Bottle caps and Starsan
- Thread starter MrBJones
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Murphys_Law
Well-Known Member
I always soak my caps for a minute or two.
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MaryB
Well-Known Member
I toss them in a bowl of StarSan...
EarthwormJim
Well-Known Member
Check out this thread. Specifically this post:
Originally Posted by*revvy
Soaking them is what activates the oxygen absorbing magic. It actually takes a week for them to do their job on the bottle.
On Basic brewing James Spencer 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.
They recommend sanitizing ONLY the caps you are using, and sanitizing just before bottling. But you do need to wet them, and it's probably the smartest idea to go and do it,*with the sanitizer
Originally Posted by*revvy
Soaking them is what activates the oxygen absorbing magic. It actually takes a week for them to do their job on the bottle.
On Basic brewing James Spencer 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.
They recommend sanitizing ONLY the caps you are using, and sanitizing just before bottling. But you do need to wet them, and it's probably the smartest idea to go and do it,*with the sanitizer
worlddivides
Well-Known Member
I sanitized my caps for the first 2-3 batches of beer I did, but I haven't sanitized a single other cap since then and I've never gotten an infection in the bottle. I basically just decided that it was unlikely that there was anything on the caps to infect my beer and even if there was something on there, it wouldn't be enough to overcome the high alcohol, hoppy environment with very few sources of food (yes, I know bacteria such as Pediococcus and Lactobacillus can eat complex sugars that brewer's yeast cannot, but that the yeast Brettanomyces can), but I've never even heard of someone getting an infected batch from bottle caps. Plus, I use oxygen absorbing caps now (but I didn't for my first 3-4 batches), so I prefer to just turn the bottles upside down for a few seconds to get the caps wet after I've finished capping them instead of risking damaging their abilities with sanitizer.
Anyway, just the way I do things. I know tons of places recommend sanitizing your caps.
Anyway, just the way I do things. I know tons of places recommend sanitizing your caps.
Not all caps are o2 barrier. Only those that are will be labeled, " Oxygen Barrier" caps. I dunk them in Starsan right before placing them on the bottle. When I get a dozen or so filled, I crimp them down in the bench capper. Then tilt upside down once before stashing in the boxes.
I have used both the regular cheap caps and the o2 barrier caps. I used to soak them in star San before bottling. Then I just stopped doing it cuz it seemed an unnecessary step. To be honest I haven't noticed any difference whatsoever in the 2 practices. But beer doesn't last very long in my house anyways.
