Going to have to look into this more. I was under the impression that the only time yeast took up O2 was during reproduction and that a diet of the simple sugar like used to prime was not conducive reproduction. Could be totally wrong. Anybody?
It would be interesting to know if the yeast at carbonation are going through the same basic processes they do during fementation, (lag, reproduction, etc) because, in a sense bottle carbing IS fermentation. Or because it is a simple sugar present do they not turn on the reproduction m echanism.
I wonder how one could figure it out? Measuring the amount of sediment in the bottom of a bottle? For example, if you killed off the fermentation yeast before you bottled, then introduced a measured amount of yeast and sugar, and after fermentation measure the sediment. That would tell you if they reproduced or not.
My understanding about oxygen caps is that they don't really absorb any o2 in the beer, they form a tighter barrier to prevent o2 from getting in during long term storage. I know there was a discussion on basic brewing radio about them, in terms of wetting them to sanitize them, and how long before they take effect.
James Spenser contacted the maker of Oxygen Absorbing Caps (Crown Beverage), and actually recommended you santize them quickly, evidently the "Oxygen Absorbing Effect" of the caps is not immediate and they need to be wet for a period of time before the magic happens, like days.
Click to listen
It's within the first few minutes of the podcast.
That leads me to believe that most of the 02 would be pushed out before they seal up. But I don't know. I haven't made much attention to that since I've never made anything for real long term aging til now with this 5 year barleywine I'm brewing. I am definietly going to use them for that batch.