Oxidisation Easy Guide Video

[David Heath]

It is time for a quick educational video that tackles the important topic of Oxidisation in beer.

It is a point of fact that many homebrewers are oxidising their beers without realising it because they drink them before the full onset of staleness takes hold.

Much better tasting beers can be enjoyed from the start by using techniques that either reduce or fully remove oxygen.

This video looks at this effect and presents solutions for all, which I hope prove useful for the community.

As usual, thank you for all your kind support and enthusiasm for my channel.

Please keep your questions, feedback and requests coming but please give me some time to answer, I get a lot of messages and answer them in the order they were sent in, particularly those on Facebook messenger tend to stack up! If you are comfortable then please ask questions within Facebook groups, forums or Youtube, so that others can also either benefit or contribute.

Happy brewing!

 

[terrym]

David

Your video is well produced and the objective well intended.

However I am sure that for say 90% of homebrewers the advice is very simple i.e. you should take reasonable steps wherever practical to try to avoid allowing your fermented beer coming into contact with air/oxygen typically by avoiding splashing, and where possible purging the packaging container with CO2, which to be fair you mentioned. But don’t get too anal about it. That’s it, anything else is unnecessary in my opinion. And if you take those steps you are very unlikely to notice any difference unless you are careless or store your beer for longer than say six months. As for the other 10% of homebrewers who take their brewing to another level some of the measures you outlined will be relevant, but even then the outcome may not really be noticed.

So for 90% of us, it’s follow the simple rules and leave the complicated stuff to the rest, and all will be fine.

Unfortunately anyone new to homebrewing who comes on this Forum and sees some of the posts about oxidation may get overly concerned when really there is no need. You only have to look through some of the newbie posts to see that. Sadly there is also misinformation published about this subject and people read it, take it as gospel and then perpetuate the myths.

Finally, and which may appear to be nitpicking, maybe I’m old school but its ‘oxidation’ not ‘oxidisation’ or ‘oxidization’, although I know they are interchangeable. I’m sure any Chemistry text book will confirm this. Indeed it’s only since I joined this Forum have I seen the term oxidisation used.

 

[David Heath]

David

Your video is well produced and the objective well intended.

However I am sure that for say 90% of homebrewers the advice is very simple i.e. you should take reasonable steps wherever practical to try to avoid allowing your fermented beer coming into contact with air/oxygen typically by avoiding splashing, and where possible purging the packaging container with CO2, which to be fair you mentioned. But don’t get too anal about it. That’s it, anything else is unnecessary in my opinion. And if you take those steps you are very unlikely to notice any difference unless you are careless or store your beer for longer than say six months. As for the other 10% of homebrewers who take their brewing to another level some of the measures you outlined will be relevant, but even then the outcome may not really be noticed.

So for 90% of us, it’s follow the simple rules and leave the complicated stuff to the rest, and all will be fine.

Unfortunately anyone new to homebrewing who comes on this Forum and sees some of the posts about oxidation may get overly concerned when really there is no need. You only have to look through some of the newbie posts to see that. Sadly there is also misinformation published about this subject and people read it, take it as gospel and then perpetuate the myths.

Finally, and which may appear to be nitpicking, maybe I’m old school but its ‘oxidation’ not ‘oxidisation’ or ‘oxidization’, although I know they are interchangeable. I’m sure any Chemistry text book will confirm this. Indeed it’s only since I joined this Forum have I seen the term oxidisation used.

Thanks for your opinion on the video, much appreciated.
I believe that I made it very clear in the video that people do not need to be anal about it!
As you say and as I said in the video, there are very simple rules to follow here.
This video was all about presenting those options for improvement in a simple and easy to follow form.
As for what to call this, yes the terms ‘oxidation’ ,‘oxidisation’ , ‘oxidization’ are all interchangeable.
I used the term that is native to me and the one that was used throughout my career in the UK.
I have had some say they were not aware that it could be spelt this way but everyone guessed right away what the subject matter was of course.

 

[Sadfield]

Will watch later. However, this...

It is a point of fact that many homebrewers are oxidising their beers without realising it because they drink them before the full onset of staleness takes hold.

Much better tasting beers can be enjoyed from the start by using techniques that either reduce or fully remove oxygen.

