Does anyone use degassers to aerate wort?

My wife recently decided to try winemaking, and one of the things we bought was this degasser:



The point of this device is to remove carbon dioxide from wine after fermentation. But, on the Northern Brewer site, it also said it can be used for aerating wort prior to pitching. I've always just splashed wort like crazy while topping off with water in my extract brews and shook the fermentor before pitching. But, since I'm going to all-grain, I figure I need a new way to introduce oxygen to the wort, because there will be no topping off. I was thinking going the aqarium pump route with the air stone, but since I already have this piece of equipment, I think it would be much easier. Just hook it up to a drill, and let the thing spin. Sanitizing the pump, lines, and putting a sanitized filter on the pump seems like more hassle than I'd like to deal with.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else has had success aerating wort with these de-gassers. If not, I guess I'll have to look into getting the air pump and aeration stone.

I don't have a degasser, but when I aerate I use a wire whisk jammed into my power drill. It works out pretty well for me, and I do full boils. I'm sure that will work just fine for aeration.

I will work great. I bought one for wine making, and while degassing the ale I thought... DAMN this would work great for aerating wort. I've never actually done it yet, but I can guarantee you that you can whip a ton of air into the wort very quickly with it.

Just place the blades near surface when you start and move it up and down as it spins. A few seconds with that thing in action and you will have aerated plenty.

-walker

Ought to work real well. I finally coughed up the dough for this:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAM_S_OXYGEN_AERATION_SYST_P699C106.cfm

Breaking it in today:rockin:

Bernie Brewer said:

Ought to work real well. I finally coughed up the dough for this:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAM_S_OXYGEN_AERATION_SYST_P699C106.cfm

Breaking it in today:rockin:

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Broke mine in today, too. Very sweet. Have to see if it makes much of a difference, unfortunately it's my first time with Salale-4, so I won't have much of a comparison.

Bernie Brewer said:

Ought to work real well. I finally coughed up the dough for this:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAM_S_OXYGEN_AERATION_SYST_P699C106.cfm

Breaking it in today:rockin:

Click to expand...

Works nice. I used mine on my melomel and I have a really nice fermentation going on now. It definitely needed it since I used half a smack-pack of yeast.

No, but I have used a paint mixer.

I used it for a couple batches before I went the aquarium pump method. It worked quite well, though I definitely prefer the aquarium pump method now.

bradsul said:

I used it for a couple batches before I went the aquarium pump method. It worked quite well, though I definitely prefer the aquarium pump method now.

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What exactly do you prefer with using the aquarium pump? I'm curious if it would be worthwhile to go that route.

Walker-san said:

I will work great. I bought one for wine making, and while degassing the ale I thought... DAMN this would work great for aerating wort. I've never actually done it yet, but I can guarantee you that you can whip a ton of air into the wort very quickly with it.

Just place the blades near surface when you start and move it up and down as it spins. A few seconds with that thing in action and you will have aerated plenty.

-walker

Click to expand...

I was thinking it would work great to aerate wort. I also started worrying that I was aerating my wine. I', hoping the CO2 layer over the wine kept out any air.

greg75 said:

What exactly do you prefer with using the aquarium pump? I'm curious if it would be worthwhile to go that route.

Click to expand...

To be honest it's mostly the hands-off benefits of being able to do something else (cleanup mostly) while aerating. I also think my ferments have been a little more vigorous since I started with the pump; however that may be my mind justifying the expense.

The degasser definitely worked better for me than the carboy shaking method, I would give it a try before spending money on something else.

bradsul said:

To be honest it's mostly the hands-off benefits of being able to do something else (cleanup mostly) while aerating...

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The time saved alone may be worth it in the long run. I'll give the degasser a try, first, though. Thanks for the advice!

What about one of these: http://www.squirrelmixer.com/models.html

I bought a 5 gal mixer when I painted my house for only $15 at the depot. Holy cow....it mixes FAST. You could aerate 5gal of wort in about 20 seconds. Would the galvanized coating hurt the wort? If so, the industrial ones are solid SS. Can't find a price on the SS ones though.

Jester4176 said:

http://www.squirrelmixer.com/models.htmlWould the galvanized coating hurt the wort? If so, the industrial ones are solid SS. Can't find a price on the SS ones though.

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I believe the galvanized coating can come off in the wort. I know for mash tun construction, galvanized or plated fittings are definitely a no-no.