GrowleyMonster
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- Joined
- Sep 28, 2019
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So far, I have not oxygenated any of my beers. Seems to work okay. Using US-05 yeast either pitched fresh on new wort, or left in the trub and the next batch poured directly on it. I have even gone so far as to purge the fermenter with C02, thinking it was a good idea because Oxygen is the enemy of beer, right? I did not know that oxygen is needed by the yeast. Pitching fresh yeast gives me a sluggish start without oxygen but eventually it gets the job done. Leaving the trub for the next batch of wort usually gives me obvious fermentation in just a few hours.
So, SHOULD I be oxygenating? How much is too much? How much is too little? I gather that this should be done before fermentation begins, and I understand why late oxygenation is bad. What happens with too little, or too much oxygen? I gather that many brewers just pour wort in a fermenter already filled with ambient air, so is unfiltered air bubbled into the fermenter really a bad thing? How about just mouth blowing with a piece of tubing? I would much prefer not to buy anything, especially recurring costs like disposable oxygen cylinders or disposable filters. I keep telling GF I am brewing to save money and she is like, "RIIIIIIIiiiiiiiight...." as she tiptoes between all the BMB's and corny kegs and various boxes of hoses and equipment in the dining room.
So, SHOULD I be oxygenating? How much is too much? How much is too little? I gather that this should be done before fermentation begins, and I understand why late oxygenation is bad. What happens with too little, or too much oxygen? I gather that many brewers just pour wort in a fermenter already filled with ambient air, so is unfiltered air bubbled into the fermenter really a bad thing? How about just mouth blowing with a piece of tubing? I would much prefer not to buy anything, especially recurring costs like disposable oxygen cylinders or disposable filters. I keep telling GF I am brewing to save money and she is like, "RIIIIIIIiiiiiiiight...." as she tiptoes between all the BMB's and corny kegs and various boxes of hoses and equipment in the dining room.