Splashing

I just did my first AG batch on Sunday. One aspect of the process which has me concerned is the amount of aeration which occurred. In the voleur portion, I really did not have the space to pour back right on top of the liquid; I was pouring a few inches up which of course caused a small amount of splashing. When draining from the tun, the drains each ended with bubbles in the tubing. So, how much should I be concerned about oxidation from these events? I really don't know how to cut them out. It seems like some aeration is impossible to avoid.

Not at all.....Don't sweat the fact that you splashed during VORLOFF, or really anything for that matter....It takes a lot of splashing to do any damage, someone on basic brewing years ago, (Palmer, or Chris Colby of BYO) said that in order to truly provide enough O2 to oxydize our beers it would take pumping and entire one of our red oxygen bottle/airstones into our beer AFTER fermentation is complete.

Most of the splashing intentional or accidental that we do in the course of our brewing will not harm it...

And beside Oxygenation damage isn't immediate anyway, most of us would have our beer drunk long before it would happen.

Read this thread and see what most of us have done to our beers, and have them survive....it's hardier that we give it credit for. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

"It seems like some aeration is hard to avoid"... That's exactly correct. No matter how much you try to combat aeration, it will always occur at some point. You're on the right track though... Be aware of the potential problems, and make sure that your process is refined to the point where most aeration is eliminated.

During your vorlauf, pour as easily as possible, not only to avoid aeration, but also to keep your grain bed intact. During the transfer from the mash tun to the boil kettle, make sure to keep the hose for the runoff at the bottom of the kettle.

Again, aeration can't be completely eliminated, but the more you pay attention to potential sources of oxidation, the better off your beer will be in the long run.

cool, thanks!

Too put it in perspective, do you think THESE GUYS worry about it?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3uyKjLTWJA]YouTube - Transferring from Mash Tun to Boil Kettle[/ame]

Revvy... what a perfect example of pro breweries and their method of transferring from the MT to the BK. I hope everyone notices that although they are probably aerating a bit, they are running the wort down the sides of the BK. This is MUCH better than allowing the wort to flow in from the top of the BK and simply splash around at the bottom. Awesome video demonstration!

rsmith179 said:

Revvy... what a perfect example of pro breweries and their method of transferring from the MT to the BK. I hope everyone notices that although they are probably aerating a bit, they are running the wort down the sides of the BK. This is MUCH better than allowing the wort to flow in from the top of the BK and simply splash around at the bottom. Awesome video demonstration!

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Actually it's really meant to show how a lot of things that new brewers panic about, really aren't worth worry about...HSA, Aeration, Autolysis...those are bogeymen, many of them don't even translate to homebrewing anyway...and even if they did, it's really not worth worrying about.....

WHether or not it's rolling down the side, it is still pouring through the air..Most of us when moving beer, whether it's from a mashtun, or to secpndary, or to bottling bucket, move ours through hoses from the bottom up, preventing it from falling through the air.....SO we, who use hoses actually are less likely than they are to damage it.

Revvy said:

Not at all.....Don't sweat the fact that you splashed during VORLOFF, or really anything for that matter....

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...or even his VORLAUF...

I gave up on HSA a long time ago and never looked back. I pour from the grant right into the kettle and my brews are fine. If anything they are getting better, but I don't attribute that to splashing at high temps.

radtek said:

If anything they are getting better, but I don't attribute that to splashing at high temps.

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Nope, just your brewing skill more than likely!!!!

I've said it before i think a lot of those bogeymen get perpetuated becasue an impatient new brewer samples his green beer, then panics, looks in a book, and mis diagnosis something...then he runs around saying "I've got HSA, I've got HA" or autolysis, or any of the other ones....

That is why I say over and over when you are starting out...have patience...and more than anything don't self diagnose your beer. Find someone with more experience, preferably someone who has gone through BJCP certication training or is in a brew club, where they got to taste the "control" off flavors demo kit...where they add certain chemicals to a neutral BMC beer, to get to actually taste these flavors rather than just read about them...

For one thing taste is subjective everyone experiences things differently. Some people are supertasters, some have perfect palates, or sensitivities.....or genetic pre-dispositions to certian things (like that percentage of the population that when they taste cilantro, they experience it as a soapy flavor. )

BTW, what is you av???? I've been dying to know.

I ain't worried 'bout it.



I highly recommend giving the Brew Strong episode on HSA a serious listen.

Revvy that's a series of X-rays I made a gif out of. LOL I was bored at work and got out a beer glass that just "happened" to be there...

radtek said:

Revvy that's a series of X-rays I made a gif out of. LOL I was bored at work and got out a beer glass that just "happened" to be there...

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LOL.....

It didn't just HAPPEN to be there....you guys serve beer to all your x-ray patients right? I mean you are familiar with this article after all...*wink Wink*


"Drinking Beer Reduces Radiation-induced Chromosome Aberrations in Human Lymphocytes."

It's for medicinal purposes only....

JRR : Vol. 43 (2002) , No. 3 237-245

LOL