...is bang on the money, and could be applied to various other aspects of the process.

 

[David Heath]

Will watch later. However, this...
...is bang on the money, and could be applied to various other aspects of the process.

I believe so also :)

 

[Brew_DD2]

Being more careful and wary of cold-side oxidation has made a huge difference to my beer. I went through several batches of IPAs (various styles of) which tasted great during fermentation but then developed the same muted hop character with a weird sweetness, and tried so many things to rectify it. It was oxidation all along. I had an auto-siphon with a dodgy seal. Lots and lots of air introduced when racking.

I used to be a strong believer that fermentation temps were the most important aspect of controlling undesirable flavours, but for me, now it's making sure I treat the finished beer properly. I really don't think it can be understated how much oxygen can affect your beer adversely, without you doing much wrong.

Great video again.

 

[David Heath]

Being more careful and wary of cold-side oxidation has made a huge difference to my beer. I went through several batches of IPAs (various styles of) which tasted great during fermentation but then developed the same muted hop character with a weird sweetness, and tried so many things to rectify it. It was oxidation all along. I had an auto-siphon with a dodgy seal. Lots and lots of air introduced when racking.

I used to be a strong believer that fermentation temps were the most important aspect of controlling undesirable flavours, but for me, now it's making sure I treat the finished beer properly. I really don't think it can be understated how much oxygen can affect your beer adversely, without you doing much wrong.

Great video again.

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent, this is totally the point of this video.
Great to hear that you have noted the difference and are on the right track. Cheers :)

 

[Brew_DD2]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent, this is totally the point of this video.
Great to hear that you have noted the difference and are on the right track. Cheers :)

I'm glad more and more people are talking about it. Expensive NEIPAs going purple within a few weeks is no fun. I think it was one of the Brülosophy podcasts that gave me the lightbulb moment a few months back.

 

[David Heath]

I'm glad more and more people are talking about it. Expensive NEIPAs going purple within a few weeks is no fun. I think it was one of the Brülosophy podcasts that gave me the lightbulb moment a few months back.

Yes, it certainly is a key area that I believe many will benefit from.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

HI All

I am somewhat confused over the topic of oxidation

I am not a professional brewer but used to work as a tour guide in a well known brewery (In the top 50 in the UK) and so know their process well

It was standard practice to "rouse" the beer in the fermentation tank several times a day, the purpose being to "rouse" the yeast to continue it's wonderful work

This involved pumping liquid from the bottom of the tank (about 10 metres deep) and spraying it across the top of the vessel through what looked like a large shower head - this added lot's of oxygen

Would this not cause oxidation and why was it not an issue in this environment?

Thanks

 

[foxbat]

Being more careful and wary of cold-side oxidation has made a huge difference to my beer. I went through several batches of IPAs (various styles of) which tasted great during fermentation but then developed the same muted hop character with a weird sweetness, and tried so many things to rectify it. It was oxidation all along. I had an auto-siphon with a dodgy seal. Lots and lots of air introduced when racking.

I used to be a strong believer that fermentation temps were the most important aspect of controlling undesirable flavours, but for me, now it's making sure I treat the finished beer properly. I really don't think it can be understated how much oxygen can affect your beer adversely, without you doing much wrong.

Great video again.

Spot on. And it's not just IPAs, it's Pilsners too. If you want that crisp, bright fresh malty taste then I cannot understate the importance of excluding oxygen post-fermentation.

 

[Hanglow]

No, because the yeast is actively fermenting, so will scavenge the oxygen before it can do damage. Some english yeasts are notorious for their oxygen requirements to full ferment out wort, hence needing to be roused.


Homebrewers can minimise oxidation if they do any transfers while the beer is actively fermenting too.

HI All

I am somewhat confused over the topic of oxidation

I am not a professional brewer but used to work as a tour guide in a well known brewery (In the top 50 in the UK) and so know their process well

It was standard practice to "rouse" the beer in the fermentation tank several times a day, the purpose being to "rouse" the yeast to continue it's wonderful work

This involved pumping liquid from the bottom of the tank (about 10 metres deep) and spraying it across the top of the vessel through what looked like a large shower head - this added lot's of oxygen

Would this not cause oxidation and why was it not an issue in this environment?

Thanks