Oxygen

Just thought that I would share some good results with my new oxygenation system. I have so far just been using the shake method to aerate my wort, but just picked up an oxygen kit with some Christmas money. It usually takes at least 16-24 hours for my beers to really get going, but after using the oxygen I had krausen forming after just 3 hours and was going strong this morning (10 hours after pitching). I pitched my starter of WLP001 at 62. It seems my yeast are quite happy and healthy, anxious to taste the results!

What's in the kit, and what does it cost?

Williams Brewing and AHS have the same basic kit for the same amount (I think it is about $50) The kit from Williams has the stone on the end of a SS "wand" so that it can be sunk to the bottom of the fermentor a little easier. That is the one I got this year for X-mas.

Yeah, I got mine from Williams also (it's 55 bucks). I like the fact that it has the steel wand...makes it super easy to use. You can pick up the oxygen from Home Depot for under $10 and they are suppose to last for quite awhile. I think it is well worth the money.

The disposable O2 bottles are handy, but always keep an extra on hand because even though they are "supposed" to last a long time, they don't always. You get some loser who buys a canister, uses the O2, returns it (impossible for the store to tell how much is in there) and it gets put back on the shelf.

Keep your eyes open for a "real" O2 tank--even a small one will last practically forever if you are just using it to aerate wort. Craigslist is your friend.

osagedr said:

The disposable O2 bottles are handy, but always keep an extra on hand because even though they are "supposed" to last a long time, they don't always. You get some loser who buys a canister, uses the O2, returns it (impossible for the store to tell how much is in there) and it gets put back on the shelf.

Keep your eyes open for a "real" O2 tank--even a small one will last practically forever if you are just using it to aerate wort. Craigslist is your friend.

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That's a good point. It would be nice if they had some sort of seal on there to prevent that.

BryceL said:

That's a good point. It would be nice if they had some sort of seal on there to prevent that.

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Sometimes they'll have an unopened box of a dozen bottles or whatever. Open the box and grab one or two or hell, even half of them; you'll use them eventually.

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely look for the unopened boxes next time I head over there.

osagedr said:

The disposable O2 bottles are handy, but always keep an extra on hand because even though they are "supposed" to last a long time, they don't always. You get some loser who buys a canister, uses the O2, returns it (impossible for the store to tell how much is in there) and it gets put back on the shelf.

Keep your eyes open for a "real" O2 tank--even a small one will last practically forever if you are just using it to aerate wort. Craigslist is your friend.

Click to expand...

Yes oxygen will greatly increase time to full ferment. If you can get a hold of a small tank for a tourch the oxygen in those tanks is at 94% just like oxygen you would get at the hospital that's what I have and with a wyeast smack pack then throw that in a small starter during the brew time and 30 sec of oxygen five hours and it is going great

BryceL said:

Just thought that I would share some good results with my new oxygenation system. I have so far just been using the shake method to aerate my wort, but just picked up an oxygen kit with some Christmas money. It usually takes at least 16-24 hours for my beers to really get going, but after using the oxygen I had krausen forming after just 3 hours and was going strong this morning (10 hours after pitching). I pitched my starter of WLP001 at 62. It seems my yeast are quite happy and healthy, anxious to taste the results!

Click to expand...

Thought I'd bump this thread. How big of a difference did the addition of pure oxygen make to the final product? I'm think I need to pull the trigger on O2 as my next brewhouse addition, as I've got just about everything else I can think of covered.

Also, I noticed you're in Yorba Linda. Are you part of a homebrew club? I'm in brewcommune, and we have quite a few YL members...

I'm not sure that I can taste the difference since I've gone to pure 02 but what I can tell you is that I'm now getting krausen in the blow-off tube, faster starts and my final gravity is lower than it used to be on the same recipe. That's coming from an aquarium pump and airstone. So I'm pretty sure the yeast are loving it. The best thing about it for me is that I get my batch aerated in about a minute whereas I used to let the aquarium pump go for 20min or more. So the pure O2 system is easier and faster for me. So both me and the yeast are happy as can be about switching to pure O2.

bwarbiany said:

Thought I'd bump this thread. How big of a difference did the addition of pure oxygen make to the final product? I'm think I need to pull the trigger on O2 as my next brewhouse addition, as I've got just about everything else I can think of covered.

Click to expand...

This presentation from White Labs should give you some solid numbers to work from: