The Air Ain't Free (O2)

[Gytaryst]

I've put off buying the stuff to oxygenate my wort because of cost only. It's not that it's a huge investment. Compared to other aspects of this hobby it's relatively small. My issue is that the cost seems to be insanely, ridiculously, unconscionably, stupid high for what it is.

• At a minimum you need a diffuser stone; $2 or $3???
• You need a couple feet of 1/4" vinyl tube; $3 for 20 feet???
• Benzomatic Oxygen Bottle; $10 (if you don't want to waste time shopping around???)
• And finally you need the "regulator" (which is just a brass on/off fitting and doesn't actually "regulate" anything); I'll admit I haven't been able to find one of those cheaper than $20??? (no idea why - other similar brass fittings are usually in the $4 or $5 range).

Or you can buy a "kit" from a home brew store that has all those items for $60???

When I decided I wanted to use oxygen a while ago I spent a few hours online surfing, trying to find the items I would need at a [reasonable] price. The problem I ran into was having to order this part here and that part there so by the time I added in all the separate shipping charges it was back up to some ridiculous cost again. I can go to the LHBS but there again, they're packaged as "home brew" specialty items and priced accordingly so a $3 diffuser stone becomes a $15 "home brew" diffuser stone.

Once again I find myself back in the position where I really would like to start using pure oxygen rather than simply aerating. I'm just cheap. I was hoping someone might have found a reasonably priced way to put this together? I'm all for people making money and for supporting my LHBS and all that, but I'm against paying twice as much for something for no good reason other than someone wrote "home brew" on the package it comes in.

Okay, I'm putting away my soap box and excitedly awaiting your responses with bait on my breathe.

 

[mongoose33]

Reasonably priced with O2? Sorry. No.

As the folks at Nike would say, "Just do it."

PS: I've bought aeration stones that are on stainless tubes; makes it easier than trying to wrangle a vinyl hose w/ stone attached, and easier to handle as I don't have to touch the stone to remove it from the vinyl tubing.

***********

I've been oxygenating my brews for the last, oh, 30 or 35 batches. Recently I've begun to oxygenate the starter wort too, and between oxygenating the worth, the starter wort, and directly pitching the starter into the fermenter--well, my fermentations take off like a rocket.

You'll find that "regulator" to not be all that useful for controlling oxygen flow. I made the following to both keep the O2 bottle from falling over, but also to give me finer control over O2.

If you want to pursue this, here's the flow controller I'd get: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZ8I17N/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 On mine, I bought the wrong one--it doesn't have the smaller gradations, but it still works.

 

[Droot]

You are looking at a $3 diffuser stone.

I bought a 2 micron stainless steel diffuser.

See the difference?

Just pony up if you want better beer.

I am a welder, so I get a 80 CF O2 bottle and regulator for free.

David.

 

[xpops]

PS: I've bought aeration stones that are on stainless tubes; makes it easier than trying to wrangle a vinyl hose w/ stone attached, and easier to handle as I don't have to touch the stone to remove it from the vinyl tubing.

***********

I've been oxygenating my brews for the last, oh, 30 or 35 batches. Recently I've begun to oxygenate the starter wort too, and between oxygenating the worth, the starter wort, and directly pitching the starter into the fermenter--well, my fermentations take off like a rocket.

You'll find that "regulator" to not be all that useful for controlling oxygen flow. I made the following to both keep the O2 bottle from falling over, but also to give me finer control over O2.

i agree with the stone on the end of metal wand, vs tubing - so much easier to manage!

mongoose - i love the idea of the O2 control! those valves are such a PITA!!

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I've had a stainless wand oxygenation kit in my Amazon wishlist for about a year. It runs like $40. By the time I look up and scrounge for parts and deal with this and that and pay shipping, I don't think I will save any significant amount of money. It's like with my DIY wort chiller - by the time I bought hoses and then brazed some copper together, screwed that up, re-fixed it, then fixed it again, found the right size hose adapters - I spent almost as much as a retail one, made my self mad a bunch, and wound up with something that is probably less functional and uglier.

Sometimes it is easier to buy something from someone who has already dealt with the learning curve. I prefer to DIY and I know what I am doing most of the time, but sometimes it is just makes more sense to spend an extra $10 to $30 to save a couple of hours of my time and frustration. IMHO anyway.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Are you brewing big beers? All of my brews so far have been under 8% and I've never used pure O2 to oxygenate my wort. I use one of these with a pump from my kettle and it works great.

For my starters, I just shake the crap out of it with the sanitized foil on the top after it's cooled. It gets foamy and has plenty of O2 for a 1.040 starter wort.

