Low Oxygen Brewing Systems

Many homebrewers have tried to create lagers with that “true German flavor” but never actually achieved it.  Another way to describe the elusive taste is “fresh, lingering grain flavor”.  Brewers try decoction mashing, triple decoctions, melanoidan malt, flaked barley, and so on without success.  If you want to make authentic continental lagers, then a proven method is to eliminate oxygen from your brewing process starting with your brewing water and unground malt and ending with wort in the fermenter with less than 1 ppm of dissolved oxygen.  This is called Low Oxygen Brewing.

There is a lot of information about Low Oxygen Brewing on the internet, so we won’t repeat it here.  Suffice it to say that it requires keeping the dissolve oxygen below 1 ppm throughout the entire brewing process in order to preserve the fresh, lingering grain flavor so it gets all the way into your beer.

At Stout Tanks and Kettles, we have partnered with the Low Oxygen Brewing team to develop a brewing system that gives you the ability to practically eliminate oxygen pickup.

Here are the features of the Low Oxygen Brewing System, kettle by kettle.

Hot Liquor Tank

• Sealable lid to keep oxygen out of the kettle during the brew, with 2-4 psi pressure capacity.
• Lower CO₂/N₂ gas inlet for purging tank of oxygen.
• Upper CO₂/N₂ gas inlet for purging tank of oxygen.
• Sample valve for sampling and testing water during the brew without introducing oxygen into the kettle.
• Lid port for venting CO₂/N₂ when purging.
• Lid port for pressure relief valve.
• 3” TC lid port for venting and adding metabisulfites or other additives.
• External sight glass allows you to monitor water level without opening the kettle.
• Large capacity so you don’t need to top up the HLT during most brews (27 gallons for our ½ bbl system).
• Large HERMS coil for both quickly cooling your hot liquor from boiling to strike temperature as well as to raise the temperature of the mash tun.
• Tangential inlet to improve heat transfer with the HERMS coil and eliminate thermal stratification.
• Ports for your element, float switch, and thermowell (thermowell is included with kettle).
• All TC ports and fittings with (2) 1” butterfly valves.
• (2) stainless steel bars for neatly mounting your pump underneath the kettle (kettles with legs).

Mash Tun

• Sealable lid to keep oxygen out of the kettle during the brew, with 2-4 psi pressure capacity.
• (4) upper hooks hold a mash bag (not included) to allow fast vorlaufs without getting a stuck mash and super easy and fast cleanup – just lift the bag out and empty the grains into your disposal bin.
• Lower CO₂/N₂ gas inlet for purging tank of oxygen.
• Upper CO₂/N₂ gas inlet for purging tank of oxygen.
• Sample valve for sampling and testing wort during the brew without introducing oxygen into the kettle.
• (4) recirculation fittings at top of mash tun so you can connect your strike water hose, sparge arm and vorlauf pipe, then seal the mash tun and leave it closed until you are done mashing (the 4^th fitting is for your upper CO₂/N₂ gas inlet).
• Lid port for venting CO₂/N₂ when purging.
• Lid port for pressure relief valve.
• 3” TC lid port for viewing the mash, venting and adding additives with the lid on.
• Bottom drain outlet maximizes drainage and improves mash tun performance.
• False bottom.
• Thermowell
• All TC ports and fittings with (2) 1” butterfly valves.
• (2) stainless steel bars for neatly mounting your pump underneath the kettle (kettles with legs).

Brew Kettle

• Sealable lid to keep oxygen out of the kettle during the brew, with 2-4 psi pressure capacity.
• Lower CO₂/N₂ gas inlet for purging tank of oxygen.
• Upper CO₂/N₂ gas inlet for purging tank of oxygen.
• Sample valve for sampling and testing wort during the boil without introducing oxygen into the kettle.
• Lid port for venting CO₂/N₂ when purging.
• Lid port for pressure relief valve.
• 3” TC lid port for venting and monitoring kettle with lid on.
• External sight glass allows you to monitor water level without opening the kettle.
• Whirlpooling Features
  • Tangential inlet with 1” TC butterfly valve for whirlpooling wort at the end of the boil.
  • 5” tall trub dam to keep hops and trub out of your fermenter.
  • Conical bottom to keep more hops and trub in the kettle and out of your fermenter.
• Wort outlet with 1” TC butterfly valve.
• Bottom cleanout port with cap for easy draining and cleaning of the kettle.
• Ports for your element, float switch, and thermowell (thermowell is included with kettle).
• All TC ports and fittings with (2) 1” butterfly valves.
• (2) stainless steel bars for neatly mounting your pump underneath the kettle (kettles with legs).

Our Low Oxygen Brewing Systems (LODO) are currently THE ONLY QUALITY LOW OXYGEN KETTLES ON THE MARKET.  These low oxygen brewing systems provide the ability to seal off oxygen from water and wort, and also minimize oxygen uptake throughout the brewing process.

• Improve the overall quality, flavor, and freshness of your beers, even IPAs
• Preserve the fresh malt flavor
• Obtain the lingering fresh grain flavor you only find in fresh Continental style

By properly using the provided CO₂/N2 purge ports, pre-boiling your hot liquor, purging or flushing your hoses, spunding your beer, etc., you can eliminate the use of Metabisulfite in your brewing process and achieve sub 0.1ppm dissolved oxygen levels.

Cheers!