Get into O2 guys, if you're serious about nicer beer

[Coldspace]

Helles can be delicious, tasted Les (the wheaty ones) Helles at the club last Friday, bloody good, dangerously so if you are driving.
Sounds like a fair investment on your O2 system, at 9oC you finished faster, got better attenuation and the beer tastes better.
Be interesting to see how it responds to the bigger yeast cake/pitch.
Mark

Well it's early days but promising so far , I'll report.
Latest batch of helles, did double batch in gf , grav was a bit lower than first, batch last month due to my El Crapo mill from ebay seizing up and not crushing properly, I've since bought a mashmaster mini fluted roller mill today to get a more consistant crush , I ended up siphoning 44 ltrs at 1044 straight onto the yeast cake of 34/70 in my kegmenter that was left at 10 degrees and under pressure from a week ago after first batch. Brewed the wort on Sunday morning, chilled to 10, siphoned into kegmenter,Sunday night, 02 for 2 minutes the. Sealed up and set temp to 12.
Was away and hissing good Monday night, so 24 hrs lag compared to 36 for first batch that only used 3 x 3 ltr decanted starters.
Today, 3 days into full action, hissing almost gone, I've adjusted temp to 14, will rise this to 17 by Sunday so 1 week from pitch to d-rest.
Tested grav, tonight, down to 1010, still got another few points I recon by Sunday with temp rise.

Now the big one, tasted it after hydro test, was slightly carbed and 12 degrees, clean as a whistle , still cloudy but it's still going. I'm really happy with this lager. 1 week, 1 week of cc, then pressure transfer through my filter into cornies, 2 weeks and drinking a quality clean lager, yeah ha....

Cheers

 

[rude]

Techobabble66 has nailed it. When i started out i found my beer had a slight cidery taste and it was probably a combination of the coopers yeast and my process at the time. I could detect the cidery flavour even when i only used 500g. I like to keep my beers around the 5% mark. My process is alot better now and is about to get alot better with the addition of a fermentation fridge.

Cidery taste sounds like simple sugars to me malt all the way I say

Once you do that yes fridge

Then the right number of yeast cells for pitching

Then fu*k I forget O2 maybe

Wait on cleaning sanitising h34r:

 

[2much2spend]

Thought I would share pic's of my new toy! Planning a funky IPA next week I'll keep you all posted

 

[Mardoo]

Ooooo, nice. I didn't know they made one of those. (Yes I know there are others.)

 

[2much2spend]

Ooooo, nice. I didn't know they made one of those. (Yes I know there are others.)

yeah, I looked at some of the local one's and even they are really good kits, this suited my setup the best.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

wouldn't you knock some of the O2 out of suspension during the transfer? Makes more sense to transfer it gently into fermenter first, then gas it up.

No, it's not suspended, it's dissolved. You can strip dissolved gas by sparging but you won't "knock it out" during transfer unless it's significantly above the equilibrium concentration for the vapour pressure of the gas involved (which it isn't).

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Good to know, thanks LC. So tipping the oxygenated wort from cube to fermenter which agitates it and causes foaming isn't going to 'undo' it significantly?

 

[Batz]

another + for healthy yeast + o2 (in that order)

WLP002 took my pale ale 1.050 pale ale down to Beersmith's expected FG in under 3 days...

I have done similar with WLP002, I haven't taken a reading yet but it looks like it's all over in three days.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

tipping the oxygenated wort from cube to fermenter which agitates it and causes foaming isn't going to 'undo' it significantly?

The activity will move the [O2] towards the equilibium point: how far it moves will depend on how much you do and how far away from equilibrium it was. Since the suggested [O2] levels for wort aren't very far away from the equilibium point at pitching temperatures, it shouldn't move much.

 

[JDW81]

Just oxygenated my first 2 batches yesterday (APA and a hefe). I only ended up getting a small bernzomatic cyclinder and brass regulatar (already had a stone and hose), but no issues with getting it all happening,

Followed my standard pitching procedure (sanitise then pour vigorously from the cube) followed by 90 seconds of O2 to achieve a a surface turn-over similar to a slow boil. Pitched with 3068 and 1272 from nice healthy starters.

