Oxygenating the fermenter in the primary?

Im going to do my very 1st brew with a brewer's best ipa kit. I was watching a couple youtube videos and they will oxygenate with a drill and attachment or even a fish bubbler after transferring from the wort to the primary fermenter. This is done before adding the yeast. What do you guys think I should do?

You can do the drill if you want but make sure you sanitize the heck out of everything. The drill bit that will come in contact with wort etc. I shake my carboys after I fill them half way (not as heavy) and then shake again when it's full. Shaking is the cheapest way to go but you can also do aeration stones with O2 canisters. If you are going to shake to get oxygen back make sure you do it for about 10-15 minutes maybe more. It takes a while for oxygen to get back in wort with shaking.

The wort needs oxygen in it initially for the yeast to reproduce. Boiling the wort drives off all the oxygen so you need to put some back in. The easiest method is to splash the wort when pouring it and transfer it back and forth between the pot and your bucket a few times. If you are using a carboy you can shake it after the wort is in it. If you have a drill with attachment or a fish bubbler those work fine too. Another way is to use pure oxygen and inject it into the wort with a sintered stone. The method doesnt really matter as long as you get oxygen back into the wort.

thanks for the quick response, does it make a difference? no carboy yet

also will a sanitized blender work as well?

It doesn't make a difference what means you use IMHO. The drill and aeration stone method make it quicker to get oxygen to the wort but I always shake. Whatever you feel like doing really, and is easiest for you. But make sure you sanitize the drill equipment if you are going to use it

Yes, it makes a difference. The yeast won't be as stressed, will have less lag time, will not run out of juice and leave the beer finishing high.. A laundry list of things could happen, the majority of it being off flavors if you don't atleast get some O2 back into the wort before you pitch.

If you're going to spend money, just get a small O2 tank from home depot and push pure 02 in there. Much, much quicker to get to the right O2 levels.

Search around and you'll see some simple methods of doing this. I push a piece of tubing on the valve, then through a piece of racking cane (as a stiffener), then onto an aquarium aeration stone.

We used to shake a carboy. We only broke 2 that way. I would NOT pick up a carboy with any liquid in it now. Look up images of Carrboy Cuts and you will not either. The Home Depot O2 method is the quickest and easy to do.

Remember the first three rules of Home Brew:
1. Sanitize
2. Sanitize
3. Sanitize

There is nothing wrong with just using a sanitized spoon or shaking the fermenter to aerate the wort, either! One thing I do is splash like crazy when I pour from the boil kettle to the fermenter, and that gives lots of aeration. You don't have to spend money to aerate the wort, unless you want to!

Update: After I chilled the wort we did an hydrometer reading 1.06. Does this sound right? This is the OG reading right?

I did shake it like crazy before adding the yeast and we got alot of bubbles on top.

Its fermenting and bubbling like crazy now. The only thing im worried about is the temp is 77-78 degrees and cant think of ways to get it colder.

Included a pic of me and my bro drinking Bells Two hearted ipa.

We the only thing i altered on the recipe is the hops schedule. added cascade at the 30min 15min and flame out. recipe stated to do all cascade at the end. I did this because all clone recipes follow a similar schedule. hope i didnt mess it up.

"If you're going to spend money, just get a small O2 tank from home depot and push pure 02 in there. Much, much quicker to get to the right O2 levels."

Also, the quickest way to get the wrong oxygen levels. Overdoing the oxygen is just as bad as underdoing it. Since most homebrewers have no way to measure oxygen levels in wort, you are just kinda guessing that x seconds is about right. You might be spot on, but you'll never know for sure.

The cheapest way to get the proper oxygen levels is to shake the fermenter, pour the wort back and forth, or otherwise mix the heck out of it. That is usually what I do. Recently, I've been trying to shave some time off my brew day and started using an aquarium pump. I just let it run while I clean the final mess up (brewpot, tubes, wort chiller etc). Using regular air saturates O2 right in the proper range for brewing.

By shaking the carboy, I'm assumming that people actually mean rocking it around while it's on the ground for about 15 minutes and not tossing it around.

I bought a seven dollar fish-tank pump on Amazon. I bought some 1/4 inch tubing (or whatever the smallest tubing) at my homebrew store. I cut some slits in the last few inches of the tube and capped it off on the end. I tied it around a heavy washer so it sinks. Once my temp drops to about 100 when cooling the wort, (I've read its not good to aerate very hot wort), I drop it in and turn it on for about 10-15 minutes until I hit my target yeast temp.

The last three batches I've done with this method, the first couple days have been MUCH healthier. Kreusen is much fluffier, the airlock isn't crazy aggressive and dies after a day. Yeast activity is steadier now and lasts longer, giving me much more complete fermentation. I use liquid yeasts and this is a must. I never liked dumping my wort from carboy to carboy or shaking stuff like crazy for 5 minutes straight. As long as you are careful of sanitation all it takes is dropping in the tube and plugging in the pump. Go grab a beer and clean up some of your gear while you wait.

This is a good video resource from Wyeast. If you go the shaking methods it gives you a good idea of the time required.

If you are going to shake to get oxygen back make sure you do it for about 10-15 minutes maybe more.

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I have issues with this statement. According to experiments that Wyeast did with shaking carboys, you only need 40 seconds of shaking to saturate the wort with O2 (about 8 ppm). Airstones, etc. take much longer. Pure 02 may be a good idea if you are making high gravity beers or lagers, but not needed for normal gravity ales.

