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Second dose of Oxygen for big beer - Where to start?

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  • Second dose of Oxygen for big beer - Where to start?

    Hi all,

    Ive read some threads about dosing oxygen 8-12 hours into fermentation but it was more centered around adding it inline while recirculating in a pump loop. Right now, I'll only have the ability to hook up from my oxygen tank to the carb stone (no flow meter either) since I have uni-tanks. Any suggestions on where to start in terms amount of time? This will be about a 35 Plato beer and the first time on our 10 barrel system. Ive always dosed big beers for a couple minutes with an oxygen wand about 8 hours in on our 1/2bbl pilot batches but hooking it up to the carb stone on a 10 barrel fermenter is a very different story.

    Can I use the same logic and scale up the pilot aeration amount? So 20 times the amount of oxygen from my 1/2 barrel batch leading to to 40 mins of oxygen through the carb stone? Or does this seem like it's overdoing it? Anyone with experience doing it this way? Thanks.
    Jay
    Southern Swells Brewing
    Jacksonville Beach, FL

  • #2
    Originally posted by jsvarney5 View Post
    Hi all,

    Ive read some threads about dosing oxygen 8-12 hours into fermentation but it was more centered around adding it inline while recirculating in a pump loop. Right now, I'll only have the ability to hook up from my oxygen tank to the carb stone (no flow meter either) since I have uni-tanks. Any suggestions on where to start in terms amount of time? This will be about a 35 Plato beer and the first time on our 10 barrel system. Ive always dosed big beers for a couple minutes with an oxygen wand about 8 hours in on our 1/2bbl pilot batches but hooking it up to the carb stone on a 10 barrel fermenter is a very different story.

    Can I use the same logic and scale up the pilot aeration amount? So 20 times the amount of oxygen from my 1/2 barrel batch leading to to 40 mins of oxygen through the carb stone? Or does this seem like it's overdoing it? Anyone with experience doing it this way? Thanks.
    You won't be able to know what amount of oxygen you are putting into the tank without a flow meter (or rotameter). They are not as expensive as you might think, but accuracy usually goes up with cost. Then you can estimate how many liters you are putting into the tank over a certain amount of time. Then you can estimate your dissolution rate and have some kind of scientific idea of what you are adding. Only a DO meter will tell you for sure what yor concentration is.

    In your circumstances, I would suggest adding lesser amounts at a very low pressure, and perhaps doing it a few times over a single big addition. You are fine adding up to 24 hours after initial pitch, with a gravity that high. Watch your activity and use that to determine if you need to add again or not. Your co2 stone has larger holes than your o2 stone, so you will see significantly less dissolution.

    In my experience, it is beneficial to have a slower more controlled start to fermentation, and grow more new yeast cells to carry out the task. Too much activity up front leads to less cell production, and early stalls.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by UnFermentable View Post
      You won't be able to know what amount of oxygen you are putting into the tank without a flow meter (or rotameter). They are not as expensive as you might think, but accuracy usually goes up with cost. Then you can estimate how many liters you are putting into the tank over a certain amount of time. Then you can estimate your dissolution rate and have some kind of scientific idea of what you are adding. Only a DO meter will tell you for sure what yor concentration is.

      In your circumstances, I would suggest adding lesser amounts at a very low pressure, and perhaps doing it a few times over a single big addition. You are fine adding up to 24 hours after initial pitch, with a gravity that high. Watch your activity and use that to determine if you need to add again or not. Your co2 stone has larger holes than your o2 stone, so you will see significantly less dissolution.

      In my experience, it is beneficial to have a slower more controlled start to fermentation, and grow more new yeast cells to carry out the task. Too much activity up front leads to less cell production, and early stalls.
      +1 to this.

      I'm on pilot system still, so I'm using 6gal better bottles. However, I recently fermented 5 gallons of a 1090 OG stout, with London Ale III @ roughly 500billion cells. I oxygenated at inoculation @ approximately 1 liters of pure oxygen, and then I added about 1.5 liters at 18 hours into fermentation (to ensure I was still within the lag-phase). It fermented beautifully. There are a few white papers on doing multiple oxygenations on Wiley Library, give them a look if you're interested. Also - buy a flowmeter, and get a nice one so that you can trust it and won't have to buy another in 2months. My 2c.
      Ryan
      Viridian Brewing Company
      [Brewery-In-Planning]

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