My 50 cent wort aerator

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Nice idea. After seeing this I thought maybe I could use my glass wine airator for the wort. It would require me to use another container that I could control the pour speed with. But...do you think it is worth it or necessary? I mean, I poured my wort violently into the ferminter and shook the bucket up petty well...If more airation is needed then I guess it would be worth while.
 
downhill_biker said:
Nice idea. After seeing this I thought maybe I could use my glass wine airator for the wort. It would require me to use another container that I could control the pour speed with. But...do you think it is worth it or necessary? I mean, I poured my wort violently into the ferminter and shook the bucket up petty well...If more airation is needed then I guess it would be worth while.
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I think with this you're just trying to avoid shaking & sloshing; you are not going to get much extra O2 The wine aerator probably wouldn't be worth the extra work
 
I usually just shake the **** out of my fermenter and it always seems to give me beer. :p
 
I like the method of first putting wort into the bottling bucket and then opening the spigot and letting it drop like a mofo into the fermenter.

Tryin that Saturday
 
OK so I added this description to assure that wort is adequately (more or less) oxygenated:

Most of the wort should flow down to the the level of the rising wort without overly contacting the sides of the fermentation vessel from the fantail to induce splashing that will further enhance oxygen levels in the wort
 
Nice find. Actually, probably that just pinching the tip of the copper tube with a pair of pliers would do the same effect... I have to try it. (As well as this olive oil trick).
 
BrewChron said:
And yeah, I've heard about using olive oil, New Belgium apparently does that. But I'm afraid I'll use too much.
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Yeah, using too much can be a problem with head retention, but on the really big beers I don't think the style calls for much carbonation (therefore, not much head)... so it's probably best to use on those types.

I think New Belgium tried it, but decided not to use it for production because there was a slightly increased ester flavor detectable by brew judges. *shrug*
 
Short video I made to demonstrate the wine airator. I was thinking more about it and I might have oxygen flow into the venturi inlets when I do this. Although this probably works pretty well.

 
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Isn't there a thread where someone just drilled holes into a short piece of tubing to make a venturi aerator?
 
I guess I just don't understand why people come up with all these convoluted ways to aerate the wort. Can't you just shake the bucket a bunch? Or, assuming you're topping it off with water, can't you just pour the water from high up?

The most ridiculous example is that thing you can buy from your LHBS that attaches to a power drill. Why??? :confused:
 
johnnyt471 said:
I guess I just don't understand why people come up with all these convoluted ways to aerate the wort. Can't you just shake the bucket a bunch? Or, assuming you're topping it off with water, can't you just pour the water from high up?
Click to expand...
I'm with you here. I just run my wort into my fermenter with a 2 foot freefall from the hose. Aerates just fine.

johnnyt471 said:
The most ridiculous example is that thing you can buy from your LHBS that attaches to a power drill. Why??? :confused:
Click to expand...

I have one of those, but here's what I find REALLY strange.... the thing is sold as a DE-gasser for wine making (which is why I have one). Interesting that the same tool can accomplish degassing and aeration at the same time. :D (I guess it's just a matter of how many RPMs you use?)
 
Walker said:
I have one of those, but here's what I find REALLY strange.... the thing is sold as a DE-gasser for wine making (which is why I have one). Interesting that the same tool can accomplish degassing and aeration at the same time. :D (I guess it's just a matter of how many RPMs you use?)
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Because it speeds up gas exchange. In fermented wine, there is too much CO2 (relative to atmophere equilibrium), and the tool knocks it out of solution. To aerate, there is more 02 in the air (relative to equilibrium) so it mixes it in. In wine if you did it too long or vigorous, it would knock out the CO2, and then aerate it.
 
johnnyt471 said:
I guess I just don't understand why people come up with all these convoluted ways to aerate the wort. Can't you just shake the bucket a bunch? Or, assuming you're topping it off with water, can't you just pour the water from high up?

The most ridiculous example is that thing you can buy from your LHBS that attaches to a power drill. Why??? :confused:
Click to expand...

Because this fantail, made from a scrap piece of copper in probably a couple minutes time, will aerate your wort much more efficiently, in a shorter period of time, and with far less effort than shaking a primary. And you won't throw out a shoulder or launch your glass carboy onto the kitchen floor doing so.

BTW - I use that ridiculous wine-degasser. In the time it takes you to shake your primary, I can walk leisurely out to my garage, grab my drill, sanitize my aerator, pitch & aerate, put my tools away, slap in my airlock and put my primary away... with enough time left over to crack open a bottle of the last batch.

