Quote:
Originally Posted by Matrix4b
Agitation, for suspension of yeast, not aeation. Sorry for the confusion. I agree that Aereation is the need to add more O2 into it but I don't see it as very critical. A difficult fermenting one or a particularly heavy must, I will take some and put it in the blender to aereate a bit and mix that in, should be plenty of O2 in the solution. I don't see the need for the O2 stone. Aggitation should lower the disolved CO2 in the solution as well as distribuite the yeast better. I can see a Stir Plate being worth it.
Matrix
|
I would disagree that aeration is not important for mead fermentation; aerating for the first 1/3 of the fermentation is hugely important to get the yeast up to a solid population to finish off the ferment strong. Honey musts are not the best of conditions for yeast, and as ABV rises the nutrients (since usually inorganic YAN in the form of DAP) added are less and less assimilable, so having a high cell count going into the latter portion of the ferment is good to avoid stuck fermentations and stressed out yeast.
I agree that pumping straight O2 seems a bit excessive. I simply pop the airlock off and swirl vigorously for a few minutes.
Interesting to learn about the degassing, btw; I'll have to try agitating (with airlock on) more in the late ferment and see what kind of results I get.
Linear Mode
