Auto-Siphon as Aerator?

I was using my Auto-Siphon yesterday to transfer the Irish Stout my girlfriend and I had just brewed from my brew pot into my 6.5 gal. glass carboy and I had an idea. Tell me if this was smart or dumb.

I usually lift the Auto-Siphon from the brew pot, remove the plastic tube from the carboy, set it all aside, cover the carboy and rock the hell out of it to get some oxygen in there. Yesterday, I suddenly got the bright idea of using the pumping action of the empty Auto-Siphon to add air to the cooled wort. I left the plastic tubing in the carboy, removed the Auto-Siphon from the brewpot and pumped the racking cane of the Auto-Siphon just like a bicycle pump. It worked great! There was a head of bubbles practically to the carboy opening. I said to my girlfriend, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before!” I was transferring the wort onto to previous yeast cake and fermentation took off within about six hours.

Was this a good idea?

I don't own an autosipon, but I'd say you get an A in ingenuity!

-walker

I'm not sure this would be more efficient or better than shaking. The bubbles would be too large to make that much of a difference. Maybe if you attach a length of tubing with an aeration stone. But if you are going through all that trouble, just get the aquarium pump. I'd be interested to know if the yeast do start faster.

Definitely sounds to me like a better way to do it than shaking the carboy. I think it's a helluvan idea for those who don't want to spend the money (props to Walker ), or are short of storage space.

Good thinking....that's one thing I love about this hobby. There's hundreds of ways to skin this cat, and thousands of resourceful people out there solving problems and making it happen.

This is a great idea! I'll have to agree that as it stands, the bubble size created by the regular tubing doesn't give you any advantage over shaking, but if you could think of something that could be attached to the end to create smaller bubbles then you'd really be set.

Some kind of attachment that had a screen on it would work pretty well I'd think, like a faucet screen thing. :scratchs head:

a nylon grain/hop bag might do the trick. very fine mesh.

-walker

I used to use a foot operated bicycle pump, filter & stone. Since attending a seminar on yeast, I use a aquarium pump, filter & stone and run it for 10 minutes an hour for the first six hours.

LupusUmbrus said:

... like a faucet screen thing. :scratchs head:

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Aerator screens - yeah! Now I just have to come up with a way to attach it so that it won't fall off and end up at the bottom of the carboy! Maybe have a second siphon hose ready that has the screen attached by a small hose clamp (?). Switch out the hoses and start pumping.

nylon zip strip and the hop bag (all sanitized, naturally). put the bag over the hose, zip it down tight and you should be good to go.

-walker

Walker said:

nylon zip strip and the hop bag (all sanitized, naturally). put the bag over the hose, zip it down tight and you should be good to go.

-walker

Click to expand...

Sounds like this would work. Maybe just some rubberbands even. Improvising = fun.