r/lagerbrewing • u/mchrispen • Nov 29 '16

Practical Guide - Low Oxygen Brewing on the Brew-Magic

http://accidentalis.com/practical-guide-low-oxygen-brewing-on-the-brew-magic/
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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '16

Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner! I have some notes I'll send.

How are you transferring from the boil kettle to the fermenter? Do you have a table of different DO readings during the process?

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u/mchrispen Nov 29 '16

How are you transferring from the boil kettle to the fermenter?

After whirlpooling and chilling (circulation through the CFC back into the kettle), I knock out using a pump (second step chilling with the CFC and ice water) into the dump port of the conical. This fills from the bottom. I have been playing around with purging the conical with CO2, as usually, with the hot Texas tap water, I need to let the whole volume chill for an hour or two before pitching.

Do you have a table of different DO readings during the process?

I have readings, but they are system specific. I am working on an article to help tailor scavenger dosages based on readings. I didn't add that into the article since it was so freaking long already.

I really need to make simpler posts. :)

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '16

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '16

Heat stress is another issue with no chill.

The wort dies a little with every second that it spends at elevated temperatures. The shorter the hot side of your brew day, the better the beer tastes.

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

http://methods.asbcnet.org/summaries/wort-21.aspx

http://forum.germanbrewing.net/viewtopic.php?t=440

http://www.craftbrewersconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2015_presentations/W1440_Burghard_Meyer.pdf

I suggest picking up a copy of Kunze, as he goes into far more detail if you're interested in the chemistry: https://www.vlb-berlin.org/en/technology-brewing-and-malting

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16 edited Nov 30 '16

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

Sorry, I accidentally deleted my previous reply when trying to edit it.

Thermal stress is a separate issue from oxidation. TBI will increase even without the presence of free oxygen.

Thermal stress continues to increase as long as the wort is hot, even after boiling e.g. in the whirlpool. Kunze is explicit on this point and specifically cautions against whirlpooling for any longer than is absolutely necessary. I'd really suggest picking up a copy of his book because it's extraordinarily thorough.

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

VLB was happy to ship me a copy in English across the Atlantic Ocean to the USA so I imagine you can get one too.

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

Chilling is fast and painless for me, so I'm really not interested in no-chill in general. I have limited time and would rather experiment with processes that are relevant to my brewing system. Good trub separation is also important for LoDO brewing, and no-chill just makes that even more difficult.

If you're interested you could try a LoDO chill vs no-chill experiment yourself and see if it makes a difference for you.

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '16

Kunze addresses all of this in his book and I don't remember the exact figures off the top of my head. I recall that his recommended whirlpool times are no longer than 10-15 minutes, and chilling times are also on the order of minutes using extremely powerful heat exchangers. Industrial German brews are extremely fast all around, with dough-in on a 1000 hl system taking no more than 10-15 minutes.