How can I minimize oxidation

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
jkendrick

jkendrick

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
152
Reaction score
9
Location
Boulder
I am just starting to drink my first homebrew. It's been in bottles for about three and a half weeks. It's an IPA from a kit and I left it in the primary for three weeks and bottled without a secondary. I definitely wasn't as organized as I should have been, but things went pretty smoothly. The beer is definitely drinkable, but has that stale, cardboardy taste that is often attributed to oxidation. It's not overpowering, but it's definitely there. I'm not sure what I might have done to cause this, so I'm wondering if there are "typical" beginner mistakes that lead to this. I searched around a bit, but didn't find a specific answer.

My next beer (a stout) is currently in the primary and I will transfer this to a secondary at three weeks. The initial brew went much smoother on this one, but I intentionally aerated the wort before pitching the yeast as per the recipe. Does the bad oxidation come from transfer to secondary or bottling stages?
 
What is your process of transfer? If you are stirring or pouring or actively introducing air into your beer those are primary causes. In addition, if there is too much head space in the secondary that can also cause oxidation if left that way too long
 
One way to reduce the risk is to leave your brew in the primary rather than racking to a secondary.

I am new but I have already got into the (lazy) trend of not using a secondary unless I have to (adding something like fruit, etc).
 
jkendrick said:
I am just starting to drink my first homebrew. It's been in bottles for about three and a half weeks. It's an IPA from a kit and I left it in the primary for three weeks and bottled without a secondary. I definitely wasn't as organized as I should have been, but things went pretty smoothly. The beer is definitely drinkable, but has that stale, cardboardy taste that is often attributed to oxidation. It's not overpowering, but it's definitely there. I'm not sure what I might have done to cause this, so I'm wondering if there are "typical" beginner mistakes that lead to this. I searched around a bit, but didn't find a specific answer.

My next beer (a stout) is currently in the primary and I will transfer this to a secondary at three weeks. The initial brew went much smoother on this one, but I intentionally aerated the wort before pitching the yeast as per the recipe. Does the bad oxidation come from transfer to secondary or bottling stages?
Click to expand...

Bad oxidation comes from splashing and such after fermentation is done. Don't pour when you transfer the beer - siphon it. Keep bubbles out when you transfer.

Keep your fermenter sealed and don't disturb it or the beer too much when fermenting.

Same thing, be careful when bottling, don't let the beer splash or such.
 
Yeah, I used an auto-siphon. My wife was helping and she let it "fart" once, but I didn't think that would be a big deal. But, as I said, it isn't overpoweringly off tasting, but I can taste the stale taste. Maybe that was enough.
 
That's not enough. Can you explain your brewing and bottling process so others might identify the issue?
 
jkendrick said:
Yeah, I used an auto-siphon. My wife was helping and she let it "fart" once, but I didn't think that would be a big deal. But, as I said, it isn't overpoweringly off tasting, but I can taste the stale taste. Maybe that was enough.
Click to expand...

Auto siphons are awesome, but they are prone to let bubbles in - if this is happening, pour a little sanitized water in the top of the outer tube. This will give you a vacuum seal, and won't let air bubbles in.
 
Draken, I used the auto-siphon to move from the primary to a bottling bucket. I started the siphon with a bit of StarSan. As I said, there was one minor hiccup in the transfer. From there, I immediately bottled. For bottling, I simply sanitized each bottle and then put it up to the bottling bucket's spigot and filled and capped. Is that enough info?

Thanks for the help, everyone!
 
jkendrick said:
Draken, I used the auto-siphon to move from the primary to a bottling bucket. I started the siphon with a bit of StarSan. As I said, there was one minor hiccup in the transfer. From there, I immediately bottled. For bottling, I simply sanitized each bottle and then put it up to the bottling bucket's spigot and filled and capped. Is that enough info?

Thanks for the help, everyone!
Click to expand...

Did you splash the wort when it was hot?
Did you fill your bottling bucket from the bottom or did you let it splash in?
Sounds like you don't have a bottle filler so did you pour down the side of the bottle or just let it splash down the top?
 
I did not splash the hot wort.
I did fill the bottling bucket from the bottom and tried to minimize splashing.
It sounds like I need a bottle filler! ;) It definitely splashed a bit as it filled the bottles. But not a ton.

One other potential issue: I don't have a wort chiller. What I've been doing is putting the pot in an ice water bath in the kitchen sink. I also added some boiled water that I had refrigerated to top it off and help with the cooling. Do you see any issues here? It doesn't take too terribly long to get it below 80 degrees.
 
