dumb question to protect wort/O2 interface

[robintes]

Hi Guys
Im new here so pls be kind if this is a stoopid question. I read a lot about members getting stressed over the wort in their ferment vessel getting exposed to air when you take the lid off (to add something etc or take a sample). AFAIK CO2 combined density of air is 1.22 Kg/m3 while that of carbon dioxide is 1.61 Kg/m3. So quite a bit heavier and shouldnt get exposed if you are slow and careful?

However, it also seemed that maybe you could have a protective fluid on top of the wort (maybe like a neutral cooking oil or an inert mineral oil?)
This is often done in culinary practice to prevent oxidation?

Maybe just float some cling film on top?

Just wondered? Pls dont laugh

 

[Minbari]

Don't think you want oily beer. Good possibility the fats in the oil would be consumed by the yeast and that would add to the flavor. Not in a good way

Going slow can minimize it, but it is still a gas. Even a slight movement of the air will blow it off and expose o2

 

[Donoroto]

A plastic film is interesting. A liquid covering seems…like leading to disaster? Dunno, maybe it is perfectly fine.

Yes, the densities differ, but really almost anything can stir it up and dissipate or remove that CO2 layer. I never count on that saving my beer. But, a tiny bit of O2 has only a tiny effect, in my opinion.

 

[robintes]

A few drops of liquid paraffin oil? Its not toxic btw and is used to treat constipation (as if Im not full of enough sh8t already)

• Preservatives: Liquid paraffin acts as a preservative in certain food products to extend their shelf life by creating a barrier that prevents the growth of microorganisms and inhibits oxidation.

Cant see yeast having any effect. Alcohol has very low solubility AFAIK? but we are only talking of a few drops oil on the surface

any views?

 

[Bigbre04]

the correct answer is to trickle CO2 in the top of the fermenter plus minimal movement. OR dont open it. My gear is different, but i dont open anything without positive CO2 pressure on the tank.

I have a VERY high tolerance for oxidation in beer, so it doesnt really bother me, but some people can taste it at very very low thresholds.

 

[robintes]

the correct answer is to trickle CO2 in the top of the fermenter plus minimal movement. OR dont open it. My gear is different, but i dont open anything without positive CO2 pressure on the tank.

I have a VERY high tolerance for oxidation in beer, so it doesnt really bother me, but some people can taste it at very very low thresholds.

Hmm I suppose its a bit like those who are regular tobacco smokers. They have poor taste buds and sense of smell totally overwhelmed by foul smoke. Myself (not from a puritan corner, simply I had a puff off a ciggy when I was 7 and it made me instantly sick and throw up. Never went there again. So my sense of smell I consider to be acute (like the dog I am).

I often notice that wimin dislike the taste of standard British Bitter (rarely available in whats left of Pubs today), so they sip gnats p8ss lager from long neck bottles (as the marketing mongrels will have you use - pushing the brand label of course). Never understood the lack of hygene here, where has that bottle been outside on its way from the brewery? Never seen a bar keep giving the bottle neck a wipe over with Star San?

Yet paws for a purr - consider south of the border and the Mexican taste for neck oil. I think it was Corona? (aka jack ass pees) who popularised the habit of locals who put a slice of lemon in the long neck? "Porque putanesca" I enquired engagingly as she spat out the wet cigarillo stub on cantina floor. She then pointed to the fresh burro visiting cards laying there covered in flies.
When you take a swig of a bottle you always leave a ring of moisture behind and this is a magnet for thirsty flies. The slice of lemon keeps the flies off the bottle neck which you would soon place in your mouth

You dont need to be a microbiologist to figure that one out.

The same applied when I was in the far east. Old Hands would balance a cardboard coaster on a bottle neck to keep the flies off - yes really.

Well I was musing over my suds on the sanitary contradictions, often in your face, versus the reputed hygiene problems amongst home brewers with dirty hands?

 

[Zambi]

I've definately drunk a fair bit of beer with the coaster close by to put on my glass.
Africa first timers throw out their beer when a fly lands in it. Old timers just use their fingers to remove the fly and real old hands just enjoy the extra protein

 

[robintes]

3 Years working in Lagos. oh Star cloudy lager made from millet - never could get a cold one. That grain smell came out of the pores on your skin, but it was protection against mozzies - provided you only showered in plain water - no soap or scented products.
Malt aka Guinness export stout for my princess when she was pounding yam in a hollow tree trunk. Susan, my Green Monkey lived in a tree and sat with me evenings before sundown for our grooming session - never ever bit or scratched me but was insanely jealous of any lady. My princess had to stay in another courtyard or her cloth would have been ripped off. We had two pigmy goats like little children running round the compound. Our gateboy from Kano guarded the little fellas with a bow and poison tipped arrows (much feared by coup plotters). Went to visit Fela Kuti in his shrine, offered my a blast from a foot igbo bunk like a baby's arm. Happy days no issues only NEPA so we had a new generator set.