A quick question on oxidation

[Mark_]

And one further point I found was "The generally accepted temperature cutoff for preventing (hot) wort oxidation is 80F". I am assuming that oxidation is less likely to occur below 80F. If that is true I might be ok? I keep ambient temperatures around 70-72F.

Just saying

 

[Ridire]

I did that with both of my first two beers. The third batch, first beer I just left alone in primary until bottling day, is just about 3 weeks in the bottles now. I am hoping the lack of secondary makes a difference. The first beer turned out pretty good but it was a dark beer (porter). The lighter beer (IPA) is horrendous, despite looking and smelling great.

Moral is that I will not rack to secondary again unless there is a damn good reason to do so. But what if there is a good reason? I want to use my 6.5 gallon carboy but do not want all that headspace. That is why I'm wondering about that inert gas designed to preserve wine bottles.

 

[sloanb27]

...How much danger of oxidation did I just introduce?
Is it a major concern with beer? (I am a wine guy new to this.)
What should I look for if it could be an issue?

I sanitize and rinse well using potassium metabisulfite if that matters.

Thanks folks. I am of the mind that everything is fine but had an excuse to post Thanks guys! (and gals!)

In the future, you can have a 2 liter of soda water on standby. What you do is put a large balloon around the top and shake, filling the balloon with C02. Then, when you are ready, SLOWLY release the gas into your empty container all while doing this with no breeze/wind, cap the container and let sit for about a minute. THEN using your siphon, transfer your beer. I used this trick before i had kegging equipment...although very crude...works. Never had a single batch of oxidized beer.

When you have a CO2 canister, obviously you just get in the habit of filling head space all the time between transfers of any kind.

Hope this helps!

 

[Yooper]

And one further point I found was "The generally accepted temperature cutoff for preventing (hot) wort oxidation is 80F". I am assuming that oxidation is less likely to occur below 80F. If that is true I might be ok? I keep ambient temperatures around 70-72F.

Just saying

Well.................you're talking about hot side aeration there. That's a debated topic, as to if it even exists at the homebrew level. But that's not the same thing as accidental aeration/oxidation.

HSA is supposed to occur with any agitation of hot wort. But after the wort is cooled, aeration is good. The yeast use oxygen to reproduce, before they begin anaerobic fermentation. Once anaerobic fermentation begins, and thereafter, you want to prevent oxygenating the beer.

Since the products of fermentation are c02+ ethanol, there is plenty of co2 being produced to prevent oxidation in the fermenter during that time. It's later, when fermentation slows that oxidation is a risk to beer (and wine).

Winemakers routinely use potassium metabisulfite as an antioxidant, often at 50 ppm, to prevent oxidation to the wine. It's still important to not oxygenate the wine after fermentation of course, but sulfites help greatly.

For beer, a huge headspace in a clearing vessel ("secondary") can be a real risk of oxidation as can splashing or not racking carefully.

Many many beers have slight signs of oxidation. It's not always bad- think of a big barleywine that is three years old. It will have sherry notes often, which is a sign of oxidation. In competitions I've judged, many beers exhibit signs of oxidation. But usually oxidation isn't too bad in a young beer (even one that was poured into a clearing vessel), so drink it fast and it will probably be very tasty! It's only with aging that it will get worse.

 

[Mark_]

That makes MUCH sense, thank you!

This is why I didn't realize what an impact oxidation had. Coming from the wine side of things I didn't worry about it half as much due to my potassium metabisulfite usage.

You folks rock

 

[Demus]

Remember, secondary is NEVER a NECESSARY step. It does have some debatable advantages, but at the home brewer level it's my firm opinion that they are vastly outweighed by risks such as the subject of this thread...

 

[Mark_]

And the verdict is in, you guys and gals totally called it. I checked it this morning and I am definitely smelling some soggy cardboard! Awesome! My first botched brew Ok, now that I got THAT over with I am going to do it the right way

 

[goodgodilovebeer]

Live & learn. Whether or not they'd admit it, everyone has messed up on at least one batch. On the bright side, at least it wasn't a big lager that you had conditioning for 6 months.

 

[oneandahalfshepherds]

Live & learn. Whether or not they'd admit it, everyone has messed up on at least one batch. On the bright side, at least it wasn't a big lager that you had conditioning for 6 months.

Amen