Inline Oxygen Configuration

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Culln5

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Hey Guys,
I scored an O2 tank on craigslist for $20 so I made the leap to inline aeration. Which of the below configurations should I use coming off my boil kettle? The aeration stone coming from the top or coming directly inline with the kettle discharge?

Thanks!
George

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I'm having same question these days and I don't think there is significant difference between setups, someone prove me if I'm wrong.
 
I too just got an O2 setup. For the moment, I'll be oxygenating in the carboy, so I don't have an answer to the OP, but I do have a related question...

How do you control ppm oxygenation rates in line?

I have a regulator which measures liters per minute, and should be able to derive ppm of oxygen. But most of the information I've come across say 1-2 minutes at 1 liter/min, depending on gravity/pitch rate. If you take more than 1-2 minutes to transfer from the kettle, do you stop introducing O2 after X minutes, or reduce the flow rate? If you reduce the flow rate, what happens if your transfer takes longer than what your ppm calculations suggest?
 
Are you using an immersion chiller? Or chilling before aerating? To my knowledge aerating hot wort is a bad thing just so you know. If youre using a CF or plate chiller consider aerating after......
 
Are you using an immersion chiller? Or chilling before aerating? To my knowledge aerating hot wort is a bad thing just so you know. If youre using a CF or plate chiller consider aerating after......

My plan is to use it coming out of the boil kettle when emptying it to the primary fermenter. This would be after I have cooled it with my immersion chiller.

As far as regulating the flow, I have ordered a pediatric regulator ($25).

George
 
I would do #3....

The O2 stone in the bottom of the tee and the outlet to the fermenter to the right. Basically reverse the fittings in your #2 configuration. This would flow the wort over the stone and promote more mixing and agitation of the wort and give you a bit more absorption of the O2 into the wort.
 
Just a bit of my 2 cents. I would recommend getting a DO tester and a flowmeter to dial in the flow and time of injection. I had a setup like that and ruined some batches. I totally admit my mistake, it was very easy to over oxygenate. I abandoned the set up and have a ss wand with o2. 1 min at 1.5 l/min for 10 min.
One other thing, make sure you take the stone out and boil it before every batch. If you planned on this stuff never mind!
 
Besides wasting oxygen, is there a down side to over oxygenating?


Good question thats been tested and debated to death. I think the majority of the O2 added in most methods is not dissolved into solution or comes back out of solution fairly quickly, hence the foaming head produced while adding he O2.This is the main reason I prefer the inline solution as well as injection being a closed system. My procedure is closed loop from BK, through chillers, through filters, through O2 injection and directly into closed fermenter with yeast waiting. I vent the fermenter until I'm done transferring and close it down for the first few hours to help keep the O2 in solution. I also have a two way pressure valve on the fermenter as a safety. do not want to implode or explode the fermenter. A lot of brewers on the pro level do not add pure O2 at all. With a proper mash, good procedures and healthy yeast you can brew good even great beer without adding O2. Its really more of a home brewer thing in the quest to perfect the brewing process. I prefer to do in line aeration with pure med grade O2 and have good results.
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1390651943.444503.jpgImageUploadedByHome Brew1390651954.429960.jpg
 
I would do #3....

The O2 stone in the bottom of the tee and the outlet to the fermenter to the right. Basically reverse the fittings in your #2 configuration. This would flow the wort over the stone and promote more mixing and agitation of the wort and give you a bit more absorption of the O2 into the wort.

I can't move the stone to the middle of the tee because of it's length. That's where I originally wanted it but it impacts the bottom of the tee and would be damaged when tightened.

George
 
I can't move the stone to the middle of the tee because of it's length. That's where I originally wanted it but it impacts the bottom of the tee and would be damaged when tightened.

George

Did you get the stone from Williams Brewing? I have one from them, and after putting a couple wraps of teflon tape on it, it touches so lightly you wouldn't even notice it.
 
Did you get the stone from Williams Brewing? I have one from them, and after putting a couple wraps of teflon tape on it, it touches so lightly you wouldn't even notice it.

Yeah it's a William's. I Teflon tape on it and I just didn't want take the chance. Can I boil the entire tee intact or should I take the O2 stone out each time.

