You vill not splash ze wort!

I confused aeration with oxidation and I thought I could toss the wort back and forth between the kettle and bucket a few times.

Is there any hope at all for my Oatmeal Stout and Honey Blonde? They both have the same cardboard flavor and I remember distinctly thinking I was being a badass and getting a ton of o2 for the yeast. Big lesson learned.

Can oxidized beer come around?

Thanks for any advice.

I'm not sure oxidized beer can come around. However, it sounds like you did a fine job of aerating. You're supposed to add O2 to the wort before you pitch the yeast, which it sounds like you did. The problem comes after your yeast have started making alcohol. Did you "aerate" during or after fermentation?

I don't know how you got an off flavor but it wasn't from pouring your wort between kettle and bucket. Oxidation happens after fermentation, not before the yeast is pitched.

I'm corn-fuzed. Did you pour the wort back and forth between the bucket and kettle after the boil? There's nothing wrong with that at all. Probably a very good thing to do. You do want to get oxygen into the beer for the yeast after the boil.

Maybe I misunderstood.

edit: ^^ they beat me!

Nurmey said:

I don't know how you got an off flavor but it wasn't from pouring your wort between kettle and bucket. Oxidation happens after fermentation, not before the yeast is pitched.

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+1, you did it right...

Splashing cooled, unfermented wort around is not only fine, it's beneficial! Your yeast will be happier, they will make better beer.

Cardboard flavors are generally attributed to HSA, hot side aeration. Popular wisdom is that splashing and aerating hot wort can cause these off-flavors...others are not so convinced.

Obviously, you don't want to aerate after fermentation either.

So what was the temperature of the wort when you tossed it back and forth?
If < 80F, then you did right. If it was still hot, then you are braver than I am.

-a.

Yeah, the issue is introducing excess O2 post-fermentation; perhaps issues when you were bottling? You get a little splashy then?

BlindLemonLars said:

Splashing cooled, unfermented wort around is not only fine, it's beneficial! Your yeast will be happier, they will make better beer.

Cardboard flavors are generally attributed to HSA, hot side aeration. Popular wisdom is that splashing and aerating hot wort can cause these off-flavors...others are not so convinced.

Obviously, you don't want to aerate after fermentation either.

Click to expand...

CRAP...What's too hot? I recently brewed and started shaking my carboy to aerate at probably 80-90f

DO NOT stress about HSA. From all the many, many experiments I've heard of people doing, it's a non-issue for homebrewers. It *is* an issue for commercial brewers, as it impacts shelf life, but we're talking temps well north of 90°.

I've read a few magazine articles that adamantly say HSA is an issue of concern to homebrewers. Of course just being published in a magazine doesn't make it true! Personally I think the danger is over-hyped and I completely agree it's not worth stressing about. Still, since aeration of hot wort is quite easy to avoid...I do.

See, I think it's absolutely an issue for homebrewers if you pull something dumb like I just did! I wish I'd checked first...

Right after boil, here, I added cold water to both chill the kettle faster and let there be enough liquid in it for ballast to keep it from floating about in my water bath. Figuring that I wanted some good ol' aeration, I intentionally splashed it (into 140-150F wort). Fingers crossed that it doesn't impact it too heavily.

After the boil you WANT to aerate/splash/introdue oxygen. The yeast need o2 post boil pre pitch..or just slightly after the pitch. The issue is if you splash around back and forth POST fermentation...after you let it do it's thing for a few weeks. You're fine Chris, you did the RIGHT thing.

Are you talking of a cardboard taste right after cooling?

It should taste sweet as in the sugars extracted from the grain. The taste after fermenting and aging will be considerably different. The cardboard taste that is indicative of oxidation is in finished beer, after keg or bottle conditioning.

I have no idea of what it would mean before fermentation but I very much doubt it was because of your pouring it back and forth, kettle to bucket.