Oxygenating wort

Would hyper-oxygenating wort after the pitch by bubbling medical grade oxygen into it be of any benefit? Dis-benefit?

you dont want to over-oxygenate wort because you want all the oxygen to be used up by the yeast within the first 12 -24 hrs. Also, you want to oxygenate before you pitch... not after

You don't want to over do it, but pure oxygen is recommended in this book.

You might give this thread a read.

thezepster said:

you dont want to over-oxygenate wort because you want all the oxygen to be used up by the yeast within the first 12 -24 hrs. Also, you want to oxygenate before you pitch... not after

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As long as it's soon after I can't see how it would matter.

As far as the OPs question...yes, if you can get pure O2 into your wort at a reasonable cost definitely do so!

Over oxygenating can stress the yeast and cause poor fermentation and excessive ester production. IIRC, 60 seconds with a diffuser should be about right.

It does not matter whether the yeast is in the wort or not when you aerate/oxygenate. You just need to do it quickly afterward.

I believe it was in Yeast that some brewers actually reoxgenate the wort after 12 hours of fermentation to ensure that the yeast are well established. But of course, I can only assume that is for more extreme cases with beers of 1.090+ OGs.
Too be honest, using "medical grade oxygen" sounds like overkill; using a regular air pump or stirring/agitation should be more than sufficient.

FensterBos said:

I believe it was in Yeast that some brewers actually reoxgenate the wort after 12 hours of fermentation to ensure that the yeast are well established. But of course, I can only assume that is for more extreme cases with beers of 1.090+ OGs.
Too be honest, using "medical grade oxygen" sounds like overkill; using a regular air pump or stirring/agitation should be more than sufficient.

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According to Yeast, you simply can't reach the minimum amount of oxygen via these methods to reach what White Labs considers proper levels for most yeast strains. Obviously there are tons of us who make good beer doing it this way, but according to the book, most of us are grossly under oxygenating.

Thanks for all the tips; they are very helpful. I get the medical grade O2 from the hospital ER where I used to work. It's free when I bribe the nurses with a pizza.
I recommend all home brewers purchase the book "Brew Chem 101" by Lee Janson. Google it up. Goes into the chemistry of brewing including the pitfalls of off-flavors and other potential screw-ups. It's in layman's terms and easy to understand.
Thanks again.

FensterBos said:

I believe it was in Yeast that some brewers actually reoxgenate the wort after 12 hours of fermentation to ensure that the yeast are well established.

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That's an interesting tip if true; have others heard/seen this?

osagedr said:

That's an interesting tip if true; have others heard/seen this?

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Yeast recommends it for higher gravity beers.

Touche'.
But once again, for the average home brewer I don't see the need for us to have tanks of oxygen in our homes. That being said, if I was banging out 10 to 15 gallon batches I could see the benefit of having a tank and regulator.
I just found this article/Q&A; I found it helpful regarding this topic: http://byo.com/stories/wizard/artic...xygen-canisters-safe-for-homebrewing-aeration

osagedr said:

That's an interesting tip if true; have others heard/seen this?

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This was something that stuck with me because I've been SO careful not to aerate the wort after pitching. This method is only suppose to be done with higher OG beers to ensure that yeast is well developed; you don't want to do it for low OG beers since the yeast might finish fermentation while there is oxygen still present in the wort.

I think the only time I would try to implement this step is if I was making a 1.090+ OG beer and lots of it.

FensterBos said:

Touche'.
But once again, for the average home brewer I don't see the need for us to have tanks of oxygen in our homes. That being said, if I was banging out 10 to 15 gallon batches I could see the benefit of having a tank and regulator.
I just found this article/Q&A; I found it helpful regarding this topic: http://byo.com/stories/wizard/artic...xygen-canisters-safe-for-homebrewing-aeration

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$50 for the setup for use with disposable bottles ($9/bottle at hardware store / they claim will do 20 to 30 batches)

I have never heard of too much 02, but hen again I don't ise compressed gas. My question is how much is too much and how would you ever know it.

Another BYO article that discusses the use of O2: http://***********/stories/techniques/article/indices/7-aeration/1949-aerating-wort-techniques

People who use pure O2 seem impressed with the results. I plan to give this a shot once I have all the necessary equipment by mid-June. Probably crank the oxygen through a 0.5 micron stone for 60 seconds and see what happens.

Yeast includes test results on 5 gallon batches using pure O2 through a stone, air pumps through a stone, and extended carboy shaking/sloshing. Their results showed that only pure O2 got the ppm up to recommended levels and I think it was for around 45-60 seconds. I'm just about to order one and see what it does for me. I've been a slosher/shaker up 'till now and looking at their study I've probably been getting about a third the oxygen they recommend

this is a stupid question. but could i transfer the medical oxygen from the tank through a sanitized rubber oxygen hose and just submerg it in to the wort. crank open the regulator and let it run for a few mintues?

bcryan said:

this is a stupid question. but could i transfer the medical oxygen from the tank through a sanitized rubber oxygen hose and just submerg it in to the wort. crank open the regulator and let it run for a few mintues?

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I would think most of it would just bubble to the surface and be wasted. It won't absorb as well without an air stone to diffuse it. I don't remember what size they use for the tests in Yeast, but I think it's smaller than the .5 micron sold at Williams Brewing. Hopefully it's close enough, but I'm pretty sure with no stone at all it would take way too long to hit those same levels.

Shaking/sloshing is supposed to be a decent form of oxygenation. Suppose you just bubbled O2 through a hose with no stone and then shaked like normal.

i had no idea what a air stone was so i went to northernbrewer.com to see what they were. so all i would have to do is get an air stone, attach it to my medical 02 and tubing and turn it on for a few minutes??? and my wort would be oxygenated?? no more shaking?? i have access to unlimited 02 so i'm really hoping this is the case. cheers

bcryan said:

i had no idea what a air stone was so i went to northernbrewer.com to see what they were. so all i would have to do is get an air stone, attach it to my medical 02 and tubing and turn it on for a few minutes??? and my wort would be oxygenated?? no more shaking?? i have access to unlimited 02 so i'm really hoping this is the case. cheers

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For the most part yeah. You would be guessing without a flowmeter though.
You wanna unlimit a bottle toward me?

I bought a stainless stone and a filter from high gravity brew.

1/4" hose and a oxygen tank from home depot.

Jerry rigged a valve from a propane canister (I would recommend buying the valve from williams.

I let the oxygen flow for a minute then pitch the yeast.

Very impressed with the results, fermentation takes off faster.

Beer tastes better, cleaner and crisper would be the best way to describe it.



http://www.highgravitybrew.com/ProductCart/pc/Sanitary-Filter-126p3559.htm

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/ProductCart/pc/Air-Stone-5-Micron-126p2158.htm

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/OXYGEN-REGULATOR-P700.aspx