Oxygen - Friend to foe. What's the timeline ?

[piglane]

Just wondering what peoples views are about the point in which oxygen exposure becomes a problem, specifically in regards to hop forward beers.
We all know that oxygen is our friend when we are pitching yeast and then becomes our enemy further in the brewing process with oxidation, but what is the time line like in peoples experience?
I ask this due to a couple of errors I made on recent brews. Firstly I accidently put the blow of tube in and the out of my starsan solution (so the end of the tube was actually sticking in the air not submerged) for a NEIPA I'm brewing. I noticed this the morning after brew day, so perhaps 12 hours after pitching the yeast.
On another brew, I didn't fully seal the lid of my FV. Similar amount of time from pitching until I noticed (12hours ish)

It got me thinking about the time line of oxygens journey from friend to foe. I've always prevented any oxygen from getting into the FV immediately after pitching, but was thinking perhaps this isn't necessary until after fermentation has finished. Obviously its good to keep it sealed to keep out any nasties infecting the beer, but lets suppose that doesn't happen, does it matter if it's exposed to oxygen before primary fermentation has completed. (for hop forward beers in regards to oxidation).
Basically, have I ruined my 2 NEIPA's which I spent over £80 on ingredients for each!

 

[phettebs]

I highly doubt you have ruined them! I've had explosive fermentations on beers where I literally could not keep the lid on the FV. I had to open ferment until things settled down. On some big beers, I've hit them with pure O2 24 hours after pitching just to make sure the yeast were up to the task of fermenting those big beers. As fermentation picks up, you'll have a nice head of CO2 over your fermenting wort which will help protect it as well. You just want to avoid sloshing it around and adding oxygen.

 

[Random Badger]

I think a key factor here is that when fermentation gets under way sufficient CO2 is produced to protect the beer. When I was into full mash brewing some years ago I did not use an airlock at all for primary fermentation (although I did then transfer the beer to a secondary container under airlock for a week or two before bottling).

 

[piglane]

Thanks, Yeah I was hoping this was the case. Guess its mainly about keeping it out after primary.

What about sloshing when already in a closed transfer. I have had issues with it sloshing a bit when performing pressurized transfer from Corny keg (where I dry hop/secondary) into my serving keg. Not sure if this is fine as it's under pressure already or if it is another potential source of oxidation.

 

[phettebs]

As long as you have purged the oxygen you should be just fine.