aeration tips

[lowriderdog37]

I figured I'd start aerating my wart this batch. I acquired a HEPA filter, and a stone (linked below) from my home brew supplier yesterday. I went and got a fish tank pump for a 30 gallon tank, but it hardly pumps any air out of the stone. What kind of pump do I need to work this effectively?

http://www.mountainhomebrew.com/browseproducts/Aeration-Stone---2m-Stainless.HTML

EDIT: I didn't touch the stone with my skin...I was warned about that when I bought it.

 

[Yooper]

Mine works fine. How do you know there isn't any air coming through the wort? It does make very fine and diffuse oxygen bubbles, so you don't really see them. You can see a slight foam that grows bigger ontop of the wort, after about 20-30 minutes, though. Maybe it's working, but you can't see it?

 

[Reverend JC]

I have a march pump and I either borrow a buddies O2 and stone or if i forget or he is out of town i shake the hell out of the wort. BUT, with the 14.5 SS conical that is a ***** to shake. Today i noticed as i was pumping the wort from the CFC to the conical i noticed what appeared to a ton of frothing going on in the tube from the pump to the conical.


That has to be O2 right?


I shook the crap out of the first 5 gallons in it and am going to hope that those were O2 bubbles being churned into the wort from the pump.

Anyone else with pumps notice this?

 

[beerthirty]

Reverend check the clamps on the suction side of the pump. A loose clamp on the suction side will let air into the flow and not create a leak. If you hoses are clear, look at the first clamp upstream from where the bubbles start.

 

[Reverend JC]

normally i would think it was a prob, but since i didnt have the O2 and stone i am hopeing that it aerated it for me.

 

[lowriderdog37]

You can see a slight foam that grows bigger ontop of the wort, after about 20-30 minutes, though. Maybe it's working, but you can't see it?

Could be...I went with trying it in a glass of water before the brewing. All I could see is a few bubbles accumulating, then releasing from the stone.

 

[beerthirty]

when I was breeding Discus, I ran into a few new bad pumps. If that particular pump had set on the shelf for long then the bellows or flapper valves could have stiffened and reduced the amount of air pumped. Quality control is also an issue with the very cheap models, about 20% are just turds. Fill a carboy or bucket water. I would start with testing the pump and stone in plain water first(so you can see the bubbles) slowly pull the stone up to a couple inches from the surface. If you get substantially more bubbles near the surface than at the bottom, I would suspect the pump. If you get the same amount of bubbles I would suspect the airstone of being partially clogged. this was how I tested my pumps and airstones. I use cheapy plastic airstones myself. Leave them in my starsan bucket so they stay clean. Before I use one I give it a rub to make sure its not coming apart. then turn on the O2 before lowering it into the wort so wort doesn't soak into it. That way I can drop it back into the starsan when I'm done and not worry about trying to clean the sugary wort from inside the stone. they are so cheap that I replace the stone every 4-5 brews or so.

 

[Cape Brewing]

Why do folks use pumps to pump in air?

I have a stone hooked into an inexpensive regulator and then I just hook them up to $4 oxygen canisters that you can get at any hardward store (in the welding supply section).

The whole thing cost me about $50 and I get 7-8 batches out of each $4 canister. On top of that, it only takes between 90-120 seconds since I'm pumping pure oxygen into my wort and I don't have to shake anything.

 

[beerthirty]

Why do folks use pumps to pump in air?

I have a stone hooked into an inexpensive regulator and then I just hook them up to $4 oxygen canisters that you can get at any hardward store (in the welding supply section).

The whole thing cost me about $50 and I get 7-8 batches out of each $4 canister. On top of that, it only takes between 90-120 seconds since I'm pumping pure oxygen into my wort and I don't have to shake anything.

because its cheaper, you don't have to buy O2(recurring cost) or the regulator. I use O2 myself, but before I did I used the pump method, it works fine, it just takes longer.

 

[jay075j]

rather than just testing in pure water, try adding some StarSan to it. If it works, you should see some bubbling from that. If it doesn't work, take a look at the HEPA filter. The one that I bought (same one you have) the filter was backwards. The air is only going to flow in one direction. There should be an arrow that shows the air flow direction.