There is a generally accepted belief that beers that are drunk a few weeks after kegging or bottling wont show oxidation-related defects. I generally dont have beers hanging around for months, but now and then I do age an IPA or a holiday ale for 6 to 12 months. I havent noticed any oxidation-related flavors, in any of my beers, so Im content that my method of purging my corny kegs of oxygen is good enough, but I want data, not beliefs. Also, I dont have the most sensitive palate, so maybe Im missing the flavors.
Im not interested in resuming this debate, so lets assume for the sake of this thread that oxidation defects in home brewed beer are real, and that one source of oxygen is encountered during kegging.
So I need some help that only you brewing mavens can provide.. There is an on again-off again discussion on this and other boards about the best or right way to purge a corny keg to minimize oxygen content in the purged keg. Some folks pressurize and release the pressure several times (Method 1), some fill with CO2 from the liquid post to push the air out through the pressure release valve (Method 2), and some fill with sanitizer and push it out with CO2 (Method 3). No one seems to have any real data or can offer a diffusion equation that can be used calculate/estimate the amount of O2 that ends up in the CO2 purge gas. I want to find a diffusion rate constant for O2 diffusing into CO2, so I can calculate how much O2 is getting into my purge gas.
My belief is that Method 1, pressurize and release, is the least effective purge method, since it would take five 30 psi purges to get to 0.1 % O2, which I suspect is enough oxygen to cause trouble, even when most of the gas in the keg is pushed out by the incoming beer.
So, heres my math to back up that statement. 30 psi (2 atmospheres) CO2 dilutes a corny full of air (one atmosphere of air) a dilution of 2:1. So starting with a keg full of air at atmospheric pressure and pressurizing and releasing with 30 psi CO2 reduces the O2 content in the keg like this, assuming good mixing in the keg: First purge cycle: 22% O2 to 7% O2, second purge gives 2.67% O2, third purge leaves 0.9 %, a fourth leaves 0.3 %, a fifth 0.1 %. If the purge gas pressure is lower than 30 psi, then even more oxygen is left in the keg after purging. Also I suspect few of us do more than 3 purge cycles, we leave even more O2 in the keg. Also this method uses a lot of CO2, roughly 88 grams, or about 3 ounces per purge, so three purges at 30 psi is a half pound of CO2.
I use Method 2, purging empty, sanitized cornies through the liquid in line with the cover in place and the pressure release valve open. I want to figure out how much oxygen is diffusing into the CO2 as I purge this way. I purge slowly enough that I think I can ignore gas mixing. It takes about ten minutes for me to get a strong CO2 odor at the pressure release valve, so I know Im purging at about 2 liters per minute. I know that gases diffuse rapidly into other gases, but I cant find any web based reference that gives a definite rate constant, and I cant find my old physical chemistry text, so if you have any references, lets have them. Id like to know if my method is useless, or practical.
It seems intuitive to me that the most effective purge is Method 3, fill the keg with sanitizer, and push it out with CO2, since most of the air is already displaced with sanitizer. But, any air left in the keg will still let some O2 diffuse into the purge gas, or mix the air with the CO2 if the purge gas goes into the keg too fast. But how much?
Anyone here who can help? I believe that my method is adequate, because I dont detect oxidation defects, and no one else has mentioned them, but I still want to be able to compare these methods on a quantitative basis.
Oh, and if you have a different purge method, what is it, and why do you think it effectively gets the O2 out of the keg?
Im not interested in resuming this debate, so lets assume for the sake of this thread that oxidation defects in home brewed beer are real, and that one source of oxygen is encountered during kegging.
So I need some help that only you brewing mavens can provide.. There is an on again-off again discussion on this and other boards about the best or right way to purge a corny keg to minimize oxygen content in the purged keg. Some folks pressurize and release the pressure several times (Method 1), some fill with CO2 from the liquid post to push the air out through the pressure release valve (Method 2), and some fill with sanitizer and push it out with CO2 (Method 3). No one seems to have any real data or can offer a diffusion equation that can be used calculate/estimate the amount of O2 that ends up in the CO2 purge gas. I want to find a diffusion rate constant for O2 diffusing into CO2, so I can calculate how much O2 is getting into my purge gas.
My belief is that Method 1, pressurize and release, is the least effective purge method, since it would take five 30 psi purges to get to 0.1 % O2, which I suspect is enough oxygen to cause trouble, even when most of the gas in the keg is pushed out by the incoming beer.
So, heres my math to back up that statement. 30 psi (2 atmospheres) CO2 dilutes a corny full of air (one atmosphere of air) a dilution of 2:1. So starting with a keg full of air at atmospheric pressure and pressurizing and releasing with 30 psi CO2 reduces the O2 content in the keg like this, assuming good mixing in the keg: First purge cycle: 22% O2 to 7% O2, second purge gives 2.67% O2, third purge leaves 0.9 %, a fourth leaves 0.3 %, a fifth 0.1 %. If the purge gas pressure is lower than 30 psi, then even more oxygen is left in the keg after purging. Also I suspect few of us do more than 3 purge cycles, we leave even more O2 in the keg. Also this method uses a lot of CO2, roughly 88 grams, or about 3 ounces per purge, so three purges at 30 psi is a half pound of CO2.
I use Method 2, purging empty, sanitized cornies through the liquid in line with the cover in place and the pressure release valve open. I want to figure out how much oxygen is diffusing into the CO2 as I purge this way. I purge slowly enough that I think I can ignore gas mixing. It takes about ten minutes for me to get a strong CO2 odor at the pressure release valve, so I know Im purging at about 2 liters per minute. I know that gases diffuse rapidly into other gases, but I cant find any web based reference that gives a definite rate constant, and I cant find my old physical chemistry text, so if you have any references, lets have them. Id like to know if my method is useless, or practical.
It seems intuitive to me that the most effective purge is Method 3, fill the keg with sanitizer, and push it out with CO2, since most of the air is already displaced with sanitizer. But, any air left in the keg will still let some O2 diffuse into the purge gas, or mix the air with the CO2 if the purge gas goes into the keg too fast. But how much?
Anyone here who can help? I believe that my method is adequate, because I dont detect oxidation defects, and no one else has mentioned them, but I still want to be able to compare these methods on a quantitative basis.
Oh, and if you have a different purge method, what is it, and why do you think it effectively gets the O2 out of the keg?