I was discussing this with a friend of mine last night. I'm no pro brewer, but I've done 6-8 beer brews and a few batches of wine. It strikes me as silly that anybody would take a thousands-of-years-old craft and say that you MUST use clinical grade oxygen supplimentation or you're missing out.
By all means convince me that I'm crazy.
You are crazy, and you are missing out. There, I said it.
I started a thread last month addressing this exact bogus philosophy.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/i-completely-underestimated-role-oxygen-235663/
For a little background, I had prescribed to the "shaking and splashing must be good enough" philosophy for almost two years. I would say this is the practice used by 95% of the members on this board, so it must be good enough, right? Right? I read the Yeast book, and curiosity got the best of me, so I bought an oxygenation kit from Williams Brewing just to see if "thousands-of-years-old" ideas still = best practice. Read my thread - they do not.
I was doing everything possible to make the best beer I could. Yeast starters, pitching rate, repeatable brewing process, temperature controlled fermentation, excellent cleaning and sanitation - the only thing I was short cutting was oxygenation. What a freaking mistake!
I sampled my third bottle from my first oxygenated batch last night, and at 2-1/2 weeks, it is literally head and shoulders above anything else I have ever made. I was happy with my beer before, but I am thrilled with it now. It is not my first time with this recipe either, and since I dial in fermentation temperatures, and stick with one house yeast, I really eliminate many possible variables batch to batch. The only process change I made was the addition of oxygen. A simple 60 second burst through a diffusion stone right before I pitched.
"But I have just shaken my carboy for years with good results!" is really bad advice. If I see another person couple that statement with RDWHAHB....well....I won't be impressed.
The $45 it costs for an oxygen kit will not break anyone, but who would be willing to buy it if everyone tells them it is unneccessary? I believe this single purchase of an oxygen kit had a bigger positive effect than anything else I have done since I started brewing (excluding sanitation and fermentation temperature control - because those are neccessities, not luxeries).
Buy an oxygen kit - then report your results. I guarantee you will be thrilled you did. It is impossible to critique the effect of oxygen if you have never used it. I have used both methods, and the results were shocking. I guess I just didn't expect too much,
because so many freaking people told me it can't make much of a difference!
If you ask me, the crazy person is the one who has never tried a method, yet is confident enough to rip apart its merits.
So who is crazy?
Joe