Severe effects of Oxidation?

[remilard]

Another thought- if sulfites worked to prevent oxidation post-aeration in beer, why don't breweries do that? I've had oxidation tastes in commercial beer, too, just not as often.

According to Bamforth, because they don't want to disclose that they used it as the law would require. Beer drinkers are less tolerant of additives than wine drinkers.

Another problem is that yeast will reduce sulfite to hydrogen sulfide (eg rotten egg aroma). I assume this doesn't happen in wine because there is very little yeast after successive rackings and wine is generally less reductive than beer.

As for oxidation being a problem in homebrew. I would say a third of the homebrew I judge has unpleasant/unintended oxidation. It is by far the most common flaw. Presumably people send beers to competitions that they think are good, so this leads me to believe that homebrewers are not good at detecting oxidation in general.

 

[Ziggybrew]

I want to learn how to taste oxidation. Does all oxidation taste the same? If so, could I intentionaly oxidize a few bottles to experience the flavor? How does a judge learn to detect the taste? (Pretend that is just one question LOL)

 

[Justibone]

You could pour a bit of your next brew into a small container (maybe a baby food jar?) and then intentionally oxidize that and bottle as normal. Mark it, of course, and when it and the other beers are done, do a triangle test to be able to really, really tell the difference.

 

[smizak]

I want to learn how to taste oxidation. Does all oxidation taste the same? If so, could I intentionaly oxidize a few bottles to experience the flavor? How does a judge learn to detect the taste? (Pretend that is just one question LOL)

Buy a six of SNPA. Open three bottles, give them a second in the air, then recap. Store them warm. Store the other three cold. Taste one against the other once a week.

 

[dogma9]

what about after you cap the bottle and then shake the bottle? the headspace of air enough to oxidize that bottle or is it good to aerate to get the yeasties eating the sugar up, kinda like the last aeration we give before we pitch the yeast?

 

[Ziggybrew]

what about after you cap the bottle and then shake the bottle? the headspace of air enough to oxidize that bottle or is it good to aerate to get the yeasties eating the sugar up, kinda like the last aeration we give before we pitch the yeast?

It is not nessessary and may even have a negative impact.

I think the best rule of thumb is that once your beer enters full attenuatve fermentation mode -- keep O2 out of it as muh as possible, especialy when it reaches the conditoning phase.

Here s a free online book by one guru Palmer http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

[Justibone]

what about after you cap the bottle and then shake the bottle? the headspace of air enough to oxidize that bottle or is it good to aerate to get the yeasties eating the sugar up, kinda like the last aeration we give before we pitch the yeast?

No, you don't want the carbonating yeast to reproduce, you just want them to eat. Oxygen = reproduction.

 

[dogma9]

ah i c, what happens if they reproduce while bottled?

 

[Justibone]

ah i c, what happens if they reproduce while bottled?

Then you get more trub in your bottles.

 

[dogma9]

Then you get more trub in your bottles.

oh that don't bother me, as long as it don't change the flavor from good to nasty then i'm good lol. on my 5 gallon batches i won't have to worry about it, but on my mr beer kit i have to add sugar to each bottle and then shake the bottles to mix the sugar up.

i guess i could siphone out of my mrbeer keg to mix the sugar all at once too ? hmmm lol oh well to late now, maybe my next mrbeer kit i'll do that

 

[Justibone]

The better way to do it, with Mr. Beer, is to siphon the beer off of your yeast cake into a bucket (or other container) already containing your boiled sugar solution, and bottle from there. The reasons to do it that way are:

1) boiling the sugar solution means that the oxygen is gone
2) boiled sugar water also has no living microbes in it!
3) siphoning on top of it will mix the beer and sugar more evenly, with minimal stirring
4) no need to shake the bottles!

I bet your beer would be better if you took an extra step or two to reduce oxidation. I'm sure you're not storing it for six months to a year before you drink it, but if you have a palate for oxidation you can taste it pretty quick, according to some beer judges, I've heard.

The container can be anything, even an iced tea dispenser from Wal-Mart or Target. It would be better, of course, to attach a hose to that spigot so the beer doesn't splash down into the bottle, so as to avoid that source of oxidation as well.

 

[dogma9]

The better way to do it, with Mr. Beer, is to siphon the beer off of your yeast cake into a bucket (or other container) already containing your boiled sugar solution, and bottle from there. The reasons to do it that way are:

1) boiling the sugar solution means that the oxygen is gone
2) boiled sugar water also has no living microbes in it!
3) siphoning on top of it will mix the beer and sugar more evenly, with minimal stirring
4) no need to shake the bottles!

I bet your beer would be better if you took an extra step or two to reduce oxidation. I'm sure you're not storing it for six months to a year before you drink it, but if you have a palate for oxidation you can taste it pretty quick, according to some beer judges, I've heard.

The container can be anything, even an iced tea dispenser from Wal-Mart or Target. It would be better, of course, to attach a hose to that spigot so the beer doesn't splash down into the bottle, so as to avoid that source of oxidation as well.

yea thats what i was talking about, i can now since i got my 5 gallon kit last week, cuz i have a bottling bucket now and an auto siphon. just didn't think about using it for mr beer lol but i think i will from now on

 

[Justibone]

if you're brewing inside other containers, a lot of guys use MrB as a bottling bucket.