2nd all grain, 1st disaster

Spent the morning doing my second all grain, Ed's Bavarian hefeweizen. Everything was going perfect, and I actually matched the desired OG, which would put me at 70%. My first AG I only got 58%. I was on cloud 9, Made my first yeast starter this week for it, and it looked perfect.

Everything is cleaned up, and I'm dumping the wort back and forth between buckets to aerate them. I like to do this 10 times, and I was on dump 7 or 8. The bucket slipped out of my hands, and 3.5 gallons out of the 5.5 batch dumped over the basement floor. I guess I should be happy that I caught the bucket in time to save about 2 gallons of it.

Happy it was in the basement (concrete floor). If it would have happened into the house, the wife would never let me brew again.

I feel heart broken more than angry.

ooh ouch. That's one reason I go with the "shake the crap out of it" method for aeration. Also, less surfaces = less opportunity for contamination.

you should also do a search for "cheap aeration gadget." I pour my beer through a strainer into my bottling bucket after cooling to catch the hops and hot break (this starts the aeration). Then, I use a plastic T (off the rec. of that post referenced earlier). I just connect the T to the end of my racking hose with a short bit of hose (2-4 inches) on the other side. You leave the perpendicular fitting open, siphon as normal (just put your thumb over the open tip) into my carboy. When the wort passes the hole it sucks air in.. works great (and less of a chance for spillage... or infection).

Oh yeah, after this mess I searched for better methods. Going to try the cheap venturi effect, along with a strainer.

The easiest way I've found (and it works for extract brews too!) is to cool the wort to whatever temp you need it to be, then dump it into a bottling bucket (I set a stainless steel mesh colander on top to strain stuff out if I need to). After that, just hook up your 3/8" hose, transfer to the primary, aerate and pitch away. It also allows some of the trub to settle out in the bottling bucket if you let it sit for a few minutes.

Edit: suppose I should read the whole thread...HItransplant uses the same method!!

Wine degasser for the win. Thank me later.

Really sorry for your loss. I suppose another benefit of the basement is the sound insulation, 'cuz I know I'd be cussing up a storm!

Just pouring through a mesh strainer and stirring vigorously for about 60 seconds has always worked well with me, especially when using a starter.

My last batch took off in about 4 hours and the next morning the airlock sounded like a machine gun.

+1 on the wine degasser

Brew pot to fermenter with a side trip through a colander to remove excess hop sludge provides plenty of aeration.

Ok, a little input from a lazy man, now that I have the disclaimer out of the way. I pitching a dry yeast, I don't bother aerating.

If pitching a real yeast, I sanitize a two quart pitcher, and fill and pour it back into the fermenter for a minute or two untill the wort has a few inches of foam on top.

aquarium air pump, cheap tubing, racking cane. No shaking, works great.