Off-topic but I think I picked up some good information when I looked into LO even if the hardcore LO guys wouldn’t consider my processes to be LO. Deoxing the water with yeast + sugar, underletting the mash, using a mashcap, purging the keg with CO2 from active fermentation, doing closed-transfers from fermenter to keg, etc. have all helped me make better beer. Is it LO? Probably not but the processes make better beer, IMO. I may have been HIGH-oxygen at some point and now I’m LOWER-oxygen.
Me, too, but I don’t do everything every time. Lower boil vigor, purging all kegs and post-ferment O2-free (as far as I can get) transfers - yes, always. Add to that fermenting under pressure - not LO related, but it is part of my typical process.
Asked to defend it, I would say I can’t cite any science, but I like the results and it isn’t a lot of extra work. The key here is YMMV and mine does, too.
I just talked to a buddy who won Best of Show with two of his lagers. I asked him for secrets. I asked him about LODO. He told me not to worry about it.
Sounds like some of the same processes I picked up and implemented along the way. I probably fit in the “O2 Avoidance” or Ken’s “Low(er) O2” Brewer category.
I try to take a Common Sense Approach to Brewing. Low Dissolved Oxygen (Low DO) in beer is always a concern to inhibit staling. Some take this to extreme IMO but I choose to relax and not sweat the small stuff.
I do stuff not because it’s Low DO but for a variety of other reasons. If it helps lower O2 pickup, well that’s an added benefit.
I underlet because I don’t want to lift a kettle of hot water, ladle it in, splash it, and it eliminates dough balls.
I use Brewtan B because it makes clear beer. The fact that it chelates ions that cause the oxidation reaction in the mash tun is a plus.
I mash with a cover on my MLT because it reduces steam in the brewery (aka laundry room) and helps maintain mash temp. My vent is only over my boil kettle.
I boil at 2 kW which creates a nice, gentle, asymmetrical, rolling boil because I have predetermined my post boil volume, hop schedule, post boil salt concentration and post boil SG on this energy level.
I close transfer because it’s easier to leave the fermenter in place, attach a hose, and open the spigot vs move it to a higher location to open transfer thru the keg lid.
I do return the wort under the liquid level as I recirculate the entire mash and purge my kegs for no other reason than O2 avoidance. Post fermentation my goal is to reduce O2 intake and keep it cold.
I’d like to test my beer for DO some day just to see how far off I am.
These are all things I do as well. Being one of the early adopters to low o2 brewing, I enjoyed perceived benefits for a couple years, then just literally burnt myself out on brewing worrying about it all the time. It took the fun out of brewing. I still do some of the processes, and sometimes even still deoxygenate the water, but anymore, I don’t worry too much about it as my beer doesn’t last more than a couple months in the keg before it’s gone.
Also, once I found out that sauergut was a key flavor component to “That German Lager Flavor” I decided to stop pursuing it. I wasn’t getting those German flavors in my beers that I taste in commercial versions, so I said, screw it and went back to what I was happiest with. I don’t have the energy to start making my own sauergut.
Funny but I could have posted that myself although I probably was not one of the ‘early adopters of LO’. I was doing more than I listed with BTB, trifecta mix, spunding, etc. and at some point I felt like my beers were going backwards. I took a step back and looked closer at what I was doing and I kept the pieces that I thought worked and I simplified. I also looked back on many batches I made prior to doing ANY low-oxygen steps and I was pretty happy with them. So I still do the ones I listed, I made some simplifications with regard to pH throughout the process, I cut out trifecta and BTB altogether (my wort and beer only touch stainless and plastic so BTB is not necessary), I started getting some better clarity by using ClearZyme and my beers have been great lately. Again, my old techniques may have been really bad… splashing and stirring my way through the brewday and these steps maybe just got me to a better place but not really in line with true LO brewers.
Maybe, probably, but I bet the differences weren’t that enormous as to give you pause. Maybe with hoppier styles, but you don’t really brew hoppy styles. I guess, in the end, maybe it isn’t about brewing the best possible beer, but rather finding the best possible process to continue the joy of homebrew. I don’t know, maybe that’s BS, just came to mind.
The best beer possible, with the least effort possible, while having the most fun possible. For me, it’s all of those. None takes precedence over the other.
Ah, yep, that’s it. Lately social brewing has been a lot more fun for me. I’ve historically been more of a solo brewer. Some of those episodes of Brewing TV where they’re all together brewing are my favorite episodes. They just have so much fun BSing and brewing, and drinking, etc. I want to do that more.
It’s a weird balance because if I say “it’s supposed to be fun, man!”… that doesn’t necessarily fly if you don’t care for your beer. You don’t want to spend 4-5 hours making beer that you don’t like. So it’s a balance of having fun, making [what you consider to be] great beer and not sweating the details as if it’s a job. I know that I continue to move in the right direction because for years I “liked” my beers but realized that many commercial craft beer was better. So I kept fine-tuning and improving. At this point, I would much rather drink my own beer over almost every other beer… with some exceptions, of course. I can’t beat true German beer and there are some fantastic craft beers around that I try to duplicate. But I thank my lucky stars for where I am right now because I truly love to make beer, drink it myself and also serve it to others. It only took 22 years to get to that point.
Make the best beer possible, remember? For me, it’s a balance of the 3. I’m not gonna skip something if it means the beer sucks. But we each get to decide what’s important and what’s not.
