How do you aerate?

Do you go extra measures to aerate your wort after pitching your (liquid) yeast? Or do you just shake shake shake? Do you think it is worth aerating with O2? Have you ever had fermentation related problems from not aerating properly or the opposite (great fermentation without bothering to aerate?)

I use an oxygen kit from williams brewing. If I run out of O2 I use a whisk. I noticed a more vigorous fermentation once I started using the O2.

Another vote for the Williams oxygen system, my fermentations have been better since I started using it. I feel like my lag time is consistently under 12 hours now and I think it has improved my beer.

i use aquarium pump and stone

I have had fermentations where I really got lazy and didn't think that I did a good job aerating and I didn't really notice a difference in lag time or end product, to be perfectly honest.

That being said, I've taken to aerating by dumping my wort between two sanitized buckets lately and I really like how that works.

I put a pin hole in the tube (with a hot paper clip) from my kettle valve. The venturi effect leaves a nice thick head in the carboy.

masonsjax said:

I put a pin hole in the tube (with a hot paper clip) from my kettle valve. The venturi effect leaves a nice thick head in the carboy.

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So you just put one small hole in your transfer tubing and that is enough? It seems like a good idea and i might try this. i used to use an IC so once it was cooled down i just would dump it all in the fermenter which i thought gave plenty of oxygen. i just built a CFC so now i won't be doing any dumping (unless id fill on bucket then dump into another). but this seems more simple if it really works

masonsjax said:

I put a pin hole in the tube (with a hot paper clip) from my kettle valve. The venturi effect leaves a nice thick head in the carboy.

Click to expand...

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I like this idea, I would assume you have not had any issue with infection.

I use a 20 cf O2 cylinder, regulator and a stone.

I'm going to try a paint stirrer attachment on my drill this time. From what I've read, it should take 2 minutes to get the O2 level up to 10ppm at 50 f. Hope it works.

I just strain into a bottling bucket and then transfer to carboy. I also rock the tube back and forth as it pours into my carboy.

Despite internet folklore, shaking the carboy does a decent job at aerating. Sometimes even more than than using a pump.

It's all about surface area. According to JZ, it's not really important to pump the O2 into the actual beer, as little is absorbed when it's released, it's absorbed when its in the headspace and in contact with the beer. He also said that draining the kettle into the carboy isn't that effective at aerating.

So it's important to get the o2 into the carboy, and then shaking it does a good job of allowing a lot of the wort to get surface area contact with the air in the carboy. So, a pump without o2, doesn't really do any better than shaking it.

According to wyeast, spashing and shaking the carboy for 40 seconds is as good as a pump for 5 minutes.

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_oxygenation.cfm

I was about to get a pump, but I'm saving for true o2 system (probably the williams brewing one). In the meantime, I just shake the hell out of it until I get tired.

No, I've never had an infection. I'm a super lazy brewer and shaking is a pain. You'd be surprised how well the venturi method works.

I would assume that wouldn't be much different than a "siphon spray" right?
http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_oxygenation.cfm

I just built a counter flow chiller, so I might do something similar to the end of that, and then give it a few good shakes after that.

I'll make a video next time. Trust me, shaking after transfer is unnecessary.

doctorRobert said:

Despite internet folklore, shaking the carboy does a decent job at aerating. Sometimes even more than than using a pump.

It's all about surface area. According to JZ, it's not really important to pump the O2 into the actual beer, as little is absorbed when it's released, it's absorbed when its in the headspace and in contact with the beer. He also said that draining the kettle into the carboy isn't that effective at aerating.

So it's important to get the o2 into the carboy, and then shaking it does a good job of allowing a lot of the wort to get surface area contact with the air in the carboy. So, a pump without o2, doesn't really do any better than shaking it.

According to wyeast, spashing and shaking the carboy for 40 seconds is as good as a pump for 5 minutes.

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_oxygenation.cfm

I was about to get a pump, but I'm saving for true o2 system (probably the williams brewing one). In the meantime, I just shake the hell out of it until I get tired.

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+1. Important to note that room air is 210,000 parts per million oxygen. Your wort can only hold around 10 ppm. There is plenty of oxygen for your wort to soak up in regular air.

Why do we need pure oxygen? It seems like overkill. I think only in situations where you have an enormous volume of wort compared to a smaller headspace/surface area would you get real benefit from pure oxygen.

We have used several method but now always use the small welding Oxygen with a stone. We use a system that we got from Homebrew Headquarters. We remove the stone and boil it after use. If using a stone, you should try not to touch it. We did notice improved Starts from the Oxygen.

I used the venturi effect on my last batch. it foamed up a lot, i pitched around midnight and at 8 the next morning the airlock was bubbling away. so for the price of the tubing that i was already going to buy i got a pretty good aeration system

I just dump the wort vigorously into my fermentation bucket and shake it for 20 seconds. It is never more than 6 hours before I have visible signs of fermentation and rarely is fermentation not complete within 3-5 days (depending on yeast strain of course).

Pure O2 through a 0.5 micron stone.

Fermentation is everything--incremental improvements add up to great (not just good) beer.

I lift the kettle up and dump it from standing position into the bucket. Foams like a mofo.:cross:

Or I seal the full keg and shake the F out of it.

Or I attach paint stirrer to drill. This method doesn't produce a lot of foam so it's suspect.

