Just how bad is oxygen anyway?

I got some air bubbles in my siphon part way thru my transfer from primary to secondary. Is this going to ruin my batch? I put in some stuff to prevent oxidation and I hope it helps. Everything I read here says oxygen is the enemy after the initial spurge into the fermentor.

Not to worry, I get those bubbles every time I siphon and I have never had an oxidation problem.

I would think that a few bubbles in the siphon wouldn't cause massive oxidation...

What did you add to ward off the oxidation?

I think most of those bubbles are off-gassing CO2 anyway so I don't worry too much about them. As long as both ends of the siphon are below the liquid surface you should be golden.

There is a big difference between getting a bubble that lodges itself at the cane/tubing interface and having a leak there that is drawing air in. Picking up an occasional bubble (especially if it originates in the fermenter, e.g. oxygen depleted) will not have any effect.
Springing an active leak can oxygenate the beer pretty effectively if left unattended. Unless you saw some foaming at the receiving end of that transfer, there will probably be no noticeable effect.

I'm not sure what you did to correct it (ascorbic acid?) but I would probably have recommended against it. Minor oxidation will likely just reduce your shelf life and give a slight papery off flavor. That's just a good reason to drink faster

It take a heck of a lot of O2 to oxydize your beer...more than normal racking activity, or even most of our more common boneheaded moves/mistake that we all make...our beer is hardier than most new brewers give it credit. Besides, oxydation is more of a down the road problem, the effects don't show up overnight...and even if we did introduce enough ppm's of O2 to damage it, most of the time we finish drinking the batch before it develops.

You almost need to be pumping an entire bottle of pure O2 into your wort to do enough damage...Nowadays it's even encouraged in higher grav (1.070 +) to introduce more O2 into the wort between 10-12 hours after yeast pitching (according to Chris White of Whitelabs)...an idea that was considered verboten not to long ago, but ideas change.

In otherwords, take proper precautions but don't obsess/worry about it.

When I rack I get those little bubbles. They seem to sneak in through some unseen leak.

What I do is VERY GENTLY put a vice grips over the hose and it shuts it off. More like a vice pressure as opposed to vice grip.

Still, I have never had problems in the past.

Revvy said:

It take a heck of a lot of O2 to oxydize your beer...

Click to expand...

This may be true, but would depend on the amount of continued yeast activity over the remainder of fermentation. Small amounts of O2 may well be converted by the yeast with some additional conditioning time, but, small amounts of O2 can also oxidize a beer to threshold flavor.
The BJCP recipe for producing an oxidized beer is...
"open bottle to air, reseal, incubate at 100°for several days"
The incubation is primarily to speed up the reaction and should not really add much to the flavor change.

To be sure, I am splitting hairs and do not mean to imply "spoiled batch" by any of this.

Just a quick note to add to what I said ... (I try to follow rules and keep it breif). I used a grain bag around the "from" end of the siphon as someone here recommended to help filter. The top of the grain bag was exposed and the bag started sucking the air into the siphon. It wasn't the whole batch by any stretch. Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 gallon before I corrected but restarting the siphon a couple times pumped a little more in. I was really hoping I would get this kind of feedback ... (optimistic I mean) Particularly since this was an expensive kit. Thankx for the hope that springs eternal.

I'm still very new to home brewing and am looking forward to brewing my first batch soon. In reading Palmer's "How to Brew," there are numerous warnings against oxygen exposure.

According to him, oxidation leads to flavor and long term stability problems. What does that mean? My beer won't last 2 years? I doubt it lasts 2 months hehe. How overly careful do I have to be?

Has anyone had oxidation problems, and what did you do to cause it?

Thanks!

If the bubbles are small, and moving with the liquid it is not a problem. If I forget to crank down the clamp between my racking cane and hose, I get a steady flow of large bubbles that stop and cause blockages. That is the time to stop and crank down the clamp, but I have never tasted a difference in the beer. But why tempt fate and do it right, but do not freak out about it.
If you need something to obsess about, think un-wanted infections like bacteria, wild unpleasant yeast, or molds.
Those can mess up your batch and must be controlled.

pfgonzo said:

According to him, oxidation leads to flavor and long term stability problems.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

Exactly: LONG TERM. Well after all the beer has been consumed will the off flavors develop.

TeleTwanger said:

Exactly: LONG TERM. Well after all the beer has been consumed will the off flavors develop.

Click to expand...

