Are oxygen absorbing bottle caps worth the extra cost?
Why or why not?

Scott Streiker wrote:[color=blue]
> Are oxygen absorbing bottle caps worth the extra cost?
> Why or why not?
>
>[/color]
The problem with oxygen absorbing caps is that 99% of the folks using
them don't understand what they are designed to do. Most of those folks
are wasting their money using them because of this lack of understanding.

No matter how good a seal you get with a regular crown cap, a small
amount of oxygen will seep in over time. A long time. They oxygen
absorbing caps are designed to trap that seepage. You only need these
caps for beers that are going to be aged many months or even years,
basically strong ales and barleywines.

Many folks use these thinking these will take care of any extra oxygen
that may have gotten into their beer during the bottling process
(splashing the beer, air bubbles in the siphon line, etc.). These caps
will not do anything for that kind of volume of O2. You still need to
be careful not to introduce any more air than absolutely necessary
during bottling.

Most of the time, these bottles are drunk quick enough that oxidation is
not an issue. People mistakenly think that the oxygen absorbing caps
are responsible when it is actually the fact that the cardboardy taste
from oxidation takes time to form. When they do keep a beer around long
enough for the taste to form and they are using those caps, they think
the caps are not working when in fact the problem was with their
bottling process.

In short, the oxygen absorbing caps are worth the money IF you are
planning long term storage of a high alcohol beer AND you have good
bottling procedures that keep introduction of oxygen to a minimum. For
the most part, you can use regular caps and have no problems at all.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[wild]

Wayne's got it right. I've got several OA caps that I only use for big beers that are cellared 2 or more years. For all others, use the regular caps.

Wild

Out of interest, what do you think to corking strong ales and barley wines
which will be kept for long periods.
Thanks Greg

"wild" <wild.2ga08z@usenet.brewtank.com> wrote in message
news:wild.2ga08z@usenet.brewtank.com...[color=blue]
>
> Wayne's got it right. I've got several OA caps that I only use for big
> beers that are cellared 2 or more years. For all others, use the
> regular caps.
>
> Wild
>
>
> --
> wild
>
> ::It is my design to die in the brew-house; let ale be placed to my
> mouth when I am expiring, that when the choirs of angels come, they may
> say, \"Be God propitious to this drinker.\" -- Saint Columbanus, A.D.
> 612::
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>[/color]

[wild]

I'm all for it. Just be sure to use bottles that can stand the carbonation pressure, i.e., champagne, sparkling wine, and previously corked beer bottles. Aging beer will also give you a chance to hone your cellaring skills.

Wild