Capping CO2 filled bottles for storage

[Belgian Samurai]

Hi,

I have a theory and curious what you think about it. Why not fill washed and sanitized bottles with CO2 and cap them for storage until they're needed for filling?

They would be ready to go when you want to send a guest home with a couple of bottles or bottle down a keg. A bag of caps is cheap.

How long could they be stored that way? 3yrs? 5yrs? Indefinitely?

Thoughts?
Belgian Samurai

 

[Golddiggie]

IMO/IME, filling bottles with CO2 even days ahead of time is a waste of time and energy. Sure, clean them ahead so that you simply need to sanitize them when you're going to fill bottles. But beyond that, no way. When you think about it for a minute, you'll clean, sanitize, purge/fill with CO2, then cap these bottles. Then, when you want to use some, you'll need to remove the caps (toss) hoping that you sealed them fully and didn't lose all the CO2 inside.

Hard pass.

I wouldn't even do this with swing top bottles (which I was using).

I've moved away from using bottles for the majority of my brews. I MIGHT use bottles for the old ale currently aging on oak, or the wee heavy that's going to be brewed soon (in a few batches). The rest goes into keg and can. I sure as hell won't be filling those bottles with CO2 ahead of filling them.

I see additional logistical headaches coming up from doing what you outlined. Nothing good will come from it.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Then, when you want to use some, you'll need to remove the caps (toss) hoping that you sealed them fully and didn't lose all the CO2 inside.

I should have clarified, but the CO2 in the bottles was intended to push out the O2 and the cap would keep oxygen out of course. This thought process has stemmed from mason canning jars that were clean, but had a lid screwed on it for an extended period of time, which caused the inside of the jar to stink. My hopes is that the CO2 we keep that from happening and I would not need to rewash them when filling. I planned on adding additional CO2 when filling the bottle and a fresh cap. I have a 20# CO2 tank. The amount used for bottles is going to be pretty negligible I would think.

The CO2 and the caps become a consumable, but if I could have bottles ready to go and not needed to be washed and/or sanitized, that would be awesome!

Just volleying the conversation.

 

[Golddiggie]

I stand by my earlier statement about it being a waste of time and effort. Simply clean the bottles, put them in the box (inverted to keep things out) and store. Sanitize, properly, when you're ready to use and then fill.

I've had Mason jars closed up for extended periods (empty) after cleaning without any issue. I put them away when fully dry.

IMO/IME, adding steps to your process (when completely unnecessary) is NOT a good idea. IMO, this falls under the 'solution looking for a problem' category.

 

[Ridenour64]

I’m with golddiggie, I don’t see a point to doing that. Clean and store when dry and sanitize prior to using. What you describe would be wasting co2, caps, and most importantly, time.

 

[NTBeer]

When you open the purged bottle, it's going to mix with the atmosphere. Then, the act of filling will push out the co2 you have "stored" and further mix it with the atmosphere. At the end, you will have a headspace that is at best, imo (no math expended) 10- 20% co2. Whether that is worth your effort is up to you. It wouldn't be for me.

 

[Vale71]

I should have clarified, but the CO2 in the bottles was intended to push out the O2 and the cap would keep oxygen out of course. This thought process has stemmed from mason canning jars that were clean, but had a lid screwed on it for an extended period of time, which caused the inside of the jar to stink. My hopes is that the CO2 we keep that from happening and I would not need to rewash them when filling.

FYI most beer spoilage organisms are anaerobic, i.e. they would simply thrive in the O2 free environment you're hoping to create (but won't manage to in any case). You'd just be wasting CO2 and caps for nothing.

 

[Beermeister32]

Waste of time. Bottles need a fresh Star San dunk prior to filling. If you want a CO2 purge, get a small plastic picnic tap and hook it up to your CO2 bottle and flow a bit of CO2 into the headspace before capping.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

I guess since the general consensus is the same, that would explain why I didn't find anyone else asking the question. Haha

Thanks, everyone! I won't go down that route.