Is this an easy way to aerate the wort?

So as a new homebrewer, as with any newbie to a boundless hobby, I find problems and plenty of expensive solutions to fix it. That being said I cant exactly throw money at the situation right now as a college student and hombrewer. One of my problems was that aeration of the wort without and air stone and without being able to shake the bucket like I would a glass carboy. Well turns out everybody has an autosiphon and a racking cane these days. Well my friend pointed out that after moving the wort over using the autosiphon that we could use it to further pump air into the carboy. So playing around with it for a bit if you hold the autosiphon up at shoulder height(not quite sure if that important) and draw out the autosiphon to nearly full extension then pump in a few inches then back out again will force air into the bottom of the wort via the racking cane. Do this for a couple of minutes and your'e good to go IMO.

Hope this isn't old hat for you guys.

I would imagine that you wouldn't actually get all that much oxygen into the beer that way. My understanding is that small air bubbles are more effectively absorbed into liquid than large air bubbles. IMO the quickest, cheapest, and easiest solution for aerating your wort is to pour it vigorously from the pot to the fermenter through a strainer or colander. It's not as effective as an air stone but doesn't cost you anything and give decent results.

stageseven said:

IMO the quickest, cheapest, and easiest solution for aerating your wort is to pour it vigorously from the pot to the fermenter through a strainer or colander.

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+1 on stageseven's comment. We pour into the fermentor through a strainer and have had great fermentations and some pretty darn good beer.

Seems like we spend a lot of time and effort sanitizing everything that comes into contact with our cooled wort - you seem to be defeating that idea. Your method sounds unusual for sure. I either allow my wort to splash into the fermenter if using dry yeast or pump Oxygen in if using liquid yeast starter.

onemanlan said:

So as a new homebrewer, as with any newbie to a boundless hobby, I find problems and plenty of expensive solutions to fix it. That being said I cant exactly throw money at the situation right now as a college student and hombrewer. One of my problems was that aeration of the wort without and air stone and without being able to shake the bucket like I would a glass carboy.

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I'm missing something--why can't you shake the bucket? That's what I do, it works fine. Theoretically 45 seconds of shaking will get you pretty close to the saturation point that you could get with an aeration stone (which is lower than what you could get from pumping pure O2 from a tank).

Yep, just pour it through a strainer. Always work for me

around here there is a thread on poking a small hole into part of a racking cane to act as a venturi..I have yet to try it,but the science is sound.

Honestly wasn't thinking about the airborne contaminants. I usually brew in a room with still air if possible. Never under any ventilation so that further reduces airborne contaminants. I assume the risk is similar letting your wort cool without a lid on it. I do that often because I dont have an immersion chiller. Both times its exposed to the open air of the room and I haven't had an issues. Thats not sure science in saying it wont ever get contaminated, but so far the environment has proven safe.

Now I have a glass carboy now that I use instead for primary. Its much easier to shake than the bucket was and much more secure to not leak.

Ps thanks for the other methods too! Lots of ideas floating around here!

I have only done partial boils so far, but I use 2.5 gallon bottled water from the store and hold it a few feet above the fermenter when I'm dilluting the wort and it seems to do a good job of mixing air into the wort.

pour fast into the primary. aggressive pour of top-off water. fast and vigorous stirring with a sanitized wisk.

Then I have a beer because I can only go hard and fast for a short while before I'm tired.

Trouble with pouring the wort back and forth is that it foams up so much, you can't get it all to fit in the fermenter. I do partial boils so I take the remaining clear water (about 2 1/2 gallons) and pour it back and forth several times to aereate it. Then I pour the wort into the fermenter one time to keep the foam down and add the aerated water to the fill line.

Before I bought an oxygen stone I used to use the wire whisk method, that was alright, then tried an egg beater. The egg beater whipped up a huge frothy head in no time, and with half the energy of a whisk. Stll dosen't compare to an oxygen stone.... but it is low cost and provided ok results

buzzkill said:

around here there is a thread on poking a small hole into part of a racking cane to act as a venturi..I have yet to try it,but the science is sound.

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This works very well - I took a 6" piece of an old racking cane and drilled about a dozen 3/16" holes in it and put it in the end of my transfer hose when racking to primary - aerates perfectly.

You sir have inspired me. I will do the same thing soon. Do you think a dremil will get the job done?

onemanlan said:

You sir have inspired me. I will do the same thing soon. Do you think a dremil will get the job done?

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I don't see why not - offset the holes and be patient - I broke a couple pieces before I got it right.

onemanlan said:

.............without being able to shake the bucket like I would a glass carboy. .....................

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Why can't you shake a bucket?

+2 the venture works like a champ!

When I have shaken my bucket or carboy I put them on a chair, hold the top of the fermentor and back of the chair tightly then just rock the chair back and forth quickly. I let the chair hold the weight so I can rock for 5-10 minutes w/out killing my back!

I like the venturi idea but think I am going to the airstone and oxygen as soon as I get the funds!