grndslm said:
As soon as this thread fades into oblivion and I finish the book, Yeast... I will then be able to make my hypothesis.
In other words, you decided that whirlpooling must be good without any rational basis, and only *after* having decided this do you go looking for a way to justify this. This is also evidenced by your tendency on this thread AND the your idea about bottle-conditioning in mason jars (didn't even realize it was the same person until you mentioned it!) It's not only irrational... it's flat-out anti-scientific. And it's made it entirely clear that you're obsessed with the thought of being responsible for a massive shift in the brewing paradigm... something I tend to almost exclusively see in people in their low 20's or younger. People with a bit more maturity don't typically insist that they'll be able to completely overturn mountains of scientific knowledge from professional brewers, biochemistry, and other scientists, with a mere hunch that not only has no scientific basis, but is in fact is strongly opposed to all this science... it takes a hell of an ego to do this.
grndslm said:
how is it possible for a Black Maxx 5-gal stir plate to stir beer, yet not oxidize it? It doesn't allow the CO2 to escape??
Because all the oxygen in the fermentor is either used up or pushed out during the reproductive phase, and more oxygen is unable to get through the airlock, because of positive pressure in the vessel (due to generated CO2). In ORDER for oxygen and CO2 to push through the airlock, the pressure needs to be higher on the "source" side... how MUCH higher depends entirely on the height of the water column in the airlock.
And the pressure is almost never going to be higher on the outside than on the inside, except for rare, *brief* circumstances due to MASSIVE temperature changes. Most temp changes usually don't cause air to be pulled in as it needs to overcome the head pressure, but if desired, it can be further strengthened by either using a deeper airlock, a deep blow-off tube, or hooking it up with tubing to another CO2-filled vessel with an airlock. The last one is unnecessarily extreme for most people, but if one doesn't have a CO2 tank, it can be filled by simply connecting it to the fermentor after about 24 hours, so that it will collect the gas generated by the fermentation. This gas can even be used for oxygen-free transfers.
But yeah... starters with a typical airfoil or foam cap don't need that pressure differential for air to enter. Airlocks do. It's as simple as that. And if you take off the lid or bung in order to whirlpool, oxygen will have no problem getting in.
grndslm said:
Wow. That's pretty cool. I was just joking when mentioning that, but it's definitely neat.
Are there more like that? Or is that a one of a kind?
Yeah, I know you were only kidding.
But like I said, it's sold through some hombrew stores, so it's obviously not one of a kind. It's not that cheap though - I think it retails for somewhere around $180. I got mine free because I helped test the product before it went to market. It's a really nice unit though... I don't use my DIY stirplate (which can do 5-6 quart starters) anymore unless I need multiple stirs going on.
