Yeaaaaaaaah! Now this is a subject I know every reader will be holding on to the edge of their seat because of the massive thrill it provides.
Ok. Enough joking.
What’s the skinny on oxygen barrier bottle caps? I purchased a bag of them for my hard cider, knowing that I would be storing them for a long period of time.
They claim to have an “oxygen scavenging agent” embedded into the plastic liner inside the cap.
Do they actually work? Has anyone experimented with a batch where some beers were capped with regular bottle caps and some were capped with these kooky oxygen barrier ones? Were the beers capped in regular bottle caps unable to keep their freshness longer?
Do they keep beers from getting oxidized? Are they worth the extra $1.31 I spent on them?
Señor Brew™
Never used them, although I heard that you’re supposed to keep them dry until you use them. Getting them wet before you cap is supposed to use up their oxygen scavaging ability. So don’t sanitize them.
Ali
Um, aren’t all caps oxygen barriers? If you get a good seal then you have created an oxygen barrier. I am aware from my winemaking that poor quality, not very dense corks allow air through over time, but good corks will keep a wine good for years.
I’ve never come across these in the UK, and they may not be available here. If they let you keep your cider for longer than otherwise then great, but I’d never be able to keep it long enough to tell the difference (and I have had cider that has been stored for over a year without special caps that has been fine).
Marc
I’ve never done a side by side test with these caps but I use them on big beers that I can age for a while. I recently used them on a barleywine and an imperial stout. I figure the extra 2 cents per cap is worth the possible prevention of oxidation.
Daryk
The Caps have an oxygen scavenger that absorbs the oxygen left in the head space above the beer in the bottle in addition to the normal seal to prevent oxygen in the bottle.