Aeration?

[treesmcgee]

Hello all, bout to do my second AG brew this weekend after I've finally built my new mash tun, copper with brass ball valve. And my question is about aeration. What do most of ya'll use for aerating your beer? Would a simple aquarium pump with an air stone work or what? I heard some people use 'pure' o2 for their aeration, is there any benefit? Has anyone used either of these methods? Thanks!

 

[jagg]

Hello all, bout to do my second AG brew this weekend after I've finally built my new mash tun, copper with brass ball valve. And my question is about aeration. What do most of ya'll use for aerating your beer? Would a simple aquarium pump with an air stone work or what? I heard some people use 'pure' o2 for their aeration, is there any benefit? Has anyone used either of these methods? Thanks!

I am using a mix-stir thingy, it is a stainless rod with 2 wing type paddles that spread apart when it is turned at high speed, most homebrew shops will have these, you slide a bung on the shaft, then connect it to a drill, the bung holds the shaft in the center preventing contact to the mouth of the carboy, turned at high speed it really whips the wort into a huge foam, all my yeast are attenuating all the way, so it must be working, I may go to the pure O2 at some point, but I think this thing is working so well, I may just stick with this, good luck and brew on bro

 

[Bigsnake]

I might switch to pure O2 in the future, well, I want to switch to that, but, for right now I filter my beer after cooling as it goes into the fermenter. The small stream coming off the funnel seems to be broken up a good bit and I get a couple inches of foam on top of the beer. Myself and my two friends who brew both do this and have had no problems with yeast.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

I was using a stone and O2, but on my last 3 batches I just let the wort splash into the carboy via the pump and then shook a little as I carried to the basement and I've been getting good attenuation and fermentation kicking in in less than 24 hours.

 

[treesmcgee]

Yeah, I was under the impression that a large amount of agitation of the wort before fermentation can introduce oxygen into the oxygen starved environment. And I suppose it did work well as my first AG brew is STILL fermenting and its been 8 days as of today, although I did notice a reduction in the krausen which is a good sign that I'm about to be able to bottle this *hopefully* tasty brew!

 

[Yooper]

I'm actually going backwards this time. I had an aquarium pump, and it worked great for me. But then, I had an issue with one of my aquariums and I had to use the pump for my silly fish tank.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to try using my wine whip (the degasser mentioned earlier) with a drill to aerate. I will combine that with splashing the wort. I do have a big WLP001 starter all ready to go, so it might not be a very scientific experiment, but we'll see.

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

I use any oxygenator. Just a 1-2 minute blast of O2 and you're all set.

 

[WBC]

I like oxygen and for yeast propagation it is the best. The only hard part is making sure it is sterile. I boil it for 15 minutes and soak the tubing in Starsan for the same 15 minutes and use sanitized rubber gloves because the oils from your hands can plug the oxygen stone. I always clean it right after use too so it will not get ugly bacteria inside.

 

[treesmcgee]

Yeah I should make a yeast starter, which by the way, what is the best way in which to go about making a starter? What type of vessel do you use to get the starter going, and it is my understanding that you use some light DME to give the yeast something to feed on?

 

[WBC]

All you need is a sanitary food grade container but a sanitized glass container is the best. Starter for a 5 or 6 gallon batch.

Starter for a 5 to 6 gallon batch:
I boil 1 qt of water to 1 cup DME and a half teaspoon of yeast nutrient 15 minutes. cool to 80F and pour it into your sanitized glass container and pitch the liquid yeast. Shake well to aerate or use oxygen. Ferment in your container at 70F with a piece of sanitized foil as a top until high krausen and it is ready to pitch into ALE wort. Propagate 2 times that amount for a LAGER.

 

[enohcs]

Yeah I should make a yeast starter, which by the way, what is the best way in which to go about making a starter? What type of vessel do you use to get the starter going, and it is my understanding that you use some light DME to give the yeast something to feed on?

I used to make a starter every time in a half gallon growler. I would boil DMS in water, chill and pitch a vila of yeast...then I realized...I was spending way too much time on starters. The process takes about an hour from prep to pitching. I can get the same results by purchasing 2 vials of yeast and I don't have to worry about any contamination on my end. it's only an additional $6 each batch and it saves me time.

As for oxygenation...check out this video [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A734B5E1C3U]YouTube - Homebrewing Aeration/Oxygenation Experiment[/ame]
I got a stone and the pure O2 from home depot.

 

[WBC]

Enohcs,
I like your sentence "I would boil DMS in water". Anyway, nice video Bobby made. I hope he chimes in here and explains how he takes the time lapse video?

 

[enohcs]

Enohcs,
I like your sentence "I would boil DMS in water". Anyway, nice video Bobby made. I hope he chimes in here and explains how he takes the time lapse video?

I meant DME...sorry

 

[Bobby_M]

Timelapse? google AnimatorDV... FREE!!!

 

[treesmcgee]

lol i dont mean to start a fight here! but thanks for the information gentlemen! I actually had good activity from my *single* vial of WLP0001 yeast... apparently they *say* its pitchable? first time but ive seen decent results... as for oxygenation... i say it can only help, ****, if it puts my yeast into a quicker setting than straight non-oxygenated wort then im doing it, just gotta get the equipment!