aerating/oxygenating- what's your method?

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vera

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My last couple of brews have been slow to ferment out. I keep them in a fermenter, and I am a nazi at temp control. Both of my last brews slowed down significantly until I finally ended up raising the temp on them. I am thinking that perhaps I am not aerating my higher gravity beers enough. I have converted a corny keg into a fermenter. I'm curious to hear from my fellow brew community what your methods are.
Prost!
 
I will likely get an O2 system later, but for now I just drop the chilled wort from the CFC into a fermenter, and then pour it viciously into another bucket and back. Last brewday I had Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde bubbling in under 12 hours using dry yeast (rehydrated).
 
On lower gravity beers (< 1.060), I usually stick a sanitized funnel on the carboy and pour on the side of that. It gives me a pretty good mixing action as it funnels down and splashes into the carboy. While I'm doing this, I pour my rehydrated dry yeast into the funnel as well and use the wort to makes sure it all gets washed down.

After that, the splashing around involved in carrying the carboy down to my basement does the rest. Most beers take off in about 4 to 6 hours for me and fermentation seems to go very well.
 
I dump all my beers from the kettle into a bucket fermenter through a double strainer, which agitates it up good. I then attach a paint stirrer (which I also use as a degasser for our wine) to a power drill and beat that around the surface to stir up a nice foam.
 
O2 stone for large batches that I can't shake.

For 3-4 gallon batches, I take advantage of the headspace in the 5-6 gallon carboy. I pour the wort from kettle to carboy through a filtered funnel, cover with foil, then vigorously shake the carboy w/wort for 60-90 seconds non-stop. Add yeast slurry & airlock.

Both methods have worked just fine for me, regardless of OG ranges of 1.051 and 1.094.

(I keep my outdoor brewing setup at a friends house down the block. When I brew indoors at my apartment, my setup is more simple.)
 
I usually pour my cooled wort into one of my 6.5 gallon buckets with enough cold water to top up to 5 gallons. Then I pour it back and forth between my other sanitized 6.5 gallon buckets about 4-5 times. That seems to aerate it well. Then I pitch my starter and seal it up. So far, so good with this method.
 
I am thinking that perhaps I am not aerating my higher gravity beers enough. I have converted a corny keg into a fermenter. I'm curious to hear from my fellow brew community what your methods are.
Prost!
During the wort chilling the O2 is injected before it enters the fermenter.
For high gravity beers I inject another dose within the first 12 hours directly into the fermenter.
OxygenStone.jpg


OxygenTopView.jpg


Cheers,
ClaudiusB
 
I ferment in a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket. After my wort goes through the couterflow chiller I simply put the lid on the bucket and begin rocking it back and forth. I will do this for 5 minutes or so (while covering the grommet on the lid :eek: ) give it a rest and do it one more time. Ive never had a problem after aerating in this fashion, most of my brew begin fermentation within the first 8 hours!
 
I then attach a paint stirrer (which I also use as a degasser for our wine) to a power drill and beat that around the surface to stir up a nice foam.

This is what I do except that I put the stirrer all the way to the bottom of the fermenter so that I get a huge vortex in the wort.
 
I use a Mix-Stir attached to the drill. Fits into the carboy. I usually run it on high speed for about 5 minutes. The wort can splash out if you get really crazy but it creates a nice vortex.

A 'bubbler' system probably does a better job of aeration but I find any excuse I can to use power tools in the brewing process.
 
I looked at various ways to oxygenate, and decided that punching a hole in the auto siphon hose was within the budget and the plus was there wasn't anything more to clean.
all my brews start fermenting within 12 hours. I use notty (never re hydrated) for most of the ales and keep the temp at 62.
 
I shake the s#!t out of that mothatrucka while holding the blow-off tube sky high. Seems to work alright as long as I stick to 5 gal batches.

If I ever want to upgrade to 10 gal batches I better start hitting the gym.
 
I attach my autosiphon to a scuba tank and just crack the valve. From that a mighty maelstrom errupts that spews the joy of mixing my two favorite activities...sometimes I see unicorns. I use 32% O2 Nitrox in the tank. I do want to go to a 100% O2 setup soon, however.
 
Doesn't matter what way to do it, unless you introduce pure O2 into the wort, you're only able to get the concentration up to 8ppm. I'm not saying it's bad, just that all these cool tricks and techniques will only get you to 8ppm. The most important thing then is to do whichever motions are the safest, so you don't break a glass carboy and kill yourself.

Wyeast says optimal oxygen level is 10-15ppm. To get there, you could use an oxygen tank and stone to put oxygen in the wort. Not too much though.
 
Magnanamous said:
I attach my autosiphon to a scuba tank and just crack the valve. From that a mighty maelstrom errupts that spews the joy of mixing my two favorite activities...sometimes I see unicorns. I use 32% O2 Nitrox in the tank. I do want to go to a 100% O2 setup soon, however.

I think you need to check your nitrox mix ratios ... Sounds like N2 narcosis may be setting in... :)

Fins up, hoppy brewing....

--Steve
 
Perfectly happy with my aquarium pump and aeration stone. Something about the cost and unnatural-ness of o2 that doesn't appeal to me. Like gardening with Miracle Grow.
 
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