Thanks! Should something like this (Blichmann Oxygen Flow Regulator | MoreBeer) suffice for the regulator?
I've run into the same issue. Check your local hardware or auto parts stores. I found 2 tanks at NAPA.Lowes and Home Depot have been out of stock (red Cans) for like a year. I'm going to ask the guys at my CO2 place today.
You can count how long you run the drill for.
Do you need to get more?
I've read that with pure oxygen you run a risk of over oxygenating to wort.
I use a SS aeration “stone” connected to a medical O2 tank with a regulator.I would like to start oxygenating my wort before pitching yeast, but i want to do so in a measurable capacity. What setup are y'all using for that?
I would like to start oxygenating my wort before pitching yeast, but i want to do so in a measurable capacity. What setup are y'all using for that?
Interesting. I usually make starters on a stir plate. Should that oxygenate enough?I have one of those aquarium pump system with an inline filter and a carb stone. I have not used it in a few years (except maybe for some high gravity batches?). I am often using dry yeast, and I buy into the idea that oxygenation is not a requirement with dry yeast. I also brew a lot of 2.5 gallon batches, or 5 gallon batches split with 2 yeasts. Those smaller sizes give me a bit more wiggle room. I do generally pour my wort through a strainer into the fermenter, so there is some oxygenation that occurs.
As far as using liquid yeast in a 5 gallon batch: One thing that stood out to me from an Escarpment Labs webinar on their YouTube channel was a statement "Your goal is not to oxygenate the wort; your goal is to oxygenate the yeast." This clicked with me and my use of Shaken-not-Stirred "vitality" starters. I tend to believe that if I pitch my liquid yeast into an oxygen rich starter environment then I have accomplished my goal of "oxygenating the yeast."
I will add that my view on fermentation health is that their is a matrix of factors at play such as gravity, volume, temperature, pitch rate, yeast health, oxygenation, and probably some others. I try to take into account the factors of the specific batch and ensure that I am checking enough of those boxes. A fresh pack of Imperial yeast into a 5-gallon batch of Blonde Ale is quite different than a single 4 month old pack of White Labs into a 6-gallon batch of 1.070 IPA.
Interesting. I usually make starters on a stir plate. Should that oxygenate enough?
Thanks. Makes sense.Keep in mind that when you make a normal starter (one that increases the cell count), the yeast use whatever O2 is available to make sterols to build cell wall material, which enables budding, i.e. the thing that increases the cell count in the starter. Then, after the new, higher cell count is pitched into the main batch wort, it will need to increase much more than it did in the starter. So it will need to rebuild sterol reserves for all the budding it still needs to do. I would not count on the cells already having all the sterol reserves needed (i.e. left over from the starter stage).
Interesting. I usually make starters on a stir plate. Should that oxygenate enough?
Yes?I would ask, enough for what? Are you pitching 300B cells of healthy yeast into your 1.050 Pale Ale, or did you only build up 150B cells that you are pitching into a 1.090 stout or into a 1.055 lager that will be fermented at 48F?
Enough for the starter for sure, but as already concluded not for a massive amount of wort to build cell count up.Yes?
I'm speaking more in generalities. It appears a starter can't substitute for proper oxygenation.
Medical O2 regulator like this always available on eBay or Amazon. Maybe even less on Craigslist. Look for a full bottle on CL, with a seal strip is nice. Even a small one will last for years if you remember to turn the valve off. I use the .5 micron stainless steel “stone” for about two min at 1.5-2.0 LPM. Then remove stone from threaded stainless wand, rinse & store it in a 4 oz plastic bottle of whiskey. I even oxygenate my 2-liter starters for 20-30 seconds. Read the Yeast book by White & Zainasheff pages 77-83. No way to get enough O2 from “air” which is 80% nitrogen. Not much danger of getting TOO MUCH pure O2 in a couple minutes.
Several green medical oxygen regulators I’ve had all seemed to work about the same. 1.5 LPM might be the sweet spot. I boil in a big Bayou Classic tall kettle; typically 6” below rim after boil. Clear cooled wort, 24” stainless steel wand to hold sintered stone at bottom for gentle stir. (Before pitching yeast) Vigorous tiny bubbles coming to surface, but they do NOT froth up in a “foam”. Might foam more if oxygenating AFTER pitching a lot of active yeast. (BTW, Yes, the Guinness stout tap & handle IS for sale. I have two)
I like having the yeast started added to the carboy wort in advance of the O2. This is primarily to reduce any O2 uptake time. This to minimize any oxidation concerns to whatever degree possible.
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