Aeration stone and/or sanitary filter

I'm hoping to set up an aeration system on the cheap. I have an unused siphon tube that I could put to good use. So, what would be wrong with a pump, some tubing, a sanitary filter, and the siphon? Why have the stone? Or if I have the stone, would I need the filter?

Also, my primary fermenter is the plastic bucket style. Do I just leave the lid off for the duration of the aeration (not rapping on purpose here)?

How cheap do you want to get?

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAMS-OXYGEN-AERATION-SYSTEM-P699.aspx

$50 isn't that bad I don't think. I just got mine, but havent used it. Some people use sanitary filters and aquarium pumps, but I've read you have to aerate with that for like 30 minutes. With the above system and pure oxygen, it takes about 60 seconds. But if your brew days are anything like mine, by the time I'm ready to aerate and clean up, I just want to be done. But then again, you'll probably be cleaning up for 30 minutes after anyway. So when done cleaning, switch off your pump, and plop your airlock on there... Good Luck!

I bought Palmer's book a few weeks back and he said that pure oxygen makes the beer have a thin taste. I think that is probably a controversial claim, but it made me pause. Anyway, my main question has to do with whether the stone and filter are redundant one way or the other. Are they both a means of filtering? If so, couldn't a person get by with just one or the other?

No - you can't get by with one or the other. Though you might get a .5 micron stone, I wouldn't want a build up inside the stone of anything... You'll have to get a sanitary filter. They are fairly cheap anyway, but they don't last forever either.

http://morebeer.com/view_product/16797//Sanitary_Filter

http://morebeer.com/view_product/10732//Diffusion_Stone_-_.5_Micron_w__Flare_Threads

Then what $10 or $15 for an aquarium pump if u don't have one? So you're at $30 instead of $50 for the pure oxygen system.

I'm not sure where he mentions pure oxygen being bad.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-9-2.html


There is such thing as over aerating though. From what I have heard from Palmer and Zainesheff on thebrewingnetwork.com I don't remember hearing them say not to use pure oxygen, but I could be wrong. I would do a little more research. Try listening to this:

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/589

Thanks for the help. I thought maybe I dreamt the oxygen thing, but it is in Palmer's book on page 71, about the fourth paragraph from the top. He was quoting a "Geeks Only" section of the March/April issue of Zymurgy 2004. Apparently the oxygen tank beers "seemed thinner or washed out, like small beers." He goes on to say that the jury is out and that there are commercial brewers who use oxygen.

So, though it may not be a given, I'm thinking of the aquarium air supply deal.

I tried the aquarium pump. Didn't like it. I felt I got better results a lot quicker just shaking it. Since then have gone to an inline O2 stone and I'm keeping it.

I'd skip the pump set up and just shake or splash the wort into the fermenter. When you feel ready to spend for the pure O2 then give that a shot. Almost everything I read says that shaking is just as effective as the pump set up.

You can also just splash the wort into the fermenter and pitch a large quality starter into your beer and have great results. It is not an uncommon practice to over pitch and skip the aeration process. My last beer was done like that and it worked perfectly.

i agree that shaking/pouring works probably just as well as an aquarium pump/tubing/diffusion stone, but i almost always ferment in glass carboys and shaking those isn't that much fun... plus, it's dangerous (not to say i haven't done it) i know the OP said buckets, but i just thought i'd add this in. but i think i've got maybe 10 bucks invested in my setup (it can all be found at wally world, i just use the little blue diffuser stones for fish tanks, not the SS ones for brewing).

i don't want to condone this activity, but ever since my inline filter clogged up a while back, i haven't been using one and i'm convinced if you pitch a proper amount of healthy yeast and have otherwise sound sanitation, the lack of an inline filter isn't going to cause an infection.

i'm very happy with how my beers turn out and i doubt that i will ever invest the $50 in the pure o2 setup.

The stone puts off very fine bubbles, which yields more disolved O2 in the wort when compared to larger bubbles. It is well worth the tiny investment.

I have an old pump, and a six pack of "disposable" filters cost me less than $2. I put an .22 micron filter inline, an old filling cane over the plastic tubing and it rests on the stone fitting. This keeps it at the bottom of the carboy. Filters can be stored in 70% ethanol for sanitization and can be used at least a dozen times before they get tossed.

I place mine in the carboy when racking wort to it, so I get the minimal spash effect and the fine bubbles from the stone for aeration.

Aquarium pumps are effective for all but the strongest beers.

Noticeable fermentation with in an hour or maybe two.

If it ant broke...