[Big Monk]

One of the easiest troubleshooting steps you could perform would be to use test strips to see if you have any sulfites left after the boil. That way you know how much is going in when you pitch. Ultimately the Oxygen introduced post pitch for aeration/oxygenation will consume the remainder unless you have a good amount left over.

This is where adjusting your dose to your system comes into play. 

[jhuolihan]

One of the easiest troubleshooting steps you could perform would be to use test strips to see if you have any sulfites left after the boil. That way you know how much is going in when you pitch. Ultimately the Oxygen introduced post pitch for aeration/oxygenation will consume the remainder unless you have a good amount left over.

This is where adjusting your dose to your system comes into play.

I believe I falsely (now it seems) assumed any remaining would be eaten up in seconds of 90 seconds pure o2 dose.

[natebrews]

As I have posted before, I made an english beer on one of my first low o2 batches and used 75ppm and got a fart bomb out of it.  Subsequent iterations of the beer with lower doses in the area of 30ppm have had no sulfur problems at all.

[Big Monk]

One of the easiest troubleshooting steps you could perform would be to use test strips to see if you have any sulfites left after the boil. That way you know how much is going in when you pitch. Ultimately the Oxygen introduced post pitch for aeration/oxygenation will consume the remainder unless you have a good amount left over.

This is where adjusting your dose to your system comes into play.

I believe I falsely (now it seems) assumed any remaining would be eaten up in seconds of 90 seconds pure o2 dose.

I'm with you. I'm just trying to be diplomatic and show that however unlikely it may be, a large dose of Meta with only modest oxygenation could leave some residual.

I feel that is highly unlikely though.

[Stevie]

I bet Charlie would love to referee this dick measuring contest if somebody wants to email him.

[juggabrew303]

Whew.  I was worried, before reading the article, that I was going to have to go out and invest in a stainless steel immersion chiller.

FWIW, my SS chiller was cheaper than the copper one. 50' of 3/8". 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dmtaylor]

I'll add another 2 cents:

The nice thing about hydrogen sulfide is that it is volatile, and given a few weeks in a fermenter, it will fly away to undetectable levels, most of the time.

[pkrone]

I'll add another 2 cents:

The nice thing about hydrogen sulfide is that it is volatile, and given a few weeks in a fermenter, it will fly away to undetectable levels, most of the time.

That's a good point.

I've made 50 gallons of beer using LoDo methods since deciding to give it a whirl last November.    No sulfur in any of the beers I've made.   But, I've also not spunded any of them and have let them sit at least 3 weeks in the fermenter.   However, I've also made a couple of ales that I kegged at 2 weeks with no sulfur either. 

[brulosopher]

I'll add another 2 cents:

The nice thing about hydrogen sulfide is that it is volatile, and given a few weeks in a fermenter, it will fly away to undetectable levels, most of the time.

That's a good point.

I've made 50 gallons of beer using LoDo methods since deciding to give it a whirl last November.    No sulfur in any of the beers I've made.   But, I've also not spunded any of them and have let them sit at least 3 weeks in the fermenter.   However, I've also made a couple of ales that I kegged at 2 weeks with no sulfur either.

So you're not doing the full LODO method, which requires spunding afaik, yet still experiencing improvement? I find that very interesting.

[chinaski]

This thread really spans a gamut of both the good and bad side of forums, from use of strange terms and jokes, to the nit-picking and badgering of one another over what is supposed to be a hobby-related discussion.

One thing I always keep in mind is that these types of experiments are work (and in this case are done by volunteers who are being open with what they find), and each experiment is one data point.  I don't care how many tasters are on the panel, the statistics are such that the conclusions apply to only the experimental beers in the study.  Applying the results more widely requires more data points.  Kudos to those that put out their work- keep it up!

Brew on!

[Big Monk]

I'll add another 2 cents:

The nice thing about hydrogen sulfide is that it is volatile, and given a few weeks in a fermenter, it will fly away to undetectable levels, most of the time.

