oxygenated water

[anderj]

I have been looking at oxygenated water lately and wondering about it's value to the homebrewing world. I have seen two brands, one which does not specify PPM (hydrate2o) and one which claims 60 ppm of O2 (brand name slips the mind at the moment). Has anyone experimented with the addition of store bought oxygenated water? I have read that the maximum O2 content that one can achieve by shaking the carboy is around 8 ppm, a few 12 oz bottles of 60 ppm water could really give a boost. Ant thoughts?
-ander

 

[lapaglia]

Its kind of like going to an O2 bar and paying for air. You can but why would you. Are you having problems with fermentation getting stuck? I am sure it would work but I'm not sure you really need to spend the money to use it. The source I checked sells it for $1.18 for 500ml. Thats $9.44 for 5 gallons of water. You would be better off buying a pump and an air stone. It takes longer but you can pay it off in a few uses. This strikes me as a useless product.

Now the geek side of me says if you do try it let us know what happens. Maybe two identical batches except for the water?

 

[pjj2ba]

The only way this might be beneficial is if you do a partial boil and only use the oxgenated water to top off the carboy. As soon as heat is applied to the oxygenated water it is going to start losing the O2. A full boil would remove all of it.

 

[TommyBoy]

You can get a pump and stone for about $30 if you are doing all grain. If you are doing partial mash or extract I would still get the pump. It would be paid off in 3 batches and you would have another cool homebrewing toy.

 

[bearkluttz]

+1 on the go ahead and try it. Try a partial boil with an extract kit and don't shake or do anything else to aerate. Then top off with the O2 water and let us know.

 

[King of Cascade]

The only way this might be beneficial is if you do a partial boil and only use the oxgenated water to top off the carboy. As soon as heat is applied to the oxygenated water it is going to start losing the O2. A full boil would remove all of it.

Good Point, It's useless if you boil it.

 

[Germey]

I would not do this as I strongly think folks way overthink oxygenation, but, I think the idea of the OP is that you just add one or two bottles to the carboy when you pitch and avoid the whole shaking/ air-pumping effort.

 

[Diablotastic]

Yeah I've never got the whole oxygenate the wort thing....Maybe I've been lucky or just haven't ran into a beer that would have needed the extra umph yet but I've had no issue with yeast getting started. I just shake em up and pitch. Although I'm using a better bottle or plastic bucket so maybe it's more of a thing that glass carboy users are doing cuz of the handling?

 

[anderj]

I brew all grain and of course would not use that water to brew with, the idea was in I can get to 6-8 ppm by shaking the carboy and then add a bottle or two of 60 ppm O2 water it could really make a huge difference.
-ander

 

[ajk170]

I brew all grain and of course would not use that water to brew with, the idea was in I can get to 6-8 ppm by shaking the carboy and then add a bottle or two of 60 ppm O2 water it could really make a huge difference.
-ander

I'm getting ready to start another batch, I'm interested enough to try this idea, my ferments never start out very strong. I'll have to look around at the stores for this stuff!

 

[Anbrew]

Yeah I've never got the whole oxygenate the wort thing....Maybe I've been lucky or just haven't ran into a beer that would have needed the extra umph yet but I've had no issue with yeast getting started. I just shake em up and pitch. Although I'm using a better bottle or plastic bucket so maybe it's more of a thing that glass carboy users are doing cuz of the handling?

Agreed, my beers all start fermenting in less than 4 hours. I make starters and shake the hell out of it, that's it. I just don't see what adding an O2 pump would do for me.

 

[lapaglia]

I do a lot with Sugar water brews for fuel. While it may not be really important in beer I can tell you that sugar water needs all the help it can get. It needs ph adjustments, nutrients, energizers and tons of O2. When you are going to 24% ABV you really need to give the yeast all the help it can get. Beer may not need it but it doesn't hurt to do it. Anything that make life easy for the yeast improves the final flavor and thats what its all about.

 

[b767fo]

For the price I think a stone and an O2 bottle is the way to go. I brew AG and at the end of the cool I use the stone for 3 min. All of my brews (so far) start bubbling w/in a few hours. As for the cost 1 bottle of O2 (from the Depot) has lasted me almost 40 brews.

 

[MauiMaltMan]

Since most bucket kits come with two buckets (fermenter and secondary), I advocate pouring the flat wort (pre pitch) so that air can get into the wort.

Just pour it back and forth between the two buckets. The added bonus is that this cools the hot wort down another 10 degrees before icing. It's worked for me great!


May the Yeast be with you