How to aerate an AG batch in Carboy

Looking to do my first all grain batch soon. Wondering the best way to aerate the wort post boil if I'm fermenting in a carboy. I have read that people shake the carboy for 5 minutes.... I am assuming that this is with a gallon or so and not the entire batch. Do not want to invest in O2 and stone just yet, rather looking for a nice efficient way to do it for free!

Thanks all!

I shake the whole 5 gallons vigorously for a minute. Maximum o2 saturation whether shaking or using a pump with air is 8ppm, and according to wyeast. To oxygenate further you need pure o2.

Look at questions 27-31 here: http://www.wyeastlab.com/faqs.cfm?website=1#r44

I will give it a read when I get to a real computer. I am a bit surprised to hear that people shake 5 gallons of wort in carboys. Isn't that...... Dangerous? Thank you for the reply!

Before I had my O2 system, I put a big funnel on top of my carboy, and I put a strainer in the funnel. If you run your wort through that, it'll get aerated fairly well. That's about as good as you can get without an O2 system.

I use a wine degasser. Works fine with a carboy.

turkeyjerky214 said:

Before I had my O2 system, I put a big funnel on top of my carboy, and I put a strainer in the funnel. If you run your wort through that, it'll get aerated fairly well. That's about as good as you can get without an O2 system.

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Ok. My 10 gal pot has a SS ball valve. May just make a shorter tube and the drain into my funnel. How long does one of those disposable O2 cylinders last that are compatible with the northern brewer O2 regulator?

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/oxygenation-kit.html

I have sloshed the wort from bucket to bucket and then transferred to the carboy with pretty decent results. I recently switched to using a mix-stir and love it!!

I don't use glass, so it's not as crazy as it sounds to shake it. I use buckets and better bottles, in both case I'll spray starsan on some aluminum foil and hold it over the opening while I shake.

I probably wouldn't try it with glass, but if I did i'd sit in an office/rocking chair with it sideways on m lap and rock in the chair.

For aeration I use the Stainless aquarium stone, regulator and 02 bottle. This is the William's brewing version;



Mine didn't have the tubing, so I took a broken piece of racking cane, cut a tiny piece of the hose as a bridge connect and rigged up my own. And I just use the regular red 02 bottle from my hardware store.

This and a drill

I've always just dumped 5 gallons between 2 large buckets 3-4 times, works great.

onthekeg said:

This and a drill

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This is what I use, too. Except I built it myself. Midwest sells replacement blades for the mix stir for $4. These and an aluminum rod from Home Depot plus a small SS bolt and lock nut will yield the same thing for less than $12 total.

i use aquarium pump and stone, run it till foam starts to escape from the carboy (never longer than 10min)

eobie said:

Ok. My 10 gal pot has a SS ball valve. May just make a shorter tube and the drain into my funnel. How long does one of those disposable O2 cylinders last that are compatible with the northern brewer O2 regulator?

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/oxygenation-kit.html

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The disposable cylinders last a good while. I've never actually kept track, but I haven't gone through two since I started with them back in August, and I've brewed probably ~75 gallons since then. I just turn it on until I'm just getting bubbles. Never open it all the way.

Yes, they are compatible with that, but I'd highly recommend the Williams Brewing system instead. It's cheaper, and it has a metal rod instead of a tube. Sometimes with the tube, people have trouble keeping the stone at the bottom of the fermentor. Also, with the rod, I can just set it in a boiling pot to clean it.

If you go with the funnel route, I'd recommend using a strainer as well.

Revvy said:

For aeration I use the Stainless aquarium stone, regulator and 02 bottle. This is the William's brewing version;

Mine didn't have the tubing, so I took a broken piece of racking cane, cut a tiny piece of the hose as a bridge connect and rigged up my own. And I just use the regular red 02 bottle from my hardware store.

Click to expand...

+1 The William's Brewing aeration wand is so much easier than using a stone.

Thanks for the input gents. I will go toward the Williams Brewing solution....