Antioxin SBT

[dr jacoby]

I have just sourced 1Kg of Antioxin SBT. The instructions state that the dose should be 5-10g/hl.

So for a standard 20L batch we're talking about 1-2 grams.

My question is whether it's ok to go with 2 grams as a matter of course or should I aim to use as little as possible (a bit like what I'd normally try to do with sodium metabisulphite)?

Also, is there anything I should bear in mind in terms of storing the powder? Air tight container? Limit moisture? etc

[Big Monk]

[dr jacoby]

That's great, thanks.

[Ski]

Peter, I have a kg of SBT (from Mr-malt in Italy). At my dosage rates of around 1.25g per brew, it's good for 800 brews. It should last me into the next century. If you haven't already ordered some, I can send you on some. I don't know what the shelf-life is, but if I brewed every fortnight, this would last 32 years!
Eamonn (skibeagle on NHBC forum)

[dr jacoby]

Hi Eamonn - generous offer but I already bought a kg myself! I think 1.25g per brew is a sensible starting point. Thanks for the advice.

[Ski]

Yeah, I tend to use 1g in 20L mash and 250mg in the remaining top-up water. In the mash that works out as 50mg/L of SBT which is about 22.5mg/L of SMB. I've been dropping the amount from 100mg/L SMB progressively as I tighten my system. I've also got some sulfite strips from Radionics Stock No. 476-280 which can help to measure the residual amount of sulfites in the beer.
Be interested to hear your thoughts on SBT, once you get a chance to use it. I brew ales, and I think it does help to solve the problem of sulphur which a lot of ale yeasts don't handle well.

[Cavpilot2000]

I just started using SBT in my last 2 batches. In yesterday's batch, I aimed for 25 ppm KMeta in the entire full volume (it was a wheat ale), which amounted to 1880 mg of SBT for 34 liters. My previous batch (an amber Kellerbier) used 2360 mg in 32+ liters (just under 35 ppm KMeta).

In the first one, I got the clearest post-boil wort I've ever had with lots of solid break material in the bottom.
In the most recent, It never got clear, but that's because it was a wheat ale with red. white, and flaked wheat - it's supposed to be cloudy.

Too soon yet to tell the results, but the amber keller tasted like baking bread during primary. Glorious.

[Ski]

Thanks Cavpilot2000. Great to get some feedback on using SBT. One thing I notice is that I get a phenomenal amount of foop as I approach boiling temperatures. Really thick, almost mushroomy. I scoop this out before the boil gets going in earnest. Seeing anything like this? Another issue I have lately is that my mash pH is lower than anticipated by Bru'n'water. Expecting 5.22, getting 5.11. This also coincides with a change from using lactic acid to using acid malt entirely to drop mash pH, so it may well be just that I need to calibrate my acid malt a bit better. Also getting very clear wort following Bryan's trub removal procedure. I whirlpool in the kettle to settle out hops and break, then I gently pump to a second vessel to let cold break and trub settle out for a couple of hours. Then a gentle gravity pour in the fermenter.

[lupulus]

Why would Antoxin affect the break? You are adding it in the mash and the amount of tannins at 10% of 1.25 g is 0.125g, which is about 1/8 of a normal Brewtan B added at the end of the boil.
I understand per the Brewtan folks that the mash tannins stay with the grains when you vorlauf, but I have no evidence one way or the other.
Cheers,

[Cavpilot2000]

I've been getting lower than expected pH too. Maybe my sauermalz is more potent that Bru'neater's reference baseline. I've ended up with a full 0.1 lower than planned. (Yes I am taking into account the S/KMB's acidification).