How do you oxygenate your wort? I'm interested in finding a better way to oxygenate my wort than using industrial oxygen for welding. There has to be a more sanitary way. Are there filters available that I don't know about? Looking for suggestions.
I push O2 through the stone post use, and cleaning and then it will soak in Starsan for at least 30 minutes on brew day before getting used.
Thank you, that's a new method to me, and worth doing.Remember though those small pores wick the wort deep into the passageways. I have found the only way to remove that gunk is to store the stone in 3% NaOh solution between brew days. The first time you do that and see the brown crud that comes out is pretty shocking to say the least.
It won't wick wort if you only stick it into the wort while the O2 is running (foamy stone, bubbles).Remember though those small pores wick the wort deep into the passageways.
It won't wick wort if you only stick it into the wort while the O2 is running (foamy stone, bubbles).
If you are talking about the red "welding" cylinders, the only issue is that they are expensive to use! I bought a new 20lb tank at a local gas supply store completely filled for $120. The guy said the oxygen comes out of the same tank as the medical oxygen and that the only difference is the tank isn't "medical grade." 20 lbs will last me years.How do you oxygenate your wort? I'm interested in finding a better way to oxygenate my wort than using industrial oxygen for welding. There has to be a more sanitary way. Are there filters available that I don't know about? Looking for suggestions.
I also used to boil then set in a small jar of Star San. My “stone” is stainless, but the base shaft is not - I noticed that the Star San was corroding and pitting the shaft. Nowadays, I boil it and dry it out. I keep it in a sandwich baggie dry until use. I spray some Star San solution into the baggie to saturate and sanitize the stone prior to use.I boil mine after each use, then store in a jar of Starsan until next use.
Yes I did all that as well.
Just saying.. try the hydroxide soak (KOH or NaOH) for a couple days and then tell me if your stone was clean.
For the PBW guys.. soaking in any other cleaner just wont do in this case.
"Food grade" as in what's different from pure (or 99% pure) NaOH? I have some of the 99% pure Red Devil NaOH on hand still from when I was anodizing at home. I'll need to check the stone I use and make sure using NaOH won't create more issues than it potentially solves. I've had excellent results from using PBW since I make sure to flush the stone with gas while it's still "wet". I always get clean foam out of it when I do this.I might have to try that. I have a small jar of food-grade NaOH left over from a time I made pretzels.
Thank you, that's a new method to me, and worth doing.
I've been keeping mine dry between brew sessions. Then submerge in my Starsan bucket during brewday, then at the end, blow out the soaked-up Starsan with O2 before sticking it in the wort. That seems to work fine.
One day I forgot to pull the wand out of the bucket after use. The next day the Starsan had crawled a few feet up the tubing... O2 dissolves in water/Starsan solution!
I quit using any form of oxygenation and went to adding a single drop of extra virgin olive oil to the cooled wort. You dip a sanitized tooth pick into the olive oil and let the drop fall into the wort. That single drop gives the yeast the nutrient they need to grow that they would have had to produce from the oxygen you would have added. Sounds far fetched but works with virtually no chance of infecting the beer.
Here is the link:
https://winning-homebrew.com/olive-oil-in-beer.html
My first thought was that this was a brewing (home or pro) version of The Onion...From the "Olive Oil" article:
For this reason, oxygen is always added to a wort prior to pitching yeast as it has always been considered to be essential to yeast growth.
Then it says:
So what if we could do away with the headache of deciding how much oxygen to add, when to add it, and what is the best way to add it. Wouldn’t that simplify our lives as homebrewers? Not to mention the added benefit of improved aging and flavor stability.
So, the article first states the necessity of giving yeast O2 for growth, then goes on to say something like "it's just too complicated, let's just not do the O2 thing altogether and use olive oil instead!"
How does olive oil supply the needed O2 for cell growth? (Rhetorical question. We all know the answer.)
Also worth noting is the "scientific" paper cited in the article was a piece submitted to a couple professors (no idea what their qualifications are, aside from apparently teaching brewing classes at some trade school), but no followup information as to the results of any scientific review. Any grad student can submit a thesis paper; most grad programs require one. Doesn't make every submission valid science.
Sounds like the makings of yet another brewing urban legend. We have too many of those already.
It should be noted that New Belgium, the brewery that did the experiment, ultimately did not switch from O2 to olive oil in production. Maybe because olive oil increased esters. Maybe because fermentations were slower. I dunno, because they never said.
Does the olive oil eliminate beer head or reduce head retention? Sounds like a good side-by-side experiment!
No effect on the head. The oil is metabolized by the yeast.Yeah, that would be my concern with adding some kind of oil. Perhaps the yeast break it down.
How does olive oil supply the needed O2 for cell growth? (Rhetorical question. We all know the answer.)
My risk is even lower than your fabled toothpick of EVOO method. Since everything from the plate chiller to fermenter is fully sanitized before a drop of wort flows into it. I'm using a closed transfer setup, so that reduces the risk even more. The only time there's a risk, post chill/oxygenation, is when I pitch the yeast into the fermenter. That is, until I setup with a yeast brink. I follow 'best practices' when adding my yeast slurry into the fermenter. Have had zero infections/contaminations over the several batches into conical to date.I think the use of olive oil instead of oxygenation is a fantastic alternative. It is virtually fool proof versus the chance of contaminating the wort with the gas contraption. The chance of inoculating your wort with a "bad bug" using a sanitized toothpick to place a drop of EVOO into the wort is really as close to zero as possible. As far as altering the flavor profile with esters etc, Brulosophy published the link below.
https://brulosophy.com/2020/01/27/i...rnative-to-wort-aeration-exbeeriment-results/
It also means less "stress" on the yeast and that actually lowers the chance of off flavors being produced by stressed yeast. Also can mean shorter fermentation times because the yeast are "stronger".Yeast don't need oxygen (per se) for growth. They need sterols, to build cell wall materials in preparation for budding. Oxygen is needed in order for the yeast to build sterols. But olive oil provides the sterols directly.
It also means less "stress" on the yeast and that actually lowers the chance of off flavors being produced by stressed yeast.
Also can mean shorter fermentation times because the yeast are "stronger".
I suppose from reading about pitch rates and why you make a starter with a larger number of cells to reduce the "stress" on the yeast in high gravity beers. It would lead one to believe that helping the yeast to thrive more quickly by allowing them to skip a step in their metabolism would result in the possible reduction off flavors mentioned when there is a discussion about pitch rates etc.Why does it men less stress? Do you assume that because the yeast get to skip a step? If so, I'd want to see some data that it reduces off flavors.
Can it? The trials at New Belgium showed the opposite. What evidence is there that the yeast are stronger?
I suppose from reading about pitch rates and why you make a starter with a larger number of cells to reduce the "stress" on the yeast in high gravity beers. It would lead one to believe that helping the yeast to thrive more quickly by allowing them to skip a step in their metabolism would result in the possible reduction off flavors mentioned when there is a discussion about pitch rates etc.
One could just as easily argue (i.e. assume) that skipping a step results in making less of some flavors that are desirable. Personally, I wouldn't make either assumption without data.
There's an article about this I find interesting but haven't exactly determined what to do with (the short take-away is "it depends"). I will link it below. If it's a page for components for sale then maybe scroll lower, past them.
https://www.morebeer.com/category/wort-oxygenation-aeration.html/#Biochemistry of yeast
" I do not believe that brewers necessarily need to aerate their worts at all if the pitching yeast comes from a fresh starter culture that itself has been well-aerated during growth and stepped up to produce a sufficient number of healthy cells "
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