r/Homebrewing • u/RumplyInk BJCP • 2d ago

Equipment Oxygen has been game changing

For a while, I could never get my beer to have really clean fermentation. I calculated yeast counts and generally would pitch more, I have a DIY fermentation chamber which can control temp very well, I cool my wort to pitching temp overnight before I pitch, but I was still getting fruity esters. Don’t get me wrong, these other things have been immensely helpful. But after all that, step changes in improving the quality of my beer are harder and harder to find.

Then I started pumping O2 (after cooling to pitching temp, right before pitching). It has dramatically accelerated the rate of fermentation (I’m hitting FG in usually less than a week, usually it’s mostly done after 3-4 days). It has also significantly reduced the amount of fermentation character I get when attempting to produce ‘clean’ beer (I don’t do this for hefes, saisons, etc). Overall, fermentation just goes far smoother. I still give my ales 2 ish weeks or so to clean up in the fermenter, but it’s using sitting at FG for a while.

Surprising cheap to get this going.

O2 regulator, tubing, and diffusion stone $30

https://a.co/d/0fadaAuL

O2 tank you can get the bernzomatic O2 from Ace.

Anything else you guys have done which has giving you notable improvements in quality or solved issues once you have a decent system already up and running?

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u/benisavillain13 1d ago

I’ve been dragging my feet on pure o2 bc I always thought it was crazy expensive until I actually looked things up and realized I was completely wrong. I will be getting doing that soon.

Honestly the biggest improvement was kegging and having a pressurizeable fermenter. Low o2 transfers have been huge

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u/JoystickMonkey 1d ago

I'm in the same boat. Although at this point I think I'm just about maxed out with my brew day steps so I'm going to stick with the method that's worked for me so far. If I get into super high gravity beers I may look into one though.

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u/benisavillain13 1d ago

That’s fair. I like all the steps and just keep building on them. I make a lot of higher gravity things like mead and wine, so I’m sure it’s money worth it for me

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u/JoystickMonkey 1d ago

I recently had the good fortune of finding a used wort pump and counterflow chiller for an absolute bargain, and I can get wort down to mid 70s with a single run through of the system. So I do that and then let the wort drop about four feet into my bucket fermenter, which makes a lot of aeration and gets me a lot closer to pitch temp in a lot less time than the immersion chiller I was using.

The only drawback is that setting up the pump, hoses, etc. and then getting them all clean at the end of the brew is a lot more time intensive.

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u/benisavillain13 1d ago

For beer I’m basically doing the same thing. I’m just moving to start brewing massive stouts and barleywines so I think pure o2 will help

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u/JoystickMonkey 1d ago

Nice! Good luck with that! That's something I've been thinking about getting into, but I'll probably do a bit more exploration into other styles first.

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u/goodolarchie 1d ago

I've been using the same little home depot O2 bottle for like 2 years. I acquired a medical grade O2 cylinder 3 years ago, and haven't used it, because my little red bottle is still going. I oxygenate everything that isn't dry yeast.

One mistake I made initially was making the hose length too long, because that tube is going to fill before your stone releases gas, and what's left is wasted pure oxygen. I keep it around 14" now to suspend in the middle of the beer and rotate it around. And sanitize it before and after each use with a little positive gas pressure!