stevenryals
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- Feb 3, 2009
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anyone heard of maintaining yeast activity by adding a bit of olive oil?
Be very careful in doing this, as too much can ruin a batch of beer.
Just to clarify, oil spoils head retention in beer, so too much will ruin a batch (not to mention any flavor contributions).
I'm a bit lost here... I may be very new to brewing (only got 2 batches under my belt) but I really can't see a situation where this could be worth trying? I've never had a problem with yeast activity, and surely if your fermentation is stuck you can just raise the temperature and if that doesn't work is it really likely that adding olive oil will? I can understand using this on a high gravity beer if your fermentation completely stops despite raising the temp a little, but the idea of putting it in your starter seems a bit strange to me! Why would you want to chance ruining the flavour profile or head of your beer by adding olive oil to a starter, when the starter will do fine without it?
Can someone explain in which situation this olive-oil trick should be used?
Thanks,
H
I have mixed feelings about using the olive oil. I use it because I don't have an oxygen set up. I want to use oxygen because it provides more granular measurements. It is easier to count to 30 with the oxygen turned on, than to dip a wire 1/4" into some olive oil.
Jason
I then dipped a metal skewer 1/4" into the olive oil and then dipped the skewer in my Erlenmeyer flask prior to the starter boil.
Once cooled, I added my WLP002 yeast and put the flask on a stir plate for 48 hours.
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