Bottle Caps

Can I boil the bottle caps to sanitize? Or should I just throw them in the dishwasher? Or can I rinse them with StarSan solution?
Thanks!

 

If you have Sar-San, just soak or spray them.

 

+1 Just give 'em a soak in Star-San.

 

Another vote
for just using Starsan.

 

Star san is the bomb.

 

I used star San as well. I also have a question about this. I soaked the entire bag, about 60 caps, in the solution and only ended up using 49 of them. The others I just kind of dried off and put back in the bag. When I was going to bottle my next batch, I noticed that some had a small amount of rust on them. Are they still ok to use or should I just pitch them? I guess I will just count on the amount I need about 50 and sanitize them for next time.

 

I would not use caps with rust on them. I always put some in star san(less than I will need)then add a few as needed toward the end.

 

I do an accurate count for what I know that I will use for caps, and then keep a coupe off to the side. If I need the extras, I just give them a quick shake in the Star-San for sanitation. Otherwise dry the ones you soaked really well with a soft towel.

 

I don't have the option of starsan, so I boil them. No issues. I would never use a cap with any corrosion on it.

 

I soak them in Star San....

 

Caps I have seen corrode do so on the edges - not really an issue but definitely not "nice". You should treat your beer nicely but I can't imagine the rust I have seen hurting the beer in any way. So long as that seal on the inside is intact you should be fine. Use them if you are out but replacing them is too cheap to let you sit and worry about them.

That being said you might have found a new way to make them worse then I have ever seen - use common sense.

 

The exact same thing happened to the leftover Brewers Best caps from our first brew. I dried off the Star San really well and then put them away in a ziplock bag. By the next week I noticed that there were rust stains on the bag from the edges of the caps, so I threw them out.

Next time, I won't soak as many and if there are any extra, I'll let them air-dry and see if that makes a difference.

 

Ya the rust is in the same spot you mentioned, would be in the outside of the bottle. Mine were also BB caps, I wonder if they use a cheaper type.

 

Seems to me they're just plain caps,not the o2 barrier type. I have a bag of them from a year ago that're still dry & clean as new. Gotta use'em up on the latest batch.

 

I always boil my bottle caps to sanitize, and it works fine.

 

Hmmm... According to the Northern Brewer website, BB caps are made of different metal than regular gold caps, making them easier to crimp. Perhaps they're more likely to corrode after exposure to acids like Star San. Since the sheet they're punched from is probably coated on both sides, it's probably just the edges that are affected by this.

 

I ran in to the same thing. Tossed the rusted ones out. I now rinse the left overs I don't end up using after I've capped all my bottles....

 

Hmmm...& I was going to do the usual quick dunk in starsan before placing the BB caps on the bottles. I do this with the usual o2 barrier caps & they stay clean. I hope after being crimped in place they don't rust on the inside edges of the crimped part...?...

 

I didn't notice the BB caps that I put on the bottle rusting. I wonder why that is?