Plate Chiller - Oxygen Ingress

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

KeyWestBrewing

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
3,031
Reaction score
350
Location
Key West
Has anyone had issues with a plate chiller causing too much O2 ingress and funking up their sours? Im working on scaling my 5gal batches of quick sours up to a bigger system and will have to use a plate chiller instead of the IC I'd normally use. I know the process is very sensitive so I figured I'd see if people have had issues with this before I jump in blind. Thanks!
 
What makes you think a plate chiller will cause oxygen ingress? Once you start pumping wort through it, all the air is pushed out of it. That should all happen within a few seconds after turning your pump on.
 
Right but is that first push something I should run off or does it not create an issue? Also just because something isn't leaking doesn't mean theres an airtight seal. It obviously isn't an issue for most beers to get a little O2 in the transfer but in this case a small bit of air could ruin everything. Its possible I'm overworrying because I know its a delicate process so Im just seeing if its created issues for anyone.
 
What specifically concerns you with oxygen exposure? Oxygen doesn't actually cause problems with off flavors with lactobacillus. And brettanomyces scavenges oxygen during its growth phase, so acetic acid is not a concern. Oxygen can cause a problem with spoilage bacteria, but if you're using a chiller, you've most likely boiled the wort so contamination shouldn't be a concern.

Oxygen exposure is a bit of an outdated concern with pure cultures. I think people fear it because of the problems it causes in a sour mash. But there are so many microbes at play in a sour mash, that will not be present if you're using lab cultures and practicing good sanitation.

Even with spontaneous fermentation, the wort will get plenty of oxygen exposure in the coolship. But controlling your wort pH will more than likely prevent any problems from bacteria growing in the aerobic environment.
 
What specifically concerns you with oxygen exposure? Oxygen doesn't actually cause problems with off flavors with lactobacillus. And brettanomyces scavenges oxygen during its growth phase, so acetic acid is not a concern. Oxygen can cause a problem with spoilage bacteria, but if you're using a chiller, you've most likely boiled the wort so contamination shouldn't be a concern.

Oxygen exposure is a bit of an outdated concern with pure cultures. I think people fear it because of the problems it causes in a sour mash. But there are so many microbes at play in a sour mash, that will not be present if you're using lab cultures and practicing good sanitation.

Even with spontaneous fermentation, the wort will get plenty of oxygen exposure in the coolship. But controlling your wort pH will more than likely prevent any problems from bacteria growing in the aerobic environment.


In my personal experience the souring process is extremely sensitive to air exposure. I don't know that O2 specifically is the culprit but the more I refined my process for less exposure the better and cleaner the results. Even when sour worting with a pure culture, leaving just a couple inches of headspace in a carboy is enough to throw some subtle funk. I'm not using any Brett either so there's nothing to scavenge.
 
Back
Top