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You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Brewing Forum --> Brewing Discussion --> Method of Oxygenation

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Chal
Wenham, MA
45 Posts


I am intrigued by the Oxygen discussion as I have been mostly a carboy shaker from the start. I'm a little embarassed to admit it here, but I guess a little confession is good or the soul (and perhaps the beer).
It also does have the advantage that it is good for the biceps and the abs, but now I worry that it is one reason my beer to good but not great.  
I've only been brewing for 10 months and made about a dozen batches. So far the yeast seems to have been very happy through a very active prmary fermentation phase. 
What am I risking by not using O2 and just saturating the wort with air?




Posted 34 days ago.

testingapril
Charter Member
Atlanta, GA
595 Posts


You're not risking much, IMO so long as you are making standard gravity ales and making a healthy starter.





Posted 34 days ago.

flapjackcarl
Houston, TX
595 Posts


So here's my take on matters. Oxygen is like any other variable, it will not make or break your beer. I think the biggest drawback to manual oxygenation is whether or not your're actually shaking it enough to saturate the wort with O2. Per wyeast (www.wyeastlab.com/hb_oxygenation.cfm) Yeast need ~10ppm of O2. Shaking can give you a maximum of 8 ppm of dissolved oxygen. So even if you manually aerate perfectly, you will be a little bit on the low side. How big of an issue is that? Well, like everything else, it probably depends. If you're pitching a small quantity of yeast in a large beer, it probably matters. If you're pitching fresh active yeast at recommended rates, it's probably not an issue.

Personally, I use pure O2 on most beers, especially higher gravity beers. In my mind, it is an insurance policy. If your yeast are less active than desired or something like that than O2 can give you peace of mind. The downside is that most folks dont have a way of measuring dissolved Oxygen, so you're really guessing at what you're putting in. I tend to go on the high side of oxygenation rates, but for all I know I could still be hitting only 8ppm and this could all be a placebo effect. In an ideal world, you'd simply measure dissolved oxygen and target a set concentration. Unfortunately that is outside of what is reasonable on the homebrew scale. 

Either way, as long as you're focusing on good sanitation practices, you're pitching healthy yeast, and controlling fermentation temperature, you'll probably be fine either way. As Brulosophy's blog has really helped to point out, it would seem that making good beer is not about doing 1 thing right, but rather doing lots of things mostly right.




Posted 34 days ago.

flapjackcarl
Houston, TX
595 Posts


Oh god, triple post. I'm so sorry. I can't seem to delete them either.



Posted 34 days ago.

Necropaw
Charter Member
Central WI
608 Posts


Blame Olan.




Posted 34 days ago.

flapjackcarl
Houston, TX
608 Posts


Haha. Looks like he swooped in and deleted them. Praise be to Olan.



Posted 34 days ago.

chino_brews
Charter Member
Eden Prairie, MN
301 Posts


> making good beer is not about doing 1 thing right, but rather doing lots of things mostly right.So right it needed to be said thrice!



Posted 34 days ago.

Chal
Wenham, MA
45 Posts


Thanks April and Carl. I'm certain that I will stumble my way into higher gravity beers and paying more attention to O2 levels would not have been on my radar. Hmmmmm measuring dissolved oxygen, I need to work on that...



Posted 34 days ago.

flapjackcarl
Houston, TX
45 Posts


No problem! I think that you'll find attempting to measure DO to be a bit cost prohibitive. In all honesty, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Oxygen can be a nice insurance policy in large beers, but for anything under 1.07 or so I think you're fine shaking so long as you pitch healthy yeast



Posted 34 days ago.

Chal
Wenham, MA
45 Posts


Has anyone tried using olive oil in place of oxygen? - I just read an article about this and thought it was interesting. 



Posted 34 days ago.

homebrewdad
Charter Member
Birmingham, AL
2480 Posts


I've thought about it, but never done it. Seems I've read some stuff suggesting that it's not all its cracked up to be, at least on the homebrew scale.





Posted 34 days ago.

testingapril
Charter Member
Atlanta, GA
595 Posts


The oil has to be emulsified in the wort, which basically requires a blender, so sanitizing a blender and going to all that hassle seems impractical to me.

Just shake the carboy for 2 minutes. KISS.





Posted 34 days ago.

ingoogni
nl
314 Posts


I use it in the starter to stop the foaming.




Posted 34 days ago.

Chal
Wenham, MA
45 Posts


I will admit that I am a 2-minute shaker, but there is something magical about a drop of olive oil! :-)
It seems to me that it might have it's greatest benefit in the starter, but that is just a guess. 
Of course it will make a mess of all those fancy starter calculators that distinguish between shaking and stiring. 





Posted 34 days ago.

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