Injecting Oxygen and Chilling

I remember sonewhere i saw a system that chilled and injected O2 at the same time.

But I cannot find it anywhere. I'm looking for an easy and measurable system that can cool the wort as I move it from Boil Kettle to fermentor and oxygenate it at the same time.

Buying one or DIY is either option but my DIY skills are a bit suspect

You want a conterflow chiller of some kind Blichmann makes a nice one. then After the work goes throught the cooler you Oxygenate. using a stone again several compnies sell them. I would just buy them but if you want to DIY build a counterflow chiller its not that hard and buy the stone and rent the oxygen tank

while you're at you should get a device that will rack, ferment, condition and bottle your beer....Remote control brewing, maybe they have an ap for that?

Despite other replies, what you're looking to do is quite common. Most brewers build their own.
Fast chilling and the addition of clean oxygen are both beneficial.
If you look at Sabco's BrewMagic site, they have a Chill-Wizard that does just what you are looking for at $830. We could build you the same thing for $200 less.
Blichmann sells a plate chiller, not a counter flow and it's overpriced. Plate chillers can be had from several vendors at a reasonable price.

Thank you One Hoppy Guy. I appreciate it. Yes that was exactly what I was looking at. I think I could probably build one for less. Right now I use an immersion chiller and then a o2 wand.

For speeding up my brewing days I'm thinking if I can incorporate both the plate chiller and the o2 infusion at roughly the same time it would save some time and save me additional steps.

OneHoppyGuy said:

Despite other replies, what you're looking to do is quite common. Most brewers build their own.
Fast chilling and the addition of clean oxygen are both beneficial.
If you look at Sabco's BrewMagic site, they have a Chill-Wizard that does just what you are looking for at $830. We could build you the same thing for $200 less.
Blichmann sells a plate chiller, not a counter flow and it's overpriced. Plate chillers can be had from several vendors at a reasonable price.

Click to expand...

That looks awesome and ridiculous at the same time.

Is saving that 30 seconds really that valuable?

If it is what he wants, I say yes.

imperialipa said:

Thank you One Hoppy Guy. I appreciate it. Yes that was exactly what I was looking at. I think I could probably build one for less. Right now I use an immersion chiller and then a o2 wand.

For speeding up my brewing days I'm thinking if I can incorporate both the plate chiller and the o2 infusion at roughly the same time it would save some time and save me additional steps.

Click to expand...

You'll love the plate chiller you just have to make sure you keep it clean.

There's been a few posts on this. Some really cool ideas I'd like to try.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/portable-plate-chiller-334647/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/diy-chillus-convolutus-caddy-323260/

The key is to keep it simple - here's my knockout setup:


Untitled by brewerJP

As chilled wort passes I have my air compressor injecting air into it. I prefer to use air because it's impossible to over-aerate. And yes - it is highly filtered! I have a Meissner 0.1um capsule filter inline and a coalescing filter before that to capture any liquids.

jcaudill said:

The key is to keep it simple - here's my knockout setup:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57569099@N06/7400962244/
Untitled by brewerJP

As chilled wort passes I have my air compressor injecting air into it. I prefer to use air because it's impossible to over-aerate. And yes - it is highly filtered! I have a Meissner 0.1um capsule filter inline and a coalescing filter before that to capture any liquids.

Click to expand...

Very interesting. Filing this under brew stand 2.0 ideas.

evandena said:

Very interesting. Filing this under brew stand 2.0 ideas.

Click to expand...

I like that idea. I was looking at more beer and saw an inline o2 unit kind of like what you have set up there. We are going to be moving to a 1bbl system when we get our TTB approval and if I am going to build everything from scratch I want ease of use, speed and consistency.

I figure for my first 3-4 batches I can load in 10 PSI for 1/2 the batch and see how everything attenuates. If I need to put more in I can do it the next batch.

I realize gravity will effect saturation as well but short of buying a REALLy expensive DO measuring unit I'll have to experiment a bit before I get it all down.

