Oxy Caps

I was wondering if anyone has any experiance with Oxy Caps? Was wondering if they work? I figure if they do work they are well worth the little extra money. Thanks for any input.

http://www.brewandgrow.com/brew/equipment/bottling/caps/oxy-caps-144.html

Thanks Dave

I used to use them and most likely would again if I was brewing a beer I was going to sit on for years. But I got away from them and have not looked back

Thanks for the fast reply. My beer doesnt usually last very long after the conditioning process. But was wondering if it would be worth it at all? Or in the future if I end up conditioning for long periods of time.

Oxygen is indeed a bad thing for beer but it is a long term storage issue. Couple that with the way I bottle by filling all the bottles and then going back and capping them they get a chance to off gass some CO2 replacing the oxygen in the neck of the bottle.

I am thinking there is very little oxygen in my bottles to begin with. And if you are careful there should not be much in your beer when you bottle :rockin:

I think it’s a scam, but that’s just a guess. I won’t buy them.

A while back, I tried to find something on it on the internet. I found some chatter, but no evidence that it actually does anything, even from the manufacturer.

It seems like the amount of oxygen that could be absorbed by the liner would be minuscule.

Somebody should do a test on a Trippel or a Barleywine, something like that. Of course it would take a year or two.

You’d think that if it worked, commercial breweries would use it. They LOVE shelf life.

Wynne-R said:

I think it’s a scam, but that’s just a guess. I won’t buy them.

A while back, I tried to find something on it on the internet. I found some chatter, but no evidence that it actually does anything, even from the manufacturer.

It seems like the amount of oxygen that could be absorbed by the liner would be minuscule.

Somebody should do a test on a Trippel or a Barleywine, something like that. Of course it would take a year or two.

You’d think that if it worked, commercial breweries would use it. They LOVE shelf life.

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I hear ya on that. I just figured if anyone had done an experiment and they worked why not. They arent much more expensive thats the only reason I gave them any thought.

Don't know if they really work or not. I used some on a brew that is now over 1 year and a half. I would not waste the money on them for anything that would not age for less than a year.

You'd be hard pressed to get an experiment to show any difference. Too many other factors that would need to be controlled.

That said I use a mixture of both types. I usually buy colored caps and the oxy caps are silver so I can easily distinguish. For all of the bigger brews that I bottle that have the potential to age, I dedicate a portion of the batch to oxy caps. Usually 12-24 bottles. I've used them on a tripel, dubbel, RIS, and wee heavy. I will also use them on a portion of my golden strong and dark strong (in primary now). They are activated by liquid contact, so I do a quick dunk in star-san and then crimp the cap.

They don't cost much and may help cellar a strong beer beyond the 2 year mark. Someday maybe I'll try a regular and oxy cap to tell a difference, but it'll be a couple of years.

If you bottle carefully you really should have voided any oxygen to begin with by filling from the bottom, going all the way to nearly oveflowing and pulling back the wand, and by leaving the caps loose for a few minutes. PLUS the fermentation process in the bottle should have further consumed the oxygen in the headpace. There really shouldn't be any 02 left at that point to be of concern.

Having said that for long term storage it really wouldn't hurt to have some added protection. But for NORMAL use, I think it's a waste of money.

Revvy said:

If you bottle carefully you really should have voided any oxygen to begin with by filling from the bottom, going all the way to nearly oveflowing and pulling back the wand, and by leaving the caps loose for a few minutes. PLUS the fermentation process in the bottle should have further consumed the oxygen in the headpace. There really shouldn't be any 02 left at that point to be of concern.

Having said that for long term storage it really wouldn't hurt to have some added protection. But for NORMAL use, I think it's a waste of money.

Click to expand...

Good call on the fermentation in the bottle using the oxygen. Didnt think of it that way.

Good thread! Thanks for all the input everyone.

I think the theory is that oxygen will permeate through the seal on the inside of an ordinary cap and whatever the difference in the oxy-caps helps lessen that.

As I said before - maybe for a beer that will be in the bottle for more than a year but for less than that I would consider it a waste.

I like to use them at least as cheap insurance. hop flavors/aromas do seem to last a hair longer. But for average gravity beers,they probably aren't needed. I have a batch bottled now that used a mix of o2 barrier caps & Brewer's Best caps I had laying around. Have to do a comparison test.

The owner of my LHBS (Fredericksburg Brew Shop) told me that unless I planned to age a beer for more than a year, no need for the oxy caps. He sold me the cheaper caps...I trust his opinion. He is also a pretty good brewer with some significant wins.