Aeration question...

Can I use an aquarium pump and airstone to aerate my wort? I see a lot of threads full of people who use O2 tanks to aerate their wort, but I'm wondering if I cab just pump room air through the wort with no I'll effects.

Do you risk infection if you don't use pure O2?

 

You sure can, it just doesn't help you much. You can get the same amount of dissolved O2 by shaking. There was a study a while back (sorry, can't recall where it's posted), showing both the pump w/air and shaking maxed out at 8ppm dissolved O2.

If you're strong enough to shake it, give it a good 5 mins or so.

 

I guess I would really only be saving myself the hassle and danger of shaking a full glass carboy and the expense of a pure O2 system. I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't be risking infection though.

Would running air through warm wort help cool it down? What about running cold air through the wort? It seems like that would speed up the cooling process?

 

I think the biggest problem with that is that air is a pretty ****ty heat conductor. At least compared to water.

 

Do I need to use a stainless steel airstone?

 

You can use air but you'd need to filter it to prevent contaminants from getting in. Some places sell HEPA filters that go between your aquarium filter and your air stone to help filter the air before it goes into the wort.

Personally I would just go with an oxygen kit like this one from William's Brewing. It costs a little bit more but it's worth it. It's very effective and no filter is required because the 02 in the tank is already filtered.

 

a wort chiller, stir plate/flask, and a pure O2 system are, I think, kind of the must haves if you're going beyond the basic starter kit. I'd bite the bullet, and get the O2 system. You're talking about getting an aquarium pump and stone, a real system isn't much more than that.

 

I agree with all that except about the O2 system being a bit more, I bought a small air pump and pack of stones from Walmart for $8 and a filter from my LHBS for $6 I think, isn't an O2 system like $50+ if memory serves me from when I was looking to purchase one.

 

Yeah, I might've missed the boat on that, I thought it'd be more than that.

 

Actually, now that I look, the regulator is all you need that's different from the system you describe, and it's 20$, so it's only 10$ more or so.

 

I do the exact same thing.. 30 to 40 mins while I clean up.. I get good fermentation, so I'm guessing it's aerating good.

 

How important is it to use a stainless steel airstone? I see plenty of dirt cheap airstones and was thinking of just using those.

 

What is a "dirt cheap" air stone made of, and how do you sanitize it?

Stainless air stones can be cleaned with Star San or even boiled. I've been using the same .5 micron stone for three years and never worry about it being a source of bugs...

Cheers!

 

I use a cheap one from the pet store. I'll be honest.. I have no idea what it's made of. It's a white, stone-like material. I just soak it in oxiclean over night after brew day and soak it in starsan for about an hour before using it.. No problems as of yet. I have a few, so I might try boiling one to see what happens... Perhaps I should look into getting a stainless steel one. Where do you all get them?

 

Wow that long! I'm not doing it long enough then, I usually set the timer for 10 mins. Is there a too long or not long enough after 5 or 10 mins?

 

You CAN do it "not long enough" but you cannot do it for too long... I've read 30 minutes in quite a few threads and articles.. I did it for 50 minutes once.


Wait......we're still talking about aeration, right?! haha...

 

Hahahahahaha! Um ya aeration, so I will forget about the timer and leave it alone while I clean up then