Aerating wort with pure O2

[SurlyBrew]

I have recently started aerating my wort with pure O2 from an oxygen tank and the dual gauge oxygen regulator that came from a welding kit. How long do you aerate the wort for? Do you aerate it slowly or open it up quite a bit? I did for maybe 2 minutes and varied without the amount I was injecting. It didn't foam up a lot. Not sure if it should. Also I was reading that it is possible to over aerate wort using pure O2. I have no way of being able to measure how much I am injecting. Is this going to be a major issue? Thoughts?

 

[BBL_Brewer]

1-2 minutes is good for a 5 gallon batch. Are you using a diffuser? You don't need a high flow rate. The smaller the bubbles, the better.

 

[Golddiggie]

Do yourself a HUGE favor and get a regulator with a flow meter for the O2 tank. You can get them from both Amazon or ebray for not a lot of money (under about $40 these days) with the correct connection to the welding tank too. I have two of them currently (I have two 20 cubic foot O2 tanks) that have the flow meters.

I also tried the same kind of regulator you're using, at first. But the lack of any way to KNOW how much O2 was being used made me change it pretty quickly. Since going with the flow meter regulator type, I'm much happier and I KNOW how much O2 I'm sending into my wort.

 

[grathan]

Even with a flow meter you wouldn't know how much 02 is in the solution. I've done 20 minutes and never had any off flavor from oxygen.

 

[Golddiggie]

Even with a flow meter you wouldn't know how much 02 is in the solution. I've done 20 minutes and never had any off flavor from oxygen.

You'll know once you get an dissolved O2 meter... I plan to get it once I've started my next contract (or perm) job.

 

[SurlyBrew]

This just seems like one of those things I am not going to concern myself with, for now. Using pure O2 is an upgrade from what I was doing before regardless. This seems like such a small thing to tinker with. My money can be spent better otherwise. For example, just bought a refractometer. Stoked to use it!

 

[Golddiggie]

While using pure O2 IS an upgrade from other methods, there's a lot to be said for using a regulator with a flow meter instead of the PSI gauge. For one thing, you really have no idea how much, or how little, O2 you're sending into the wort as it stands now. You could be using far too much, or far too little. There are charts out there to help guide you. Such as X LpM of O2 for M seconds will give you Y ppm dissolved O2 in a wort of Z OG.

Personally, I plan to make my own charts once I get the dissolved O2 meter.

BTW, for how little the flow meter regulator costs, I don't see it as any issue. Then again, I'm not a tight-wad brewer.