For aeration I use the Stainless aquarium stone, regulator and 02 bottle. This is the William's brewing version;



Mine didn't have the wand, so I took a broken piece of racking cane, cut a tiny piece of the hose as a bridge connect and rigged up my own. And I just use the regular red 02 bottle from my hardware store.

osagedr said:

Pure O2 through a 0.5 micron stone.

Fermentation is everything--incremental improvements add up to great (not just good) beer.

Click to expand...

^This^ and then shake as long as I can up to 45 seconds.

Currently using an aquarium pump and airstone. Before that I used a whip on my drill and then shook the hell out of the carboy. Both methods work fairly well, but after reading and hearing lots of good things about direct O2, I have a feeling I'll be replacing the pump with an O2 system sometime in the near future.
As I understand it, when aerating with ambient air (pump n stone, whip, shaking, pouring, etc.), 8 ppm or so of O2 is about the maximum saturation you can get, and all of those methods will get you to around 8ppm, none is really 'better' than the other. But with direct O2 you can get a significantly higher concentration of O2 in the wort.

I've always had luck doing this...
- Dump the wort out of my kettle into my Ale Pale or bottling bucket
- Top it off to 5 gallons
- Whisk the crap out if it with a sanitized stainless steel whisk for a minute or so. (It's amazing how quickly your arm gets sore.)
- Pitch my yeast
- Dump it into my 6.5 gallon carboy through a funnel.

By the time it's in the carboy there's about 3 - 4 inches of foam on top. I usually see airlock within a few hours.

+1 Doctor Rob. The science says shaking is fine. Seems to work for me. Shaking is easy - I just grab a clean plastic bag and soak it in StarSan, use it to cover up the opening of the primary, tilt the primary to a comfortable balance point, and rock side to side vigorously for 2 minutes. The Venturi method sounds neat - no data on that, so no comment.

This. It's a wine degasser, but works to aerate the wort. Course, you need to use a carboy to get the full effect.

scribo said:

The Venturi method sounds neat - no data on that, so no comment.

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https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-aeration-gadget-68218/

Now if they would only make an industrial size stir plate.....

I usually just shake it like a red headed step child. I've used the drill attachment, pouring back and fourth, and a similar venturi by accident on a bad fitting auto siphon. Next brew I plan to have an oxygen set up for. My last two lagers have been lacking in that crisp mouth feel even with large 4-500 billion yeast cell starters and soft RO water with salts. See if the oxygen fixes it.

People who buy a pure O2 system have wasted their money. The majority of the aeration does not come from the bubbles. The bubbles simply mix up the liquid and cause unaerated liquid to continually come to the top and in contact with room air.

I have kept aquariums for years, and my experience comes from that and reading about that topic. Beer is no different than aquarium water when it comes to aeration.

I put a solid bung in the better bottle, lay it on it's side and vigorously roll it back and forth a few inches while I count to 60. Then I add the yeast.

osagedr said:

Pure O2 through a 0.5 micron stone.

Fermentation is everything--incremental improvements add up to great (not just good) beer.

Click to expand...

+1
I do the same.

pandymen said:

People who buy a pure O2 system have wasted their money. The majority of the aeration does not come from the bubbles. The bubbles simply mix up the liquid and cause unaerated liquid to continually come to the top and in contact with room air.

I have kept aquariums for years, and my experience comes from that and reading about that topic. Beer is no different than aquarium water when it comes to aeration.

Click to expand...

Except the worts oxygen holding is dependent on specifix gravity and temps and the fish tanks are only subject really to the latter unless you're going for the dead sea in terms of salt. Whats regular ocean water 30 points? Less than a bitter.

Edit Touch screens blow for typing.

Aeration wand and my power drill. I've had consistently great results. When I first got into brewing I used to just shake the crap out of the bucket... that worked just fine also but I seem to have better response with the wand.

I plan on getting oxygen to flood the headspace when i am out of japan, but other than that it has been shown that shaking it is the way to go!

I use the venturi effect mansonsjax mentions earlier.

Here's a youtube video from -TH- that demonstrates it in action.

Dan said:

I use the venturi effect mansonsjax mentions earlier.

Here's a youtube video from -TH- that demonstrates it in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYYbP6Wqfg&feature=channel_page

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+! Just added this last brew. Had a krausen in 12 hours. Super easy!

I used to just stir vigorously before and after pitching yeast but started reading around HBT about aquarium pumps. I didn't want to go invest in anything so I just dug around my place.

I found the little electric pump used for inflating airbeds when guests come in. It has an attachment that fit perfectly into a 3/16" silicon tube. Ran the tube through the airlock hole in my primary, bubbled the wort for about 3 minutes, got some good foam, and then pitched the yeast (WYeast belgian witbier). Fermentation was flying along about 5 hours later. I was sure to sanitize the hose before putting it in contact with the wort; I figure the pump isn't pushing in any more bacteria etc than stirring or pouring.

This is definitely going to be my new way to aerate every batch.

guys,
I am about 5 days into my first brew. Am using a brewers best kit ( irish stout), and really did not make much of an attempt at aerating before pitching yeast.
should I shake this mess up and let it continue as is or just let it continue ?

Thx.

Doug

First 24 hours... oxygen = good
Beyond that... oxygen = bad

Don't shake it Doug.