Oxygen Inquiry for Aerating Wort

[MatthewS]

This is what I received from my CO2/O2 guy.
........
Here are some different options:

OX 300 – Industrial oxygen. 99.7% $21.00

OX UHP300 – Ultra high purity oxygen. 99.994% $102.50

AI D300 – Dry Air. 20-22% oxygen. Balance nitrogen $25.00

Forgetting about the pricing ..... which O2 is the best for aerating wort.

Or can I use our Air Compressor... It has amazing air filtration going on

[crassbrauer]

See this thread for info on this subject:

oxygen: When to say when?

[fcaseyf]

Make sure if you use your compressor it is oil-less like a rotary screw not a reciprocating. You don't want any oil vapor getting in your wort.

[aswissbrewer]

This question interests me too.

Assuming the quality with respect to oil and other contaminants is ok, is there any advantage using pure oxygen as opposed to air to for wort aeration?

Anyone out there made a direct comparison? I use air and tend to think the 20% oxygen is enough, am I wrong

[crassbrauer]

Yes, this has been thoroughly investigated. See the thread listed above. Air is better than pure oxygen for a variety of reasons.

[grs]

Not to take this thread on too much of a tangent but...

In that thread crassbrauer mentioned there was a comment about not using medical grade O2 due to compounds that inhibit bacterial growth and affect the yeast. Is this an issue with using cylinders of medical grade air? Should I be looking at some other type of air in cylinders such as just plain compressed air that's been filtered?

[dickshindles]

My curiosity has caused me to also get a bit off topic.

I will probably look like an idiot for asking this, but from looking at the other thread on oxygen, I am under the impression that beer can become carcinogenic from over-oxygenating? Is this the implication? If so, please explain. :rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

[creature ash]

As far as I know, it is very difficult to get enough oxygen in solution to begin causing problems, even using pure O2. for this reason i tihnk pure O2 is good, but the cost means you would want to use it efficiently. although, vigorous injection of clean and 'sterile' air would be fine for most brewing purposes.

[aswissbrewer]

See this thread for info on this subject:

oxygen: When to say when?


I was born dumb and don't learn very fast. Please help me out, I can't find this thread :confused:

[pbutlert]

I clicked on "crassbrauer", went to "find all posts by crassbrauer", and it was about halfway down page five. :)

[Jephro]

At my first brewing job the owners wife was a Veterinarian and we got medical grade O2 the first few brews using her account. The beer turned out fine, but we later found out we could have caused her to loose her Vet License, apparently you basically need a prescription to get it.

[bbrodka]

I was born dumb and don't learn very fast. Please help me out, I can't find this thread :confused:

http://www.probrewer.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=5269&highlight=oxygen%3A
and
http://www.probrewer.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=5280&highlight=oxygen%3A

[Brewer]

This question interests me too.

Assuming the quality with respect to oil and other contaminants is ok, is there any advantage using pure oxygen as opposed to air to for wort aeration?

Anyone out there made a direct comparison? I use air and tend to think the 20% oxygen is enough, am I wrong

O2 saturation with breathing air in wort is ~ 8 mg/l which oddly enough is the ideal level required for any worts of standard gravity. O2 saturation with pure oxygen is however 32 mg/l which is for the most part, far too much.

Stronger worts can benefit greatly from more than the 8 mg/l from compressed air but I have successfully brewed to gravities over 20 - 22 Plato with excellent results time and time again.

The brewery I am currently with uses pure O2. The way we determine when enough is enough using either O2 or breathing air is to set a starting point run time/pressure on a batch, then start cutting back on following batches and go from there. Say you run in at 22 PSI for 25 mins (or whatever your measurements are), with all else the same such as gravities, hose lengths and yeast pitch rate, cut back to 20 mins on the next batch and monitor fermentation, next time cut back to 15mins etc etc. Changing lag times and slowing fermentation by comparison to previous "test" batches should let you know you've hit the cut off point, then add say, 3 - 5 mins back on your O2 run time. No need to worry at all about over doing it with breathing air though.

Cheers all!

[dick murton]

The key to any wort aeration or oxygen is to make sure the gas is broken into fine enough bubbles to ensure the oxygen dissolves fully. If it isn't dissolved - the yeast isn't going to be able to use it of course. If necessary, put some form of back pressure control valve / restriction in the wort main after the injection point.

As said before - air is fine up to about 8 ppm, but some yeast strains require more O2 to remain healthy. If you cannot repitch the yeast successfully, try increasing the oxygen level. Food grade oxygen is OK, no point in spending money on medical grade oxygen. You may have a problem getting medical O2 because of concerns about wort / yeast etc getting back into the oxygen cylinders. They don't seem to be quite so worried about food grade oxygen.

Don't forget to ensure the oxygen / air injection system can be cleaned & sterilised regularly, just in case there is any backflow of wort.

[brewery master]

The Difference Between Medical Grade And Welding Grade Besides The Price Is Medical Grade Tank Has Never Seen Any Other Gas But O2,welding Grade Its Possible That Other Trace Gas May Be Present.if Using A In Line .02 Stone At 12 To 20 Psi Looking At Site Glass For A Fine Steady Bubble.i Made In Line Compartment Of 2 In. Dia. About 6 Ins. Long Then Reduced To 1 Ins. Pipe Then Site Glass.this Process Should Provide Enough O2 In Your Wort.keep In Mind The More Pressure The Longer It Will Take To Cast Out.so Make Sure To Cast Out In Less Than 1 Hour To Keep In Line With Brewing Proper Brewing Practices . Cheers Don

[dick murton]

Looks like you've been in computer programming too long. All the programmers I have worked with capitalise every word. Get a life!! Go and hit the ski slopes - Big White must be open by now

cheers

(only joking about the get a life bit)

[dick murton]

Looks like you've been in computer programming too long. All the programmers I have worked with capitalise every word. Get a life!! Go and hit the ski slopes - Big White must be open by now

cheers

(only part joking about the get a life bit, I really must get back there again)

[grs]

Heh. All the programmers I know (Industrial Automation) write with the caps lock on permanently.

[jjsvoboda]

This could also solve another problem for me. I have to evacuate all my keg cleaner solution with O2 or N2. So, what size air compressor woud I need to push out four kegs. (In a reasonable amount of time). The smallest, yes most affordable unit.

Thanks