I don’t know if anyone has ever tried this. I was in a pinch about six weeks ago, wanted to bottle condition one beer, as I was kegging the rest. I typically will mail my brother or in-laws some beer every now and then, that’s the reason. Anyways, I had my bomber full when I started racking into the keg, realizing I had no new bottle caps. Long story short, I ended having, of all things, a Russian River cap from an old Pliny. Even used, it was in good repair, not bent too much, so I figured I’d try it. But, as I was worried about it not holding pressure, I decided to keep it for myself… ;D Flash forward, to today.
Well, that did the trick! Not that I’m going to start reusing all my bottle caps, but in a pinch it does work. Also, I primed a 22 oz bottle with (1) 5 gram packet of sugar in the raw. Works every time!
At around $.015/ cap new, you run the risk of not having bottles seal by reusing the old caps. Let’s see…5 gal batch at around $20.00 ingredients, vs saving $.60 in caps. Too much of a risk, and if you get O2 caps, even better for your beer.
I’ve opened and recapped with the same cap. Can’t remember why but it was at bottling time. Maybe I forgot to add a carb tab or something like that. It does work. Better if you’re gentle.
Something to file away for the Zombie Apocalypse. Reusing caps will likely become a necessity at that time.
Think about it: a bottle cap is just a piece of metal and plastic. A bottle is glass and alot of people use plastic fermenter buckets. if either of those cost .016 or whatever, would you go out and buy new fermenters and buckets every time you brew?
I would, however, stress sanitation and make sure your caps get the same rigorous treatment the bottles do. If you are bottling something that is gonna lay down for awhile like a barley wine, then yes, use the o2 caps Same for competition beers you might need to ship.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
If fermenter buckets were $0.016 a piece I would in fact buy new ones every single batch… The reason I stopped using them is because they absorb aromas and flavors (especially if you do a fruit/spice mead/wine)
So you’d throw out a plastic fermenter if you used it for Fruit/mead/wine, but not for, lagers, pale ales or bitters? Could a bottle cap used for a blonde, really have an effect on something like an IPA? I mean, I reuse yeast sometimes but only when the batch i an stepping up to would be of the same or stronger type. couldnt the same rule apply with caps?