Experimenting with LoDo: Rolling Updates

Dude, I'm about as lost as you are for this discussion.

I pre-boil my brewing liquor and dose with metabisulfate, and have messed around a bit with using ascorbic, but oxidation is a windmill I might continue to chase for a bit. I just don't want to put as much energy into homebrewing as a lot of the folks on here do.

Dropping a tablespoon of something into my HLT seems like an easy enough way to mitigate oxygen on the hotside. I don't have the money, energy, or patience to invest in a system that would take hot-side aeration of the table. Once it comes to cold-side, it's a work in progress...

 

Apparently you need a brewers license to buy it in the US but you can make your own:

45% Potassium or Sodium Metabisulfite
45% Ascorbic Acid
10% Brewtan B

see https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/antioxin-sbt.652832/

Brewtan B is the hardest to find but Williams Brewing sells it:
https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Hom...oda-Extract/Clarifying-Foam-Control/Brewtan-B

 

Most of my beers seem pretty good to me. While I'm sure they could be better, I am not really open to complicating this hobby at this point in time, and LODO brewing feels like a giant complication. I'm much more likely to chase Simple Brewing than LODO brewing.

 

This minimalistic approach (compared to the measures others are taking) is within my reach. I do have concerns about the time added: the time to get the mash liquor from strike temp, where I would normally heat to, to boil, plus time to hold at boiling, plus time to return to strike. I may give it a try at some point, for the sake of knowing.

 

Yep, my main problem is oxygen at packaging, which I am slowly buy surely working on.

 

I just reread this: http://brulosophy.com/2017/04/10/th...ow-oxygen-brewing-method-exbeeriment-results/

Seems like the difference people noted could have simply been the sulfur from the Na-Meta.

 

If you google LODO Trifecta, you'll see recipes for something very similar (same three components), but with different ratios.

The LODO folks would say that if you are smelling/tasting sulfur (SO2), you're doing it wrong. They are proponents of measuring dissolved oxygen when oxygenating the wort, and I think they would say that when you reach "X" measured (net) ppm of dissolved O2, you've neutralized all the sulfur. (i.e. if there was a lot of SO2, it took more O2 to reach "X" PPM.)

 

Interesting topic for sure, but I'm happy with my beers as is. Adding extra chems to prolong shelf life just don't apply to me, tho I'm sure it's a big deal for commercial brewerys.

 

There are commercial breweries which choose to not conduct LoDo brewing (some discussed in this thread). It is still very much a question whether LoDo will impact the sensory qualities of the resulting beer, especially non-Pale Lagers.

As the head brewers of our homebreweries we get to choose what efforts make a difference in our beers.

Cheers!

 

I read you should add this right after boiling the mash water.Is this debunked. I also think the Lodo would be expensive for a Brewery to do all the time. .

 

What would that amount be?

 

An interweb search for “sulfites in beer” returned a BA thread as the first hit. It had a post by @jesskidden that quoted:
"§ 7.22 Mandatory label information.
(6) Declaration of sulfites. The statement “Contains sulfites” or “Contains (a) sulfiting agent(s)” or a statement identifying the specific sulfiting agent where sulfur dioxide or a sulfiting agent is detected at a level of 10 or more parts per million*, measured as total sulfur dioxide."
* [The same limit as for wine.]
The links in Mr Kidden’s 2012 post are no longer valid, but as gov’t reg’s tend to go it wouldn’t be surprising if the guidelines became more stringent (not less) since 2012.

Surely the Antioxin SBT seller wants you as a repeat customer and wouldn’t knowingly pass along info that might inadvertently steer you toward running afoul of labeling requirements, but “the sulfite is all gone by the end of the boil” is definitive. Are the strips effective to <10 ppm? You mentioned no color change, so I'm guessing "yes".
Maybe you’re doing not-for-retail test batches with strips to get you in the ballpark, and more precise testing would be in order before offering to the general public?

I don’t know this stuff and am not intending to be contentious….just curious in the event other pro brewers happen across this thread and skip over your disclaimer (although it's incumbent upon them to do their own due diligence).

 

Try:
Subpart C—Labeling Requirements for Malt Beverages
§7.22 Mandatory label information.
There shall be stated:
(6) Declaration of sulfites.

 

It's funny how I see multiple people here in this post that fought HSA tooth and nails are now interested in HSA. Things that make you go Hmm?

 

Funny, isn't it.

 

Sometimes it depends on who’s doing the preaching.

 

Exactly! This is spot on.