Aeration

[GPa Bob]

Just happened to drop back to the general discussions part of this forum today and came across this sticky: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/aging-beer-facts-myths-and-discussion.84005/ . The author stated he never aerated his brew. He just made sure to pitch very healthy yeast. I'm not disputing his method as if it works for him, so be it. I aerate mine with a paint mixer that attaches to a drill which I got at Lowes for $6.50 and spin it for about 2 minutes. Do most of you aerate, or am I just wasting time?

 

[SlopbukitBrewery]

You will likely get different answers from different people. I do not aerate. I make sure that I am pitching a good amount of healthy active yeast from a starter. For some reason, my beer drastically improved when I stopped aerating. I have a couple of medals from competitions last year which I have never been able to accomplish before.
Aerating is to allow for yeast growth. I find that pitching a proper amount of active yeast from a starter (stirplate) has already given the yeast the ability to multiply etc and now they can go on to fermenting.
This is only my 2 cents. There are lots of people who will disagree and they will have very good arguments for aeration. Stick with what works best for you.

 

[ncbrewer]

From the manufacturers' websites, it seems dried yeast doesn't need aeration. But I'm not confident in this. I still give it some aeration by pouring the wort into the fermenter from shoulder high. This, along with some other improvements in the process, solved a low attenuation problem that I was having.

 

[kh54s10]

I always aerate, because it was most often said that it is important. I have read that dry yeast is engineered so that it is not necessary.

I have never entered a competition, but I would rate most of my beers ahead of mid priced commercial craft beers.

 

[uSlackr]

I almost always do a starter. I then Aerate by pouring my wort slowly through a strainer. It pulls out trub and aerates some.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I never aerated then I started with the paint mixer then I stopped using it. I never noticed a difference one way or the other. They always seem to take off the same and finish at the correct FG.

I'm in the camp of if I don't need it I don't want it.
Many will differ but the proof is in the pudding
I rarely use liquid yeast though

 

[waldoar15]

Lagers always. Ales only when the yeast mfg suggests it. I use O2 and a wand.

 

[A.O. Blitz]

Most yeast require 8ppm of Oxygen but that's very hard to achieve without pure oxygen. I always aerate by running my wort through a strainer then shaking the fermenter. I wouldn't use a paint mixer or drill set up. If u disturb the wort too much you will break up all the head retention proteins. But I always use liquid yeast in a 1000L starter no matter the beer I'm brewing.

 

[MaxStout]

Most yeast require 8ppm of Oxygen but that's very hard to achieve without pure oxygen. I always aerate by running my wort through a strainer then shaking the fermenter. I wouldn't use a paint mixer or drill set up. If u disturb the wort too much you will break up all the head retention proteins. But I always use liquid yeast in a 1000L starter no matter the beer I'm brewing.

I have never heard that before. Could you steer us to some more information on it?

 

[A.O. Blitz]

I listen to a podcast called brewstrong. It's hosted by Jamil Zannashef and John Palmer on the brewing network. And the consensus is a lighter OG really needs about 8ppm while something in the 1.065 or higher really need like 10ppm. That said Palmer states that while 8 ppm is ideal it's very difficult to do and you will never surpass the equilibrium. So unless u are using pure oxygen u can not surpass the amount of Oxygen in the air which is about 8ppm on average.

 

[A.O. Blitz]

Oh sorry... didn't notice the head retention highlighted. Same podcast different episode.

 

[MaxStout]

I generally don't agitate the wort much, aside from racking from the kettle to fermenter while passing it through a strainer to catch some of the kettle trub. I oxygenate with O2 through a stone right after pitching. But I want to make sure I'm not adding anything to my process that may disturb the proteins. I'll look for that podcast. Thanks.

