Oxygen

[steve crawshaw]

I splashed out on an oxygen cylinder and stainless airstone to aerate my wort. Tried it yesterday on an IPA and it generated a pleasing head on the wort. I oxygenated for 1 minute. The 9L cylinder was from an auto parts centre in Bristol and set me back £55 deposit + £36 for the gas. Luckily I had a O2 gas regulator and plumbed it in using 3/8" line, which fitted the airstone too. The airstone can be autoclaved to sterilise

Time will tell if it works, but its a bit quicker than using the cordless drill \ stirrer that I used to use.

Doing another IPA tomorrow as yesterdays came out too dark!

cheers

steve

[mrlard]

Never something I seen the need for what's the benefit over just holding a hose between 3 and 5ft above the ferment bucket and shooting your wort in? Am I missing something?

I get so much foam normally I got to skim it to get the lid on.

[steve crawshaw]

Apparently, according to the book "Yeast", the optimum oxygen level for healthy yeast growth is 8 - 10 ppm. Aerating using mechanical means, like hose \ pump stirrer only gets you about half that, whereas O2 injection will give you 8 - 10 ppm in a minute or so. Plus I have read that the hose approach denatures the proteins that give a beer head. I have used the hose \ pump approach and as you say, the foam can be a problem to deal with. I'm also worried about splashing and contamination. But, you may be right, the difference could be minimal...

cheers

steve

[mrlard]

Interesting stuff? So what does a stone give you in terms of ppm. I have never had a problem with head retention, stuck ferments etc.

I will be honest it's never a variable I have tried to control. There are far to many others to pin down first!

Oxygen enrichment scares me. Have you ever heard about the self combusting man?

[steve crawshaw]

The stone should give 8-10 ppm minimum, but it is possible to over oxygenate. I'm minded to try an experiment with water as I have a DO (dissolved oxygen) meter and could see what is achievable. That could give a better idea of how long you need to oxygenate a 23 litre brew.

You're right, there are other variables that are probably more important. I know this from bitter(!) experience having had to pour two cornies down the drain in the last few days. My belgian, which was pretty ropey anyway had a nice film of mould on top and I f*cked up an IPA by believing Beersmith and it came out not bitter enough. I then tried to back bitter(?) with a boiled hop tea. Needless to say it didn't go well...

I know there's a risk using oxygen, that's why I take the cylinder outside and do it all in the open. It's bad enough just screwing up your beer let alone burning your house down!

cheers

steve

[alikocho]

If I remember correctly, there's some pretty good info on this in one of the Brew Strong podcasts. You can find them in iTunes...

[Capn Ahab]

Have you ever heard about the self combusting man?

You mean THIS guy? Fucking hilarious!

[I_used_to_brew]

Love it Steve, you are the original Mr Gadget of the brewing world :)

[alikocho]

I believe that if you can oxygenate inline as you run off from the kettle, foaming is dramatically reduced.

More beer have an inline oxygen system you could copy and build yourslef - http://morebeer.com/view_product/16613/ ... n_Assembly

[mrlard]

Love it Steve, you are the original Mr Gadget of the brewing world :)

Ouch you hurt my feelings! ;-) I am pretty sure I win that title for anyone one who's seen my rig!?!?

I could build that for less than 20quid if Anyone is interested. Where do they get their prices from?

That almost as criminal as pinching a child from a park