Co2 to scrub oxygen?

[BaylessBrewer]

I just kegged a batch of pale ale and my racking cane was giving me the fits with sucking a LOT of air an I'm sure it aerated my beer as it was going in the keg.
So in a last ditch effort to save the beer I purged the headspace and then inverted the keg an attached a picnic tap and repeatedly purged the keg and allowed the co2 to bubble up through the beer in an attempt to scrub the oxygen from my beer.
Did this work/help?

 

[jddevinn]

CO2 will not remove dissolved oxygen from the beer. The DO starts reacting very quickly with the beer and will not stay dissolved oxygen for long. You could quickly try to use a dose of sodium metabisulfite (SMB) and hope that the SMB scavenges the O2 before it reacts with the beer. However, any SMB that does not react will add a distinctive (to me) sulfur taste and smell that will have to be aged out (and you don't want to be doing aging here!!!)

At this point I would just attempt to drink the keg quickly before the oxidation makes major changes

In the future I would take a look at some of the recent racking threads, you should be able to build a closed system transfer system for really cheap.

 

[ncbrewer]

You could quickly try to use a dose of sodium metabisulfite (SMB) and hope that the SMB scavenges the O2 before it reacts with the beer. However, any SMB that does not react will add a distinctive (to me) sulfur taste and smell that will have to be aged out (and you don't want to be doing aging here!!!).

Is this any better with potassium metabisulfite?

 

[jddevinn]

I've never tried potassium metabisulfite but I imagine it would be similar. The sulfur taste/smell is not present if the metabisulfite reacts with the oxygen, only if too much is used.

The only experience I have with this is using it as an O2 "barrier" in already degassed water for low DO brews.

 

[BaylessBrewer]

Well I went ahead and crushed one tablet into the beer. Can't really do any harm.
Hopefully all turns out

 

[lbond2]

Here's another idea I did not see mentioned. In order to better preserve delicate ales such as a wit...it's better to bottle them and have the yeast digest the oxygen while carbonating the beer reducing oxidation over time...

 

[Horseflesh]

If you have a fermenter with a spigot you can transfer right to the keg's output post. No more awkward siphoning, and no splashing. I blast the keg with CO2 before the transfer too, for extra insurance. Glad I saw this idea on the forum.

 

[jddevinn]

If you have a fermenter with a spigot you can transfer right to the keg's output post. No more awkward siphoning, and no splashing. I blast the keg with CO2 before the transfer too, for extra insurance. Glad I saw this idea on the forum.

Idealy you should be doing a closed transfer as you are picking up a lot of oxygen with this method.

Simply, purge the keg correctly (fill with StarSan and pushout), attach the input like you have it, attach the gas in post to a hose beneath StarSan and use CO2 to put a small positive pressure on your lid.

 

[Toga]

add a couple ounces of corn sugar to the keg and let it sit at room temp. It will ferment, carb your beer, and the yeast will take care of some of the o2