 

[A.O. Blitz]

Listening to that podcast is how I learned everything i know about brewing. I have Samsung galaxy and I use podcast player. The head retention episode is the 3rd episode

 

[Kent88]

I have been brewing some high gravity beer lately. Belgian dark strong ale, warm fermented Bock. I also made a saison with 3724, which can be kind of tricky. So I use the aquarium style aeration system.

I figure I get peace of mind knowing it gets aerated, I have an easier time aerating big beers in the middle of krausen, I don't have to lift and shake glass carboys, and I saw a brulosophy experiment where they tested aeration with a barleywine and the better aerated batch either hit final gravity sooner or attenuated better.

Edit: it's the pure oxygen vs nothing experiment, and it was both. The better aerated batch finished faster, attenuated better, and dropped clearer than the batch that wasn't aerated. As far as the taste test, no statistical significance was found at the levels they look for (or however they phrase it). Given this and other information I had collected, I decided on the aeration system I described.

 

[A.O. Blitz]

Using your process you should be fine.

 

[GPa Bob]

Thanks, all for your inputs. I ended up with the idea a starter is much more important than aerating, although aerating is somewhat important.

 

[RPh_Guy]

This thread has been interesting, thanks guys.

....Oxygen in the air which is about 8ppm on average.

Uh, actually "210000 ppm" oxygen (21%)...

https://www.wyeastlab.com/oxygenation/ and you can easily get up to 8ppm DO (but not above) by agitation.

 

[A.O. Blitz]

This thread has been interesting, thanks guys.


Uh, actually "210000 ppm" oxygen (21%)...

https://www.wyeastlab.com/oxygenation/ and you can easily get up to 8ppm DO (but not above) by agitation.

Hmm... I guess I misunderstood. I'll have to go back and listen again and review Palmer's book. Thanks for the correction.

 

[beermanpete]

According to White and Zainasheff in "Yeast", 8 ppm is the maximum amount of oxygen that can be dissolved into wort using air as the source of oxygen.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Yes, that's the equilibrium point
Sorry, I didn't mean to nitpick.

The other thing to consider is that if a wort "requires 10 ppm", you can just aerate it more that once during active fermentation to achieve the necessary level since the effect is cumulative.

There are certainly a lot of sources that say yeast need require oxygen during the growth phase. In practice for homebrewers it still seems unclear whether there is any benefit and in what situations. Dry yeast and starters should provide much of the needed oxygen if the pitch rate is adequate.
Anecdotes of beer improving without aeration is very interesting.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I don’t really aerate anymore. When I transfer the wort from the kettle to the fermenter it splashes a lot though. Must be enough. I’m usually pitching harvested yeast from a previous batch, so I just make certain to use what would normally be a healthy over-pitch. No problems thus far.

 

[beermanpete]

It seems like the debate about aerating the wort at pitching time is tied to the pitching rate. The idea presented by the anti-aeration proponents is; if enough yeast are pitched there is no need for a growth phase and therefore no need to aerate the wort. I don't agree with this idea but have no evidence to support my opinion.

 

[uSlackr]

For anyone new to brewing who reads this, here's my interpretation of when & why to aerate.
o2 is needed to build up new yeast cells. If you limit the o2 available at the beginning of fermentation, you limit the amount of new cells that can be created from the yeast pitch.
Given that, if you pitch a healthy starter with more yeast than necessary, the need for aeration is reduced. If, on the other hand your pitch is smaller and/or your beer requires a lot for yeast for fermentation (high OG), you'll need to aerate well.
Bottom line is we likely get away with little aeration because of the size and health of our starters.

 

[kh54s10]

Another thought on why aerating may be a good thing. It is said that a wort is a hostile environment for yeast cells. Oxygen is necessary to keep cells healthy. So even if you are pitching plenty of yeast, they will stay healthier with oxygen present. How much oxygen is debatable, I guess.

 

[Lefou]

My method is simply siphoning the cooled wort into the carboy and leaving some air for headspace, then shaking vigorously several times as the foam subsides. Hefeweizen yeast seems to like this approach.