I wouldn't shake a glass carboy either. In fact I would never use one. Better Bottles are much safer.

cosmo said:

I wouldn't shake a glass carboy either. In fact I would never use one. Better Bottles are much safer.

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kinda off topic but I was wondering how long Better Bottles last? And can you use like the same cleansers and sanitizers as glass? Not trying to pick a fight or anything but I havent decided which material I wanted to get.

accordpower99 said:

Its fermenting and bubbling like crazy now. The only thing im worried about is the temp is 77-78 degrees and cant think of ways to get it colder.

Included a pic of me and my bro drinking Bells Two hearted ipa.

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Thanks for the photo, you made me smile!

77-78 degrees is WAY too warm. It's important to keep it under 72 for most ales.

What I do is take my fermenter and put it in a water bath in a cooler and then add a frozen water bottle or two into the water bath. The more water you have, the longer it takes that much water and beer to warm or cool, so it minimizes any temperature fluctuations also.

cosmo said:

I have issues with this statement. According to experiments that Wyeast did with shaking carboys, you only need 40 seconds of shaking to saturate the wort with O2 (about 8 ppm). Airstones, etc. take much longer. Pure 02 may be a good idea if you are making high gravity beers or lagers, but not needed for normal gravity ales.

I wouldn't shake a glass carboy either. In fact I would never use one. Better Bottles are much safer.

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Yes, but White Labs says 10-15 minutes so it comes down to who you choose to believe. The video below is long (~45 minutes) but a great listen for anybody interested in yeast. Plus, she's better looking than the Wyeast guy.



For me - using pure O2 for 45 seconds on an average beer has been giving me great results. It's cheap, easy and quick.

If you are underpitching you need a lot more O2 than if you are properly pitching the right amount. The same is true for a higher ABV beer.

My personal method is to take my strainer and put the mesh part about two inches into the kettle after the beer has cooler down and shake it back and forth for a couple minutes. I can create a solid, thick foam on top that way. I cool my kettle sink-style so there's no concerns about the temperature when I aerate. The same could be done if you use an immersion chiller or if you are fermenting in a bucket. I'm not sure how that method would work for those of you using carboys and counterflow chilling.

Let me add since I re-read the OP.

For your first brew don't worry about this much detail. Either shake the hell (carefully) out of the carboy or stir it any way you can to get air in. You can worry about this level of detail later.

brewingbound said:

kinda off topic but I was wondering how long Better Bottles last? And can you use like the same cleansers and sanitizers as glass? Not trying to pick a fight or anything but I havent decided which material I wanted to get.

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I have been using Better Bottles for 4 years now and they're still like new. I fill them with either PBW or Oxyclean Free (either works fine) and leave them for several hours or overnight. No scrubbing needed or advised. Just rinse well several times with warm/hot water. Never had a problem. I sanitize with Starsan (No Rinse).

This is all I use for aeration. It works great. Simply jam into the syphon hose....

Siphon Sprayer

all this info is very helpful, I'm a member of a few different forums but I must say this one seems to be an EXCELLENT resource so far and its only my first post. Im excited to be a member of this forum!

billl said:

"If you're going to spend money, just get a small O2 tank from home depot and push pure 02 in there. Much, much quicker to get to the right O2 levels."

Also, the quickest way to get the wrong oxygen levels. Overdoing the oxygen is just as bad as underdoing it. Since most homebrewers have no way to measure oxygen levels in wort, you are just kinda guessing that x seconds is about right. You might be spot on, but you'll never know for sure.

The cheapest way to get the proper oxygen levels is to shake the fermenter, pour the wort back and forth, or otherwise mix the heck out of it. That is usually what I do. Recently, I've been trying to shave some time off my brew day and started using an aquarium pump. I just let it run while I clean the final mess up (brewpot, tubes, wort chiller etc). Using regular air saturates O2 right in the proper range for brewing.

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In my understanding this is not accurate. According to Wyeast (http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_oxygenation.cfm) and the book Yeast by White (as in "White labs") and Zainasheff the suggested minimum O2 levels is 10ppm. Both of those sources also point out that the highest level of oxygenation that can be achieved by agitation & injecting air is only 8 ppm. Over-oxygenation is also not an issue apparently as the yeast consumes all of the oxygen in short order.

The typical oxygenation levels we can achieve with agitation is border-line for typical gravity beers. It obviously works, but it isn't ideal.

MichaelBrock said:

Over-oxygenation is also not an issue apparently as the yeast consumes all of the oxygen in short order.

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Not true. Jamil states in several pod casts and in his "Yeast" book that you can over oxygenate. Too much can produce harsh flavors and increased fusels. You need to get the right ballance. White Labs and Wyeast also agree on this.

cosmo said:

Not true. Jamil states in several pod casts and in his "Yeast" book that you can over oxygenate. Too much can produce harsh flavors and increased fusels. You need to get the right ballance. White Labs and Wyeast also agree on this.

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I'll have to read up on that again. Apparently Wyeast is a bit conflicted on this point though. From the above link:

"Over-oxygenation is generally not a concern as the yeast will use all available oxygen within 3 to 9 hours of pitching and oxygen will come out of solution during that time as well. Under-oxygenation is a much bigger concern."

Edited to add: My original point on over-oxygenation probably should have been ameliorated a bit as "difficult to over-oxygenate". Regardless, my main gist was that is is not as much of an issue as Billl makes it out to be.