Aeration during fermenation ?!?

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BradleyBrew

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Hey everyone... So today I just brewed a Rogue Barleywine clone. This is the "biggest" beer I have ever attempted. The OG is 1.110+. I am currently reading Mr. White's book on yeast. He states that it is beneficial when brewing high gravity to brews to re-aerate the wort after the 12 hour mark. Does anyone actually re-aerate at "home?" Is this required so my little yeastie friends finish the job correctly?? Final question if so what is the best method to use? I do not have a 02 kit I just use my mash paddle and whip the wort. Any suggestions would be great!! Thanks in advance...

:mug:
 
Not AFTER, before 12 hours are up. Yes I do it for big beers, with my airstone and oxygen bottle. I talked about it in my 5 year aged 1.150 og/150 Ibu barleywine.

It caused quite a stir when it first came out a couple years back at a conference Chris White of Whitelabs presented that info about adding 02 within 12 hours of a big beer. IIRC there was some pretty heated arguments on here. But yes it is recommend for big beers that you give it a second period of aeration within the first 12 hours after yeast pitch. Before enough fermentation has happened to have to worry about oxydation. !2 hours and for beers above 1.080 I think.


I just heard it last week on Basic Brewing radio...It was in the NHC follow up. Shocked the crap out of me when I heard it...

It was during the I-view with Chris White from White Labs.

Considering he makes the yeasts, methinks he'd know. :D

July 3, 2008 - NHC Wrapup Pt. 1
Steve joins James as they begin their collection of interviews gathered from experts at the National Homebrewers Conference in Cincinnati. This week: Dave Wills, Michael Ferguson and Chris White.
http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr07-03-08nhcwrapup01.mp3

It's about 3/4's of the way into the I-view...

Considering he says that we need 10-12 PPM's of oxygen for good fermentation and vigorous shaking is only good for 2 ppm's, hitting a stuck fermentation @ under 10-12 hours with a minute of O2 may be may be just the thing. Especially for really big beers.

New info comes out all the time...Even John Palmer has gone back on what he wrote about IBU's after going to a confrence on hops....And a lot of the stuff we come to believe as 'conventional wisdom' is wrong anyway, yet we perpetuate it...

It was a good discussion here;

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/adding-oxygen-during-fermentation-71456/

I'm all for a post yeast pitch blast of O2....but BEFORE it begins to turn into real beer......within the first 12 hours...but with already a 20 point drop in gravity, I still maintain that you don't want too much o2 exposure now...

Flyguy gives a good elaboration on it...

This is an accepted practice, but specific to high gravity beers and only before active fermentation begins (typically within the first 12 to 18 hours). When the yeast are still in their lag/growth phase, they need a lot of oxygen, and it is hard to get enough into solution in a high gravity brew, even with an oxygenation setup. But if you add it in two 'doses' you can get a lot more into solution. Since the yeast are are actively metabolizing O2 in the lag and growth phase, all of that O2 will get scavenged quickly, provided you do it before they hit active fermentation. If timed correctly, there is little worry of oxidation.
 
Awesome thank you.. just checked the fermenter and the airlock is already kicking... I'm about 6 hours in... Just went with the ol' standby S-05. Can I just use my mash paddle and re-whip the wort in about 3 or 4 hours? I have a pump but no inline filter yet...
 
I believe the key here is to wait until the yeast has had enough time to go through at least one cell division. This will be between 8 to 18 hours depending on yeast vitality, temperature etc.

There is little benefit to re-blasting without using pure oxygen as you can't get above the 8 ppm of O2 needed for a high gravity beer w/o using pure O2. Shaking/splashing won't get you above 3 ppm.

The yeast will quickly uptake the newly added O2 and use it for cell membrane maintenance required to survive in high ABV environment.
 
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