Let's talk about Oxygen.

[RPh_Guy]

I found this link:
https://shop.textalk.se/shop/11011/files/konferens2018/fermentis-humlebryggarekonferens2018.pdf

The results are all over the place with regard to lag time. I wish they had reported it numerically.

 

[SEndorf]

The results are all over the place with regard to lag time. I wish they had reported it numerically.

Where are you seeing this?
I can't enlarge the graphs on this computer, but they appear to show no appreciable difference.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Where are you seeing this?
I can't enlarge the graphs on this computer, but they appear to show no appreciable difference.

That's because the x-axis is in days.

For example in this graph, we see the direct pitch US-05 (blue line) lags way behind the rehydrated US-05 early in fermentation (compare horizontally).

However other graphs give different results.

 

[Old_Milwaukee]

I’ve had mixed results with Oxygen. I have a medical grade O2 bottle that I procured......... and I use it with a wand and diffusion stone (can’t remember the microns offhand) for every brew. Religiously. I adjust the regulator to just barely see bubbles out of the stone and leave it for no less than 5 min. per 5 gallon. I’ve had yeast kick off in as little as a few hours and as long as a week. Different yeasts of course but it has little to no consistency. I’ve been doing this since 2009. I feel that it’s good for the yeast but it’s nothing that I can actually measure. Just my 2¢.

 

[RainyDayBrewer]

The “best” beer does not have oxygen or CO2 pumped into or onto it. The best beer gives a sense of continuity and humanity and gratitude for our biological partnership with yeast. Better to brew using the most simple equipment possible to get something tasty.

Can we acknowledge that yeast need oxygen to metabolize, just like us... and slight oxidation does not ruin beer. Or maybe we should just strive to have enough friends around to keep our beer consumed fresh just to limit oxidation.

Speaking of fresh beer and oxygenation... anyone tried a continuous fermentation/serving crock? This Looks like the rage with kombucha, and seems to have some precedent in historic farm ales.

 

[RPh_Guy]

The “best” beer does not have oxygen or CO2 pumped into or onto it. The best beer gives a sense of continuity and humanity and gratitude for our biological partnership with yeast. Better to brew using the most simple equipment possible to get something tasty.

I'm guessing you also don't use any plastic, stainless steel, laboratory-grown yeast, water that comes from a faucet, artificial refrigeration, propane, gas, electricity, or pelletized hops? The Old Ways are Best.

 

[RainyDayBrewer]

I'm guessing you also don't use any plastic, stainless steel, laboratory-grown yeast, water that comes from a faucet, artificial refrigeration, propane, gas, electricity, or pelletized hops? The Old Ways are Best.

Not quite, but that’s the daydream, digging the clay, throwing the pots, growing the hops, malting the grain, collecting the spring water, building the fires... etc.

 

[GrowleyMonster]

Back in the good old days, we had the women of the tribe chew the wild grass seeds and spit the resulting mash into the clay fermenters, then stack them neatly in a cool spot in the back of the cave.

 

[RainyDayBrewer]

I bet over or under oxygenation is not considered in the chicha. Have you ever tried a chewed home brew? I have once, a long time ago. It was a little sweet and a little sour, and a little carbonated, and served in a gourd passed from person to person. It had some yeast left in suspension still, but I honestly don’t remember if it seemed oxidized.

 

[SEndorf]

Not quite, but that’s the daydream, digging the clay, throwing the pots, growing the hops, malting the grain, collecting the spring water, building the fires... etc.

You were apparently born 4,000 years too late. Your daydream is how beer was made in ancient Mesopotamia. (sans the hops)
The Sumerians took their beer making (and drinking) very seriously.
Ancient texts reveal a chanting of a poem to Ninkasi, the goddess of beer as they made their concoction.
You would have like it...

 

[eric19312]

I found this link:
https://shop.textalk.se/shop/11011/files/konferens2018/fermentis-humlebryggarekonferens2018.pdf

Awesome link. I’m officially done rehydrating Fermentis ale and lager yeasts. I believe the message is that less manipulation is as good or better than more manipulation. Each manipulation further introduces opportunity for error or contamination.

 

[madscientist451]

The above research article (from 1992) linked by RPh Guy mentions flavor stability in finshed beer. Are the assumptions and conclusions contained in these scientific studies relevant to homebrewing? Maybe, but maybe not.
Do homebrewers care about flavor stability? How long does a keg of homebrew last? I've found that my "unstable" beer usually gets better with age, not worse. To an industrial brewer, any "drift" of flavor from the standard achieved at packaging is unacceptable. The exception to this would be bottle conditioned beers that are expected to change over time.
Back to the OP's question:

So, SHOULD I be oxygenating?

As a home brewer, what is your goal? Flavor stability? A faster ferment so you can get another brew going in your fermenter?
The notion that your beer is going to actually taste better with oxygen added has been debated many times here and elsewhere.
To make things more complicated, do all beer styles benefit from added oxygen? Will you be able to notice any slight difference in a beer that's loaded with hops or has fruit, cocoa nibs or other flavor additives?
My opinion is that, yes adding oxygen will improve your beer. However, you may or may not be able to actually notice a difference, there are too many variables involved to make a prediction about that.
So, SHOULD you be oxygenating? If you are happy with your beer, then skip it. If you want to keep reaching for the absolutely best beer possible, then go for it.
I take the easy route in most things related to brewing, brew small batches and just dump the wort into the fermenter using a funnel.
The wort gets oxygenated enough for me, I focus my attention on pitching a large healthy amount of yeast. I usually make a starter or re-pitch yeast saved from previous batches. This method works for me, but some day I hope to try splitting batches and use oxygen on one half and be able to do side by side tests.

 

[GrowleyMonster]

Okay then. That's what I will do, just pour the wort in and let that be all the oxygenation it gets. Maybe give it a shake when pitching dry yeast. I probably will never go higher than 1.073 or so. Thanks everyone for all the helpful replies.