Coopers Carb Caps?

Are we talking about the carbonation drops? I think you pretty much just put one in the bottle, fill the bottle with beer, and cap the bottle.

 

Save money and use table sugar next time. Google "Carbonation Calculator"

 

I doubt it will make any difference.

 

I personally would shake the crap out of the bottles. I've seen many threads where people complain about those caps dissolving slowly, and sometimes leaving behind floaters. Shaking should fix the former issue in the least. I always shake my bottles a lot the first few days, anyway. I want to get any air trapped in the head-space into the beer where the yeast can get at it asap.

 

Well, when you cap the bottle, there is inevitably going to be some air trapped in the head-space (as well as some dissolved in the beer). During the early phase of the re-fermentation, the yeast should propagate a bit, and it consumes O2 when it does so. So, I think you're better off shaking the bottles thoroughly during the first few days to get as much of the O2 in the head-space in contact with the propagating yeast. If you just leave the bottles relatively still, the O2 is mostly likely going to remain in higher concentration, and over time it will help to stale the beer. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it. It probably doesn't make a huge difference either way, though.

 

No problem shaking the bottles, but I doubt that shaking the shit out of it is necessary. I used Coopers Carb Caps for my first 3-4 batches and never had any problems. One for a 12oz, and I'd break part off the second of two for a bomber. Cap, flip the bottles on end once or twice, and then flip each one up on end at about 4-5 days in the bottle to make sure it was fully dissolved.

One thing: if you've got a big line of bottles and are going through putting the carb drops in...I was always paranoid that I'd forget which ones had already gotten a drop, so I'd hold each one up to the light to make sure that I hadn't skipped a bottle or double-dosed another. It's easy to see them on the bottom of the bottle. Never had any problems with floaters or lack of carbonation.

 

I believe those complaints are typically about the Muntons carb tabs not the Coopers carb drops, though someone can correct me
if I'm wrong. Also, getting the oxygen into the beer is completely unnecessary, in fact some breweries that bottle condition purge their bottles with CO2 before filling; for example, I know that the Brooklyn Brewery does this with their 750s.

 

Well, yeah, it's unnecessary, but it's also inevitable for a homebrewer. I doubt pro brewers can avoid getting some in their bottles as well.