Hello. I have one LME/specialty grain batch under my belt (red ale). Based on other posts and research, it may have been subject to oxidation. I’ve researched and have picked up various valuable tips. Regardless, I wanted to get opinions on the use of ascorbic acid as an antioxidant. I was reading one of Charlie Papazian’s books and he had a short blip that I almost missed about using it as a guard against oxidation occurring during fermentation or racking. On the flip side, I wasn’t sure if this causes other problems or risks in the process. I’m just trying to look for any advantage I can get in avoiding possible oxidation. I appreciate any insight anyone can provide.
I’ll have to find my book and look it up. Did find this on the internet. An index to the book.
http://hbd.org/brewery/library/PapJoyIndex.html
I did find references to using ascorbic acid as a mash acidifier.
I used citric acid crystals in a sauce last night for chicken breast. One-sixteenth teaspoon was very tart in two cups of sauce. Never used ascorbic acid. Does it have the same tartness as citric acid?
It does to me, almost astringent. Put an uncoated vitamin C tablet on your tongue. It will make it feel raw.
I use it to treat strike & spare water prior to additions from BrunWater spreadsheet…precipitates out the chloramides and chlorine.
Why do you suspect you had oxidation? Oxidation is actually fairly rare in homebrew, because as long as you are reasonably careful to keep splashing and similar causes of oxygen exposure minimized, the yeast will scrub out free oxygen during bottle conditioning. So antioxidant chemicals aren’t needed as additives.
Some of the “stale” or “cardboard” flavors that are a sign of oxidation could also come from stale extract or old hops. I suspect that is a more likely cause of off-flavors than oxidation.
Rebuiltcellars - I’m not certain my issue is with oxidation either. This was my first 5 gallon batch and it just doesn’t taste right and has a very medicinal aftertaste. I also suspect the freshness of the kit I used and plan to go with a NB kit the next time around.
I thought oxidation might have been the issue because I did slosh the secondary a little bit when I tried to move it when I was going to bottle. My secondary carboy also had a lot of head space (6.0 gallons of capacity with about 4.5 gallons of brew). I’m not going to rack to a secondary next time around and will definitely be more careful to not agitate the wort, so I have a better game plan for the next attempt.
I’m just trying to cover all the bases and want to avoid having another 5 gallons of sub-standard brew.
