[narcout]

Well, it's still chugging along. Gauge is going up 1 psi per day. 

I just started the boil on my second low oxygen batch.  I received an extra large helping of whatever you call this stuff:



I'm in the habit of skimming it off, though I wonder sometimes if that negatively affects head retention.

Provided I'm doing it right, this low oxygen brewing isn't really that complicated, at least for ales.

[beersk]

Looks like you've got nice hot break in there. I started getting that when I switched to low oxygen. Egg drop soup, huge white clumps of break material. Never had that before. I've also been getting scummy crap on top of the boil, almost like a skin film that forms. I skim that off also.

[HoosierBrew]

I skim, too. My lodo APA looked pretty much like that.

[brewinhard]

I will always advocate for a spund and not a complete ferment. This is one of the reasons. I am sure thenlage in the pressure build up robbed you of some tastes goodness. It's not always the easiest I understand.

Bryan,

When performing the spunding process, have you noticed any issues with off-flavors (diacetyl, acetaldehyde) or lower attenuation issues due to pulling the beer off the yeast cake in such an early fashion?  I understand it is still done during the later phase of active fermentation, but was curious if you ever noticed any problems arise from this? 
I know this process is done effectively, but new brewers are always "taught" not to separate beer from yeast too soon for fear of leaving behind fermentation byproducts that may/may not get cleaned up enough from an earlier separation?
I am guessing that an adequate, healthy, viable pitch of yeast has a lot to do with this NOT happening....

Thanks....

I wouldn't call it an early fashion its only ~4-6 points away from final attenuation. But yea, healthy yeast and ferments are paramount. I have never had any issues, but I always pitch to the upper end of the pitch rates.

Okay. I got it.

One other one for ya...

When racking to your keg closed transfer for spunding have you ever had issues with fermenting beer rising up into your gauge apparatus setup from additional krausen?

[The Beerery]

I use a herms, and employ a mash filter so my boil foam is bright white with no dark matter. I would say it's a good idea to skim that junk.

[The Beerery]

I will always advocate for a spund and not a complete ferment. This is one of the reasons. I am sure thenlage in the pressure build up robbed you of some tastes goodness. It's not always the easiest I understand.

Bryan,

When performing the spunding process, have you noticed any issues with off-flavors (diacetyl, acetaldehyde) or lower attenuation issues due to pulling the beer off the yeast cake in such an early fashion?  I understand it is still done during the later phase of active fermentation, but was curious if you ever noticed any problems arise from this? 
I know this process is done effectively, but new brewers are always "taught" not to separate beer from yeast too soon for fear of leaving behind fermentation byproducts that may/may not get cleaned up enough from an earlier separation?
I am guessing that an adequate, healthy, viable pitch of yeast has a lot to do with this NOT happening....

Thanks....

I wouldn't call it an early fashion its only ~4-6 points away from final attenuation. But yea, healthy yeast and ferments are paramount. I have never had any issues, but I always pitch to the upper end of the pitch rates.

Okay. I got it.

One other one for ya...

When racking to your keg closed transfer for spunding have you ever had issues with fermenting beer rising up into your gauge apparatus setup from additional krausen?

No, krausen will be minimal, it's going to be nearly done and now will be under pressure. You could certainly get it though if you over filled.

[bboy9000]

Looks like you've got nice hot break in there. I started getting that when I switched to low oxygen. Egg drop soup, huge white clumps of break material. Never had that before.

Interesting.  Me and my friends have always had boils like that.  Maybe we unknowingly do some LODO stuff or maybe it's something else.

EDIT:  it's really noticeable with Pilsner malt so maybe that's the factor.

[The Beerery]

Looks like you've got nice hot break in there. I started getting that when I switched to low oxygen. Egg drop soup, huge white clumps of break material. Never had that before.

Interesting.  Me and my friends have always had boils like that.  Maybe we unknowingly do some LODO stuff or maybe it's something else.

EDIT:  it's really noticeable with Pilsner malt so maybe that's the factor.

It's protein/pH related.  The higher the pH the bigger the flakes.

[narcout]

I'm used to the hot break that looks like egg drop soup.

It's the brown stuff on top of the foam that I don't usually see this much off.  My first low oxygen beer didn't have it (picture below), but I used totally different malts.  It's easy enough to skim though.



Everything went pretty smoothly.  Hit 73% efficiency again so I guess that's the number for now.  I need to buy 10 lbs. of ice next time; 5 didn't quite cut it.

[denny]

I skim, too. My lodo APA looked pretty much like that.

OTOH, my non LODO beers look like that.

[natebrews]

Same with mine, looks roughly the same no matter what.  The only thing I have done that really looked different was on my kettle sour berliners which has a very very thick, almost whipped egg white foam that persists like nothing else I have seen.

[bboy9000]

OTOH, my non LODO beers look like that.

That's what I was saying.  I do use SMB for chlorine/chloramine removal but not in the amounts needed for LODO.

[denny]

OTOH, my non LODO beers look like that.

That's what I was saying.  I do use SMB for chlorine/chloramine removal but not in the amounts needed for LODO.

I don't use it at all.  I use good quality malts and pay attention to pH.  I think that's the reason for a good hot break.

[narcout]

So it topped out at 17 psi.  I’m not sure if the yeast stopped working or if that’s just as much head space pressure as you get priming with 4 oz. of cane sugar at 68 degrees. 

Anyway, it’s been cold conditioning for 5 days and my initial impressions are below.
 
The beer has a rounder, fuller flavor than usual.

There is a particular flavor I get from certain hops like EKG, SG and Saaz.  It’s hard for me to describe, but I like it a lot, and it’s the reason why I brew a lot of pale Belgian style beers with these hops.  In this beer, it seems to be more pronounced than usual.  I also think it is apparent earlier than usual as it sometimes takes a few weeks of cold conditioning to develop.

Finally, there is a honey flavor present that I don’t usually get from this beer.  I don’t know if it’s due to unfermented priming sugar or some effect of low oxygen brewing on either the malt or the golden candi syrup I used.

Anyway, I’m taking this with a grain of salt as I didn’t do a side by side or blind triangle test.  It could all be due to the power of suggestion.

I kegged the second low oxygen batch (an APA with 1272) last night with 4.5 oz. of priming sugar.