Bottle Cap Question

[golfgod04]

So I'm new to homebrewing and have made 5 batches. My question is about bottle caps.

To sanitize my bottle caps, I put them in no rinse cleanser and then capped the bottles. The 2nd time I bottled, a relative was over and told me that I heat the caps in water on the stove after sanitizing to give it a better seal on the bottle. It definitely seems to me that it did provided a tight seal when i opened the bottles compared to my first batch. Is that the case or was it just because they were different companies bottle caps?

Second question, the kit I received came with oxygen absorbing bottle caps, how do I use them for capping? I read people saying not to get them wet. Are they like gremlins? There's so many different answers out there to describe how to use them. I just don't know the right way.

 

[flars]

No need to heat the caps for a better seal. Canning jar lids are heated for sanitizing and making the initial finger tightening more secure. This may be where the idea came from.

The oxygen absorbing caps. Some brewers don't sanitize caps of any type. To me this adds some risk of infection. The O2 caps are activated by moisture, but I don't think the properties of being oxygen absorbent are instantaneous and short lived, meaning seconds. I would give them a dip in Starsan solution and then cap. The Starsan will still be sanitizing while it is crimped on the bottle.

 

[hanuswalrus]

I've been bottling for a year now. I just throw my caps into a bowl of star san right before I start filling bottles. Never had any issues.

 

[golfgod04]

thanks for the info, my problem is that I need to bottle tonight because I wont have any time this week. All I have is one step no rinse cleanser.

 

[MaxStout]

One Step should work fine. Fill a bowl with it and drops the caps in shortly before you bottle.

 

[golfgod04]

canI drop the oxygen barrier caps in one step or regular bottle caps. And I won't bother boiling the caps since that won't help seal it.

 

[MaxStout]

canI drop the oxygen barrier caps in one step or regular bottle caps. And I won't bother boiling the caps since that won't help seal it.

It doesn't matter which kind of caps you use. They all need to be sanitized prior to use. Drop 'em in, regardless of whether they are O2 barrier or not.

 

[golfgod04]

I read people saying you cant get O2 barrier caps wet . thats why I started this

 

[flars]

thanks for the info, my problem is that I need to bottle tonight because I wont have any time this week. All I have is one step no rinse cleanser.

You could also wait a week to bottle, unless it needs to condition for a special occasion that is coming up soon. (If your recipe instructions are giving a timeline, ignore it.)

 

[MaxStout]

I read people saying you cant get O2 barrier caps wet . thats why I started this

Wetting them starts their O2-absorption process. The short time you have them wet prior to bottling will not deplete that ability.

OTOH, if you have O2 caps that have been wet quite a while (or were left over from a previous bottling session where they had been soaked), the O2 absorption will have been depleted.

 

[golfgod04]

You could also wait a week to bottle, unless it needs to condition for a special occasion that is coming up soon. (If your recipe instructions are giving a timeline, ignore it.)

yes thats why I need to bottle. I just never checked what I had for bottle caps or that came with the ingredient kit. its my mistake. But thats for the info everyone.

 

[golfgod04]

Wetting them starts their O2-absorption process. The short time you have them wet prior to bottling will not deplete that ability.

OTOH, if you have O2 caps that have been wet quite a while (or were left over from a previous bottling session where they had been soaked), the O2 absorption will have been depleted.

excellent thanks.