get them in big packages, pre-sanitized. The LHBS gets them that way too, but then either re-bag them in smaller bags or (like my LHBS) has them in open boxes to sell by the pound so they're no longer (as) sanitary.

ChshreCat said:

The O2 absorbing caps are activated when they get wet, so soaking them would defeat the purpose. Perhaps giving each one a quick spray of starsan right before capping would be safe?

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not that i disbelieve you, but then how the hell are we supposed to sterilize them? i imagine the most common methods including soaking in sanitizer or boiling... your idea of spraying with starsan seems like the best option, but certainly a tedious one. this makes me think the O2 absorbing caps are just another example of something that's great on paper but not so great in the real world...

come to think of it, i've yet to hear anyone actually claim to have seen any real-world benefit from using them. it's all just theoretical, right?

hmmmmm

I use non-02 caps and let them soak in a bowl of iodophor or starsan while I am capping. Since I do not make high grav beers that would be expected to store for long periods I just buy cheap normal overrun caps.

I currently give my O2 caps a quick soak in Starsan, just before bottling, but this post has me re-thinking that procedure. I have one of these puppies: Germ Eliminator portable germicidal lamp @ Williams Brewing
Hmmm, now to figure out just how to properly make use of it.

lol i just dump out a bunch onto the dishwasher door and start capping....ive never had any issues yet with cap sanitization.

Penguin said:

lol i just dump out a bunch onto the dishwasher door and start capping....ive never had any issues yet with cap sanitization.

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+1
a few hundred times.

straight from the bag and onto the bottles. No problems yet, though I drink my beer quite quickly.

I throw them in a pot of water and boil them for a few minutes.

never sanitized crown caps after several hundred bottles only had one bomb and it was a flip top. And I soak them in sanitizer top and all so it wasn't from an infection I think I bumped the bottle on something and it cracked.

Unless your scratching your ass with the caps first, it's fairly difficult to infect beer.

I dump the caps in my vinator full of sanitizer and pull them out when I'm done filling a bottle.

wildwest450 said:

Unless your scratching your ass with the caps first, it's fairly difficult to infect beer.

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so THAT's what I'm doing wrong?!?

ChshreCat said:

so THAT's what I'm doing wrong?!?

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now THAT'S funny!

I've never sanitized my crown caps, ever. Haven't had any problems either. *knocks on wood*
I think that once it's fermented, the alcohol should prevent anything from infecting the beer.