Beginner "No Chiller"... how should I aerate?

Hey everyone. Any feedback or suggestions would be awesome!

I just brewed my first no chill beer last night. It's cooling down in my basement right now. I captured it in a pressurized corny keg. I'm a bit perplexed about how I should aerate the wort when i transfer it to my carboy for fermenting...

I used to pour the cooled wort into a bottling bucket and then use a hand mixer to aerate. Then i would transfer through the spigot into the carboy making sure there was lots of splashing on the way down.

Now it's in the corny keg. I don't really want to add the bottling bucket back into the equation and was looking forward to a more "closed" process. If I connected a tank of Oxygen to the gas in a pushed the wort through the beverage out hole into the carboy, would that be sufficient?

Is there any other ways you can think of that I could implement? Would something like this http://morebeer.com/view_product/16604//Oxygenation_Partial_System work well for me?

Thanks for any help, much appreciated!

Yes, either way you suggested would work. I have that O2 stone, and it works great.

A better option than using pure O2 to push the wort would be to attach the O2 tank to the beer out post and bubble it through from the bottom. This would be less efficient and more wasteful of oxygen than the diffusing stone though. I have the same regulator and stone that you linked to above. I don't use the in-line filter though. You really don't need it when using pure O2, you only need it when using ambient air like if you were going to use an aquarium bubbler instead of an O2 tank.

BBL_Brewer said:

A better option than using pure O2 to push the wort would be to attach the O2 tank to the beer out post and bubble it through from the bottom. This would be less efficient and more wasteful of oxygen than the diffusing stone though. I have the same regulator and stone that you linked to above. I don't use the in-line filter though. You really don't need it when using pure O2, you only need it when using ambient air like if you were going to use an aquarium bubbler instead of an O2 tank.

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Did you replace the tubing or did you add a coupler into the line? Also, how long do you run the device for? How many batches can you do with an oxygen tank? Is there a regulator to control the psi?

Sorry about the 20 questions...

SOPiiAC said:

Did you replace the tubing or did you add a coupler into the line? Also, how long do you run the device for? How many batches can you do with an oxygen tank? Is there a regulator to control the psi?

Sorry about the 20 questions...

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My regulator kit didn't come with an in-line filter so I didn't have to modify it. All you need to do is pick up some aquarium tubing and you can make a custom length piece to suit your needs. I aerate for about 60 seconds (for a 5 gallon batch) and slowly move the stone around in the wort. This is easier to do if you attach it to something, like your racking cane for instance. As for how many batches a tank will do, that will vary depending on your flow rate and how long you aerate. Yes, the kit comes with a regulator, that is the brass fitting with the black screw cap in the picture you posted. I use the small O2 tanks that you get from the hardware store in the welding section. I can do 6-8 (5) gallon batches and starters to go along with them with one tank. I aerate starters for about 15 seconds at every wort addition. One tip that will make your tanks last longer is to crack the regulator just enough for O2 to start flowing. You don't need a high flow rate to get good O2 saturation. In fact, the finer the bubbles comming out of the stone, the better O2 will difuse into the wort.

Awesome info! Thanks BBL!

random thought this post brought on, but would this work?

Force carb with O2? pressurize keg with O2 then shake for a few minutes, bleed off and continue as normal? Just a thought. I am easily amused and havent started using pure O2 to aerate yet, but this seems like it may be efficient. Then again, it may over oxygenate it.

DrunkleJon said:

random thought this post brought on, but would this work?

Force carb with O2? pressurize keg with O2 then shake for a few minutes, bleed off and continue as normal? Just a thought. I am easily amused and havent started using pure O2 to aerate yet, but this seems like it may be efficient. Then again, it may over oxygenate it.

Click to expand...

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't. Acutally not a bad idea, if the wort is already in the keg.

I would be very cautious about burst oxygenating the wort the way you mentioned. Chris White mentions in his book "Yeast" (Chris W. and Jamil Z.) that too much dissolved oxygen can be poisonous to the yeast. Personally, I wouldn't try to cut corners, rather I'd get an oxygen stone and just burst it for 60 seconds like BBL mentioned in post #5.