Oxygen Flow Rate (Williams Brewing O2 system)

I just ordered the Williams Brewing O2 system. (2 micron stone)
The person I spoke to said the suggested rate is 20 seconds at a moderately high rate.

In Jamil Zainashefs book (Yeast) he mentions 60 seconds, but I don't think he specifies a flow rate.

The regulator doesn't have a gauge, but supposedly you can open/close the valve to regulate flow.


1. How long (in seconds) do you Oxygenate the wort?

2. What flow rate do you use?

3. After aerating, some (a lot) of the O2 bubbles break the surface and are released into the atmosphere. Do you use a lower flow rate, and then seal up the fermentor and shake it for 45 seconds, trying to dissolve the O2 in the head space back into the wort?

4. Anything to look out for? Mistakes to avoid?

I believe Zainashef suggests 1 minute at one liter/minute flow to acheive the desired 10 ppm O2. I don't think that its necessary to shake the wort to dissolve more oxygen-- Thats part of the joys of having an O2 set up!

I have one of the older, pre- recall gauges that only has one working setting- Cranked all the way open. I do that and give it a minute's blast.

I have the Williams Brewing set up and I turn mine up just enough to see turbulence in the wort but no bubbles breaking the surface. I am assuming Im not seeing bubbles because the o2 is dissolving into the Wort -- I am pretty arbitrary on how long I let it go. Usually give it a 45-60 swirls around the fermentor.

How many "uses/aerations" do you get out of an 02 bottle (2.1L or 1.4L)?

Hi Arclight,

I just ordered one of these, used it once and it got stuck.(I couldnt open or close it) on the top of the dial it says "do not force knob" and "to open turn left and close turn right"

I contacted Williams for advice and they simply said they will ship me a new one. Even though its difficult for me to order from williams(since i am canadian, and they dont ship to canada) I will definately order from them again.(pick it up at the border)

In terms of advice on flow rate, this is the response I got from williams on the unit:

"Ryan,

Our oxygen regulator is really just a dispensing unit and does not have a flow rate. However, we have found that with the regulator fully open it will drain a 2.1 Bernzomatic tank in about 1 minute. I know this doesn’t help much, but we really can’t tell the flow rate without a gauge and there are no gauges available for this type of regulator. If you really want to get the flow rate dialed in then I suggest getting a refillable oxygen tank with a gauged regulator from a welding supplier"

Also, mOn the package it says,
"To use: To aerate 5 gallons of wort to 70% of its oxygen holding capacity (a good level for quick yeast growth), sanitize the wand and dip into 5 gallons of freshly made cooled wort in a glas or plastic fermenter. Put on safety glasses. Turn on the regulator until you see steady bubbling (not a huge bubbling spurt), and keep it going for 20 seconds. Turn off and remove and your wort is ready for the yeast. Aeration becomes more important as the starting gravity of the wort increases."

According to Jamil and Chris White, from their book "Yeast", they recommend 8-10 ppm for average wort and yeast pitching rates.
The book also outlines an experiment that it injected pure oxygen into 5.3 gallons of 1.77 wort using a .5 micron stone with a flow rate of 1 liter per minute. results were:

shaking 5 mins 2.71 ppm
30 seconds pure O2 5.12ppm
60 seconds pure O2 9.20 ppm
120 seconds pure O2 14.08 ppm

So at the end of the day, I have no idea...

edit: double post

I'd love to have a better idea on this, and maybe one of these days I'll plunk down the money for a real tank and reg.

In the meantime, I've been turning it on somewhere in the half-way range, and looking for a healthy but not excessive flow of bubbles out the stone, and waving the wand around in the wort for one minute.

The ferments have all gone great, but I really have no idea if the O2 amount is right or simply "close enough"

As of now, I've run 6 batches off my first little red O2 cylinder. It hasn't run out yet. I bought a second cylinder to be able to hot-swap as needed.

I get it going so it just breaks the surface then do 60 seconds. I guess that is plenty because every single fermentation since I started that has blown off for like 3 days straight.

ResumeMan said:

I'd love to have a better idea on this, and maybe one of these days I'll plunk down the money for a real tank and reg.

In the meantime, I've been turning it on somewhere in the half-way range, and looking for a healthy but not excessive flow of bubbles out the stone, and waving the wand around in the wort for one minute.

The ferments have all gone great, but I really have no idea if the O2 amount is right or simply "close enough"

As of now, I've run 6 batches off my first little red O2 cylinder. It hasn't run out yet. I bought a second cylinder to be able to hot-swap as needed.

Click to expand...

that's what i did, went to harbor freight down in union city and bought a tank and regulator for $140 or so. the tank is still going and i have no idea how many batches i've done i the yr that i've had it. i started out with the disposable tanks and the dinky "regulator" - that was too make shift for me.

eastoak said:

that's what i did, went to harbor freight down in union city and bought a tank and regulator for $140 or so. the tank is still going and i have no idea how many batches i've done i the yr that i've had it. i started out with the disposable tanks and the dinky "regulator" - that was too make shift for me.

Click to expand...

