upperNY01brewer
Well-Known Member
Has anyone used a airpump used for fish tanks for aerating their wort ? These seem more than able to do the job, they come with a stone and are available in many sizes...Just curious..
Aerating Stone
- Thread starter upperNY01brewer
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Yes, people do use them. You will need to insert a filter in the line to keep out any airborne nasties, and you will probably need to aerate several times in fairly short bursts to prevent excess foaming.
Shaking the wort, or pouring several times from one vessel to another also work (although I can imagine that shaking can be a bit hard on the back).
An O2 tank available from the welding section at Home depot etc. with a regulator allows you to add much more oxygen very quickly without much foaming. I use an O2 tank and it takes about 90 seconds to bubble the O2 slowly through the wort so that the O2 is dissolved, rather than bubbling out of the top and creating a lot of foam.
-a.
Shaking the wort, or pouring several times from one vessel to another also work (although I can imagine that shaking can be a bit hard on the back).
An O2 tank available from the welding section at Home depot etc. with a regulator allows you to add much more oxygen very quickly without much foaming. I use an O2 tank and it takes about 90 seconds to bubble the O2 slowly through the wort so that the O2 is dissolved, rather than bubbling out of the top and creating a lot of foam.
-a.
OP
OP
upperNY01brewer
Well-Known Member
92greenyj
Well-Known Member
I was going to try it since I have a spare aquarium pump, but instead I just made a cheap, simple venturi tube that I put inline on the ball valve from my BK when I drain it into my fermenting bucket. I also run it thru a fine mesh strainer over my bucket (this is more to catch any residual trub from the BK, but adds a little more air too) it works great. I get a good inch and a half of foam at the top by the time my wort drains out. No extra step or equipment to sanitize necessary
I use http://www.williamsbrewing.com/22_AERATION_WAND_P490C106.cfm.
Pricey, yes, but freaking awesome, and considering the number of times I've used it without any problems, the price is not too bad. If I'd bought the aquarium air stones, from what I've read, I would have to replace them regularly.
They used to sell it with an O2 regulator, but it seems they don't sell the regulator any more. (I know some people complained about the quality of the regulator, but mine has worked fine for several years). The O2 bottles cost about $8, and each bottle lasts me about 20 5g batches although when I was learning how to use it, I got through the first bottle in about 5 batches.
-a.
Pricey, yes, but freaking awesome, and considering the number of times I've used it without any problems, the price is not too bad. If I'd bought the aquarium air stones, from what I've read, I would have to replace them regularly.
They used to sell it with an O2 regulator, but it seems they don't sell the regulator any more. (I know some people complained about the quality of the regulator, but mine has worked fine for several years). The O2 bottles cost about $8, and each bottle lasts me about 20 5g batches although when I was learning how to use it, I got through the first bottle in about 5 batches.
-a.
