Combining oxygenation techniques

I just picked up an oxygen injection system. Aeration stone w/ pure O2. I used it for the first time on my tripel, now fermenting. (I’m very hopeful about my results – I’ve been failing to meet target FG, and I really desperately want this one to finish dry.)

So, the question: do I stand to benefit (or sit to lose) at all from continuing to use my siphon spray while transferring the cooled wort to my primary?

I get ~12 ppms using my pure O2. Before I got ~8 ppms using my siphon spray and shaking. Will those numbers add to some extent? If I do both siphon spray and inject O2, am I getting more than the 12 ppms I’d get from injection alone?

I read somewhere else in here on the subject that even injecting O2 with a stone has its weakness, because much of the O2 bubbles straight to the surface and is lost in the headspace of the carboy. So maybe by using my siphon spray prior to injection, I can make up for that loss and really hit my 12 ppm, or thereabouts?

Thoughts?

If you are up to 12 w/O2, and you aggitate it in air (siphon sparying), I think you stand to LOSE some of your 12ppm.

Do you have a DO meter?

Well in actuallity I'd be siphon spraying FIRST into the primary, THEN injecting the O2. (Then pitching yeast.)

No. No DO. Don't know what that is.

If you did that, then you will still get to 12ish. But you'll use less O2 getting there. DO meter = Dissolved O2 meter. How do you know your O2 ppm w/o a meter?

RDWHAHB said:

If you did that, then you will still get to 12ish. But you'll use less O2 getting there.

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Well, that makes sense. And it saves cents!

RDWHAHB said:

DO meter = Dissolved O2 meter. How do you know your O2 ppm w/o a meter?

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I don't know. I'm just quoting the estimates reported in various sources all over the place. Here, BYO mag, etc...

I suppose I'm not interested in exact numbers. If others have gone before me and report the numbers, and I can be certain I'm applying the same techiniques, I'm confident enough. Really what I want is to finally, and then consistently, hit my expected FG!

How do you know it's the lack of Oxygen causing your not hitting FG #'s?

Are you using a big enough starter or packets of yeast? Are you mashing @ the right temps?

When I do use the stone, I try to set it to send only a few bubbles to the surface while moving the wand around the fermenter to help disburse the Oxygen. Does that do anything? Makes me feel like it works better, without the meter there really is no way to tell. I don't do any of this with dry yeast, but with liquid it seems to help.

I would continue the spray method in case you run out of Oxygen or something breaks - this way you have at least got some aeration going.

samc said:

How do you know it's the lack of Oxygen causing your not hitting FG #'s?

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I don't know. I look at the data and I suspect.

Are you using a big enough starter or packets of yeast? Are you mashing @ the right temps?

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For moderate sized beers I use a 1L starter w/nutrient on a stir plate. For bigger beers, I've pitched onto a previous cake.

I have a whole 'nuther thread on why I originally was certain it was my mash throwing off my numbers. I am still leaving that possibility open. My concern there is that I have a SS MLT with 1.5 gallons of space under the false bottom. Although I've checked my thermometers for accuracy, and they've always told me I was in range (149-154), I never was able to get a temp reading down by the FB. I hypothesized that down there my temps were much higher because I wasn't able to stir below the FB to ensure temp uniformity throughout the mash.

The last batch I did, I recirculated quite a bit and stirred after doughing in to ensure uniformity. My therm read 149, and I have no choice but to believe it this time.

When I do use the stone, I try to set it to send only a few bubbles to the surface while moving the wand around the fermenter to help disburse the Oxygen.

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Mine's not a 'wand'. Just a tube with a stone at the end, and the tube only reaches about half way through the wort in my 6.5g primary. A wand would've been nice. Should I look into a longer tube, you think? I don't know what it'll take to remove the stone and re-attach.

I would continue the spray method in case you run out of Oxygen or something breaks - this way you have at least got some aeration going.

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Makes sense to me. Might as well spray while I'm transferring.