2nd lager - question about aerating wort

[jturkish]

curious if it's ideal to aerate directly before pitching or if it's ok to aerate when the wort has cooled which was a day before pitching

made the brew yesterday and brought the temp down to around 70 with the worth chiller - shook it to aerate then stuck it in the fermentation fridge. It was at pitching temp this afternoon, i pitched but didn't do another shake. Is that ok

 

[Poobah58]

Ideally you aerate just before pitching. Why did you wait a day to pitch? Just asking for trouble IMHO!

 

[jturkish]

to chill the wort to the temp i want to ferment at -it's an airtight bucket with airlock so i'm not worried about contamination

should i give it a good shake now?

 

[gometz]

Usually people say you shouldn't aerate once the yeast is pitched. The issue is the oxygen makes nasty flavors when combined with fermentation products.

BUT, if fermentation hasn't really started yet (like if you JUST pitched the yeast), then you are fine. The yeast will be happy to use that oxygen.

I had a similar issue that I found fruit flies in my starter right as I finished brewing a helles. So the wort sat sans-yeast for 2 days while I built up enough yeast. I pitched Sunday night without aerating again, but the dissolved O2 should still remain. I gave it a good swirl a few hours later when I thought about it, hoping I don't get any off flavors.

 

[kombat]

Why did you wait a day to pitch?

to chill the wort to the temp i want to ferment at

I think the confusion is because in your first post, you said this:

when the wort has cooled which was a day before pitching

You gave the impression (well, actually, you outright stated) that you let the already-cooled wort sit dormant for an entire day before pitching the yeast. I suspect that's not actually what you did, and that you meant to say that you gave it a day to cool the rest of the way down to pitching temperatures, then pitched it a day after brewing, but that's not what you wrote, hence the confusion.

That said, you're fine, but I don't know if shaking alone will inject enough oxygen. It's generally fine for ales, but lagers need more oxygen. If you plan to continue brewing lagers, I would strongly suggest you invest in a dedicated oxygenation system (really just a stainless steel stone, a hose, and a regulator) so you can properly oxygenate (not just aerate) your worts in the future.

 

[jturkish]

I think the confusion is because in your first post, you said this:



You gave the impression (well, actually, you outright stated) that you let the already-cooled wort sit dormant for an entire day before pitching the yeast. I suspect that's not actually what you did, and that you meant to say that you gave it a day to cool the rest of the way down to pitching temperatures, then pitched it a day after brewing, but that's not what you wrote, hence the confusion.

That said, you're fine, but I don't know if shaking alone will inject enough oxygen. It's generally fine for ales, but lagers need more oxygen. If you plan to continue brewing lagers, I would strongly suggest you invest in a dedicated oxygenation system (really just a stainless steel stone, a hose, and a regulator) so you can properly oxygenate (not just aerate) your worts in the future.

I can't tell the difference between your two scenarios. I chilled the wort down to about 70 Sunday night, transferred to primary bucket, placed in fermentation fridge then pitched yesterday when the temp dropped to low 50s

 

[m00ps]

My wort chiller can only get to wort to the low 80s at this time of year so I always pitch teh next morning. I figure any aeration I do the night before may slowly undo itself overnight so I always shake right after I toss in the yeast

 

[kombat]

I can't tell the difference between your two scenarios.

I'm going to ask this as politely as I can: Is English your first language? In your first post, you wrote:

"it's ok to aerate when the wort has cooled which was a day before pitching"

That parses as stating that you waited a day after the wort had already cooled to the proper temperature, to pitch the yeast. Meaning the wort sat at the target fermentation temperature for a day without yeast, just waiting. Instead of pitching the yeast as soon as it cooled to the desired temperature, you cooled to the desired temperature, then waited another day for no apparent reason, THEN pitched the yeast.

Again, I'm pretty sure that's not what you actually meant/did, but that's how your sentence reads. The clumsy grammar and lack of punctuation (and capitalization, for that matter) make it hard to understand what you're actually trying to say.

 

[dfhar]

Oxygenation and pitching rate are very intertwined. Roughly speaking, the more yeast you pitch and the healthier/fresher that yeast is, the less O2 you need.

I'm not saying you shouldn't oxygenate at all, especially when brewing a lager, but if you're making big, healthy, fresh starters I don't think you need the 12ppm from pure O2. I have done many lagers with pure O2 through a 0.5 micron stone, and many lagers shaken to aerate, and I get really great beer either way. Nowadays, I'm using a stainless steel mix-stir on a hand drill to aerate.

FWIW, Denny doesn't use pure O2 on his lagers, either. He uses a mix-stir.