We all (well, most of us, anyhow) know the importance of aerating wort prior to pitching yeast. As a KISS brewer, I don't oxygenate. My usual aeration method has been either carboy shaking or a wire whip before transferring to the fermenter. Until yesterday.

The LHBS proprietor suggested the following trick, and it works great:

1. Take a six-inch length of racking cane
2. Heat a straightened paperclip in a flame
3. Use the hot paperclip to melt a series of small holes through the wall of the racking cane.
4. Insert racking cane into transfer tubing when transferring cooled wort to fermenter.

My racking cane ended up looking something like the below:

Except that I twisted the cane a little bit so all the holes weren't along the same axis.

I used it yesterday when transferring a 1.055 OG cream ale to the fermenter. The little holes serve to suck in air, which makes tiny bubbles in the stream of wort. Tiny bubbles = more surface area = more oxygen transfer (and memories of Don Ho, too)

By putting this widget right at the top of my 6.5G carboy, I generated a layer of froth about 3" thick after racking. The package of dry notty I pitched with had started to make foam within six hours of pitching at 3 PM yesterday, and is pushing gas out the 1-1/4 inch blowoff tube this morning. I'm sold. This widget is part of my routine now.