Aeration Question

With my first brew finished last night, I woke this morning to a satisfying bubble from my airlock. It was not as vigorous as I was hoping but I can at least be pleased that there is actually fermentation going on and hope that it gets better while I am at work today.

The recipe on the Brewers Best kit that I used did not say anything about aeration at any point around the transfer to the primary. I have since found out that aeration at this point is a bit more important than I had thought. Turns out I probably should have read a bit more before I tried my first batch...but what can I say...I couldn't wait.

For my next batch, I was thinking about the possibility of using an aquarium pump (I have one, bought new and hardly used) with a new aquarium stone to aerate the wort. I have read about people using these types of diffuser stones before but my question was about the air. Sure, I could probably go spend money and get an oxygen tank but...would pumping regular air in be alright? Would there be some type of filter one could use to attempt filter/sterilize the air? Anyone tried this? Is there such a thing as "too much aeration"?

Thanks!

I believe you are looking for one of these?

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_352&products_id=2289

Awesome! Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking. I wasn't sure if they made HEPA filters in such small form. Excellent. Thank you rwagner23.

Just a new guy trying to help another new guy.

Wort oxygenation really isn't a big issue for the typical kit brewer - most dry yeast is pre-conditioned with the lipids needed for the reproduction phase. Also, most of the directions are for a partial boil and a top-off with water - and if the top-off water hasn't been boiled, it should contain enough dissolved oxygen to do what you need. I suspect that's why oxygenation isn't often mentioned in kit directions - they're trying to keep things as simple as possible. Oxygenation becomes more important when doing full wort boils (because the oxygen is driven off during the boil), and critical when using yeast in liquid form (that includes re-used yeasts that were originally packaged dry).

That said, oxygenation is always good practice to do. I do partial boils and add chilled spring water - I shake the jugs vigorously and pour them through a strainer into my fermenting bucket. Then I pour the chilled wort through the strainer into the bucket at a quick rate, splashing it into there on purpose. This has proven adequate for my purposes, even when using liquid yeasts (with a starter) I've never had a batch under-attenuate.

If you have the air pump and stone, you can certainly use it - I know lots of other folks do. I'm not sure about the filter question.

This definitely makes sense now that I think about it. I didn't really consider that fact that the water added would have enough oxygen in it to get the job done. I figure I will just do a better job "splashing" next time, but I may try with/without the air stone down the road. Thanks for the input.