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Low O2 question


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#21 Big Nake

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Posted 20 December 2018 - 08:48 AM

If nothing else, its free CO2!  :D

Right.  Couple that with the spunding of the beer and you're using a lot less CO2.



#22 HVB

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Posted 20 December 2018 - 08:50 AM

I think that low O2 is geared towards large macro style breweries that are brewing certain kinds of beer.  I do agree that it produces a different beer but I also have a hard time believing that a small brewery in Bavaria is following these steps.  

 

I will be honest and say that following some of that has taken the fun out of brewing for me and has caused me to just put off brewing.  I am going back to my hot side being what I was doing a year or 2 ago but keep the improvements on the cold side.  I like the keg purge as it is easy and the keg is ready to go when the beer is.  I will spund some beers but not all.  I know commercial CO2 is the devil but I will still use it.  I tired the method enough to realize it was not all for me.  I am okay with that.



#23 LeftyMPfrmDE

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Posted 20 December 2018 - 08:54 AM

Right.  Couple that with the spunding of the beer and you're using a lot less CO2.

that angle alone has my interest. I may make a spunding valve when i have the time, just to try it. 



#24 Big Nake

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Posted 20 December 2018 - 09:14 AM



I think that low O2 is geared towards large macro style breweries that are brewing certain kinds of beer.  I do agree that it produces a different beer but I also have a hard time believing that a small brewery in Bavaria is following these steps.  

 

I will be honest and say that following some of that has taken the fun out of brewing for me and has caused me to just put off brewing.  I am going back to my hot side being what I was doing a year or 2 ago but keep the improvements on the cold side.  I like the keg purge as it is easy and the keg is ready to go when the beer is.  I will spund some beers but not all.  I know commercial CO2 is the devil but I will still use it.  I tired the method enough to realize it was not all for me.  I am okay with that.

I feel like this is the point right here.  Try it and take the parts you like and incorporate them into your processes.  Or don't.  The low-O2 guys say that they back up everything they say with science and I believe that.  But one thing they can't do is tell you what you taste.  That's up to you and I think they accept that.  If you try it and like it, good.  If you try it and your own taste buds say that something is not right, then you either did something improperly or low-O2 is not for you.  It's possible that beer drinkers across the US are so used to some oxidation that we expect it to be a part of the beer we drink.

 

 



that angle alone has my interest. I may make a spunding valve when i have the time, just to try it. 

I did make a valve and I used it a couple times but some of the low-O2 brewers said that they eventually got to the point where they got the beer to a certain gravity and just ran the beer off into the keg, sealed it and let it go.  Some of the brewers over there are more specific about it but I felt like my valve wasn't really working properly so I don't worry about it anymore.  The main guy over there has mentioned that as little as .002 or .003 points are enough to properly carb a batch so "catching the spund" only seems tricky if 1) you've never done it before or 2) your schedule doesn't really allow it.



#25 HVB

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Posted 20 December 2018 - 09:26 AM

I feel like this is the point right here.  Try it and take the parts you like and incorporate them into your processes.  Or don't.  The low-O2 guys say that they back up everything they say with science and I believe that.  But one thing they can't do is tell you what you taste.  That's up to you and I think they accept that.  If you try it and like it, good.  If you try it and your own taste buds say that something is not right, then you either did something improperly or low-O2 is not for you.  It's possible that beer drinkers across the US are so used to some oxidation that we expect it to be a part of the beer we drink.

 

 

 

I do not think it is just here.  I can not imagine an English Ale tasting correct with out some oxidation but maybe that is my bias showing ;)



#26 Big Nake

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Posted 20 December 2018 - 09:34 AM

I do not think it is just here.  I can not imagine an English Ale tasting correct with out some oxidation but maybe that is my bias showing ;)

I make a lot of Euro-style lagers and American ales but English Ales are high on my list and I just finished a short run of 1028 beers.  It might be fun to make the same beer where one is 'normal' and one is 'low-O2' and compare them for accuracy.  If it turned out that the normal one seemed closer to the real thing, that's just another tool in your toolbox... make these styles this way and those styles that way.  ;)



#27 denny

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Posted 20 December 2018 - 11:41 AM

Any examples? I only try to avoid o2 on the child side for the most part.

 

Specifically, I recall him saying that English styles came out tasting "wrong" with low O2.



#28 positiveContact

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Posted 21 December 2018 - 04:51 AM

I like the spunding part for sure.  it means I get to drink the beer sooner which means I get to taste it as fresh as it's ever going to be.  sometimes that means it's better or worse but it's more variety of beer drinking experience.



#29 HVB

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Posted 21 December 2018 - 07:38 AM

I like the spunding part for sure.  it means I get to drink the beer sooner which means I get to taste it as fresh as it's ever going to be.  sometimes that means it's better or worse but it's more variety of beer drinking experience.

I think that is the best part.  




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