George

Sent from my XT1080 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Get a cross and put a plug in the top port to let the stone extend into the wort stream.

I can't move the stone to the middle of the tee because of it's length. That's where I originally wanted it but it impacts the bottom of the tee and would be damaged when tightened.

George
 
I've too made an inline O2 injector. But, what I did was build it using the Williams brewing O2 wand instead of barbed and threaded. I also mount my o2 stone right as in enters the fermenter so that I am pumping across the stone instead of drawing across it. If you draw across the stone the pump can lose its prime, big pain the rear. Here are a few photos of my setup.ImageUploadedByHome Brew1390795522.931471.jpgImageUploadedByHome Brew1390795567.380180.jpg
 
Why did you think you have to make the leap to inline injection?

Unless you have a very long length of hose (25'?) or a mixing chamber set up with your inline injection, I don't believe that there's much more oxygen (if at all) introduced over just dropping a stone to the bottom of a fermentor full of wort. Seems like just more stuff to clean for no reason.

In the last picture by Kyled93 it looks like the tee hooks up directly to the bottom of the fermentor. In that case there's no benefit whatsoever.

MaxOut has a more sophisticated setup that probably works better with inline injection and improves the proportion of oxygen dissolved. Otherwise what's the point?
 
Why did you think you have to make the leap to inline injection?

Unless you have a very long length of hose (25'?) or a mixing chamber set up with your inline injection, I don't believe that there's much more oxygen (if at all) introduced over just dropping a stone to the bottom of a fermentor full of wort. Seems like just more stuff to clean for no reason.

In the last picture by Kyled93 it looks like the tee hooks up directly to the bottom of the fermentor. In that case there's no benefit whatsoever.

MaxOut has a more sophisticated setup that probably works better with inline injection and improves the proportion of oxygen dissolved. Otherwise what's the point?

I decided to go inline because I was able to get some of the components pretty cheap and I figure I will be ahead of the game when I move to AG brewing. I currently use the shake method for aerating. I assume that it's logical to believe that I will be able to more effectively aerate my wort with this setup. It leaves my boil kettle, runs through the O2 stone and into my primary fermenter.

My next questions will involve LPM settings and length of time.....

George
 
Did you get the stone from Williams Brewing? I have one from them, and after putting a couple wraps of teflon tape on it, it touches so lightly you wouldn't even notice it.

I put some additional tape on the threads and have gotten the stone to sit well in the tee. No leaks with a water test.

George
 
Why did you think you have to make the leap to inline injection?

Unless you have a very long length of hose (25'?) or a mixing chamber set up with your inline injection, I don't believe that there's much more oxygen (if at all) introduced over just dropping a stone to the bottom of a fermentor full of wort. Seems like just more stuff to clean for no reason.

In the last picture by Kyled93 it looks like the tee hooks up directly to the bottom of the fermentor. In that case there's no benefit whatsoever.

MaxOut has a more sophisticated setup that probably works better with inline injection and improves the proportion of oxygen dissolved. Otherwise what's the point?


Orangehero, why even ask the question of "why". Home brewing is all about building new equipment to help your process in brewing. That being said I completely disagree with your premise that there is little difference between dropping a stone in a pot of wort and pumping across the stone. One word surface area. By pumping across the stone and constantly moving the wort you will achieve more oxygen absorbsion. This is due to the ever changing surface area surrounding the stone as you pump your wort.

Most brewery's use in line stones even with less than 10 ft between the kettle and their fermenters. Otherwise, the design of a brew house would consist of a stone in the fermenter or boil kettle both of which are bad spots.
 
I decided to go inline because I was able to get some of the components pretty cheap and I figure I will be ahead of the game when I move to AG brewing. I currently use the shake method for aerating. I assume that it's logical to believe that I will be able to more effectively aerate my wort with this setup. It leaves my boil kettle, runs through the O2 stone and into my primary fermenter.



My next questions will involve LPM settings and length of time.....



