Our milk shake style double NEIPA has a lot of sugar in it, as a result I'm having problems with to little dissolved oxygen before pitching yeast.
Key factors in our process:
- Lactose is added to a 16° plato wort at fifteen minutes until flame out to bring the final plato to 18°.
- We knockout after whirlpool hop additions at colder temperatures via a stainless coil submerged in cold water to avoid clogging our counterflow heat exchanger. So, when the wort is in the fermenter it is about 110 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After chiling the wort to roughly 65°F, we dump the trub and oxygenate via pico stone attached to the side of the fermenter before measuring DO and pitching yeast.
- We do not have brite tanks. We just ferment, drain trub and carbonate before kegging.
This process usually works but with the addition of lactose the wort is too thick with sugar to dissolve oxygen. Our DO meter is not in question and is working correctly but we get readings below 2ppm after multiple attempts with different port locations for the pico stone for adding o2. Low o2 means a stressed yeast which constantly gives us the same phenolic off flavor. (CIP SOPs are not in question as there is not an infection in this case; we did not get acetic acid or funk or lower pH. Chlorine and chlorine levels not in question either.)
In what way can I add at least 15ppm of o2 to this high sugar beer? I'd in line o2 during BK to fermenter transfer out of the question because of the high temperature of the wort? Can I add lactose without oxidizing a fermented beer to the fermenter prior to packaging?
Key factors in our process:
- Lactose is added to a 16° plato wort at fifteen minutes until flame out to bring the final plato to 18°.
- We knockout after whirlpool hop additions at colder temperatures via a stainless coil submerged in cold water to avoid clogging our counterflow heat exchanger. So, when the wort is in the fermenter it is about 110 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After chiling the wort to roughly 65°F, we dump the trub and oxygenate via pico stone attached to the side of the fermenter before measuring DO and pitching yeast.
- We do not have brite tanks. We just ferment, drain trub and carbonate before kegging.
This process usually works but with the addition of lactose the wort is too thick with sugar to dissolve oxygen. Our DO meter is not in question and is working correctly but we get readings below 2ppm after multiple attempts with different port locations for the pico stone for adding o2. Low o2 means a stressed yeast which constantly gives us the same phenolic off flavor. (CIP SOPs are not in question as there is not an infection in this case; we did not get acetic acid or funk or lower pH. Chlorine and chlorine levels not in question either.)
In what way can I add at least 15ppm of o2 to this high sugar beer? I'd in line o2 during BK to fermenter transfer out of the question because of the high temperature of the wort? Can I add lactose without oxidizing a fermented beer to the fermenter prior to packaging?
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