Am I Oxidizing My Beer With My Bottling Wand

[schematix]

I think the best advice for beginners with respect to oxidation is to know that it is a real thing, but in the scheme of brewing there are bigger fish to fry first. Chances are they don’t have the equipment to really stop it anyways. And unless the beer is grossly mishandled it’s not going to make undrinkable beer.

There are a lot of people here who claim that “their beer tastes just fine, or it’s too much work (i.e. “relax”), so I don’t have an problem with oxidation.” See it all the time.

 

[eric19312]

I think for beginners before oxidation we should be more worried about temperature control on brew day and during fermentation. I’d even put wether or not we should be treating the water we use to boil ahead of oxidation concerns this early in our beer making careers.

I’m a temp control believer perhaps fanatic. It is fairly easy thing for new Brewer to adopt and should make a noticeable impact on your beer.

As for water if there is any chlorine or chloramine in your brewing water you need to address that immediately. Otherwise minor adjustments like cutting very hard water with some RO/spring water from the store or a tsp gypsum (2 if you have quite soft water) added to the kettle when brewing IPA will get you started on reasonable path and you can get deeper into the water (haha) later on.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I think the best advice for beginners with respect to oxidation is to know that it is a real thing, but in the scheme of brewing there are bigger fish to fry first. Chances are they don’t have the equipment to really stop it anyways. And unless the beer is grossly mishandled it’s not going to make undrinkable beer.

There are a lot of people here who claim that “their beer tastes just fine, or it’s too much work (i.e. “relax”), so I don’t have an problem with oxidation.” See it all the time.

I like this advice. One more thing I'd add to this. Oxidation isn't an all or nothing prospect. Take the steps you can to prevent it, evolve your ability as you see fit. Every step you take that reduces exposure is an improvement. For a beginner, oxidation is pretty low on the list of things that are critical for those first few brews. Conquer sanitation, yeast health, fermentation temp control, and water first. Those four are the heavy hitters in beer quality. Short of extreme mishandling, everything else is small incremental improvements.

Also, to the OP - it sounds like you're a lot like me. I read 20-30 hours a week about brewing before I started. I still read 10+ hours a week about brewing processes, recipes, ingredients, etc. With that level of dedication, you will brew some damn good beer. Just keep learning and improve your process with every batch. Just don't forget that chasing awesome beer should still be fun.

 

[Drebin138]

I’m a temp control believer perhaps fanatic. It is fairly easy thing for new Brewer to adopt and should make a noticeable impact on your beer.

As for water if there is any chlorine or chloramine in your brewing water you need to address that immediately. Otherwise minor adjustments like cutting very hard water with some RO/spring water from the store or a tsp gypsum (2 if you have quite soft water) added to the kettle when brewing IPA will get you started on reasonable path and you can get deeper into the water (haha) later on.

I’m only on my second batch and don’t have any fancy equipment for temp control yet but I’m paying a lot more attention to it this time than I did with my first batch. As long as those little temperature gauge stickers are semi accurate and my hanging thermometer isn’t lying to me I’ve always been in the range I want it to be in. Would you happen to know if any cheap ways I can get a better grip on temperature control?

RO water is just bottled water right? I’ll be brewing a lot of IPA’s since it’s one of my favorite styles so anything that can help them tie out better I definitely need to learn more about.

 

[eric19312]

I’m only on my second batch and don’t have any fancy equipment for temp control yet but I’m paying a lot more attention to it this time than I did with my first batch. As long as those little temperature gauge stickers are semi accurate and my hanging thermometer isn’t lying to me I’ve always been in the range I want it to be in. Would you happen to know if any cheap ways I can get a better grip on temperature control?

RO water is just bottled water right? I’ll be brewing a lot of IPA’s since it’s one of my favorite styles so anything that can help them tie out better I definitely need to learn more about.

Look up swamp chiller for temp control for now and keep an eye out for a cheap or free fridge/freezer. When you score the fridge Control it with inkbird dual stage controller or diy build one using stc1000. Its a fun diy but the savings is modest vs just buying the inkbird. You can also put the fermentor in tub of water and add ice packs from time to time. Most critical is about 3-4 days after pitching yeast. After that you are prob safe so long as it doesn’t get too cold too soon.

