o2 fixing caps

[quantum24]

has anyone ever heard of o2 fixing caps or used them. i am going to be brewing a barleywine soon that i plan on cellaring for a while and i was wondering if i should use these.

[toneyc]

From the St. Pat's page:

========8<=========8<========
Water, or beer, activates the oxygen absorbing caps. For this reason, do not boil or soak even briefly. This renders the caps useless in regards to O2 absorption for bottled beer.

In general, it is never necessary to sanitize or boil bottle caps. Caps are new and do not have any bacterial growth. They are intended to be used without any treatment whatsoever.
========8<=========8<========

I used them once, long ago, but don't really have any input. The above quote always confused me, I hope it makes more sense to you.

:) Toney.

[yonkersbrewer]

I just used them for a CACA and so far as I can tell they worked. I was told to sanitize them in bleach and rinse and then use. I understood that the wetting activated them but that boiling would be too much. I can't comment about the long term storage issue though.