Filter System or Oxygen Injection System

I've got a discount code for Midwest I want to use today but I'm having trouble deciding on which to get.
I currently am set up to do partial mashing.

I didn't answer- because it depends on why you chose those two possibilities.

If your beer is underattenuated, and it's hard to aerate when you put the wort in the fermenter, you need the oxygen system. (I don't have one, but many people do).

If your beer is perfect, except a wee bit cloudy in the keg and you want it brilliantly clear, then the filter system is the better bet.

Yooper said:

I didn't answer- because it depends on why you chose those two possibilities.

If your beer is underattenuated, and it's hard to aerate when you put the wort in the fermenter, you need the oxygen system. (I don't have one, but many people do).

If your beer is perfect, except a wee bit cloudy in the keg and you want it brilliantly clear, then the filter system is the better bet.

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I personally don't have a hard time shaking up my primary when siphoning in the wort and most of the time I hit my expected FG. However there are times when I'm higher than expected, maybe 2-3 points, and have wondered if its mash temp or aeration.
I'm also hoping to do a barleywine or RIS that will be high gravity and I'm a little worried that simply shaking the carboy may not be enough.

On the flipside, the filter system may help when I don't want to disturb the trub in the bottom of the keg. I'm thinking in the future if I build a jockey box that this would help with that.

Thanks for the reply!

Go with the oxygen system. 60 seconds for a typical gravity ale will yield a great fermentation. I noticed a significant improvement after I bought mine. As long as you're patient, time will do the filtration/conditioning for you.

Filter. Removes gunk that shortens shelf life. Drastically reduces aging time.

If you go for the oxygen system, I can heartily recommend the one from William's Brewing. SS stone on the end of an SS wand, long enough to stick in the boil pot and sanitize. Just leave it in there for the chill, transfer to bottling bucket and oxygenate. Rinse, repeat. Simple and brilliant design, and as stated previously fermentation results are improved- it's better beer.

I bought an O2 system recently and hope it takes my beer from awesome to super mega awesome. Honestly, I'm a bit skeptical, but I bought it anyway.

Randy_Bugger said:

I bought an O2 system recently and hope it takes my beer from awesome to super mega awesome. Honestly, I'm a bit skeptical, but I bought it anyway.

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This was me when I bought mine. But it works.

I have to wait 3 more weeks to find out. I did notice the fermentation was a bit more vigorous than usual and it finished a few days faster.

Another reason I bought it was because now I can't blame a mediocre batch or a fermentation issue on the lack of O2.

O2 will improve the taste of your beer...filtering will improve the appearance of your beer.

Which one is more important to you?

Beyond that there are other ways to improve clarity short of filtering such as fining agents, cold crashing, time, and cold conditioning. Filtering will strip some volatile oils from the wort. Pro breweries that filter typically use a centrifuge so as not to strip any flavor or aroma from the beer, nothing like the inline filters homebrewers use.

O2 injection. If for no other reason than you'll get consistently better fermentations with less work (shaking, swirling).

I found my beers to dramatically improve when I injected O2, one of the better "step ups" I have made.