Did I ruin my NZ pilsner?

[teebenjohnson]

I have an SS Brewtech conical fermenter. Today I went to take a sample of my NZ pils (currently at 35F)from the sampling port, but forgot to remove my blow off tube so there was a vacuum that pulled in oxygen and I heard it gurgle up through the beer. This brew is damn near flawless and now I'm panicking. Did I ruin my beer?

 

[fluketamer]

no

 

[teebenjohnson]

no

That's a relief to hear!, but can you give more detail on your answer?

 

[OLBrews]

Yeah, been there. I try and remember to put on 1 psi or so after fermentation is done because I cannot trust myself not to do it again.

Your beer is not "ruined" - I've never been able to pickup a noticeable oxygenation taste after doing this on a lager. Still, not something to repeat so figure a way in your process to avoid in the future. Enjoy the Pils!

 

[fluketamer]

for decades i bewed without the oxygen paranoia i have now. it always made good to great beer just not as good as i make now. maybe your hop flavor will suffer, maybe it wont.
lke olb said definately not "ruined" . i agree that little bit of oxygen wont kill your beer. or likely provide a noticeable diffrence in taste.

others will prolly disagree,


rdwhahb

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I have an SS Brewtech conical fermenter. Today I went to take a sample of my NZ pils (currently at 35F)from the sampling port, but forgot to remove my blow off tube so there was a vacuum that pulled in oxygen and I heard it gurgle up through the beer. This brew is damn near flawless and now I'm panicking. Did I ruin my beer?

Are you worried about the bit of oxygen that got pulled into the fermenter or liquid that got sucked in?

Did you do something during the cold crash to prevent pulling in air/oxygen? I use a simple mylar balloon setup that prevents pulling in air when I cold crash, and also when I take gravity samples. With your conical fermenter, you could remove the blow off and keep the fermenter under a bit of pressure.

 

[Bassman2003]

Ruin is always relative! A little bit of anything is usually acceptable. But, your attention to detail shows your progression as a brewer and should not be frowned upon. Oxygen is the final frontier. Embrace it if you want to reach for the brass ring. I know it gets a lot of eye rolls and abuse here but it pretty much does ruin everything outside of yeast growth in this hobby. For discerning tastes, ignorance is not bliss imho.

Did you spund the beer in the conical?

 

[teebenjohnson]

Are you worried about the bit of oxygen that got pulled into the fermenter or liquid that got sucked in?

The oxygen. No liquid got sucked in.

Did you do something during the cold crash to prevent pulling in air/oxygen? I use a simple mylar balloon setup that prevents pulling in air when I cold crash, and also when I take gravity samples. With your conical fermenter, you could remove the blow off and keep the fermenter under a bit of pressure.

I freeze my sanitizer solution with the hose in it and it prevents oxygen from getting in. Been doing it awhile now, but this is the first time it's caused a problem.

 

[teebenjohnson]

Ruin is always relative! A little bit of anything is usually acceptable. But, your attention to detail shows your progression as a brewer and should not be frowned upon. Oxygen is the final frontier. Embrace it if you want to reach for the brass ring. I know it gets a lot of eye rolls and abuse here but it pretty much does ruin everything outside of yeast growth in this hobby. For discerning tastes, ignorance is not bliss imho.

Did you spund the beer in the conical?

I've been using the spunding valve ever since to break the vacuum and get my samples; it's something I'll never repeat, that's for sure.

 

[Bassman2003]

I was wondering if you spunded to naturally carbonate the beer? Sounds like the beer was not under any pressure.

 

[teebenjohnson]

I was wondering if you spunded to naturally carbonate the beer? Sounds like the beer was not under any pressure.

No it wasn't under pressure.

 

[Bassman2003]

Have you tried spunding for your lagers? It is great and easy for carbonation.

 

[Beermeister32]

Don’t sweat it….

 

[Beermeister32]

…and here’s the open fermentation vats at Trumer… 18 Gold Medals…

 

[Miraculix]

…and here’s the open fermentation vats at Trumer… 18 Gold Medals…
View attachment 849163

This has to be taken into context. What you're showing is an open vessel during active fermentation. What op is talking about is oxygen ingress when the yeast has nothing left to eat. Big difference.