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Author Topic: From Worst To First!  (Read 3088 times)

Offline neuse

  • Brewer
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  • Posts: 308
  • New Bern, NC
Re: From Worst To First!
« Reply #45 on: May 15, 2022, 03:15:20 pm »
All I need is to prove it to myself.  That's what I believe everyone should do. Then do what works for you. When I write about my practices, I expressing what I do, not necessarily trying to encourage anyone to do the same.

I agree. Many of our brewing idiosyncrasies have been shared here. Not to encourage others, just showing what has worked (and not worked) for us. I know that folks laugh at some of the things we do. That is Ok. I enjoy a good laugh!

It was on this forum we were advised that adding oxygen by bubbling it into wort is a total waste. The O2 goes in as small bubbles, and then rapidly rises to the surface simply being expelled into the atmosphere. Very little if any oxygen gets absorbed in the wort. At least that is what I was told, and it makes sense to me.

I don't think that last part is quite true. I remember you saying that you "blasted" the wort with oxygen for x minutes. I pointed out that a high flow of oxygen is wasteful and that you should inject the oxygen slowly so that it forms small bubbles that can barely be seen at the surface. I didn't say that any oxygen injection is a total waste, just that it can be inefficient if done aggressively.

I think we did this, once or twice. There was no noticeable improvement in the beer, as I recall.
We have a diffuser, so the bubbles were tiny, micro-bubbles. We never did this again after my initial post on this forum about the procedure.
From reading the forums and White and Zainashef's Yeast book, I was under the impression that the tiny microbubble method was the accepted methos of oxygenating wort (no specifics - just my impression from all the sources) was the accepted method for oxygenation of the wort. Am I missing something?

Offline Richard

  • Senior Brewmaster
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  • Posts: 1012
Re: From Worst To First!
« Reply #46 on: May 15, 2022, 07:49:50 pm »
All I need is to prove it to myself.  That's what I believe everyone should do. Then do what works for you. When I write about my practices, I expressing what I do, not necessarily trying to encourage anyone to do the same.

I agree. Many of our brewing idiosyncrasies have been shared here. Not to encourage others, just showing what has worked (and not worked) for us. I know that folks laugh at some of the things we do. That is Ok. I enjoy a good laugh!

It was on this forum we were advised that adding oxygen by bubbling it into wort is a total waste. The O2 goes in as small bubbles, and then rapidly rises to the surface simply being expelled into the atmosphere. Very little if any oxygen gets absorbed in the wort. At least that is what I was told, and it makes sense to me.

I don't think that last part is quite true. I remember you saying that you "blasted" the wort with oxygen for x minutes. I pointed out that a high flow of oxygen is wasteful and that you should inject the oxygen slowly so that it forms small bubbles that can barely be seen at the surface. I didn't say that any oxygen injection is a total waste, just that it can be inefficient if done aggressively.

I think we did this, once or twice. There was no noticeable improvement in the beer, as I recall.
We have a diffuser, so the bubbles were tiny, micro-bubbles. We never did this again after my initial post on this forum about the procedure.
From reading the forums and White and Zainashef's Yeast book, I was under the impression that the tiny microbubble method was the accepted methos of oxygenating wort (no specifics - just my impression from all the sources) was the accepted method for oxygenation of the wort. Am I missing something?
I don't think you are missing anything. The microbubble method is what is being described as desirable.
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