Overboxygenation

So i used my oxygen tank (small red tank from lowes) and aeration stone for the first time today. After reading online, I aerated for 3 minutes. After aerating, the regulator started to whistle. I now realize that the tank is empty after one use. Did i over do it? Should I not have opened up the regula tregulator all the way?

Sorry for the typos. Started this thread from my iPhone

Seems I just read that oxygenating with pure oxygen should take about 1 minute for a high-gravity wort. Can't tell you how much oxygen is in the kind of tank you used, but most sources I've read say a good shaking of the primary fermenter for a minute or two, or even vigorous splashing when pouring wort into it, are sufficient for oxygenating a wort of medium gravity. I suspect you may have over done it.

Truth be told, I probably had the tank on for around 1.5 mins or so.

I do a min to a min and a half per 6 gal with it cracked just enough to see bubbles without upsetting the surface too much. I got about 8 10g batches per little red tank and works great. I sometimes go back and hit it again 4 hrs after pitch if I don't see much activity. Works great. Will def re oxy when i brew my first lager next week. Chances are all you did was fill the head space with oxy then it all overflowed the carboy.

sgraham602 said:

So i used my oxygen tank (small red tank from lowes) and aeration stone for the first time today. After reading online, I aerated for 3 minutes. After aerating, the regulator started to whistle. I now realize that the tank is empty after one use. Did i over do it? Should I not have opened up the regula tregulator all the way?

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I can't imagine that it's even possible to empty a tank in 3 minutes through an air stone.

KaSaBiS said:

I do a min to a min and a half per 6 gal with it cracked just enough to see bubbles without upsetting the surface too much. I got about 8 10g batches per little red tank and works great. I sometimes go back and hit it again 4 hrs after pitch if I don't see much activity. Works great. Will def re oxy when i brew my first lager next week. Chances are all you did was fill the head space with oxy then it all overflowed the carboy.

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I've been using the same tank for over 2 years now. Over 100 batches and it's still not empty.

Turn the thing on until you see bubbles and then dial The valve back until the bubbles are just breaking the surface. I do 30 seconds max for mid-gravity beers and maybe 1 min for big beers. That's plenty for the yeast and makes your tank and last.

bja said:

I can't imagine that it's even possible to empty a tank in 3 minutes through an air stone.



I've been using the same tank for over 2 years now. Over 100 batches and it's still not empty.

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You've been using a small, red tank from the hardware store for 2 years? Over 100 batches???? I don't think so. You must be using a larger tank. Either that or you are not aerating properly. I'm a miser with O2 and there is absolutely no way to get that many batches out of a small tank.

To the OP. Like mentioned above, about a miniute is fine. And just barely crack the regulator untill bubbles start to flow. I usually get about 8 batches out of a tank, but I use it to aerate starters as well.

BBL_Brewer said:

You've been using a small, red tank from the hardware store for 2 years? Over 100 batches???? I don't think so. You must be using a larger tank. Either that or you are not aerating properly. I'm a miser with O2 and there is absolutely no way to get that many batches out of a small tank.

To the OP. Like mentioned above, about a miniute is fine. And just barely crack the regulator untill bubbles start to flow. I usually get about 8 batches out of a tank, but I use it to aerate starters as well.

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Yes, little red tank, same one for over 2 years and I also aerate starters with it. About a minute of bubbles barely reaching the surface. Maybe you guys have a leak somewhere. Do you remove the regulator in between uses?

After I bought this thing I kept reading how people used them up so fast, so a month later I bought a spare tank. It's still sitting in my cupboard all covered with dust because I still haven't touched it.

I had that sucker wide open. I'll dial it back. Does over oxygenating have an ill affects?

sgraham602 said:

I had that sucker wide open. I'll dial it back. Does over oxygenating have an ill affects?

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Yes, but not at the levels you attained. Your beer is fine.

sgraham602 said:

I had that sucker wide open. I'll dial it back. Does over oxygenating have an ill affects?

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There seems to be some debate on that. I couldn't find the link but I read or listened to someone from Wyeast or White Labs speak on this topic. Basically its difficult to get O2 saturation past a certain point(even when using pure oxygen) and that even if you do it wont harm the yeast. They were more technical and I could try and regurgitate it, but if you are looking for more than yes or no, try and find it.


Also, I have heard in other threads from people using the Home Depot tanks that sometimes they get a returned and half used bottle that doesn't last very long. Best to look for the unopened case to make sure its not partially used.

bja said:

I've been using the same tank for over 2 years now. Over 100 batches and it's still not empty.

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Must be a genie in there.

osagedr said:

Must be a genie in there.

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There is no way you are getting a sufficient PPM count if you have used 1 bottle over 2 years and have brewed regularly. If I am really lucky I can go 4-6 months and this includes brewing a pilot batch at least once per week.

If the temp of the wort was low enough (about room temp) then you probably CAN'T put too much oxygen in the liquid. The wort can only take so much oxygen.

However, hot side aeration (oxygnating at 100+ degrees) could lead to stability problems after you've bottled or kegged. I forget the science, but it involves oxygen binding to certain molecules in the beer.


If you're worried, drink fast!