George


Per your description above I'm assuming the wort in the BK has been cooled before transfer through O2 injection? I strongly suggest that it is or your absorption will be minimal at best. I few factors to consider with in-line injection that can effect O2 absorption and desired levels in finished wort are Temperature (cooler wort will absorb more O2), Gravity (bigger beers require more O2), Flow of wort across injection stone, Size of injection stone, Volume of O2 (LPM) etc. To calculate O2 absorption without measurement is a tricky game. Kinda like guessing the gravity of wort without a hydrometer, Good thing is with O2 its not as critical. In fact a little too much O2 is better than not enough.

That said I would set your flow to around 2GPM and your O2 at .5 - 1.5 LPM depending on the gravity and temp. My O2 stone is in a sight glass so I can see the wort moving by and the bubbles from the injection. The sight glass is especially helpful when starting the injection as sometimes you have to turn the flow up to get it going before you reduce it to the proper flow. It is also important if possible to fill your fermenter from the bottom. If your using a bucket or carboy put you line at the bottom. This allows the new oxygenated wort coming in a better chance of holding the O2 in and if it does come out it passes through the rest of the wort on its way up. Adding pure O2 is more about preservation and control for me as I want as little stress as possible on my yeast and I like the control factor for repeatability.
 
Per your description above I'm assuming the wort in the BK has been cooled before transfer through O2 injection? I strongly suggest that it is or your absorption will be minimal at best. I few factors to consider with in-line injection that can effect O2 absorption and desired levels in finished wort are Temperature (cooler wort will absorb more O2), Gravity (bigger beers require more O2), Flow of wort across injection stone, Size of injection stone, Volume of O2 (LPM) etc. To calculate O2 absorption without measurement is a tricky game. Kinda like guessing the gravity of wort without a hydrometer, Good thing is with O2 its not as critical. In fact a little too much O2 is better than not enough.

That said I would set your flow to around 2GPM and your O2 at .5 - 1.5 LPM depending on the gravity and temp. My O2 stone is in a sight glass so I can see the wort moving by and the bubbles from the injection. The sight glass is especially helpful when starting the injection as sometimes you have to turn the flow up to get it going before you reduce it to the proper flow. It is also important if possible to fill your fermenter from the bottom. If your using a bucket or carboy put you line at the bottom. This allows the new oxygenated wort coming in a better chance of holding the O2 in and if it does come out it passes through the rest of the wort on its way up. Adding pure O2 is more about preservation and control for me as I want as little stress as possible on my yeast and I like the control factor for repeatability.

Thanks for the replies so far!....

Yes, the wort is cooled in the BK using an immersion chiller before being transferred to the primary.

Below is the regulator that purchased. As you can see it's only a single stage regulator so I won't be able to set the GPM, only the LPM. Will this be an issue?

George

O2 Regulator.jpg
 
George:
Here is my procedure. I am not saying I am right or this is the only way. It is one way of doing it. I brew 30 gallon batches and pump my beer to a 40 gallon conical fermenter. I have a plate chiller. My inline oxygenator is positioned right after my plate chiller. I pump my chilled wort at about 1-1.5 gallons per minute. I run my O2 at 1.5 l/min for the first 10 minutes I am transfering the wort and then I shut it off. It is more art than science. I have never measured dissolved O2 in my wort but I do get good fermentations. Before I bought a conical fermenter, I fermented in three 14 gallon HDPE barrels. I used an oxygenation wand and gave each barrel about 2 min of O2. That was much simpler and I prefer that to inline oxygenation. However my conical is in an upright freezer and I cannot use an oxygenation wand so I am stuck with inline oxygenation.
With regards to your original question, I don't think it matters which configuration you use.
Have fun!
 
Well I'm going to give my in-line oxygen stone a test drive tomorrow on a 1.061 OG Vanilla Smoked Whiskey Porter (5 gallon). My brew partner will be brewing also and will be using my set up.....

I plan to inject two rounds of .5 LPM for 30 seconds. Does this sound effective?

Can I boil the oxygen stone attached to the tee or should it be broken down and boiled separately between batches and before storage?

George
 
Man was that impressive! It was immediately visible that the O2 stone was doing it's job. I'm glad I made this addition and hope that it makes a difference.

George

Sent from my XT1080 using Home Brew mobile app
 
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