My 1.064 IPAs have reached final gravity in about 30 hours with a 1 liter starter of 1318.

I do plan to do O2 when I brew a really big RIS, but until then the spray aerator works great (and costs less than $4).

 

[Gytaryst]

Are you brewing big beers? All of my brews so far have been under 8% and I've never used pure O2 to oxygenate my wort. I use one of these with a pump from my kettle and it works great.

For my starters, I just shake the crap out of it with the sanitized foil on the top after it's cooled. It gets foamy and has plenty of O2 for a 1.040 starter wort.

My 1.064 IPAs have reached final gravity in about 30 hours with a 1 liter starter of 1318.

I do plan to do O2 when I brew a really big RIS, but until then the spray aerator works great (and costs less than $4).

I love big Belgian ales. My favorite beers are tripels. I've tried to brew a few quads and several tripels in the past and never hit the target numbers I was aiming for. I haven't tried to brew anything big in awhile until I can get my mashing technique squared away, (but that's another story).

I'm brewing a festbier this weekend, (estimated 1.056 OG, 6.0% abv). I was reading up on lagering practices since I don't brew them that often and I ran across an article that said 02 is pretty much a must for lagers. I'm sure it's like everything else with home brewing; there are no doubt as many opinions about that as there are home brewers. But he everything else he said seemed to make sense and it sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

That got me looking into the O2 thing . . . . (again), and I (again) ran into the same frustration I have every other time I've looked into it.

I have no problem ponying up the money for stuff when it's a reasonable or semi-reasonable amount. And I agree with the DIY thing. If I can buy it retail for $100 I can usually build my own version that uglier and doesn't work as well for about $500 or $600.

That said, there are some items that are just plain ridiculous. I built my stir plate for $10 or $15 - works like a champ. At the time I couldn't find a commercial version under $75 or $80. Not sure what they're doing different, but the one I built does exactly what I wanted it to do.

At any rate - I'd be surprised if those $60 O2 kits contain $15 worth of products, (and none of those products are intended or manufactured specifically for home brewing). But I need to have oxygen this weekend when I brew so more than likely I'll be gritting my teeth and forking over $60 for $15 worth of stuff - all for convenience sake.

 

[MaxStout]

Don't think of the O2 gear based on what the stuff is worth in and of itself. Think what it does for your brewing. You brew big beers. The O2 system will help you brew better beers. It's not just the intrinsic value of the equipment, but also the extrinsic--the improvement value it will bring. We could get caught up in the cost vs. value of a lot of things, like brew kettles. Two hundred bucks for a piece of stamped sheet metal from a Chinese factory? But if it's well-made and does the job we want, it's worth it.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I found a full medical O2 bottle with regulator (that actually regulates flow!) at a yard sale for $5. Look around, I'm sure you'll find one pretty cheap. That said I've been looking for a decent price on a wand. The stone on the tubing sucks!

 

[Gytaryst]

Don't think of the O2 gear based on what the stuff is worth in and of itself. Think what it does for your brewing. You brew big beers. The O2 system will help you brew better beers. It's not just the intrinsic value of the equipment, but also the extrinsic--the improvement value it will bring. We could get caught up in the cost vs. value of a lot of things, like brew kettles. Two hundred bucks for a piece of stamped sheet metal from a Chinese factory? But if it's well-made and does the job we want, it's worth it.

I hear ya. I understand making money and making a profit, I have a hard time with greed and gouging. There's a lot of sentiment thrown around about how consumers should be loyal to this or that for some nonsensical reason. The LHBS down the road sells a 2 micron diffuser, 1/4" line and the oxygen on/off fitting for a disposable oxygen bottle for $79.98. That doesn't even include the Benzomatic bottle and I'm supposed to feel some warped sense of loyalty and buy from them simply because they opened up shop in my area?

But I understand what you're saying. I found you can get a lot of the stuff for this hobby a lot cheaper if you don't shop at "Home Brew" specialty shops. Sometimes a stock pot at a restaurant supply store is cheaper than the same exact identical product listed as a brew kettle sold at a "Home Brew" shop.

I want to start adding oxygen to my wort. If I had all the time and patience in the world I could probably track down the parts I need and get them at a realistic and reasonable price. But I don't have that kind of patience and I'm planning to brew this weekend so I don't have the time either. So more than likely I'll just have to bend over and pay someone's ridiculous marked up price. Once I bite the bullet and buy it I won't ever give the price I paid a second thought, and I'm sure I'll wonder why I waited so long to do it . . .

