Tomorrow I'll be brewing an English Barleywine with an OG of 1.096. I'll be pitching a starter from 2 vials of WLP007. I'll hit it with oxygen at pitching, obviously (via pure oxygen and diffusion stone). Would this beer benefit from a second dose of oxygen the following morning about 16 hrs later?
From the authors of Yeast (paraphrasing): For high gravity beers a second dose of oxygen should be added between 12 and 18 hours to help fermentation speed and attenuation and decrease diacetyl and acetaldehyde. Twelve hours is the time for first cell division. At 48 hours into fermentation the yeast growth is complete and consider raising the temperature to keep the yeast working at their maximum.
It will probably be just fine without a 2nd shot of O2, but if u are determined to add it make sure u don't wait too long.
Thanks for the advice everyone. Just finished my brew day and the OG was a little lower at 1.092. I'll forgo hitting it tomorrow.
Using pure oxygen after chilling has taken my brewing to a much higher level due to the increased yeast health it encourages during early fermentation. I believe that a second oxygen dose is often used by commercial brewers because they are very effective at removing trub from the wort. Having a small amount of trub should eliminate the need for a second dose of O2 because the trub has the compounds that the yeast can utilize for building cell walls. If you oxygenate for 60-90seconds after chilling and have a small amount of trub you should be fine.
