How much time is needed for aeration?

I'm sure it depends on the brew, but I'm trying to get a general rule of thumb for how long I should aerate my wort. I have been taking the "shake the carboy" road. I just finished my 2nd batch. I shook the wort in the carboy for about 2 minutes and then another minute or so after the yeast was added. My first batch was a bit esthery, due to warm weather and under aerating. I'm trying to avoid that for future batches.

Thanks!

If you shake you have to shake for more than 10 minutes. If you use an aquarium pump with an airation stone you can let that run for 15 minutes to a half hour. If you buy a pure o2 system it can be fully airated in 20 to 30 seconds, you just pump pure o2 into your beer.

10 minutes? I have only shaken for 30 seconds to a minute before and after pitching. I use bottled water and haven't had a problem yet. Granted I have only made 4 batches, but no problem yet

Brewno said:

10 minutes? I have only shaken for 30 seconds to a minute before and after pitching. I use bottled water and haven't had a problem yet. Granted I have only made 4 batches, but no problem yet

Click to expand...

Did you find that your beers took on a fruity flavor? In my case my first brew was a Bavarian Wheat beer that tasted like sour bananas. Granted, I think the sour part is just because its young. I'm just hoping the 2nd batch comes out a little more balanced.

Well, besides shaking there are a few other things that help. One is if you are using top off water. I used cool tap water to top off to 5 gallons, and because I have good water, I used the aerator on my sink to spray it in. It worked great! Then, after I started doing full boils (but before I bought the aquariaum pump), I used the splash method. Rack until I can lift the pot (I'm a bit of a weakling) but while racking splash the wort into the fermenter. Then, when I can lift the pot, pour through a strainer and splash like crazy. It worked very well for me, since I weigh 135 pounds and cannot shake a full carboy.

My AG method is very similar now- splash while racking and pouring, then run the aquarium pump while I clean up. But it worked well before the pump, too.

i have oxygen tanks and a regulator and was wondering if this would be a good idea to use? its the type people use to hook up to their nose when they need forced oxygen. if its a good idea to use it how long should i run it?

...or just get a siphon sprayer, like this:



I attach mine to the spigot on my kettle, but you could siphon out of a kettle too.

I get plenty of "splashing" with this thing...look at the foam.

thooper41 said:

i have oxygen tanks and a regulator and was wondering if this would be a good idea to use? its the type people use to hook up to their nose when they need forced oxygen. if its a good idea to use it how long should i run it?

Click to expand...

You'd really need a diffuser stone to get the bubbles small enough to dissolve into the wort. Some tubing and a diffuser stone would work.

I shake for 3-5 minutes and find it works just fine.

You might also take a look in the kitchen drawer and haul out your whisk.

I splash/pour the wort from the cooled brew kettle to the fermenter then chastise it firmly with a large balloon whisk. My last batch looked like a cappuccino after just a couple of minutes. It's pretty darn effective.

Chad

you can't really over-do aeration with shaking or whisking. i use a wine whisk right now.

with pure O2, you can over do it from what I've read. 30 seconds should be sufficient with a good airstone and pure O2.

with an aquarium pump and a little inline filter, you can't really over do it either.

I've asked Santa for the O2 kit from Williams

I have used most of the methods mentioned here, and have found that 2-3 minutes of shaking the carboy vigorously is plenty; with the 02 system (0.2 micron SS stone), 45-60 secs is ideal for typical brews.

Interestingly, both White Labs and Wyeast recommend their own times for aeration/oxygenation. Wyeast has run lab tests and claims that 40 secs of shaking the carboy is enough to get a full 8 ppm O2 in your wort. White Labs recommends shaking the carboy for 15 minutes! Wyeast recommends 60 secs of O2 injection for a typical gravity brew, whereas White Labs mentions that 4 times the normal amount of O2 is needed for very high gravity brews and 30 seconds of injection will accomplish it!

I think the message is that YMMV. You should find what works for you.

I use a wine degasser and it really whips the wort up nice.

My first brew I didn't aerate at all but fermentation was good. My next two batches I did aerate by shaking for a couple of minutes before and after pitching and both beers tasted great. This last batch I shook the carboy for only about 30 seconds to a minute before and after pitching. Now after two weeks in bottles and a taste test I noticed this batch has a similar taste (or after taste/background taste) to my first brew. Also, on this time I used Irish moss yet this brew is so cloudy you can see it in the bottle even before pouring as well as when the bottles are warm.
Could lack of aeration cause this? Maybe little yeasties that never got going?

I let gravity do all my work. After my wort is cooled, I use a sanitized pitcher and pur through a strainer into my bottling bucket. Then after a few pitchers I pick up the kettle which is now light enough to pour from up high, and I pour the remainder through the strainer. Then, with my primary on the floor, I put the bottling bucket on the counter and open the spigot, allowing the stream to flow through the strainer once again. I usually get so much aeration that I have to stop every now and then or else the foam will over flow the top of the primary. Works very well for me, and is easy on the back.

I whisk it till it's sudsy in the bucket, then rack to a carboy.

FlyGuy said:

Interestingly, both White Labs and Wyeast recommend their own times for aeration/oxygenation. Wyeast has run lab tests and claims that 40 secs of shaking the carboy is enough to get a full 8 ppm O2 in your wort. White Labs recommends shaking the carboy for 15 minutes! Wyeast recommends 60 secs of O2 injection for a typical gravity brew, whereas White Labs mentions that 4 times the normal amount of O2 is needed for very high gravity brews and 30 seconds of injection will accomplish it!

I think the message is that YMMV. You should find what works for you.

Click to expand...

And then there's some dry yeast that says that you don't need to aerate at all!