Agitation?

[bhansen99xj]

Is agitation required in brewing? Is it optional? Are there benefits or drawbacks?

Reason for asking? I have a variable speed mixer from a lab that I could put to good use. Don't want to attempt it later on and find that agitation isn't helping or is harming the brew.

 

[phatuna]

is that a device that you would use after brewing and prior to pitching yeast to introduce O2? if so, I think it's a great idea

 

[bhansen99xj]

yeah agitation will help aerate. My line of thinking is helping the yeast do it's job more efficiently....I'm sure I could find other uses for it too, like if you have to introduce cooling, agitating will help cool my keeping the solution moving around. Still learning about this whole process, so if I am out of line with my crazy ideas, let me know!