Question on Cooling Wort and Oxygen

[Boston85]

I currently use an immersion chiller, and can get my wort down to a decent temperature (low 80s) within 25 minutes or so. Unfortunately my ground water isn't that cold, so it is hard to fully get it to 70. I have a couple of questions about whether I can try something new without negatively impacting my wort.

1 - When I cool the wort to low 80s I have a hard time getting it lower, so I will usually then transfer to my fermenter. This usually brings it down another few degrees during the transfer, and then I let it sit in my basement or in a swamp cooler until it gets to pitching temp. Is this a bad way to do it?

2 - The first question leads into this question. I am a bit unsure of when it is good to shake and get oxygen into the beer and when it is bad. It seems like when the wort is cooling, you don't want to oxidize it. But then before you pitch you want to shake it a lot. Then after fermentation starts and finishes you don't want oxygen. Is that correct?

3 - In order to try and cool the wort quicker, when I get it to 85, is there any negative impact of dumping it back and forth between fermentation buckets? I figure this will help get it to pitching temperature quicker, and also will help get oxygen in there before pitching. Would this have any negative impacts though? I realize both buckets need to be really sanitized.

Any help here is appreciated, as I want to make sure I am adding oxygen when I should be and not at a point that could ruin the beer.

 

[W0rthog]

Your first approach is fine. Getting the wort below 80, before oxygenating it avoids oxygen binding to the wort and causing hot side aeration.

Your comments in #2 are correct.

 

[Natdavis777]

I currently use an immersion chiller, and can get my wort down to a decent temperature (low 80s) within 25 minutes or so. Unfortunately my ground water isn't that cold, so it is hard to fully get it to 70. I have a couple of questions about whether I can try something new without negatively impacting my wort.



1 - When I cool the wort to low 80s I have a hard time getting it lower, so I will usually then transfer to my fermenter. This usually brings it down another few degrees during the transfer, and then I let it sit in my basement or in a swamp cooler until it gets to pitching temp. Is this a bad way to do it?



2 - The first question leads into this question. I am a bit unsure of when it is good to shake and get oxygen into the beer and when it is bad. It seems like when the wort is cooling, you don't want to oxidize it. But then before you pitch you want to shake it a lot. Then after fermentation starts and finishes you don't want oxygen. Is that correct?



3 - In order to try and cool the wort quicker, when I get it to 85, is there any negative impact of dumping it back and forth between fermentation buckets? I figure this will help get it to pitching temperature quicker, and also will help get oxygen in there before pitching. Would this have any negative impacts though? I realize both buckets need to be really sanitized.



Any help here is appreciated, as I want to make sure I am adding oxygen when I should be and not at a point that could ruin the beer.

I used to use my IC to chill and oxygenate at the same time. I'd let it get down to about 90F then move it up and down for awhile, helping chill the wort more and adding o2 to the beer. Never had off flavors from it.

Letting the beer cool from 90F to pitching temp is def ok. There are a lot of brewers here who let it sit in the ferm chamber or basement to let it drop the last 10-15 degrees or so to pitch correctly. I'm having plate chiller issues and recently waited 24 hours to pitch the yeast for a Vienna lager. I've done this before on other brews and they have turned out fine. You are correct in not wanting to oxygenate after fermentation. Alcohol + oxygen create acetic acid (vinegar).

Dumping bucket to bucket will also work. I've never done this so I can't comment on how it will impact infection probability, but I've done over 100 AG batches in the past 3 years and have done some bonehead stuff, and only 1 batch has been dumped (hose water got in the wort after a hose sprung a leak)


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