EvilBrewer
Well-Known Member
Kind of a long winded post here but I want to give as much detail as I can...
Bought an oxygenation system a few months ago and have used it for probably the last 6 brews. It's from Williams Brewing. Stainless steel hollow wand with an oxygen stone welded to one end...the other end connects to a disposable can of oxygen from Home Depot. Includes a regulator. To use it, I cool my wort to pitching temp (sometimes as low as 60 for an ale) and then turn on the oxygen at a medium rate for about 30 seconds or so. 5.5 gallon batches. 1.5 liter starter for each.
The last two beers (both red ales) have had kind of an unpleasant flavor: it's not sour like an infection, but it is definitely a sharp sour-ish kind of flavor. Other than that, it tastes clean; I can't detect any of the usual suspects as far as flaws.
It happened to the first batch and I thought maybe I had mashed at too low a temperature and had caused the beer to become too dry even though FG was normal. I also used honey in that batch and I later read that honey can dry out a beer if it's not supplemented with a carapils or otherwise relatively unfermentable malt. The yeast was Irish Ale (or whatever white labs calls it).
So, for the second batch I did all malt--no honey. And I also used 1056 for the yeast...had a sneeking suspicion that maybe the Irish Ale yeast had thrown out too many esters in the first batch. Result of the second batch is that it's not quite as bad, but the sharp sour flavor is still there.
Looking back (and tasting) some of my other beers for which I also used the oxygenation system, I can see that the flavor is present in all of them to varying degrees. I'd noticed it before but hadn't paid too much attention.
The last few fermentations (including the two Reds that I've mentioned here) have been fairly violent. In each instance, I lost about 1/2 gallon to blowoff; each started with 5.5 gallons wort in 6 gallon better bottles).
I think I've ruled out infection; the fermentations finish completely and final gravity is on target. They also seem to clear pretty well; I don't see any unusual activity. On top of that I'm very meticulous when it comes to keeping things sanitized. I consider myself an experienced homebrewer so I don't strongly believe it's a basic flaw in my process...though anything is possible.
I've done a little bit of research and though I can't find anyone with the EXACT same problem, some posts have suggested that too much pure oxygen can cause violent fermentations and overproduction of esters. Sounds like my problem...maybe I'm tasting the esters and interpretting them as a sourness?
Anyone else have this type of experience? And how did you resolve it? Am I using too much oxygen?
My next step in troubleshooting is to brew the same recipe and only oxygenate half of it; the other half I will aerate manually. At the very least I'll be able to rule out oxygenation as the source of the problem.
Bought an oxygenation system a few months ago and have used it for probably the last 6 brews. It's from Williams Brewing. Stainless steel hollow wand with an oxygen stone welded to one end...the other end connects to a disposable can of oxygen from Home Depot. Includes a regulator. To use it, I cool my wort to pitching temp (sometimes as low as 60 for an ale) and then turn on the oxygen at a medium rate for about 30 seconds or so. 5.5 gallon batches. 1.5 liter starter for each.
The last two beers (both red ales) have had kind of an unpleasant flavor: it's not sour like an infection, but it is definitely a sharp sour-ish kind of flavor. Other than that, it tastes clean; I can't detect any of the usual suspects as far as flaws.
It happened to the first batch and I thought maybe I had mashed at too low a temperature and had caused the beer to become too dry even though FG was normal. I also used honey in that batch and I later read that honey can dry out a beer if it's not supplemented with a carapils or otherwise relatively unfermentable malt. The yeast was Irish Ale (or whatever white labs calls it).
So, for the second batch I did all malt--no honey. And I also used 1056 for the yeast...had a sneeking suspicion that maybe the Irish Ale yeast had thrown out too many esters in the first batch. Result of the second batch is that it's not quite as bad, but the sharp sour flavor is still there.
Looking back (and tasting) some of my other beers for which I also used the oxygenation system, I can see that the flavor is present in all of them to varying degrees. I'd noticed it before but hadn't paid too much attention.
The last few fermentations (including the two Reds that I've mentioned here) have been fairly violent. In each instance, I lost about 1/2 gallon to blowoff; each started with 5.5 gallons wort in 6 gallon better bottles).
I think I've ruled out infection; the fermentations finish completely and final gravity is on target. They also seem to clear pretty well; I don't see any unusual activity. On top of that I'm very meticulous when it comes to keeping things sanitized. I consider myself an experienced homebrewer so I don't strongly believe it's a basic flaw in my process...though anything is possible.
I've done a little bit of research and though I can't find anyone with the EXACT same problem, some posts have suggested that too much pure oxygen can cause violent fermentations and overproduction of esters. Sounds like my problem...maybe I'm tasting the esters and interpretting them as a sourness?
Anyone else have this type of experience? And how did you resolve it? Am I using too much oxygen?
My next step in troubleshooting is to brew the same recipe and only oxygenate half of it; the other half I will aerate manually. At the very least I'll be able to rule out oxygenation as the source of the problem.
