Hot-Side Aeration

Does Hot-side aeration matter before the boil? All the oxygen will be driven out during the boil anyway. Thanks.

Yes it does. It's not the oxygen in the wort it's the chemical rections that it cases. But RDWHAHB, I've never heard of any one ruin a beer with HSA especially if they are aware of it and reduce it. NO need to be paranoid about it. Just don't go splashing it all over the place and foaming it up.

Most homebrewing books will mention HSA for long enough to get you worried about it, then proceed to tell you that it's really not a concern at all. For complicated reasons that I can't remember, HSA is usually not a problem in small (homebrew sized) batches - even if the wort is splashed a little. It's more of an issue for large (commercial sized) batches.

Yuri_Rage said:

Most homebrewing books will mention HSA for long enough to get you worried about it, then proceed to tell you that it's really not a concern at all. For complicated reasons that I can't remember, HSA is usually not a problem in small (homebrew sized) batches - even if the wort is splashed a little. It's more of an issue for large (commercial sized) batches.

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The explanation that I've heard why it's a bigger issue for commerical breweris is that commercial beer tends to live a harder life before being consumed. It's hauled on non-refrigerated trucks, it sits in a store's back room without AC, it's on the floor in the sunlight... whereas most homebrewers tend to cellar their beers in better conditions, either in a cellar, or in a dark closet, or somewhere like that. Ergo, the conditions that would amplify a beer's going stale are less extreme for a homebrewer (since HSA is supposedly mostly an issue with a beer's going stale).

Yuri_Rage said:

Most homebrewing books will mention HSA for long enough to get you worried about it, then proceed to tell you that it's really not a concern at all. For complicated reasons that I can't remember, HSA is usually not a problem in small (homebrew sized) batches - even if the wort is splashed a little. It's more of an issue for large (commercial sized) batches.

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And if you have ever seen one of those large factory shows about brewing, or worked in a brewery--you'll quickly dispell any myth about HSA on the homebrewing level. You'd be amazed at how much the hot wort gets sloshed around moving from tank to tank at a brewery.

I no longer worry about HSA.

Thanks for all the replies! I'm still going to siphon rather than pour my partial mash into my brew pot, just for peace-of-mind. But I'm a lot less worried now.

I'm glad to hear that as well, because HSA has been one of those things kicking around in my brain, keeping me leery of all-grain brewing. Good to know it's not that big a deal after all.

Nothing is really a big deal with AG.
Just don't boil your grains and RDWHAHB.
We all make stupid mistakes but nothing to worry about.


I've never ruined, lost or trashed a brew. I guess most will tell you the same.

hsa on the hombrewing level is about as close to an internet myth as you can get