Here... I cracked open one for you too. After all that shaking, you look like you could use it :mug:
 
tunoffun said:
In the time it takes you to shake your primary, I can walk leisurely out to my garage, grab my drill, sanitize my aerator, pitch & aerate, put my tools away, slap in my airlock and put my primary away... with enough time left over to crack open a bottle of the last batch.
Click to expand...

Really? When I used to shake, I did it for about 30 seconds. You can do all that in 30 seconds? ;)
 
johnnyt471 said:
I guess I just don't understand why people come up with all these convoluted ways to aerate the wort. Can't you just shake the bucket a bunch? Or, assuming you're topping it off with water, can't you just pour the water from high up?

The most ridiculous example is that thing you can buy from your LHBS that attaches to a power drill. Why??? :confused:
Click to expand...

I use an diffusion stone and pure oxygen because:

A) Every pro brewer I've ever talked to has said proper aeration along with temp control and pitching rate are the most important aspects of making good beer.

B) My lag time has gone from typically 36-48 hours shaking my bucket, to less than 12 using the stone.

C) My beer always completely attenuate now as opposed to the re-occurring problems I was having with this when shake aerating.

:mug:
 
Walker said:
Really? When I used to shake, I did it for about 30 seconds. You can do all that in 30 seconds? ;)
Click to expand...

No. But I'd bet my left nut that you didn't achieve the same level of oxygenation, and fell far short of full saturation (~ 8ppm), with only 30 seconds worth of shaking.
 
djt17 said:
That's what I do...along with this http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...enting-equipment/aeration/siphon-sprayer.html
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I thought this piece of equipment could use a second recommendation. I actually have a couple of these in my system. I use one to areate on the way into the fermenter. I also use one in my mash tun while recirculating. It would be very handy for fly sparging too if I did that. For the $2.99 you get full 360 degree fan of the wort and the spray "thinness" really gets that gas exchange. Of course, I shake the crap out of the better bottle for the 10 feet I carry it from brew spot to fermenter chest.
 
tunoffun said:
No. But I'd bet my left nut that you didn't achieve the same level of oxygenation, and fell far short of full saturation (~ 8ppm), with only 30 seconds worth of shaking.
Click to expand...
Probably not, but I'd bet your right nut that my beer was still good. :D

:mug:
 
Walker said:
I'd bet your third nut that you can't.
Click to expand...

That, along with the other two nuts I've already wagered, belongs to my wife. So if I lose any of these bets, you'll have to take the issue up with her.
 
What I mean is,
For how long does the added oxygen remain in the wort ?
I xfer from kettle to carboys in garage, and sometimes need
to wait for my son to tote to the basement because of my sore back.
Dave.
 
beeton said:
What I mean is,
For how long does the added oxygen remain in the wort ?
I xfer from kettle to carboys in garage, and sometimes need
to wait for my son to tote to the basement because of my sore back.
Dave.
Click to expand...

Well, if it weren't for oxidation reactions, a solution at or below the saturation point would retain all of the dissolved 02 so long as the atmospheric pressure remained the same or greater, and the temperature remained the same or lower. But... oxygen does react with the wort to form compounds we don't want. That's the reason it's recommended to avoid aeration once the yeast have started active fermentation.

Basically, it's best if you get the yeast pitched as soon as possible after aerating. You want them to hurry up & use the o2 for their purposes before it can react too much w/ the wort. If your current process has you waiting a significant amount of time between aeration & pitch, it might be better to try to avoid aerating the wort at all until you do. Transfer from kettle to primary the way you'd rack into a secondary to minimize air pickup, and then aerate when you pitch.

But I don't know how long you're waiting? Might not be long enough to be of consequence.
 
downhill_biker said:
Short video I made to demonstrate the wine airator. I was thinking more about it and I might have oxygen flow into the venturi inlets when I do this. Although this probably works pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SE3RASzgoc
Click to expand...

Curtis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How'd you find me! lol You are brewing too?? How's your tank doing? Does brewing get in the way of doing WCs for you too? Sure does for me :mug:


Miles
 
Nice, MILES!!! Glad to see we have more in common. Ya, I just started my first batches a few days ago. I am stoked on this new hobby. I love me a good brew, and don't mind the money I save. Also don't mind the work involved, it's fun.
 
downhill_biker said:
Short video I made to demonstrate the wine airator. I was thinking more about it and I might have oxygen flow into the venturi inlets when I do this. Although this probably works pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SE3RASzgoc
Click to expand...

Thanks for the video, I was picturing something completely different. It looks like that works pretty well. :mug:

*cough* Go Huskies! *cough*
 

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