Wort Aeration

[Glot]

Has anyone tried an oxygen concentrator?
What about using sterilised air?

 

[QldKev]

Aquarium air pumps have been used heaps, you can get a little sanitary filter to go inline to keep the air cleaner.

 

[Droopy]

All I do is pour the water in - never had a problem with aeration

 

[Glot]

Okay. So why go to Oxy with all the added costs?
BTW. I have been told by someone in the field that the purity standard for industrial oxy is higher than medical oxy. Makes sense. However, you never know what may have got into an industrial cylinder between refills.

 

[Edak]

Isn't medical oxygen 5% co2? As pure oxygen has a habit of killing people, since our natural drive to breathe is directly related to how much co2 we inspire. No co2 no drive to breathe...

 

[Midnight Brew]

Okay. So why go to Oxy with all the added costs?
BTW. I have been told by someone in the field that the purity standard for industrial oxy is higher than medical oxy. Makes sense. However, you never know what may have got into an industrial cylinder between refills.

I doubt anything would get in and if it did being the purity of 100% oxygen, I doubt it would survive.

 

[Spiesy]

All I do is pour the water in - never had a problem with aeration

I think you have bigger problems than aeration if you're pouring water in.

 

[Spiesy]

Okay. So why go to Oxy with all the added costs?

Why oxygenating wort, using pure oxygen makes pretty good sense to me.

It is pricey, you're right - but as they say... homebrewing is an expensive way to make cheap beer.

 

[Glot]

I think sanitization is a bit like the 90 year old smoker that says I have smoked all my life so therefore smoking is not hazardous.
Poor sanitization practices does not mean you WILL get an off beer. It means you MAY. I have made a number of batches were I just ran the laundry tap water straight into the fermenter from a height. It worked but more by luck than design. With good sanitisation, it means the odds are very low. Also, note the difference between sanitizing and sterilizing.

 

[Spiesy]

I think sanitization is a bit like the 90 year old smoker that says I have smoked all my life so therefore smoking is not hazardous.
Poor sanitization practices does not mean you WILL get an off beer. It means you MAY.

Why take the risk? It's really not that hard to maintain adequate levels of sanitation.

 

[Edak]

I think you have bigger problems than aeration if you're pouring water in.
not if he is an extract brewer topping it up to volume...

 

[Glot]

Okay. Getting away from the yeastology part and more onto the practical side.
Difference between modern industrial oxy, medical oxy and aviation oxy. Apart from the price, all the same stuff. Early days was a different story. The difference between industrial and medical is the way the cylinders are filled. It is possible to get acetone into an industrial cylinder from an oxy acetylene set. The cylinder is tested for this before filling. To fill medical, they evacuate the cylinder first. Aviation oxy is dryer to reduce possible freezing issues at high altitudes.
An earlier post of using a 2 mic diffuser for air and a 0.5 for oxy. Any clues as to the theory behind this? What about the 0.2 mic diffusers? A 0.2 would also act as a filter for a lot of bacteria.
Any figures on litres per minute to get a good flow rate?

 

[Midnight Brew]

Any figures on litres per minute to get a good flow rate?

In the Yeast book by Chris White and Jamil Zainasheff the flow rate of 1L per minute is recommended using a micron sintered stone between 60-120 seconds. Which gets you between 9-14 ppm. (page 79) However what is 1L per minute if you dont have a reg?

Its best to use a few identical batches and record what you are doing and note the fermentation performance or taste differences.

I dont do this as I think my beer is fine buts its been playing on my mind in terms of consistency. There is a lot of factors at play.

I get the estimated attenuation since switching to using oxygen and the fermentation performance has been better overall. My crops of yeast have performed better on the next beer too so overall when my yeast is happy Im happy. Takes a tad more guess work out of it for me and I am happy with the beer I'm making.

My 2 cents, and a great book to have in your collection.

 

[Glot]

I know there are a lot of variables but I was just after some sort of idea. Thanks. I have read litre of oxy gas per litre of wort for one minute. A simple flow regulator would be essential I thought unless you were just going off sight/ bubbles.