how long are bottle caps good for?

[GroosBrewz]

Anyone have any ideas how long bottlecaps are good for? I have a whole bunch that are 6-8 years old.. safe to use?

 

[ifishsum]

most likely...I had some that were over 10 years old and they worked fine. I would not stake a whole batch on them without testing though - bottle a 6 pack of your next batch using the old caps. If those turn out fine, they should be safe to use the rest of them.

 

[SaintBrew]

I'm no expert (by any means) but, as long as they are still able to seal correctly, and are sanitized adequately they'd be alright wouldn't they?

 

[Homercidal]

No rust, no worries.

 

[ftlstrings]

agreed. Check the caps for rust and give the seals a glance for damage. You should be good to go!

 

[magnj]

This might sound stupid but can you re-use caps or is that a no-no.

 

[starrfish]

ANY caps new or old I boil them before use. Recently I used caps that where 10 years+ old from when I brewed before, worked fine.

Never re-use caps won't seal correctly

 

[double_e5]

This might sound stupid but can you re-use caps or is that a no-no.

You answered your own question.

 

[magnj]

I thought so, I was just trying to figure out why you would have caps for ten years and thought maybe someone was re-using the same ones that long! Luckily they are cheap.

On a related note. Do you guys go for the oxygen caps or stick with the standard ones?

 

[starrfish]

I thought so, I was just trying to figure out why you would have caps for ten years and thought maybe someone was re-using the same ones that long! Luckily they are cheap.

On a related note. Do you guys go for the oxygen caps or stick with the standard ones?

Standards work fine. My first batch brewed in the early 90s was a low hop, low alcohol mild brown ale, didn't show signs of oxidation until more than a year (but flavor peaked at 9 months), stronger more aggressively hopped beers lasted much longer 2+ years (still good at 2yrs when drank last one). Also had a mead that was excellent 5 years out. Don't plan on keeping most of my beers more than 2 years... Might invest in the Oxygen absorbing caps for something that will need to really age out.... maybe.

My 10yr old caps where in with my brewing equip that sat dormant for about 10 years... NOT reusing lol

 

[magnj]

Understandable. Yea If I ever do anything that I intend to age I'll either get oxy caps or cork it in some wine bottles or something.