proper aeration when pitching

i'm preparing to make my first brew, but one question i had was how to properly aerate the beer when i pitch the yeast. the instructions on howtobrew explain using a plastic fermenter which you can just dump the wort into, but if i'm using a glass carboy it doesn't seem like the transfer will be violent enough for aeration. how do people here do this? would it be stupid to pitch in the bottling bucket and then transfer to the glass carboy?

If you're a big ol boy, you can pick up the carboy and shake the crap out of it. Or you could whisk it real good while it's still in the brew pot (after cooling). Or you could use an aquarium pump and sanitized airstone to aerate. Or you can use oxygen blown thru an airstone. Or, there's probably a dozen other ways to skin that cat.

Also, if you're using dry yeast supposedly aeration isn't necessary, tho I'm not aware of anyone who follows that advice.

Stopping the transfer when the carboy is about half full & shaking it does an ok job. I use an air stone with a filter. I started using a bicycle pump, but switched to an aquarium pump. I aerate two or three times (did five for the barley wine) for five minutes each hour.

thanks for the tips. i'm not sure why i posted in this forum. anyways i guess i'm going to try just shaking it myself. i think i can handle it.

Fill the Carboy with some water before you transfer your wort to the carboy and shake the heck ot of that. I then dump this onto the wort in the mixing bucket and then transfer it all to the carboy. (I do it in that order so I don't add to much water; the mixing bucket is marked.)

I was thinking of aerating the wort with a milk frother. Bascily a high speed mini whisk. But I've read that you should not aerate Hot wort. Aerating wort that's above 80F causes some type of oxidation reaction.

I dump my wort into my big mixing bucket over a block of ice to cool it then I take some bottled water and put it in my carboy. I shake the heck out of that then add to the mixing bucket. I hydrate my yeast, pitch then leave with the lid on over night. I then siphon to my carboy(s), allowing the wort to splash while filling.
Between 14-24hrs the yeast is at is most needy period for oxygen so oxidation is not yet an issue. After 24hrs and oxidation is a big issue.

Aerating your wort will result in a more aggressive fermentation. Even if the pack says it's unnecessary.

I'm going to try the air stone method eventually but I haven't figured out where to get the inline hepa filter yet. And so far I haven't really needed to.

Speaking of using ice to cool wort. I read somewhere to use a block of frozen ice from the store because the water has to be sanitized before freezing (like bottled water) for health reasons, then I read somewhere else don't do use this for brewing because the ice can have dormant bacteria.

Whats the real deal? Does it pick up bacteria from the freezer after it's frozen? Or is that just BS?

Currently I'm freezing bottled water in a big covered tupperware container but occasionally I forget to make the Ice and there is a corner store close by.

could i dump the wort into the bottling bucket vigorously, and then transfer to the carboy?

Guiness said:

could i dump the wort into the bottling bucket vigorously, and then transfer to the carboy?

Click to expand...

After cooling I dump my wort back and forth between the brewpot and plastic bucket. A half dozen times and there is a good 6 inches of foam on top. Transfer it to your carboy and you will have happy yeasties.

If you prime your yeast you should have bubbles in an hour or two.

yes bacteria can be dormate in ice from the store or wherever you get it but i would worrie more about mold spores because freezers and icemakers are notorious for mold

i would make my own block of ice just sanitize the container you freeze in then put a lid on it and freeze and you should be good to go


andrew

Somebody (here I think) mentioned installing a whisk in a cordless drill and letting it rip on their cooled wort...sounded like a great idea that I forgot to implement on my last batch, but I'll be trying it on the next.

I've used a milk frother but was going to try the whisk on a cordless drill next batch. Having lived in Vancouver, the only city with quite possibly more Starbucks, etc than Seattle, some family member gave me one. I find it handy for a lot of things. Mixing drinks, making cheapo smoothys, whisking wort.
It's not quite big enough for wort, unless I beef up the motor. It does an OK job, but using a whisk should work better. Hopefully not to messy. Have to be carefull that if any wort splashes onto the drill it doesn;t drip back into the wort. Maybe do a wipe with a bleachy cloth over the drill first?

I just shake the snot out of the carboy; worked well enough so far anyways.

BeeGee said:

Somebody (here I think) mentioned installing a whisk in a cordless drill and letting it rip on their cooled wort...sounded like a great idea that I forgot to implement on my last batch, but I'll be trying it on the next.

Click to expand...

Try this on for size:

"Mix-Stir" mixer/aerator/degasser

The Mix-Stir is one of the best accessories we've ever used. Collapsible blades fit through a narrow carboy neck, where a spoon won't. Your drill provides the power for fast, efficient mixing. Great for aerating wort before pitching yeast; for faster, cleaner fermentations. Also great for the vigorous stirring needed to degas & clarify wine after fermentation; for improved flavor and clarity.

i used to use a paint mixer on an electric drill. worked okay. now i use the $9 bottle of O2 from Lowe's (Bernzomatic) and an aeration stone from the HBS for about 2-3 minutes. works like a charm.

DeRoux's Broux said:

i used to use a paint mixer on an electric drill. worked okay. now i use the $9 bottle of O2 from Lowe's (Bernzomatic) and an aeration stone from the HBS for about 2-3 minutes. works like a charm.

Click to expand...

Me too and I don't think that there's anything better. You will get better oxygenation, quicker and faster starts than anything else out there. I attached my stone to the end of a racking cane with a short piece of tubing and just stir my wort in my carboy for a few minutes while bubling the fine smoke like bubbles throughout the wort. I repeat at 15 to 30 minute intervals for the first hour or so then just leave it alone. The yeast take off like crazy.

