O2 and neipa exbeeriment

[divrack]

After noticing as others have the rapidity of o2 degradation on neipa style and hoppy beer in general, I decided to do science..
So I brewed a mega hoppy but not particularly bitter beer with a reasonable dose of flaked grains. Fermented in ss cronical and transfered by co2 to water purged kegs. After putting those to cold condition I transferred the remainder to a non purged keg and then carbonated the half full keg by shaking under pressure. After only 24hrs the tangy fresh hop flavour had decreased significantly to my tastes and by 4days old it was very noticeably diminished. The colour seemed to have darkened a little. At 6 days I tapped one of the no oxygen kegs and got the same super bright almost minty hop flavour that had been present at sampling.
I had intended on keeping a pint or two of the oxidised beer for further observation but accidentally finished it before I realised it was so low (guess it wasn't all that bad).
To some I'm sure this is no great surprise, but I have to admit I myself was pretty amazed by the difference from simply 2or 3 gallons of air present in the keg. I'd been a bit dubious that the effects were very noticeable in the timeframe of drinking a batch, but I'm now strictly limiting all o2 contact post ferment for all heavily hopped beer.
Next I plan to bottle from keg into a purged and an unpurged bottle and compare to see if bottling is as hard as this might suggest. I might also bottle one from flat and bottle condition it with sugar to see if that is better.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

So I brewed a mega hoppy but not particularly bitter beer with a reasonable dose of flaked grains. Fermented in ss cronical and transfered by co2 to water purged kegs.

Now there's your problem....

 

[divrack]

Now there's your problem....

Which part? Or do you mean "there are your problems"?
Also, eh?
Or was that a wry humorous observation insinuating that neipa is not proper beer, and everyone should make proper beer like your proper beer?
I do enjoy a traditional style ale I must say, especially as they are so easy to make taste good, but sometimes I like something that takes effort to do well.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

Which part? Or do you mean "there are your problems"?
Also, eh?
Or was that a wry humorous observation insinuating that neipa is not proper beer, and everyone should make proper beer like your proper beer?
I do enjoy a traditional style ale I must say, especially as they are so easy to make taste good, but sometimes I like something that takes effort to do well.
".....and transfered by co2 to water purged kegs."

You purged your keg with Co2 and water? You must have sanitized the keg before filling it no?

 

[aprichman]

You purged your keg with Co2 and water? You must have sanitized the keg before filling it no?

Can any spoilage organism even grow if its being held at keg temperatures (38°F and below)?

 

[divrack]

You purged your keg with Co2 and water? You must have sanitized the keg before filling it no?

Ah.. Well in this case "water" refers to starsan solution, and kegs were fully cleaned beforehand, however I understand that a sanitised keg purged with just tap water wouldn't be a problem for infection in all likelihood.
Anyways nope it's no infection, especially as the older kegs are the fresher ones. The young but oxygen present keg being the one that faded quickly.

 

[divrack]

Can any spoilage organism even grow if its being held at keg temperatures (38°F and below)?

It can, but you'd have to be pretty abstemious to notice any before killing the keg...
Especially with alcohol and a tonne of hops in the mix.