That's a good point.

I've made 50 gallons of beer using LoDo methods since deciding to give it a whirl last November.    No sulfur in any of the beers I've made.   But, I've also not spunded any of them and have let them sit at least 3 weeks in the fermenter.   However, I've also made a couple of ales that I kegged at 2 weeks with no sulfur either.

So you're not doing the full LODO method, which requires spunding afaik, yet still experiencing improvement? I find that very interesting.

The stepwise approach! It was the main motivation for LOB.com. It's great that people are able to implement it this way.

[pkrone]

I'll add another 2 cents:

The nice thing about hydrogen sulfide is that it is volatile, and given a few weeks in a fermenter, it will fly away to undetectable levels, most of the time.

That's a good point.

I've made 50 gallons of beer using LoDo methods since deciding to give it a whirl last November.    No sulfur in any of the beers I've made.   But, I've also not spunded any of them and have let them sit at least 3 weeks in the fermenter.   However, I've also made a couple of ales that I kegged at 2 weeks with no sulfur either.

So you're not doing the full LODO method, which requires spunding afaik, yet still experiencing improvement? I find that very interesting.

Maybe I'm just lucky?   Heck, I'll take it.     I don't view any of the LoDo steps as "required".   I've just tried to incorporate as many of the suggestions as I easily can- water deoxygenation, SMB, ascorbic acid,  Brewtan B, mash cap.  Still using a copper CFC.      However, I'm sitting here sipping a helles I brewed in December (the second of two 5 gallon kegs) and it's not as awesome as it was a month ago.  Still really good, but it's lost some of the great grain smell and flavor.    Might have to brew smaller batches more often.        I can do that.

[callacave]

To me, comparing a beer that has a sulfur aroma, and one that doesn't are two totally different beers, and invalidates the intention of the original experiment. It's obvious that his system is tight enough to not have to add 55 ppm of SMB.

Some tweaking needs to be done, and a proper re-test needs to be performed. The only thing we've learned is that excess SMB left in fermentation results in sulfur, which is already known.

Let's hope this kind of inadequate process and information doesn't get immaturely released before proper thought and review is put into place. To me this is just an attempt at getting some website hits because of the hot topic.

[jhuolihan]

To me, comparing a beer that has a sulfur aroma, and one that doesn't are two totally different beers, and invalidates the intention of the original experiment. It's obvious that his system is tight enough to not have to add 55 ppm of SMB.

Some tweaking needs to be done, and a proper re-test needs to be performed. The only thing we've learned is that excess SMB left in fermentation results in sulfur, which is already known.

Let's hope this kind of inadequate process and information doesn't get immaturely released before proper thought and review is put into place. To me this is just an attempt at getting some website hits because of the hot topic.

You sleuth, you've figured out our motives!!!

Kind of have to have a baseline to go from though no? Now that we know in a comparison some potential effective s of lodo on my system we can explore additional tweaks and look at the results. 55 ppm was noted by the authors as the dosage for a no sparge system using lodo, I don't think this was "immature" one bit, it was in fact testing specs as laid out, as one would do.

[Big Monk]

To me, comparing a beer that has a sulfur aroma, and one that doesn't are two totally different beers, and invalidates the intention of the original experiment. It's obvious that his system is tight enough to not have to add 55 ppm of SMB.

Some tweaking needs to be done, and a proper re-test needs to be performed. The only thing we've learned is that excess SMB left in fermentation results in sulfur, which is already known.

Let's hope this kind of inadequate process and information doesn't get immaturely released before proper thought and review is put into place. To me this is just an attempt at getting some website hits because of the hot topic.

I think it's important to reiterate that there should be no excess NaMeta after you oxygenate. For example:

If my system requires a 20 ppm NaMeta dose, and uses 10 ppm on the hot side of the process, it should only take 2 ppm of oxygen during aeration/oxygenation to "use up" the remaining NaMeta.

The NaMeta causing the sulfur bombs is a "red herring".