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Oxygenate and degassing wort during fermentation?
- Thread starter Harguf
- Start date
Usually no, though I know some beer brewers will oxygenate 12-24 hours after pitch regardless of recipe.
Aerating helps the yeast build strong cell walls which helps them survive and continue to ferment well when the abv gets higher.
Degassing helps to destress the yeast, but possibly more importantly, it helps prevent your ph from dropping too low (from carbonic acid).
Because beer usually does not have nearly as high an abv as mead/wine (except imperial stouts, do oxygenate for those) and it starts at a higher ph, these are things beer brewers don't often worry about and they'll just let it sit until its done fermenting. I always get aghast looks when I tell beer brewers to open up the fermenter and do things to it days and days after pitching when telling them about mead lol.
Aerating helps the yeast build strong cell walls which helps them survive and continue to ferment well when the abv gets higher.
Degassing helps to destress the yeast, but possibly more importantly, it helps prevent your ph from dropping too low (from carbonic acid).
Because beer usually does not have nearly as high an abv as mead/wine (except imperial stouts, do oxygenate for those) and it starts at a higher ph, these are things beer brewers don't often worry about and they'll just let it sit until its done fermenting. I always get aghast looks when I tell beer brewers to open up the fermenter and do things to it days and days after pitching when telling them about mead lol.
Also because in beer you oxigenate the starter. SO basically you dont oxigenate the wort but you get the oxigen to the yeast anyway.
And i think you only need to aereate the first 2-3 days in meadmaking, i feel more is overdoing it.
Well, this morning, out of habit, I aerated and degassed a partial-mash amber that I brewed last night. No harm done, I assume?
Thanks for the explanation as to why degassing and aerating are needed for mead, but not for beer.
Probably not. Just remember honey does not oxidice easily but malt, wheat and grapes do. That is why overoxigenation can result in off flavours. The less contact, the better.
According to the YEAST book by White and Zainasheff, you would do well to oxygenate your beer wort 12-18 hours again after pitch IF it is a high ABV beer. No more than that, though. Same for mead, although honey seems to be more resilient to oxidization until half way through fermentation.
