Abscorbic Acid in Light Beer?

[ssashton]

I was watching this Genus Brewing video yesterday. It has some really great advice, even if you have been brewing for a while!

Genus Brewing - Bad Beer Fixed

00:10 - Water Chemistry
01:49 - Fermentation Temperature
03:43 - Crystal Malt
05:11 - Sediment in Fermenter
06:19 - Hops in IPA's
07:47 - ABV Mistakes
08:47 - Yeast Health
10:37 - Beer Oxidation
11:54 - Scorching
12:54 - Mash Temperature
14:07 - Carbonation
15:00 - Infection

One thing that struck me was they said they always add ascorbic acid to pale hop forward beers.

I'd quite like to try this so I wonder if anyone here uses it in this way?

When it should be added? Kettle to fermenter or fermenter to keg? How much is suitable for a beer? I'm guessing probably less than for a wine. Would finings remove it (undesirably)?

 

[foxbat]

If added at all then it should be to the keg/bottle as an oxygen scavenger. It's also said that you're supposed to add sodium metabisulphite at the same time to prevent "oxidative by-products" being created that make things worse than when you started.

I have not tried it myself because I don't have an oxidation problem that needs fixing and I don't particularly want to introduce sulphites into the beer because they're one of the culprits behind hangovers.

 

[JockyBrewer]

If added at all then it should be to the keg/bottle as an oxygen scavenger. It's also said that you're supposed to add sodium metabisulphite at the same time to prevent "oxidative by-products" being created that make things worse than when you started.

I have not tried it myself because I don't have an oxidation problem that needs fixing and I don't particularly want to introduce sulphites into the beer because they're one of the culprits behind hangovers.

Don’t add metabisulphite of any kind to a beer with active yeast in it.

It’ll turn the sulphite into hydrogen sulphide and then you have egg beer.

I know this as I tried it without knowing it, and ruined a couple of batches of beer in doing so.

 

[ssashton]

Thanks. I read that sulphites are common to add to wine to halt the fermentation but they did not mention using in beer.

 

[foxbat]

Thanks. I read that sulphites are common to add to wine to halt the fermentation but they did not mention using in beer.

There are a number of Brulosophy experiments on the subject that are worth a read. Google "SMB Brulosophy" to get the list. It's also worth reading the comments because although the Brulosophy crew have never suffered hydrogen sulphide, some of the commenters have.

 

[Hanglow]

Some yeasts are worse than others in that regard too. If you do end up with eggy beer in bottles then just leave them, it will react with the O2 entering the bottle and dissipate. You may end up with a decent beer

 

[JockyBrewer]

Some yeasts are worse than others in that regard too. If you do end up with eggy beer in bottles then just leave them, it will react with the O2 entering the bottle and dissipate. You may end up with a decent beer

I added 0.2g of SMB to 18 litres in a keg.

3 months later the egg smell had gone, but the taste had not.

You might be ok if you have a really well cleared beer with no yeast in it, but I wouldn’t risk it personally.

 

[strange-steve]

I added 0.2g of SMB to 18 litres in a keg.

3 months later the egg smell had gone, but the taste had not.

You might be ok if you have a really well cleared beer with no yeast in it, but I wouldn’t risk it personally.

I wonder is this a yeast-specific problem, I dosed 20L with 0.5g of SMB as an experiment to see if it would reduce hop fade (it didn't) and didn't get any eggy smell.

 

[Pennine]

I have done SMB at bottling and kegging like Steve and did not get any sulphur I used 0.3g per 10l. I also did it at dry hop and kegging and it was a sulphur bomb. I think the overall the addition was 0.6g for 20litres, 0.3g per addition. So be careful and don't add at dry hop.

Never tried ascorbic acid. But I probably won't be adding anything anymore as it doesn't seem to make a positive benefit but can turn negative quickly.

 

[JockyBrewer]

I wonder is this a yeast-specific problem, I dosed 20L with 0.5g of SMB as an experiment to see if it would reduce hop fade (it didn't) and didn't get any eggy smell.

I have done SMB at bottling and kegging like Steve and did not get any sulphur I used 0.3g per 10l. I also did it at dry hop and kegging and it was a sulphur bomb. I think the overall the addition was 0.6g for 20litres, 0.3g per addition. So be careful and don't add at dry hop.

Never tried ascorbic acid. But I probably won't be adding anything anymore as it doesn't seem to make a positive benefit but can turn negative quickly.

My initial thought was that it was to do with additional fermentation. I kegged fairly quickly at the end of fermentation, so I can see that maybe a bit more happened caused by the keg transfer? Similar with Pennine's dry hop - dry hop often causes additional fermentation... But then that wouldn't make sense with bottle conditioning, unless of course the bottling process is oxidising all the sulphite before the yeast can get to it?

Either way I agree with Pennine's conclusion - it seems easy to get wrong, potentially disastrous if it does, and there's better process methods to avoid it.

 

[foxbat]

Exactly. Oxidation can be engineered out of the process if you're careful thereby eliminating the need for these additions.