OneHoppyGuy said:

Despite other replies, what you're looking to do is quite common. Most brewers build their own.
Fast chilling and the addition of clean oxygen are both beneficial.
If you look at Sabco's BrewMagic site, they have a Chill-Wizard that does just what you are looking for at $830. We could build you the same thing for $200 less.
Blichmann sells a plate chiller, not a counter flow and it's overpriced. Plate chillers can be had from several vendors at a reasonable price.

Click to expand...

You seem to knock vendors that aren't really part of this website, while praising those that are signed up as vendors. What's the deal with that?

BTW, the chillwizard uses a Blichmann Therminator. It is actually a dual pass plate chiller, which is one reason it is so effective. There are cheaper alternatives out there, but he's done the investment to have a quality product.

DRog00 said:

You seem to knock vendors that aren't really part of this website, while praising those that are signed up as vendors. What's the deal with that?

BTW, the chillwizard uses a Blichmann Therminator. It is actually a dual pass plate chiller, which is one reason it is so effective. There are cheaper alternatives out there, but he's done the investment to have a quality product.

Click to expand...

Purely one man's observation.
I'm not knocking the vendor, simply pointing out the cost of their products in relation to the cost of the individual parts. I said nothing in regard to the quality.
Something to note: When we build systems, our customers are NOT limited in the parts selection. They can choose hardware from ANY vendor. We have systems with Blichmann Kettles, Stout Kettles, March Pumps, Chugger Pumps... etc. Not exactly what you would call prejudiced.

One problem with this type of system is that when you are aerating such a small area you generally need a flow meter of some kind. They're a bit pricey, though not too horrible. But the real issue for me was trying to clean the O2 stone. Simply running boiling water through the tube didn't seem to get it done. Mine kept clogging. Disassembling everything to clean it became too great a PITA. I still use the counterflow chiller, but now I just aerate with a wand. I think it's less hassle overall. My 2 cents.

Dgonza9 said:

One problem with this type of system is that when you are aerating such a small area you generally need a flow meter of some kind. They're a bit pricey, though not too horrible. But the real issue for me was trying to clean the O2 stone. Simply running boiling water through the tube didn't seem to get it done. Mine kept clogging. Disassembling everything to clean it became too great a PITA. I still use the counterflow chiller, but now I just aerate with a wand. I think it's less hassle overall. My 2 cents.

Click to expand...

Not to be a broken record - but again this is why compressed air is a better idea than O2. You don't need to meter anything, just crap it open and go.

Also - having an air compressor is super super valuable in the process. I use it to push liquid out of my stone, my plate chiller, my pumps, etc. after I'm done brewing. Helps keep the nastys out.

Are you using an inline filter on the compressed air?

Absolutely - it must be filtered for both air and liquid. I have a cheap coalescing filter right at the connection from the compressor to catch any liquid, and then I have a Meissner capsule filter 0.1um to clean the air. I have a ball valve with check to control flow and keep liquid out.

jcaudill said:

Not to be a broken record - but again this is why compressed air is a better idea than O2. You don't need to meter anything, just crap it open and go.

Also - having an air compressor is super super valuable in the process. I use it to push liquid out of my stone, my plate chiller, my pumps, etc. after I'm done brewing. Helps keep the nastys out.

Click to expand...

I have heard that it is really hard to overdo the O2. But really easy to under oxygenate. Also that even using a compressed air pump, the best you can hope for 8ppm. What are the impacts of too much oxygen?

No, other way around. It's very easy to inject too much O2 into your wort and when you do you risk (enter boiled down explanation) suffocating the yeast. With pure O2 you can inject up to 30ppm - almost 4 times the "ideal" level of aeration which is considered to be 8ppm which you can achieve with compressed air.

Sure - you can under oxygenate. But I have to tell you I've never seen it. I usually set my regulator to about 25psi at the tank, and then my valve is cracked about 1/4. As wort passes by it's essentially inundated with air. You also have air heading up the lines into the tank as well as it's helping force the wort into the tank. For the entire duration of the transfer which is usually 10-20 minutes at least, this is quite a bit of air.

