aerating wort

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MrFeltimo

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So when using an air stone to aerate, do you hook it up to your keg gas or something else?
Dan
 
keg gas is CO2, not something you want to pump into your wort

aquarium pump for plain air, oxygen bottle for oxygen
 
yeast need oxygen to reproduce during the lag phase, when they're building up in number before actual fermentation.

once they run out of oxygen and start asphyxiating, is where the fun, OUR FUN, begins. that's fermentation, when the yeast start to produce ethanol and CO2.

aquarium pump provides air (which includes oxygen), and that's aeration

an oxygen bottle provides pure oxygen, more accurately called oxygenation.

either can be used to push air into the wort
 
just follow the direction in this link
Code: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUaFxUBVl6E
. Shows you how to make a cheap $10-$15 aerator that attaches to a drill. Just stick it in your carboy or bucket and gives it a few spins until you get a nice foam on top. Adds more then enough oxygen for a solid fermentation. Using pure O2 is a little overkill IMO. I have used this same thing for many batches and always had fermentation kick off the same day as the yeast was pitched, usually within hours. Always hit my projected FG and usually hit lower then beersmiths projected, but I always use starters, so.....
 
DesignatedDrinker said:
just follow the direction in this link
Code: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUaFxUBVl6E
. Shows you how to make a cheap $10-$15 aerator that attaches to a drill. Just stick it in your carboy or bucket and gives it a few spins until you get a nice foam on top. Adds more then enough oxygen for a solid fermentation. Using pure O2 is a little overkill IMO. I have used this same thing for many batches and always had fermentation kick off the same day as the yeast was pitched, usually within hours. Always hit my projected FG and usually hit lower then beersmiths projected, but I always use starters, so.....
Click to expand...

I use a paint stirrer, $7 at home despot

20-30 seconds before, 20-30 seconds after pitching

fa4449dd-465b-4c5d-bf11-c1ec7e831160_400.jpg
 
I use the big oxygen system from Williams Brewing, and also use starters. This last brew I added yeast nutrients to the brew. Yes, I know, way overkill, but my yeasties love me for it and my Hop Stoopid clone is on day 4, still bubbling away like there's no tomorrow. :rockin:

S941.JPG
 
I am a commercial diver and I have a regulator set up on a tank with nitrox(40% oxygen). I cut a bc inflator hose and hooked in a line + air stone. That is what I use. I was also told that it is a good idea to use a foam stopper for the first few days of fermentation to allow more air to stay in the carboy. I have yet to use the latter but it seems to make sense to me.:drunk:
 
plusultra said:
I am a commercial diver and I have a regulator set up on a tank with nitrox(40% oxygen). I cut a bc inflator hose and hooked in a line + air stone. That is what I use. I was also told that it is a good idea to use a foam stopper for the first few days of fermentation to allow more air to stay in the carboy. I have yet to use the latter but it seems to make sense to me.:drunk:
Click to expand...

interesting.

I'm guessing nitrogen wouldn't harm the beer, but is there a reason you're using nitrox instead of pure oxygen?

is it cheaper? at least for you?
 
plusultra said:
I am a commercial diver and I have a regulator set up on a tank with nitrox(40% oxygen). I cut a bc inflator hose and hooked in a line + air stone. That is what I use. I was also told that it is a good idea to use a foam stopper for the first few days of fermentation to allow more air to stay in the carboy. I have yet to use the latter but it seems to make sense to me.:drunk:
Click to expand...

So is this the same mix you would use for a stout dispense?
 
I would recommend reading the wort aeration article in the latest Zymurgy. If I remember correctly, pure O2 was best followed by shaking. Use a mixer / wine degaser / paint stirrer was not nearly as effective as most think. The pouring method (pouring hard from one vessel to another) was very poor and I believe using a pump with air wasn't very good either (not positive on this one though). I've since gone back to just shaking the carboy compared to using a wine degasser. It's apparently much more effective.
 
MrFeltimo said:
So is this the same mix you would use for a stout dispense?
Click to expand...

No. You'd use beer gas which is around 70% nitrogen, 30% CO2.

If you tried to dispense a beer with nitrox or any mix that includes O2, you would have to consume it all immediately. Otherwise, it would go stale and taste like wet cardboard.
 
dobe12 said:
It's apparently much more effective.
Click to expand...


Is that based off your experience or just one persons article? Ive used pure o2, drill stirrer and shaking methods. Noticed no difference in final beer quality. So now i use the simplest and cheapest method, dill stirrer. If i used a microscope and did measurements maybe i could see a difference, but as far as taste, color and smell are concerned no one in the world can take two exact same beers taste them and say this one was shook, this one was pure O2. Fermentation may start an hour earlier if you use pure O2, but is that a big deal? For me personally its a waste of money and a luxury not a necessity as it makes no difference a the end. All about the frugalness here!
 
I use a paint mixer with a cordless drill. There is a couple inches of froth on top of the wort before I pour it into a carboy.
 
DesignatedDrinker said:
Is that based off your experience or just one persons article? Ive used pure o2, drill stirrer and shaking methods. Noticed no difference in final beer quality. So now i use the simplest and cheapest method, dill stirrer. If i used a microscope and did measurements maybe i could see a difference, but as far as taste, color and smell are concerned no one in the world can take two exact same beers taste them and say this one was shook, this one was pure O2. Fermentation may start an hour earlier if you use pure O2, but is that a big deal? For me personally its a waste of money and a luxury not a necessity as it makes no difference a the end. All about the frugalness here!
Click to expand...

