Did I oxidize my beer?

Hi guys, im a newbie and I think I f up my beer last night.

I was in the process of dry hopping getting my beer from primary to secondary (this is after 7 days in primary) and everything went smoothly until I notice that I was going to be short (my secondary had a little bit under 2 inches before the carboy curves on the top).

So I thought, "why don't I shake it to get some CO2 going and getting rid of the excessive head......." and yes, it bubble a little bit.

Then I do a little bit of reading, and yep, probably I got the O2 mixed with my wort while doing my shaking.

Damn it!,

Any experience with this? any chance my beer will turn out fine?

Thanks guys.

Great forum.

-F.

That little bit of shaking won't do anything to oxidize your beer... you're good.

fsmthx said:

Hi guys, im a newbie and I think I f up my beer last night.

I was in the process of dry hopping getting my beer from primary to secondary (this is after 7 days in primary) and everything went smoothly until I notice that I was going to be short (my secondary had a little bit under 2 inches before the carboy curves on the top).

So I thought, "why don't I shake it to get some CO2 going and getting rid of the excessive head......." and yes, it bubble a little bit.

Then I do a little bit of reading, and yep, probably I got the O2 mixed with my wort while doing my shaking.

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Relax dude, you are fine. Even when being extremely careful, think about how much oxygen the beer is exposed to when bottling. Should you slide your carboy on a skateboard amd throw it down the stairs? No. But a little bit of shaking isn't going to ruin your beer. I pick up buckets and carboys full of beer all the time and I'm sure it sloshes around a bit.

Although I agree with the previous two responses that you shouldn't worry, I want to stress that shaking this late in the process is really not recommended. It is very likely that you introduced some oxygen into the beer that could cause oxidation problems later on. You effectively took all the air in that headspace you were concerned about, and shook it up into bubbles in your beer.

But don't fret. That's how we learn. And you didn't instantly ruin your beer.

Oxidation is usually more of a long-term stability problem. It stales your beer quicker than normally, but not overnight. Just bottle the beer on schedule, let it carbonate, and try to drink as much of it as you can in a couple of months. Don't be surprised if it starts to get stale sooner than you were hoping ... but schedule a few parties now, and you can easily prevent that problem before it rears its ugly head.

shawnbou said:

Oxidation is usually more of a long-term stability problem. It stales your beer quicker than normally, but not overnight.

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This

well... I would say maybe. if the head space was still full of CO2 you might get lucky and not have oxidized your beer. but then again you probably did. As i'd imagine co2 escaped during the shaking and was replaced by room air (o2). You'll know if it tastes like cardboard. You could quickly boil up some sugar water and cool then toss in... it will drastically change the beer (+ABV) but the extra fermentation might eat up most/all the air you added.

Thanks guys for helping me out with your replies....

I definitely agree "thats how we learn" and I did feel kinda bad making that mistake, but...thats how it goes.

I would think that oxidizing would be more of a long term thing, and hopefully this is the case.
I am not planning on storing the beer too long lol......

Thanks guys.

F.

If you brewed a dark beer, it will have less of an effect.