I just realized I never sanitized the bottle caps before bottling a batch.
What are my odds that the batch is totally ruined?
Don’t sweat it. Apparently your not supposed to ever sanitize the oxygen eating caps.
tell me more…
I know these get “activated” when wet, but I usually run them through some sanitizer; 15-20 second dunk.
Really? I’ve been using them and sanitizing them and no problems… Maybe I was lucky?
You may not get an infection with non-sanitized caps depending on how they are stored. Is it worth the risk? Oxygen absorbing caps, I would also give a quick dunk in Stasan to avoid the risk. I also never had oxygenation in the bottle from not using oxygen absorbing caps.
I don’t sanitize caps either and never had an issue. I almost always use O2 caps just because.
I’ve always thrown my caps in a bowl with some sanitiser and never had an issue.
I compromise - o2 caps sprayed with sanitizer 20 seconds before capping.
Sanitize the O2-scavenging caps with StarSan or Iodophor, neither of which contain oxygen, but don’t use any of the peroxide-based cleaners/sanitizers.
There is a long thread on this issue from a year or so ago.
Oh well, I looked at my calendar tonight and realized it was done conditioning last weekend. I tried a beer and it was amazing… A nut brown, by the way. So I had a couple more :cheers:
As mentioned, if you use oxygen absorbing caps do not dip them in oxygen based sanitizer. It will eat through the absorbing barrier and just become normal caps. You don’t have to sanitize the caps, just a quick dip in clean water to remove debris will be fine since the ph level and alcohol level of the finished beer should kill any microbes and bugs that comes its way. You do have to get the caps wet in order for the barrier to activate.
The only time that oxygen absorbing caps are usefull is when you plan on storing bottled beer for over 6 months and bottle bottle condition that takes 6-12 months. Any beer that will be opened in under six months won’t reap the benefits of the oxygen absorbing caps.
