Forgot to aerate my wort: How long after pitching yeast can I aerate?

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

MacAztec

Member
Joined
May 11, 2012
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
San Francisco
I brewed last night, and forgot to aerate my wort after pitching my yeast (I had a nice starter I pitched). I'd like to aerate, but I don't want to affect the flavors too much.

How long after pitching can I aerate? I was thinking of dropping a air pump tube (sanitized) in there, hooked up to an air pump. If I do this within 24 hours of pitching the yeast, will I screw things up?

Thanks!
 
As far as I know, you should be ok within the first 12 to 24 hours. Here is a link to White Labs explaining the yeast life cycle. http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/Yeast_Life_Cycle.pdf

I've read that some brewers will oxygenate their beer when pitching but then require a second oxygenation the following day, for very big beers if memory serves. I hope this helps a little, and hopefully someone who is more of an expert will be able to expound.
 
That is ONLY for big beer, beers over 1.080. Typical beers should not be aerated at all if there's any chance that fermentation has already started.

Remember long before we ever read about how important it was to aerate we made at least 1 batch without doing that, and the beer managed to turn out fine.

If it's a normal grav beer I wouldn't risk potential oxidation by late aeration.
 
Alright - not sure what to do based on the advice. I would be aerating ~19 hours after pitching the yeast. Too dangerous?
 
I never aerate more than just what happens when I siphon from the kettle to the fermenter. Never had a problem with slow starts or stuck fermentation.
 

Similar threads

D
Aerating Wort via Fly Sparge?
Replies
6
Views
532
DonT
DonT
mashdar
When to aerate yeast starter?
Replies
24
Views
972
McMullan
McMullan
_Keven
No activity after 12 hours using a yeast starter
Replies
15
Views
1K
_Keven
_Keven
C
No activity
Replies
14
Views
712
cleaner72
C
BugAC
Imperial Yeast Urkel for a Czech pils
Replies
2
Views
358
BugAC
BugAC

Latest posts

Back
Top