WissahickonBrew
Well-Known Member
Just looking for opinions and/or pros & cons. Should I buy an O2 tank or would an aquarium air pump deliver all the Oxygen yeast needs?
O2 Tank or Aquarium Pump to oxygenate wort?
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IL1kebeer
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O2 tank is preferred but if you aren't making any high gravity brews then running an aquarium pump for 20 minutes prior to pitching will do fine. You can even keep the pump running for awhile after you pitch so that more O2 goes into solution after the yeast take up whats already in there.
As for the O2 tank, two minutes from the tank is what people have found to work the best, but your results may vary depending on what kind of setup you get. Also, another shot after like 12-18 hours for really high gravity brews is recommended as well.
There isn't a big difference in price (I know this is relative), however, so if you can afford it I would get the O2 setup. This will ensure that you won't have to worry about upgrading that part of your brewery in the future.
As I understand it, the aquarium pump won't let you get any more O2 into the wort than you could by just pouring it back and forth or shaking it. So it's a labor saving device, but doesn't necessarially get you higher O2 levels. The O2 tank on the other hand evidently can achieve much higher O2 levels which align with what many people believe are "optimum" for the yeast. Plus the O2 tank requires 1-2 minutes, while the aquarium pump requires 20-30 minutes. For all of these reasons, if you're going to bother at all, I'd just spend the extra money now and get an O2 tank setup. Having said that, they're not cheap, so consider if there are other higher impact areas (like building a temp controlled fermentation chamber) that you should take care of first before addressing O2.
If you decide to go the O2 tank route, you've got several options. You can go with a system that uses small, disposable O2 tanks, or a system that uses the larger, refillable O2 welding tanks. You'll see a variety of theories on this but it's basically a question of when you want to spend your money. You can pay up front to buy and fill a 20 cubic foot O2 welding tank (~ $75 at Harbor Freight using their standard 20% off coupon, plus ~ $20 for an exchange/fill) that will last basically forever (Williams Brewing says 300 brews). Or use the smaller tanks and pay as you go (you'll read of people getting between 3-30 brews per tank, currently $10 at Lowes). I went with the refillable O2 tank option largely because it includes a higher quality regulator that a) should be less likely to leak and b) lets you more precisely dial in the amount of oxygen you're adding (I figured if I'm going to spend the money to tweak the O2 variable, I might as well have some control over it).
One more note: if you're going with the refillable 02 tank, be aware that many of the tanks on Craigslist are medical O2 tanks. These have a different fitting than the O2 regulator I linked to above, and you also evidently need a prescription to refill them. So although they are much cheaper than welding tanks, you'd have to buy a medical O2 regulator and then figure out how to wrangle a refill without a prescription if/when you ever need one.
Get the O2 tank at your local hardware store and the regulator Morebeer sells. Add a length of vinyl tubing to match and you'll get the best bang for your buck.
Make sure you remove the regulator from the disposable O2 tank after every oxygenation as these regulators have been known to leak even in the full off position.
Make sure you remove the regulator from the disposable O2 tank after every oxygenation as these regulators have been known to leak even in the full off position.
I got a regulator with hose, wand, and stone from Williams Brewing (I think, it was a gift from the wife).
I love it. Only used it once so far, but the results were better than expected.
I love it. Only used it once so far, but the results were better than expected.
I just purchased one from williams brewing. I used it over the weekend. How long do you all recommend that you leave the oxygen on in the wort? I read somewhere that 30 to 50 seconds was sufficient? From the post above they state 2 minutes. Whats the consensus?
IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
Minjin said:
From what I understand it will depend on the type of setup you have. I'd experiment and see what works best.
I haven't seen very many people say that they had good results with doing it over two minutes though.
Great video from Wyeast on Northern Brewer's YouTube account. They discuss aeration and the different methods. It's 2:04 of time very well spent. They break it down, but basically, with any air method, you can only get 8ppm of oxygen in the beer, max. With the O2 tank, you can get the ideal 12-15ppm with 1 minute of use.
[ame]http://youtu.be/75gpehf_6Gk[/ame]
[ame]http://youtu.be/75gpehf_6Gk[/ame]
This would definitely be the cheapest way to go. One issue you may run into with the tubing (as opposed to the stainless steel "wand" that Williams Brewing sells) is that it will want to float on the wort so it may be harder to get the O2 down to the bottom of the wort (with the metal wand you can go to the bottom and stir the wort as you oxygenate).
I'd also be concerned that the flow rate would be too high and the absorbtion level pretty low without using an oxygen stone (unless FourSeasonAngler meant to attach an oxygen stone to the end of the vinyl tube).
n240sxguy
Well-Known Member
I just built an inline thermometer/oxygenator, but I haven't put a diffuser stone in it yet. Would it be better to use an aquarium pump or O2 with such a device? Or would it be better to just get one of the wands to oxygenate it after it is transferred?
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I use a aeration stone attached with some rubber tubing to a 3 foot piece of stainless tubing that I put on the end of my oxy/acet. torch. I usually run it for about 1 minute and the results have been great.
Ive read on one of the famous books (forgot which one now) that using an oxygen tank rather than shaking/pump actually created some problems, and resulted in beers with less character as proved in a few competitions. Is this true? has anyone had any experience with this?
IL1kebeer
Well-Known Member
Eugenio said:
It is possible to over oxygenate. But I've heard that that can cause off flavors as opposed to less character. I can't really say since I haven't tasted one of those beers myself. Just thought is throw it out there though.
pfi309
Active Member
This may be a silly question but how the heck do you get these regulators off a full cylinder. Just used it for the first time and that puppy will not come off by hand. Had to use a small pipe wrench to get it loose do to the pressure in the cylinder. Am I mussing a secret trick?
norsk
Well-Known Member
I have an Oxygen generator that I've used several times, but still prefer pouring from one bucket to the other a few times. The O2 machine is a kick to use though...
if you have to worry about the regulator leaking in the full off position then that does not qualify, in my book, as the best bang for the buck.
n240sxguy
Well-Known Member
mikescooling
Well-Known Member
I skip the stone and shake the crap out of it. It cost 20 bucks to fill this tank and lasts a good long time.
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WissahickonBrew
Well-Known Member
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WissahickonBrew
Well-Known Member
Update:
I went to a local welding supply and was able to purchase a 10lb O2 cylinder. Ordered the O2 regulator (nifty little guy) from MB. I attached the tubing to the aeration stone that connects directly with our Chill Wizard.
Before getting the O2 we just closed off the air stone so wort did not back up. I did not realize what a difference proper aeration makes for better yeast activity. Now that we use the O2 everytime, our fermentor continues to bubble along for several days longer than it used to! The first few days are almost a constant stream!
I went to a local welding supply and was able to purchase a 10lb O2 cylinder. Ordered the O2 regulator (nifty little guy) from MB. I attached the tubing to the aeration stone that connects directly with our Chill Wizard.
Before getting the O2 we just closed off the air stone so wort did not back up. I did not realize what a difference proper aeration makes for better yeast activity. Now that we use the O2 everytime, our fermentor continues to bubble along for several days longer than it used to! The first few days are almost a constant stream!
mbbransc
Well-Known Member
Does oxygenating your beer to 12-15 ppm help with attenuation or flavor, or both? I know the yeast need the oxygen during propagation. If I remember correctly, most of the flavor are created during this time so it'd seem to be flavor. But of course, having more healthy yeast to chew through the wort would lead to higher attenuation.
thx
thx
Both. Stressed yeast cause off flavors, and (unhealthy, and not propogated enough yeast) fail to attenuate fully.
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