HOP-HEAD

Recipes 

Getting ready to pitch... should I shake the crap out of the carboy like I would if I was brewin' a beer?

yeastluvr

Recipes 

I've whisked mine when I do it and just poured it in and pitched the yeast. Both have worked fine. If your worried about it just whisk it for 20-30 seconds, but either way I think you'll be fine. I think just pouring your juice in the carboy is going to aerate it enough. Oops, I see your using a carboy "guess you cant fit a whisk in there"....so yes, you can shake it really doesn't take that much.

Zen_Brew

Recipes 

Yep. Wine, Cider, Beer, Mead. All these alcohol fermenting beasties benefit from a good dose of oxygen up front. They use the oxygen in their initial reproductive phase. Aerate away.

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ByCandleLightWinery

Recipes 

First time I observed my husband aerating beer, I thought it wasn't smart - air is the enemy, you know. Since then, I've found out it is good for mead, too, but the cider makers I talk to don't do it. Then again, a lot of cider makers don't pitch yeast and instead rely on what is naturally on the skins, so aerating makes absolutely no sense to them. So I don't aerate when I pitch yeast. It will start going when it starts going. Besides, when you bite into an apple and set it down and it starts browning because it has been exposed to air and people don't care for that, why would you do it to cider?