RO water usually comes out of those machines at grocery store. I’d not bother ...yet...unless you know you are dealing with pretty hard water.

 

[ba-brewer]

Most critical is about the first 3-4 days after pitching yeast. After that you are prob safe so long as it doesn’t get too cold too soon.

I know you meant the first 3-4 days, but incase someone took it literally.

 

[Mothman]

Would you happen to know if any cheap ways I can get a better grip on temperature control?

I live in a small house, no room to permanently set up even a small fridge setup for fermenting.

I bought a fermentation cooler from Cool Brewing, and it works great, quite stable temperatures (within 2-3F) seeing as I'm just managing it with varying amounts/sizes of frozen water bottles, and only need to refresh them about once per day., twice in the heat of the summer.

When not in use it folds up flat and is easily stored in the storage space.

I've not yet had to increase temperatures for fermenting, only reduce it. If I had to raise temps I could likely still use the cooler, along with a heating pad and a controller.

 

[shoengine]

I don't know about you guys, but when I transfer to the bottling bucket, I just upend the carboy onto the bucket. Gravity transfers for the win. None of that stupid bubbling from the autosiphon.

 

[The_Bishop]

I don't know about you guys, but when I transfer to the bottling bucket, I just upend the carboy onto the bucket. Gravity transfers for the win. None of that stupid bubbling from the autosiphon.

Yeah, *don't* do that. That's how you oxidize the hell out of the beer, and end up with all the trub/yeast mixed back in.

Edit: I missed the sarcasm, Stop teasing the new brewers!

 

[AkTom]

I think he forgot a smiley... he was jesting.

 

[The_Bishop]

Ah, my apologies then. Didn't catch that!

 

[Iseneye]

Man, what a thread. The question is "am I oxidizing my beer with my bottling wand". The answer is - yes. The OP had a valid concern and a bunch of people are saying don't worry about it. If you are bottling you are oxidizing your beer. If you want to start the process of reducing oxidation you need to start kegging. If you are happy with your bottled beer the way it is then brew and drink away - I tip my hat to you and enjoy your brew. When someone wants to adjust / improve their process we should be supportive.

 

[ESBrewer]

Trying to fine tune my process. I recently bottled my third batch and while bottling I feel like I am introducing oxygen. When I use my spring loaded bottling wand the first few seconds the beer shoots out and bubbles quiet a bit and gets swished around. I cant imagine this is good for the beer. I try to be gentle but it still seems to happen. Is this something to be concerned about?

Try to use lower pressure. When the bottling bucket is positioned low compared to bottles and there is no air bubbles inside the tubes, there will be less pressure and no bubbling. Always touch the bottom óf the bottle with your wand to minimize splashing. Oxygen is generally bad but if you bottle carefully (avoid bubbles and don't leave excessive head space volume in the bottle), it is not going to ruin your beer in any way (in my opinion). Yeast is also able to consume some oxygen in the bottle before it reacts with the beer.

 

[arctic78]

Man, what a thread. The question is "am I oxidizing my beer with my bottling wand". The answer is - yes. The OP had a valid concern and a bunch of people are saying don't worry about it. If you are bottling you are oxidizing your beer. If you want to start the process of reducing oxidation you need to start kegging. If you are happy with your bottled beer the way it is then brew and drink away - I tip my hat to you and enjoy your brew. When someone wants to adjust / improve their process we should be supportive

good point each to there own and what works for the individual is great .
This really gets heated and is almost like the whole religion debate . LOL.
I think , Myself , That brewing homebrew is all about what aspects of the hobby you enjoy the most be that making the best you can spending the least amount of money or spending lots on equipment and whatever and making the best beer you can, I myself am more concerned with the costs . Either way you are doing it for the reasons that best suit you and S#$%w what anybody else thinks...
You are free to believe what you want and do what you think best in this hobby .

 

[ncbrewer]

If you are bottling you are oxidizing your beer.

I agree, but kegging isn't practical for me and never will be. So I don't get a large pipeline - just brew so the next batch will be conditioned shortly before the last batch is gone. The effects of oxidation take time, and I don't let it sit long enough to get bad. It's a practical work-around.