From the article. And I wouldn't classify it as "just on persons article". 80+ tests were run by someone named Carl Townsend who's a chemical engineer, BJCP national judge, and a member of the Pacific Gravity Brew Club.

PS: And no one is saying that you can't make good beer without pure O2 or that you'll even notice a taste difference. The article (if you read it) simply shows how much oxygen can be aerated back into worts of different gravities using different methods. And yes, having a specific amount of oxygen available for the yeast to consume is beneficial to the yeast.
 
dobe12 said:
And yes, having a specific amount of oxygen available for the yeast to consume is beneficial to the yeast.
Click to expand...


8ppm of O2 in your wort is more then enough for healthy yeast growth, which is what you can get with a fish tank pump or with a drill. Pure O2 can give you double that, but you wont notice any difference, i promise.
 
DesignatedDrinker said:
8ppm of O2 in your wort is more then enough for healthy yeast growth, which is what you can get with a fish tank pump or with a drill. Pure O2 can give you double that, but you wont notice any difference, i promise.
Click to expand...

Either you didn't read the article or I'm misinterpreting it, because that's not what I read and not what the charts show. Using the air method and stir method do not yield similar results. They are wildly different actually.
 
DesignatedDrinker said:
8ppm for those methods are listed on wyeasts website
Click to expand...

I assume this is what you are referring too?

Method DO ppm Time
Siphon Spray 4 ppm 0 sec.
Splashing & Shaking 8 ppm 40 sec.
Aquarium Pump w/ stone 8 ppm 5 min
Pure Oxygen w/ stone 0-26ppm 60 sec (12ppm)

It was concluded that pumping compressed air through a stone is not an efficient way to provide adequate levels of DO. Traditional splashing and shaking, although laborious, is fairly efficient at dissolving up to 8 ppm oxygen. To increase levels of oxygen, the carboy headspace can be purged with pure oxygen prior to shaking. The easiest and most effective method remains injecting pure oxygen through a scintered stone.

Not nearly as much information as the article in Zymurgy.... which I say again, you should read.
 
The levels of DO don't match up between the Zymurgy article and the Wyeast website. Even so, the Wyeast quote below sums it up.

It is generally safe to assume that you need at least 10ppm of oxygen. 10ppm will supply adequate oxygen in most situations.

We have tested all of these methods using a dissolved oxygen meter and have found that, when using air, 8 ppm of oxygen in solution is the best that you can achieve.

The easiest and most effective method remains injecting pure oxygen through a scintered stone.
Click to expand...
 
dobe12 said:
I assume this is what you are referring too?



Method DO ppm Time

Siphon Spray 4 ppm 0 sec.

Splashing & Shaking 8 ppm 40 sec.

Aquarium Pump w/ stone 8 ppm 5 min

Pure Oxygen w/ stone 0-26ppm 60 sec (12ppm)



It was concluded that pumping compressed air through a stone is not an efficient way to provide adequate levels of DO. Traditional splashing and shaking, although laborious, is fairly efficient at dissolving up to 8 ppm oxygen. To increase levels of oxygen, the carboy headspace can be purged with pure oxygen prior to shaking. The easiest and most effective method remains injecting pure oxygen through a scintered stone.



Not nearly as much information as the article in Zymurgy.... which I say again, you should read.
Click to expand...

Its a quite large yeast company, doing yeast experiments, giving you actual measured results. If im using there yeast, why wouldnt i use there data? I wouldnt buy a desk, throw away the instructions and google how to build it.
 
I don't get your point? The studies don't match exactly, but results are similar. Zymurgy at least explains the experiment and how it was conducted. Wyeast gives little to no information about the tests. And both studies show pure O2 is best. They do differ on an aquarium pump... but both conclude it's not a great method. Both show splashing or rocking a carboy is a decent method (Zymurgy shows better results), but Wyeast doesn't discuss a mixer. Zymurgy does and shows it does a poor job.

Sooooo...... I'm really not sure what point you're trying to make.

PS: THERE is a difference between there, they're, and their. I'll be happy to explain that too if you'd like. (Just messin with ya. A pet peeve of mine)
 
DesignatedDrinker said:
If im using there yeast, why wouldnt i use there data? I wouldnt buy a desk, throw away the instructions and google how to build it.
Click to expand...
For the same reason that if you bought a homebrew kit, you'd throw away the instructions and come here, to HBT to learn how to brew it.
 
My point is 8ppm is sufficient for proper fermentation which is what a mixer will get you. Look man, make a 5 gallon batch. Split it into two 3 gal fermenters and do one with Pure O2 and one by shaking. Let it do its thing and test them both. I bet they taste, smell and look the same. Mine did. You can argue numbers and lab tests all day and we can all find conflicting data, but until you test the theory yourself and see if it makes a difference, then whats the point lol

By the sound of it, you havent tried all methods.
 
Wyeast on Dissolved Oxygen (aeration):


White Labs on Dissolved Oxygen (aeration): 13:15-16:40


And, in the end, it's pretty conflicting statistics and advice coming from the 2 big yeast suppliers.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DesignatedDrinker said:
My point exactly. Test multiple methods yourself and come to a conclusion yourself.
Click to expand...

Or I can go with the professional's tests... as you yourself suggested... and end up completely confused because they are all conflicting. In the end they all agree that pure O2 is best. I don't have an O2 setup so, I prefer the shake method because studies show it's as effect if not more effective than a mixer, which I have routinely used in the past. I haven't noticed any difference in my beers since shaking, but I prefer to give my yeast the best possible chance for a healthy fermentation. And what I'm reading tells me shaking is better than mixing, so I choose to go that route.
 

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