Oxygenating Wort

[pmallory]

@pyrite

For all my brews I place the yeast starters on the stir plate.  Then as soon as I inoculate the wort with the yeast, I add a dose of  pure oxygen through a carb stone.  If it’s a high gravity brew (9% - 12%) not only am I adding a high yeast count, but I come back twelve hours later and add some more pure oxygen through a carb stone.

Is there a point when you shouldn’t add more oxygen to the fermentation? Won’t oxygen at a certain point create vinegar flavors? Or could you just keep adding oxygen to the fermentation? I am guessing some commercial breweries add oxygen through the fermentation.

[tschmidlin]

@pmallory

Is there a point when you shouldn’t add more oxygen to the fermentation? Won’t oxygen at a certain point create vinegar flavors? Or could you just keep adding oxygen to the fermentation? I am guessing some commercial breweries add oxygen through the fermentation.

The main reason to stop adding oxygen is to prevent oxidizing the beer - it doesn’t taste like vinegar though, unless you have acetobacter in there.  Commercial brewers don’t add oxygen throughout the fermentation, but some add additional O2 early in fermentation for really strong beers to help the yeast along.