Awesome to know I haven't ruined this batch of beer. It is suppose to be ready by Christmas so I want it to be a good one so it will be consumed quickly. OG=1.090; G@3week xfer to secondary = 1.022; If this formula is correct: ((OG - FG) / 0.75) * 100 ABV then my ABV should be: 9.066... now. Do you think the gravity will go closer to 1.0 in the secondary? Oh more importantly will dry hopping w/ Cascade now make it more bitter or less bitter? Instructions say to dry hop.

pfgonzo said:

Has anyone had oxidation problems, and what did you do to cause it?

Click to expand...

My first batch was very badly oxidized. This was caused be using a syphon to secondary (glass carboy) that I couldn't direct below the water level - hence the whole batch flew through the air into the carboy and splashed around. It is the poster child for oxidizing beer and it tasted so cardboardy that I labelled the bottles with a "C" for cardboard.

We still drank it.

And then I bought an auto siphon and we've been home free since then.

kontreren said:

Awesome to know I haven't ruined this batch of beer. It is suppose to be ready by Christmas so I want it to be a good one so it will be consumed quickly. OG=1.090; G@3week xfer to secondary = 1.022; If this formula is correct: ((OG - FG) / 0.75) * 100 ABV then my ABV should be: 9.066... now. Do you think the gravity will go closer to 1.0 in the secondary? Oh more importantly will dry hopping w/ Cascade now make it more bitter or less bitter? Instructions say to dry hop.

Click to expand...

Depends how long it was in primary and if that was pretty much fermented out by the time it went to secondary. Secondary is for clearing the beer as much as possible and aging it rather than further fermentation. If 1.022 was around the target FG, it won't go lower. Or if your airlock activity was done, it's probably done (experts will point out that it might still be fermenting, but it's a decent rule of thumb).

Dry-hopping doesn't change the bitterness, but will add a more hoppy aroma and taste to the beer. If the recipe calls for it, I would do it.

kontreren said:

Awesome to know I haven't ruined this batch of beer. It is suppose to be ready by Christmas so I want it to be a good one so it will be consumed quickly. OG=1.090; G@3week xfer to secondary = 1.022; If this formula is correct: ((OG - FG) / 0.75) * 100 ABV then my ABV should be: 9.066... now. Do you think the gravity will go closer to 1.0 in the secondary? Oh more importantly will dry hopping w/ Cascade now make it more bitter or less bitter? Instructions say to dry hop.

Click to expand...

How long are you planning on aging it before bottling? I would recommend that you dry hop just a week before bottling (basically just enough time to let it all settle out). That will give you the freshest hop character.
With a beer that big, I think you will need some help consuming it quickly. Can I be of further service?

Germey said:

How long are you planning on aging it before bottling? I would recommend that you dry hop just a week before bottling (basically just enough time to let it all settle out). That will give you the freshest hop character.
With a beer that big, I think you will need some help consuming it quickly. Can I be of further service?

Click to expand...

This is a double IPA kit that came w/ lots and lots of hops. Being a DA (aka newbie) I didn't know that the last oz of cascade was meant to go into the secondary so I stirred it in the fermentor just before pitching yeast. So now I need another oz of cascade to dry hop. It was in primary 3 weeks; will be in secondary 3 weeks; then in the bottle 4 weeks minimum (actually 5 weeks will be just before Christmas so it will be party time). So it is already very "hopped up" and a little bitter like a stout. I was hoping it will smooth out a bit by Christmas. I'll take your advice and wait to dry hop one week prior to bottling. Oh, and if you are flying across the continent around Christmas time then by all means stop in and help me down it before it turns to cardboard

cd2448 said:

...If 1.022 was around the target FG, it won't go lower. ...

Click to expand...

How would I know what the target is? Should that be somewhere in the instructions? Instructions told me that the OF was suppose to be 1.083; mine was approx. 1.090. Still to ignorant to know about a target gravity.

oh snap that's a big beer! With any beer it's best to minimize oxidation but especially with big beers that require long conditioning, but still its not something to freak out over. I've had 6 year old Belgian Ales stored at least a year at room temps in a Supermarket that were well, awesome!

kontreren said:

How would I know what the target is? Should that be somewhere in the instructions? Instructions told me that the OF was suppose to be 1.083; mine was approx. 1.090. Still to ignorant to know about a target gravity.

Click to expand...

It would or could have been in the instructions. Missing the OG is fine, it was either not well mixed or maybe a little less volume. The target FG depends on the yeast, what percentage of the sugar the yeast is expected convert to alcohol. It's not precise in homebrewing but if you start at 1.090 and end at 1.022 then you got (90-22)/90, i.e. about 75% which is probably about right. You won't get a higher ABV but I think you're in good shape as it is!