I found a full medical O2 bottle with regulator (that actually regulates flow!) at a yard sale for $5. Look around, I'm sure you'll find one pretty cheap. That said I've been looking for a decent price on a wand. The stone on the tubing sucks!

I heard it was harder to get the medical bottles filled? Don't know. I did read that the best flow meter or regulator to get is a pediatric regulator. Apparently the flow adjustment is more precise than most. That might be a "down-the-road" purchase. For the time being I'd just like to get O2 into my wort this weekend without taking out a second mortgage on the house if possible.

 

[MaxStout]

I hear ya. I understand making money and making a profit, I have a hard time with greed and gouging. There's a lot of sentiment thrown around about how consumers should be loyal to this or that for some nonsensical reason. The LHBS down the road sells a 2 micron diffuser, 1/4" line and the oxygen on/off fitting for a disposable oxygen bottle for $79.98. That doesn't even include the Benzomatic bottle and I'm supposed to feel some warped sense of loyalty and buy from them simply because they opened up shop in my area?

But I understand what you're saying. I found you can get a lot of the stuff for this hobby a lot cheaper if you don't shop at "Home Brew" specialty shops. Sometimes a stock pot at a restaurant supply store is cheaper than the same exact identical product listed as a brew kettle sold at a "Home Brew" shop.

I want to start adding oxygen to my wort. If I had all the time and patience in the world I could probably track down the parts I need and get them at a realistic and reasonable price. But I don't have that kind of patience and I'm planning to brew this weekend so I don't have the time either. So more than likely I'll just have to bend over and pay someone's ridiculous marked up price. Once I bite the bullet and buy it I won't ever give the price I paid a second thought, and I'm sure I'll wonder why I waited so long to do it . . .

I definitely understand your sentiment. I often think about that, how something cheap and simple can be marked up so much. And BTW, I have little loyalty to stores, brands, etc. I'm a consumerist to the core.

Recently, I bought one of those clear plastic mats you put under an office chair. I think I paid around $30 for this 4' x 4' sheet of 1/8" thick plastic and thinking no way there's $30 in this thing. But, I needed it, and it will protect the $1000 carpet underneath. Still grinds my gears a little...

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I hear ya. I understand making money and making a profit, I have a hard time with greed and gouging. There's a lot of sentiment thrown around about how consumers should be loyal to this or that for some nonsensical reason. The LHBS down the road sells a 2 micron diffuser, 1/4" line and the oxygen on/off fitting for a disposable oxygen bottle for $79.98. That doesn't even include the Benzomatic bottle and I'm supposed to feel some warped sense of loyalty and buy from them simply because they opened up shop in my area?

But I understand what you're saying. I found you can get a lot of the stuff for this hobby a lot cheaper if you don't shop at "Home Brew" specialty shops. Sometimes a stock pot at a restaurant supply store is cheaper than the same exact identical product listed as a brew kettle sold at a "Home Brew" shop.

I want to start adding oxygen to my wort. If I had all the time and patience in the world I could probably track down the parts I need and get them at a realistic and reasonable price. But I don't have that kind of patience and I'm planning to brew this weekend so I don't have the time either. So more than likely I'll just have to bend over and pay someone's ridiculous marked up price. Once I bite the bullet and buy it I won't ever give the price I paid a second thought, and I'm sure I'll wonder why I waited so long to do it . . .


I heard it was harder to get the medical bottles filled? Don't know. I did read that the best flow meter or regulator to get is a pediatric regulator. Apparently the flow adjustment is more precise than most. That might be a "down-the-road" purchase. For the time being I'd just like to get O2 into my wort this weekend without taking out a second mortgage on the house if possible.

That bottle has already lasted me a year (not brewing every week or anything but still quite a few batches. At least 20) and I expect it to last me at least another year or so. I have a small bottle regulator and was lucky to get 3 brews out of a bottle. If I can't get this one filled when it runs out, I'll scrounge another one...well worth my $5!

 

[swampbrewcrew]

Shipping is unavoidable. Either the company putting the kit together pays it and passes it down, or you pay it yourself. If it were me I would go with a kit with decent reviews. Nothing’s worse than trying to piece it together yourself, and stuff not working right.

 

[Gytaryst]

Shipping is unavoidable. Either the company putting the kit together pays it and passes it down, or you pay it yourself. If it were me I would go with a kit with decent reviews. Nothing’s worse than trying to piece it together yourself, and stuff not working right.

Yeah. Seems like I might have been panicking for nothing anyway. Thinking now I might not even want to add oxygen to my wort at all.
http://www.beertools.com/html/articles.php?view=245