Aeration product of choice?

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Picobrew

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What products have you loved for Aeration? I was looking at the air pump ones , oxygen tank ones, and I'm not sure what's best. I want something that will last a long time and will scale up to larger batches.

My current aeration mechanism is pouring wort into the fermentor using a sieve, then doing a 45 second vigorous shake before pitching the yeast. I'm not very fond of the shake.
 
I use a Fizz-X rod on a drill for a couple of minutes for most beers, or 60 seconds of pure O2 from an oxygen stone and one of the disposable red oxygen tanks from the hardware store for lagers and any higher-gravity beers.
 
I used to use an aquarium air pump, but it took 30 minutes or so. I didn't mind it with my old system, as I would clean up during that time, but with my newer system it made the fermenters in the way while I did that.

My solution is very low tech- I have high flow tubing and I just hold the end of the tube as the wort comes out of the pump and it makes a huge splash and lots of foam.

If I did more higher OG beers, or ever had a batch that seemed to not fully attenuate or something, I'd add the o2 wand set up. It's fairly cheap, and highly efficient. Shaking/splashing only adds something like a maximum of 8 ppm of 02, while the O2 wand adds something like 12 ppm.
 
I have a medical O2 tank with tubing and a SS aeration stone. I set the regulator to 3 PSI and run for about two minutes. I always sanitize the stone w/ StarSan then flush it w/ a burst of O2 in StarSan after each use.
 
My solution is very low tech- I have high flow tubing and I just hold the end of the tube as the wort comes out of the pump and it makes a huge splash and lots of foam.

This is a lot like my sieve system. It gets super foamy. I have been reading the Jamil+Chris White "Yeast" book, and it is making me want to baby my yeast and take extra special care of them, which is why I'm thinking about upgrading. I have missed this forum in the last couple years of very infrequent brewing, glad to see you are still here to help Yooper!
 
I have a medical O2 tank with tubing and a SS aeration stone. I set the regulator to 3 PSI and run for about two minutes. I always sanitize the stone w/ StarSan then flush it w/ a burst of O2 in StarSan after each use.


This sounds nice and quick and simple. I was reading about other people boiling to clean every time and that sounds like a bit of a pain.
 
Get yourself a long straw. Take a big breath and blow. Then take a long draw on the straw. Then blow. Then draw. Repeat until you are foaming at the mouth.

I'm just kidding. You would only use this method AFTER the beer has fermented. Minus the blowing part, of course.

All seriousness aside, I do the "cradle-the-fermenting-vessel-in-your-arms-with-your-[sanitized] thumb-over-the-airlock grommet-and-slosh-for-a-couple-of-minutes" method. Has seemed to work so far. Not nearly as tasty as Option #1 though.
 
Wand and a red O2 tank, they last quite a few batches if the bubbles don't break the surface, the wand is nice to start a whirlpool and get the bubbles to dissolve without scratching the sides of the fermenter.
 
I use an electric blower connected to a small length of recycled septic system piping. Works great. You should taste the sours I make!!!
 
I have an inline aeration stone that aerates when the wort comes out of the plate chiller on its way into the fermenter. It's connected to a 40lb oxygen tank that I picked up off CL for $7. It's way cheaper to fill that than those disposable HD ones. I'll normally run it for a gallon (just keep an eye on the sight gauge) or two depending on the volume and gravity.
 
I have a medical O2 tank with tubing and a SS aeration stone. I set the regulator to 3 PSI and run for about two minutes. I always sanitize the stone w/ StarSan then flush it w/ a burst of O2 in StarSan after each use.

I found an old med O2 bottle and regulator at local welding supply and offered them $20 for it and have been using it like this for a while now.

The other day I was listening to an old brew strong episode and they had mentioned that if using pure O2 that you should aerate for 30 sec, no more than 60.

Any thoughts on time for aeration?
O2 content and bubble size?
 
Used to use the shake-the-hell-out-of- it method.
Then I poked some holes in a piece of tubing and made an inline aerator. That seems to work well and didn't cost anything.
 
I dump my kettle into a sanitized bucket through a sanitized strainer. That strainer ends up creating a lot of foam in itself. Then I dump the bucket's contents into my sanitized Big Mouth which gives me even more foam. Then I use my airstone/aquarium pump setup for another 15-20 minutes while I clean up.
 
I dump my kettle into a sanitized bucket through a sanitized strainer. That strainer ends up creating a lot of foam in itself. Then I dump the bucket's contents into my sanitized Big Mouth which gives me even more foam. Then I use my airstone/aquarium pump setup for another 15-20 minutes while I clean up.


Your new screen name is eaOverkill lol
 
Your new screen name is eaOverkill lol

I can see why it seems like overkill, but hear me out. When I brew alone, if I want to pour my kettle's contents though the strainer, then I have to pour it into a big bucket first because I can't rest the strainer on my Big Mouth Bubbler safely without all the wort spilling everywhere. Now, sure, I could ferment in a bucket, but I prefer to ferment in the Bubbler so I can see fermentation. My buckets I think have small leaks so the airlocks don't really bubble anymore. So, I go through the steps really to use the strainer and get the wort into the Bubbler - not so much because I'm OCD about aeration, though I guess I might be... :)
 
I've been looking at a bunch of oxygen systems online, and none of them seem to have a regulator w/ PSI . How are you regulating how much oxygen you add? I want to make sure to keep below 12ppm DO, so I am thinking 2psi for 60 seconds. Anyone have specific product / vendor recommendations?
 
I'm leaning toward this system:
http://www.morebeer.com/products/aeration-system.html

I plan to get a stopper with 2 holes in and run the line through one hole and run a sanitized airlock on the other hole to seal things up for the 15 minute bubble session. Seems like a decent way to go for the money. Any reason not to?

Skip that. Just get an aeration kit and the disposable O2 tanks from the hardware store. I got the Northern Brewer kit: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/oxygenation-kit

You can probably put your own together or buy it elsewhere for cheaper but man what a difference it's made for me. Quicker, no more physical exertion shaking my fermenter, and my beers taste even cleaner than before. And the regular air systems will never get as much O2 into the beer as pure O2 through a stone.


Rev.
 
Skip that. Just get an aeration kit and the disposable O2 tanks from the hardware store. I got the Northern Brewer kit: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/oxygenation-kit

You can probably put your own together or buy it elsewhere for cheaper but man what a difference it's made for me. Quicker, no more physical exertion shaking my fermenter, and my beers taste even cleaner than before. And the regular air systems will never get as much O2 into the beer as pure O2 through a stone.


Rev.


Ended up getting something like this with the disposable tanks and no PSI reading. Oxygenated for 60 seconds on a brew tonight. Will see how it goes! Hoping I can get by with just a starsan rinse and puffing it through starsan before and after. Keeping it all assembled. Boiled the stone for awhile before first use, and will probably do that only periodically.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Ended up going this route because I didn't want to have to get another big tank and the regulator models cost more.
 
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