homebrewdad
Well-Known Member
I recently posted here to brag on how great my LHBS was (I had lost a gift certificate, and they basically used the honor system with me). They are friendly and helpful people, and seem to be genuinely good folks.
But for the second time, they have given me advice that I know to be bad.
I've decided that my next gear addition will be an oxygen setup. Nothing fancy; just a regulator, some tubing, and a stone. I'll power it from a $10 Home Depot oxygen tank meant for welding. Life will be good.
I have discovered that these are not the simplest pieces of gear to find. I figured that before I ordered online, I'd check with the LHBS.
The owner's wife answered my phone call, and had no idea if they carried what I needed; she gave the phone to the owner. First, he explained that they did not carry oxygen tanks (I assumed this and had not asked for one).
He then explained to me that he never personally uses pure oxygen, that bubbling plain air is enough. He went further to tell me that using oxygen is really not a good idea, that it's easy to use too much, and that I could end up with bad results. I politely thanked him for his time and got off of the phone.
It bothers me that this is his livelihood, and nice as he is, he is dead wrong on this. This is a subject that has been researched quite a few times; it's widely accepted that for ideal fermentation, you need at least 10 PPM of dissolved O2, and that higher gravities can benefit from higher levels. It's also widely accepted that you cannot achieve more than 8 PPM of dissolved O2 from the use of air alone, no matter how vigorously you might shake, or how long you might run an aquarium pump.
According to Wyeast, you literally cannot get too much O2 in your wort; even if you get it as high as 26 PPM, all of the oxygen will either be consumed or will bubble out of solution.
This is pretty common knowledge. I'd like to think that I would keep abreast of information better than this if I owned such a store.
But then, I'm not as nice a guy as he is. I guess it all balances somewhere...
But for the second time, they have given me advice that I know to be bad.
I've decided that my next gear addition will be an oxygen setup. Nothing fancy; just a regulator, some tubing, and a stone. I'll power it from a $10 Home Depot oxygen tank meant for welding. Life will be good.
I have discovered that these are not the simplest pieces of gear to find. I figured that before I ordered online, I'd check with the LHBS.
The owner's wife answered my phone call, and had no idea if they carried what I needed; she gave the phone to the owner. First, he explained that they did not carry oxygen tanks (I assumed this and had not asked for one).
He then explained to me that he never personally uses pure oxygen, that bubbling plain air is enough. He went further to tell me that using oxygen is really not a good idea, that it's easy to use too much, and that I could end up with bad results. I politely thanked him for his time and got off of the phone.
It bothers me that this is his livelihood, and nice as he is, he is dead wrong on this. This is a subject that has been researched quite a few times; it's widely accepted that for ideal fermentation, you need at least 10 PPM of dissolved O2, and that higher gravities can benefit from higher levels. It's also widely accepted that you cannot achieve more than 8 PPM of dissolved O2 from the use of air alone, no matter how vigorously you might shake, or how long you might run an aquarium pump.
According to Wyeast, you literally cannot get too much O2 in your wort; even if you get it as high as 26 PPM, all of the oxygen will either be consumed or will bubble out of solution.
This is pretty common knowledge. I'd like to think that I would keep abreast of information better than this if I owned such a store.
But then, I'm not as nice a guy as he is. I guess it all balances somewhere...