You need a bottle filler, by just opening the spigot and letting it go into the bottle you introduced a lot of air!

You want to fill from the bottom up, get a spring loaded bottling wand and your problem is solved ;)
 
homebrewdad said:
Bad oxidation comes from splashing and such after fermentation is done. Don't pour when you transfer the beer - siphon it. Keep bubbles out when you transfer.

Keep your fermenter sealed and don't disturb it or the beer too much when fermenting.

Same thing, be careful when bottling, don't let the beer splash or such.
Click to expand...

Bold isn't necessary if you have the right environment for it. Open fermentation has been a method used for centuries... i've done ale's in a closet with stagnant air; it worked great.
 
jkendrick said:
I did not splash the hot wort.
I did fill the bottling bucket from the bottom and tried to minimize splashing.
It sounds like I need a bottle filler! ;) It definitely splashed a bit as it filled the bottles. But not a ton.

One other potential issue: I don't have a wort chiller. What I've been doing is putting the pot in an ice water bath in the kitchen sink. I also added some boiled water that I had refrigerated to top it off and help with the cooling. Do you see any issues here? It doesn't take too terribly long to get it below 80 degrees.
Click to expand...

Yes, from what you've described your issue lies in the way you actually filled the bottles, everything else you described seems fine.

As for the chilling the ice bath is fine but a wort chiller is better. You do not need to boil the top off water, just chill, dump into fermenter and top off-aerate and mix thoroughly, take a gravity reading, pitch the yeast, seal it up and be patient:mug:
 
jkendrick said:
For bottling, I simply sanitized each bottle and then put it up to the bottling bucket's spigot and filled and capped. Is that enough info?

Thanks for the help, everyone!
Click to expand...

Yep, that's exactly what happened. Bottling directly from the spigot without a bottling wand splashed the beer into the bottles.

Next time, use a bottling wand, keep the spigot open (as the bottling wand closes when it's not pressed) and if you do have some splashing still, you could use oxygen absorbing caps.

I use a piece of tubing with my bottling wand, so I can bottle on my dishwasher door. When I'm done bottling, I just close the dishwasher and the drips and spills stay in there!
 
Yooper said:
I use a piece of tubing with my bottling wand, so I can bottle on my dishwasher door. When I'm done bottling, I just close the dishwasher and the drips and spills stay in there!
Click to expand...

Genius! I'm totally stealing this idea. I hate how bottling makes my floor so sticky.
 
look up revvy's bottling tips sticky in the kegging/bottling forum. there is a lot of good advice in there, with pics
 
Is the bottling wand totally necessary? My bottling bucket was designed for wine and has a spigot and an extra long tube. When I was bottling I was able to fill from the bottom up...
 
jvp1 said:
Is the bottling wand totally necessary? My bottling bucket was designed for wine and has a spigot and an extra long tube. When I was bottling I was able to fill from the bottom up...
Click to expand...

In short.....yes:) you already have experienced oxidation, now it's time to change your process with a wand so you can cross that off flavor off your list!
 
homebrewdad said:
Auto siphons are awesome, but they are prone to let bubbles in - if this is happening, pour a little sanitized water in the top of the outer tube. This will give you a vacuum seal, and won't let air bubbles in.
Click to expand...

I quit using my auto siphon because of this. I will have to try this technique next time. Thanks for this tip
 
I bought a bottling wand today, so we will see. I talked to the guys at my HB shop about oxidation and they said people go so far as to use dry ice to eliminate oxygen. I can't see going that far myself just yet, but it drives home how careful one must be with regards to oxidation. I had another of my mildly oxidized IPAs this evening and they really aren't bad. Hopefully the bottling wand will make the next batch excellent! Thanks for all the advice, folks!
 

Similar threads

pacostagli
Simple Question - When to move into Secondary?
Replies
27
Views
3K
pacostagli
pacostagli
Beer Viking
When there is no more bubbling in the primary fermenter can I bottle my mead?
Replies
5
Views
1K
Beer Viking
Beer Viking
Brewsmith
My Hop Harvest 2023
Replies
19
Views
2K
OleBrewing
OleBrewing
A
Sanity Check My First Cyser
Replies
3
Views
593
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
Architect-Dave
Fermentation Activity in Beer Secondary Fermenter
Replies
18
Views
2K
Architect-Dave
Architect-Dave
SSBrew 300

Latest posts

Back
Top