A better way to oxygenate wort

This is from Mike Flaminio's blog, and it's blowing my mind so I wanted to share. As far as I can tell this article has never been linked to HBT.

http://blog.flaminio.net/blogs/index.php/beer/oxygen/081408-wort-aeration

Mike has done a number of experiments on wort oxygenation with a dissolved O2 meter, and has come to the conclusion that the best way to achieve consistent oxygenation of 12 ppm is to give the fermenter's headspace a 1-2 second shot of 5 PSI oxygen, and stir for 30 seconds using a paint stirrer.

This not only looks to be a super efficient usage of oxygen, but also very fast. He also claims that using an oxygen stone yields very inconsistent results for the amount of dissolved oxygen. All in all a very interesting read.

My oxygen regulator distributes in LPM @ 50 psi. I wonder how what I would set the LPM to and for how long to equal his 1–2 seconds at 5 PSI.

I haven't brewed all that much, but I have never had a problem with the "Shake the hell out of it" method. Plastic bucket or glass carboy. Extract or grain. Thick or thin wort.

Maybe I'm missing something?

I wish he would have posted his numbers when using the stone. I use liter flow with a stone so I know I'm pumping out 1L of O2 per minute...I have no idea how that equates to dissolved gas but I did read somewhere that 1L flow for 1 min in 5 gallons is about 14ppm....maybe it was in Jamil and Chris' Yeast book.

hobbes said:

I haven't brewed all that much, but I have never had a problem with the "Shake the hell out of it" method. Plastic bucket or glass carboy. Extract or grain. Thick or thin wort.

Maybe I'm missing something?

Click to expand...

Shaking it will work, a paint mixer works, pure oxygen works better.

You can continue brewing by shaking the bucket and you will still have good beer.
Using oxygen injection is just one more simple way to make sure you are giving the yeast the best possible environment to do their job in.
The better for the environment for the yeast, the less stress there is on them, the better they reproduce with less chances of of flavors.
Happy healthy yeast do a better job than stressed yeast.

It's not something you have to do but it's a good extra step that doesn't take much effort. It actually takes a lot less effort than shaking the bucket.