ScottT said:

I attached my stone to the end of a racking cane with a short piece of tubing

Click to expand...

Can you explain to me how to do that? I've been racking ( ) my brain trying to figure that one out.

El Pistolero said:

Can you explain to me how to do that? I've been racking ( ) my brain trying to figure that one out.

Click to expand...

I'll do my best.

I had an racking cane before I bought my auto siphon. I now just use my auto siphon to rack with so I decided to put my racking cane to use.

I purchesed this gadget: and this little filter

Both can be found here: http://www.northernbrewer.com/aeration.html

I cut the hose about 2" above the stone and heated it up in boiling water and sliped it over the end of my racking cane. I did the same to the loose end of the hose over the L end of the racking cane. I also cut the hose about 6" from the adjustment valve and installed the filter.

When I want to oxygenate, I just put the stone end of the racking cane down into my bucket of idophor sanatizer and adjust the air flow to a slow stream of bubbles then remove it, shake the foam off of it and then insert it into my wort. I stir it around slowly for a couple of minutes then remove it, swish it around in the sanatizer bucket again and then shut the air off. I store it with a sip lock bag partially sealed over the stone end of the cane.

ScottT said:

I cut the hose about 2" above the stone and heated it up in boiling water and sliped it over the end of my racking cane. I did the same to the loose end of the hose over the L end of the racking cane.

Click to expand...

That little bitty hose will fit over a racking cane? Thats the part I couldn't believe, so I hadn't tried it.

What do you do with your empty O2 bottles? I don't think I can make myself just toss it.

El Pistolero said:

That little bitty hose will fit over a racking cane? Thats the part I couldn't believe, so I hadn't tried it.

What do you do with your empty O2 bottles? I don't think I can make myself just toss it.

Click to expand...

I'll check to make sure when I get back home. I did it several months ago and it's possible that I may have worked it inside. I'll post up when I check it in the morning.

I haven't even used up a bottle yet but yes, I will chunk it. I suppose that you could refill them if you had a welders O2 bottle handy. I've got an adapter that I refil camping propane bottles from a larger refillable bottle. You'd need to have something like that to do it though.

Yep, you were right. The hose is way too small to go over the racking cane.

I used larger tubing between the filter and the top end of the cane and another short piece of larger tubing at the bottom of the cane over the short length of tubing still attached to the bubbler and the top of the bubbler itself.

Also, I placed the filter 6 inches from the cane not from the bottle as stated earlier. Funny how my memory gets more and more fragile as I age.

Basicly I just used some of that bailing wire/duct tape type enginering to make it work.

You can see it on that blanket shelf over my right sholder in this pic:

ScottT said:

Me too and I don't think that there's anything better. You will get better oxygenation, quicker and faster starts than anything else out there. I attached my stone to the end of a racking cane with a short piece of tubing and just stir my wort in my carboy for a few minutes while bubling the fine smoke like bubbles throughout the wort. I repeat at 15 to 30 minute intervals for the first hour or so then just leave it alone. The yeast take off like crazy.

Click to expand...

scott, what kind of lag times are you getting? i aerate once my wort temp gets below 75 degrees, then i put my lock on, then into my fermenting chest freezer set to about 66-68 degrees. i usually see activity within 4 hours.

El Pistolero said:

What do you do with your empty O2 bottles? I don't think I can make myself just toss it.

Click to expand...

i used my first one up sunday. i got 11 batches out of it (usually aerate for 2-3 minutes, plus using it to dry the stone after cleaning and sanitizing). i just chunked it in the garbage. someone at the dump may get a little suprise!

DeRoux's Broux said:

i got 11 batches out of it (usually aerate for 2-3 minutes, plus using it to dry the stone after cleaning and sanitizing).

Click to expand...

Jeez, I just got three batches out of mine...I think I must be turning mine up too high. Plus I've been doing the starters too.

you want the small, fine bubble for aearting. they are best consumed by the yeasties.
i just swirl my starters real good prior to adding the vial to it. when i take my yeast vial out of the fridge when i first start making my starter, i shake the hell out of that too, every 5 minutes or so until i pitch it.

I just shake the hell out of my starter itself before adding the yeast. Seems to work pretty well.

Yeah I read that stuff in the instructions about the small bubbles...but not until after I had finished the first batch. I had that sucker wide open for 4 minutes, then did it again after 12 hours because it was a high SG batch. Makes for quite a mess doing it that way cuz the foam kept coming out the top.

I felt like maybe it was overkill using oxygen in the starter, till I started reading about people using stirplates...now I think I've gotta have one of those.

I cool my 2-3 gallons of wort and rack it into the carboy. I then take 3 gallons of cold water (in sanitized 1 gallon bottles) and dump it over the wort until I reach 5.5 gallons. This aerates it pretty well & cools it at the same time.

DeRoux's Broux said:

scott, what kind of lag times are you getting? i aerate once my wort temp gets below 75 degrees, then i put my lock on, then into my fermenting chest freezer set to about 66-68 degrees. i usually see activity within 4 hours.

Click to expand...

Yea, I'm getting about the same type of lag time. This last batch was in full krausen (1/2") when I checked it 5 hours later so it may have started much sooner I just wasn't watching it.

I pitch at 75 to 78 degrees and bring it down over the next 24 hours as per white labs recomentations. It works great. I ferment my Scottish ales in the low 60's and this batch of bitter, I'm fermenting at 68 degrees.