FWIW - most of the big boys used compressed air.

can you post a few more pictures on your rig? Looks like you've got a tee on your chiller plate for the thermometer and the outlet plumbing, then clear plastic (to see the wort?). Is the next tee with the valve your outlet to the fermenter? And do you have any check valves in line with the air, or do you just use the air pressure to keep the wort at bay? Does the filter sit inside a housing that you plug inline with your air connections?

Thanks for any additional information - I'm building my CFC right now and was thinking of going with O2, but may switch to air from my compressor based on this thread.

jcaudill said:

The key is to keep it simple - here's my knockout setup:


Untitled by brewerJP

As chilled wort passes I have my air compressor injecting air into it. I prefer to use air because it's impossible to over-aerate. And yes - it is highly filtered! I have a Meissner 0.1um capsule filter inline and a coalescing filter before that to capture any liquids.

Click to expand...

Sure - I can do that! Give me a bit.

But to the plumbing - you pretty much have it. Chilled wort comes out and passes through the thermometer so I can monitor the temp. Then it goes through the sight glass. The sight glass is really to monitor turbidity. That is why you'll notice at that next T as it comes out towards you there is a valve that is pointed downwards. That's a dump valve that I open up when I first start transferring so any trub or cold break material gets dumped before it hits the fermenter. Also - I can open it up towards the end as the hop cone breaks down if need be. To the far right is where the air comes in. I'll snap a picture of the setup but the verbal explanation is from the air compressor port, to a coalescing air filter (15 bucks from Lowes) - this captures any liquid in the air. Then hose down to a Meissner capsule filter that has barbs on both sides. Then hose down to a ball valve that has a built-in check valve. This prevents the liquid from flowing back up the air line. Finally this all connects to the inline aeration stone. You have positive pressure from both sides - chilled wort, and air and that is all forced out that T which moves it to the fermenter!

Ok - not the best pics in the world but here we go:

This shows the connection at the compressor and the coalescing filter:

Untitled by brewerJP

Down to the Meissner capsule filter and ball valve - there would normally be a QD where the pipe is on the right and that's where it connects:

Untitled by brewerJP

The whole assembly:

Untitled by brewerJP

Little different angle on the plumbing:

Untitled by brewerJP

I have better pics of the whole rig but I snapped one anyway:

Untitled by brewerJP

Hope this helps!

Adding this to the long list of brewing ideas I intend to incorporate.

jcaudill said:

Absolutely - it must be filtered for both air and liquid. I have a cheap coalescing filter right at the connection from the compressor to catch any liquid, and then I have a Meissner capsule filter 0.1um to clean the air. I have a ball valve with check to control flow and keep liquid out.

Click to expand...

Can you snap a photo or product links to your air compressor filter setup?
I'd live to do this, but I have no idea how to appropriately filter.

I turn on the O2 at 5psi for 1/2 the batch. Done. My stones last about 1 season (30 batches?)

Super super simple.

This is the filter responsible for catching any liquid the compressor shoots out. Compressors have a tendency to accumulate water / oil and other nasties you want to keep out of your filter.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_221024-47120-SGY-AIR10_0__?productId=3414728&Ntt=kobalt+filter&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

I use a Meissner CSPM0.2-222 - it's actually a 0.2um filter with 3/8" barbs. I picked mine up from Heyes but I had an inside kind of deal. I think Cole-Parmer is probably the best place to look. You just need a barb air filter with a 0.1-0.3ish micro rating and that is responsible for filtering the crap out of the air. They likely sell Whatman.

Then you need a ball valve with built-in check valve. I know GW Kent has these but I'm sure someone else does as well.

All of this is connecting with some nice stiff tubing - I believe mind is 3/8" Bevlex poly braid. And of course you'll need the fitting to connect it to the compressor - normal male compressor insert.

I'm not sure there's another picture I could post that would help but I'm certainly happy to provide any more detail you'd like.

Thanks. The HBT app is working like garbage (normal), so I didn't even see you other post. Can't see picture for some reason, so I'll check it out later. Thanks again.

Welcome!