Oxygen and your Beer
Now when I first started making beer at home I worried about oxidising the beer and creating a beer that tastes sour. This is very true, as always it is slightly more complicated than that.
This is the essence of what I’ve learnt about aerating the wort.
Oxygen is good for the yeast, the only time oxygen should be introduced is just before the yeast is pitched. Dissolved oxygen in the wort helps the yeast to multiple and start the fermentation process. If you have a lazy fermentation then it is possible that there wasn’t enough oxygen in the wort to start with.
If oxygen is introduced into the wort during fermentation then it is the alcohol that oxidises and makes the beer taste yucky, not the beer as such. Introducing air after the beer has fermented oxidises the alcohol giving a foul tasting beer, not good.
If you mash your own wort then when the wort is hot, oxygen at this point causes oxygen in the wort itself, giving again pukey tasting beer.
The message is clear from all I’ve read, don’t splash the wort, treat is well, make sure everything is sanitized then just before you add the yeast give is a good whip up to introduce the oxygen, then pitch your yeast.
There are couple of techniques I’ve found. You can give the beer a good shaking, the splashing introduces oxygen. The method I use, is to use a plastic paddle (properly sanitised) and give the wort a vicious stirring, trying to get as much air into the wort as possible. Do this for a good few minutes, or until your arm is tired, the more oxygen you can introduce the quicker the yeast will start and brew out.
Some people use an aquarium pump and bubble air through the liquid, they say leave it bubbling for 5-10 mins, I’ve not tried this method but it sound plausible. If you really want a high tech way of doing it the you can buy a wort aeration kit from your home brew shop which will bubble pure oxygen through your wort.
Whichever method you choose, aeration is an important part of the brewing process I don’t think it can be over done, underdoing though can cause problems.
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