Oxygen absorbing caps

I bought some oxygen absorbing caps for my Russian Imperial stout that I'm going to be bottling soon. According to the website for my LHBS the caps need to be activated with an iodine solution, has anyone ever heard of that before?

Is there another way to activate them? I plan on bottle aging this stout for a long time, and need to know that those caps are going to do their job.

Also on a related note is 2 and half weeks in primary long enough for a russian stout? The beer has been setting at it's final gravity for the past 4 days atleast.

Any moisture should activate them. They probably say to use iodine solution because it will sanitize them at the same time. If you use something different to sanitize, that should work just fine.

Are you racking that RIS to secondary? I would probably just leave it for another month, then bottle from there, no secondary. If you're getting consistant SG readings for 4 days, I'd say fermentation is probably done.

I have heard most times to cap with them straight out of the bag. DO NOT GET THEM WET. Then once they are capped, to tip them over, wetting the inside with beer. The cap will then immediately absorb the O2 in the headspace.

If you wet them before capping, they ae just absorbing the O2 from the atmosphere and not from the headspace.

FWIW

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

I have heard most times to cap with them straight out of the bag. DO NOT GET THEM WET. Then once they are capped, to tip them over, wetting the inside with beer. The cap will then immediately absorb the O2 in the headspace.

If you wet them before capping, they ae just absorbing the O2 from the atmosphere and not from the headspace.

FWIW

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According to the manufacturer, the oxygen absorbtion takes place over a long period of time (around 48 hours) so unless you're soaking the bottles for a few days before using them, it's safer to sanitize them before using them.

You are, however, correct about them being activated by moisture. They just take much longer to work than you were led to believe.

hmmmm..... that's great info to have! Thanks.

I was doing this, but heard on another thread about what I posted above. I had stopped buying those caps because I wanted to be able sanitize but didn't want to waste my money.

Back to O2 eaters I go.

llazy_llama said:

Are you racking that RIS to secondary? I would probably just leave it for another month, then bottle from there, no secondary. If you're getting consistant SG readings for 4 days, I'd say fermentation is probably done.

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No secondary I'm too lazy, and it doesn't seem worth the risk of exposing the beer to oxygen, and airbourne bacteria.

I imagine there is some disagreement on this within the homebrewing community, but is it better to let beer sit in primary weeks after fermentation has stopped, or is it better to bottle as soon has fermentation stops? I have read about people doing both.

If you let the beer sit then there is more yeast to condition the beer, but there will be less yeast in suspension when you go to bottle to continue that conditioning. Has anyone done an experiment to see which results in a quicker drinkable beer?

Let it sit, it will only improve with age. Give it 4-6 weeks in primary, and it will be delicious! The only reason I use a secondary is if I need to free up a larger fermenter.

Keep in mind that it's not just the yeast in suspension, we're also talking about hop sediment and yeast waste products. After 4-6 weeks in primary, I've never had a problem with carbonation, and I don't keg/force carb.

llazy_llama said:

Let it sit, it will only improve with age. Give it 4-6 weeks in primary, and it will be delicious! The only reason I use a secondary is if I need to free up a larger fermenter.

Keep in mind that it's not just the yeast in suspension, we're also talking about hop sediment and yeast waste products. After 4-6 weeks in primary, I've never had a problem with carbonation, and I don't keg/force carb.

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Add to that dry-hopping as another reason to secondary...

bull8042 said:

Add to that dry-hopping as another reason to secondary...

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or a fruit extract.

Good point. I didn't mean to suggest that freeing up the fermenter was the only reason to secondary, just the only reason I generally do it.

There's also adding oak or fruit, if we're going to be thorough.

Edited: fire943 beat me to the fruit part by about 2 nanoseconds. Well played, sir. Well played.

I just checked my russian stout and the gravity is at 20 which is two points lower then it was four days ago, i guess it wasn't quite done fermenting. It also still has a tart taste to it, but the after taste wasn't so bad. I guess I'll be waiting a few more weeks before I can bottle, and probably a few months before I can drink it.

My Irish stout that I bottled 4 weeks ago isn't ready yet either, how do you guys manage to be so patient? Maybe I'll try brewing something lighter that won't take so long to condition I'm thinking maybe a wheat ale.

Anyways thanks for the advice I guess I should forget about these beers for right now and start thinking about my next brew.