I've got 2 more identical batches sitting in cubes to ferment in a week or two, and will up the O2 to 2 minutes and see if there is a discernible difference between the two with a side-by-side tasting.

JD

 

[stewy]

Might be a dumb question but what are the guidelines with safe storage of O2 bottles, specifically temperature range?
Are they safe in temps of up to 35C? My garage gets warm in summer.

 

[JDW81]

Might be a dumb question but what are the guidelines with safe storage of O2 bottles, specifically temperature range?
Are they safe in temps of up to 35C? My garage gets warm in summer.

I don't know what the recommendations are, but I've worked in numerous hospitals where the O2 bottles get delivered and sit in the loading bay for hours in the middle of summer. Haven't heard of any explosions from that yet.

JD

 

[pseudonym]

For those using the Cigweld regulators, what barb/nipple are you all using to connect the hose? Is it one of the Cigweld hose connectors (like this one - https://www.bunnings.com.au/cigweld-5-8-18unf-right-hand-gas-hose-fitting_p5910337) or some other kind of barb fitting?

Also, in case anyone else is thinking of buying a Cigweld from bunnings, make sure you open the box to check what reg is inside before you take it away. It seems all the boxes display an oxygen regulator on the front, even if it is an acetylene or lpg reg inside. Easy to exchange once the mistake is realized, but you can avoid a repeat trip by checking first!

 

[Killer Brew]

Might be a dumb question but what are the guidelines with safe storage of O2 bottles, specifically temperature range?
Are they safe in temps of up to 35C? My garage gets warm in summer.

No such thing as a dumb question when it comes to safety.

In saying that I'm unaware of any maximum temp but I would suspect direct sunlight would be more of a concern

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Might be a dumb question but what are the guidelines with safe storage of O2 bottles, specifically temperature range?
Are they safe in temps of up to 35C? My garage gets warm in summer.

BOC gives a maximal safe storage temp of 65 oC in its cylinder safety guide

 

[manticle]

So don't put it in the oven, leave it inside a car or place in a bowl of very hot water.

I jest but oxygen is nasty so care, take, you, all, lots.

 

[MHB]

Safety First always.
Most of the small disposable bottles I have seen are at much lower pressure (11mPa) than commercial refillable bottles (20mPa), tradeoff being they are a lot thinner.
Just be sensible OK.
Mark

 

[Stouter]

The activity will move the [O2] towards the equilibium point: how far it moves will depend on how much you do and how far away from equilibrium it was. Since the suggested [O2] levels for wort aren't very far away from the equilibium point at pitching temperatures, it shouldn't move much.

This is good to know. The first time I tried I had already tipped the wort from the cube into the F.V and created lots of foam so I thought for the second time I would oxygenate in the cube first so I could judge the surface bubbling. Otherwise I suppose I could transfer from cube to F.V with a tube.

 

[Rocker1986]

Transferring from the cube to the FV with a tube was on my list of ideas too, but I think until I get new cubes that these bloody taps actually fit properly, I'll just try to tip the wort in as gently as possible. If it foams up out of the FV with the oxygen injection so be it, can always wipe it clean. Too much faffing around and infection risk for my liking to remove the bung and put a tap in then let the break settle out in the cube again before transfer.

 

[Mr B]

For those using the Cigweld regulators, what barb/nipple are you all using to connect the hose? Is it one of the Cigweld hose connectors (like this one - https://www.bunnings.com.au/cigweld-5-8-18unf-right-hand-gas-hose-fitting_p5910337) or some other kind of barb fitting?

Also, in case anyone else is thinking of buying a Cigweld from bunnings, make sure you open the box to check what reg is inside before you take it away. It seems all the boxes display an oxygen regulator on the front, even if it is an acetylene or lpg reg inside. Easy to exchange once the mistake is realized, but you can avoid a repeat trip by checking first!

Yes, I used one of these. Others appear to have a traditional barbed fitting.

The collar bit is to fix larger than you will probably use oxy/welding hose, so I didnt use it. I got some blue oxygen hose and also food grade clear hose, but the proper oxy hose stinks of rubber.

I havent sprayed to test for small leaks due to the thread, but not too worried as its a short duration use.