Does it matter if I use oxygen that is not food grade rated? Picked a small bottle of O2 @ Home Depot for aerating…any thoughts?
Got mind at a hardware store, pretty sure that is what you are supposed to us
that’s what I use too. have been for years with no problems.
Yep, the red O2 bottle from HD is what i use. It does seem to run out too quickly for my liking so I’m upgrading to a 20lb. green industrial tank from my local welding supply shop.I have no worries about this type of tank or the O2 in it. Cheers and Beers.
Thanks for the feedback fellas…the red tank it is!!! Lets see how much the beer will improve…
Yeah, they do empty fast. I don’t worry about “food grade” with O2 anymore than I do with CO2.
How quickly do the tanks empty? I just starting using mine and have done 3-4 batches now.
[quote=“560sdl”]How quickly do the tanks empty?[/quote]The 7g bottle has about five liters of O2 in it, the 11g has eight. So if you know your flowrate you can predict when you’ll need another bottle. I just always kept a backup on hand until I got my medical cylinder.
I am sure that I do not know my flow rate as I just have the simple regulator with a knob and no gauge. I just get it barely going and keep it in for 30-40 seconds.
Should I do this differently? Good results so far
[quote=“560sdl”]I am sure that I do not know my flow rate as I just have the simple regulator with a knob and no gauge.[/quote]Low flow for a specified amount of time works fine – what I look for is just the bare minimum of foam on top of the wort when done.
Just today I aerated with O2 for 15 seconds on a 2 liter starter. I got action in the primary 4 hours later. Using 1056, my fastest start yet!
Nothing wrong with even the lowest grade oxygen that you’ll buy out there. The yeast sure won’t know they are getting a different grade as the base standard in the industry is 99% purity. The grade you’ll get from a fill or exchange provider including welding shops is like 99.5% purity and both meet the requirement for human needs such as mixed gas scuba diving. Anything better is simply based on cylinder treatment, handling, and transfer processes. Medical suppliers and most dive shops require an oxygen provider certification before they will sell to you or fill your tanks but I’m not sure about welding and gas supply houses. Much easier to buy the small cans from the hardware store unless you are already a certified provider. Either way no worries on the grade. Same for Co2 but even less concern.
I have a small 20 lb tank of welding oxygen. It of course is a steel tank. Would I need to incorporate some type of filter in the line before the stone? Or should I just continue to purchase the small O@ tanks at HD?
Nothing is living in there to be of concern. Those little inline filters are good for when you are blowing regular air with your mouth of with an aquarium pump, but don’t serve a purpose when you are already using a gas that nothing can survive in from a sealed container. I’d be more concerned with the sanitation of the airstone and tubing that will touch the wort.
I always boil my stone before I use it & drop the stone & line in sanitizer before it hit’s the beer. I’d hate to inject nasties from an unclean stone!
[quote=“Edward Teach”]
I always boil my stone before I use it & drop the stone & line in sanitizer before it hit’s the beer. I’d hate to inject nasties from an unclean stone![/quote]
Yeah, same here. I’m a big fan of boiling the stone.
[quote=“Dean Palmer”][quote=“Edward Teach”]
I always boil my stone before I use it & drop the stone & line in sanitizer before it hit’s the beer. I’d hate to inject nasties from an unclean stone![/quote]
Yeah, same here. I’m a big fan of boiling the stone.[/quote]
I have not done that, but only have used 02 on 4-5 batches. I soaked the tube and stone in Star San before first use.
Then I rinse in water and turn the air on real quick, then I put in PBW and soak for a couple minutes and turn the air on a couple times
Then I soak in Star San (with another shot of air) before drying and putting away.
Think this will be a problem?
Not a problem, but way overboard.
I throw my stone into a Pyrex measuring cup of water and boil that in the microwave for a few minutes. Done. No reason to do more. Same stone has been working for over 8 years now. I do let it sit in a Solo cup of sanitizer until it goes for a swim, but only because that keeps it clean between boil and use, not for any further sanitation.
Afterwards it gets sanitizer forced out through the stone and a rinse.
If you handle your stone properly and clean after use there is nothing in there that needs PBW or anything else.
[quote=“Dean Palmer”]If you handle your stone properly and clean after use there is nothing in there that needs PBW or anything else.[/quote]The key to keeping it clean is to have the O2 flowing before you put the stone in the wort and to keep it flowing as you pull it out - this makes sure that no wort gets into the stone. I then spray it off with StarSan to rinse off the wort and drop it in the StarSan bucket (and turn off the O2) for a couple minutes and finally blow it out with O2 again to keep the inside dry.
+1
Yep, good advice, and good to see it push out the last sanitizer before going for a swim.