Oh no kidding, I didn't even know we had Harbor Freight retail in this area. What did you buy? I gather it was this tank? And did you buy this reg, or did you find one with an lpm readout?

And is there a difference between "Harbor Freight" and "Harbor Freight Tools"? There are a couple of the latter that are more convenient to me...

http://www.harborfreight.com/regulator-gauge-94841.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/20-cubic-ft-oxygen-cylinder-92810.html

ODI3 said:

Hi Arclight,

Also, mOn the package it says,
"To use: To aerate 5 gallons of wort to 70% of its oxygen holding capacity (a good level for quick yeast growth), sanitize the wand and dip into 5 gallons of freshly made cooled wort in a glas or plastic fermenter. Put on safety glasses. Turn on the regulator until you see steady bubbling (not a huge bubbling spurt), and keep it going for 20 seconds. Turn off and remove and your wort is ready for the yeast. Aeration becomes more important as the starting gravity of the wort increases."

According to Jamil and Chris White, from their book "Yeast", they recommend 8-10 ppm for average wort and yeast pitching rates.
The book also outlines an experiment that it injected pure oxygen into 5.3 gallons of 1.77 wort using a .5 micron stone with a flow rate of 1 liter per minute. results were:

shaking 5 mins 2.71 ppm
30 seconds pure O2 5.12ppm
60 seconds pure O2 9.20 ppm
120 seconds pure O2 14.08 ppm

So at the end of the day, I have no idea...

Click to expand...

I was also confused by the Williams 20 second directions. In prior practice, I have been pouring the wort through a large strainer to get out solids (mostly hops, etc.) This tends to add air. The problem being, the more I pour through the strainer, tbe more problem I have with foaming until the foam doesn't fit in my pans. I have no way of knowing how much much air the strainer is adding. I'll try the new Williams wand on Saturday. I suppose I'll assume some air from my strainer and then add 45 seconds or so of O2.

My grandma was nice enough to donate a medical tank and regulator to my brewery. So luckily I can get great accuracy in fact I can go as slow as .12 LPM. Through my research there were a couple sources that states over oxygenation is a concern, but the overwhelming amount of information said this was not possible. So, I see no reason to undershoot, I'd much rather overshoot. Ive been running .5 for 2 minutes, which according to this source is overkill.


The latter part of this article talks about oxygenation rates and absorption levels, but is one of the sources that warns of over oxygenating(a theory that I no longer subscribe too)

http://byo.com/stories/wizard/artic...n-canisters-are-safe-to-use-for-wort-aeration

I love to geek out and spend money as much as the next guy but I personally don't see the use in going all out and buying a big fancy tank and regulator. If you want to spend some money and really know whats going on you can get a dissolved oxygen meter. I use the morebeer kit and turn mine up completely then back it down until I barely see bubbles flowing to the surface and let it go like that for 60 seconds. Using that method I had a tank last almost 2 years, if done correctly the disposable tanks should last a while. Sometimes I am curious as to how well my oxygenation regiment is working and would love to get the oxygen meter. But really as long as I prepare the correct sized starters I have never had any problems with fermentation.

Theoretically buying your own O2 tank will save you money in the long run over using the disposable ones. I was lucky enough to get my setup minus the wand and filter for free. I just see oxygenation as a way to remove one of the beer variables. A check list that thankfully I am going through quickly.

I use the William's setup and adjust the flow until I barely see any bubbles making it to the top. I believe higher gravity beers need more O2. I use 20 sec for beers arround 1.040 and increase that linearly to 60 seconds for 1.090 beers. More for lagers. This is at my flow rate which I am guessing is about 3 LPM. I believe you can add too much O2. Jamil recommends being consistent with your flow rate and increase or decrease by 2X until you get the flavor you want. I find that too much 02 results in a harsh flavor.

My tanks last for dozens of batches.

Here's another interresting reference from Wyeast that I have found helpful:
http://www.bjcp.org/cep/WyeastYeastLife.pdf

One way you can generally measure output of those tanks is to always open the regulator to the same amount and time the number of seconds one tank lasts.
Then Volume/time and your golden.

Obv this might be harder than described, but its worth a shot!

My little red tanks lasts 8-10 batches. I been using around 90 secs timeline.
I would like to buy a bigger tank as those little red guys cost a pretty penny.

jtejedor said:

I love to geek out and spend money as much as the next guy but I personally don't see the use in going all out and buying a big fancy tank and regulator. If you want to spend some money and really know whats going on you can get a dissolved oxygen meter. I use the morebeer kit and turn mine up completely then back it down until I barely see bubbles flowing to the surface and let it go like that for 60 seconds. Using that method I had a tank last almost 2 years, if done correctly the disposable tanks should last a while. Sometimes I am curious as to how well my oxygenation regiment is working and would love to get the oxygen meter. But really as long as I prepare the correct sized starters I have never had any problems with fermentation.

Click to expand...

i figure since i'm in this for the long run i may as well buy a tank and regulator rather than lots of those little red tanks over time. most of my beer i ferment with dry yeast so i don't use O2 at all unless i'm reusing yeast or using a more specialized liquid yeast, belgian, sour, or brett.