An idea for aerating wort.

[hazedandconfused]

I haven't come across this yet - although i havent looked.

So a lot of us noobs pour our boiled (and hopefully cooled) wort onto some amount of water in the fermenter. We pour it in a manner to aerate everything for the yeast. So i was thinking that in addition to that - we could aerate the water in the fermenter before the wort gets poured in. You know just sort of put a lid on the fermenter and shake it baby to aerate the water for a bit of extra O2. Then procede to pour wort as normal.

Just an idea.

 

[Fid]

Most people pour their wort in first and then add top off water to the fermenter once the wort is in. That way you know you are filling to the correct volume and are properly compensating for any boil off you had and end up with exactly 5 gallons of beer... or whatever your final volume is suppose to be.

Once the top off water is added to the wort in my fermenter I shake the bejesus out of it for 2 reasons:

1. Hopefully aerate the wort and give the yeast a better place to do their business.
2. To mix my wort and my top off water together so I can get a fairly accurate OG reading.

Edit: Reason number 2 takes alot more mixing than you might expect. Search for "Lower than expected OG" and see how many results you get with revvy telling people their beer is fine and they just took a diluted sample because it wasn't mixed well enough.

 

[dshaggy]

Pour it through a strainer. Filter all the crap out. Introduce O2.

 

[dcp27]

normal water will already have oxygen in it. your wort has none because the boil drives it out. you could do it if you want, but I don't see there being much added benefit

 

[GreenDragon]

I bought a $9, dual hose, aquarium pump from WalMart and started aerating the batch for 40 mins after everything is in the fermentor.

 

[hazedandconfused]

What ive been doing has been putting some water in the fermentor, then pouring the wort in and then topping it off with water to the 5 gallon mark. I guess it wouldnt really matter as to whether the water is added before or after the wort though - the water could be aerated either way. I just think that it would give the wort a bit more o2 with which to work.
As a side thought, perhaps a sterilized wisk?

 

[KevinW]

Shaking works, not easy but it works, pouring from height works, transferring from one container to another a few times works, wisking, air infusion, oxygen infusion (what I do), racking through a hose with small holes in the tubing to get air in the wort, and a few more that I cannot recall at this time!

 

[mparmer]

I bought a paint stirrer from HD that goes in my cordless drill and I clean it and sanitize it. So before I pitch, I use this little rig to stir the sh_t out of the wort. It foams up great, I have minimal lag times and no problems from infection.

 

[dfc]

Bottling buckets work great for this.

 

[msa8967]

I bought a $9, dual hose, aquarium pump from WalMart and started aerating the batch for 40 mins after everything is in the fermentor.

Any chance you could post a picture of how everything is connected using your aquarium pump? Is the yeast already in the fermentor during these 40 minutes or are you pitch the yeast after? Sorry if this seems like such a noobie question but your idea of using the pump seems really cool.

 

[cclloyd]

racking through a hose with small holes in the tubing to get air in the wort

This is utilizing the venturi effect and it works very well. I do this when racking to primary from the brewpot and it creates a 4-6" layer of foam on the wort - plenty of aeration for your average starting gravities.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

normal water will already have oxygen in it. your wort has none because the boil drives it out. you could do it if you want, but I don't see there being much added benefit

+1 This is why you should aerate the total wort after top-up. Don't forget that pre-boiing your top-up water (to sanitize) will evolve the O2 in solution there too.

 

[GreenDragon]

Any chance you could post a picture of how everything is connected using your aquarium pump? Is the yeast already in the fermentor during these 40 minutes or are you pitch the yeast after? Sorry if this seems like such a noobie question but your idea of using the pump seems really cool.

I'll post a pick when I get home tonight but here's what I did. I got a metal coat hanger, straitened it out, washed, and sanatized the crap out of it. I then zippy tied the two tubes along the length of the coat hanger. I left the top of the hanger bent at 90 degrees to act as a handle. I start in one corner of the carboy and after 10 minutes move it to another corner. After 40 mins I yank the tubes out, put my airlock on, and let it do its thing.

 

[Damoxemus]

Thread-surrection:

I've been adding my top off water by using the "out" hose of my immersion chiller. It's pretty thin at the end and the water comes out with a lot of pressure and adds quite a bit of bubbles/air into the wort.
I still shake it like crazy though, just to make sure.

 

[BlackGoat]

Thread-surrection:

I've been adding my top off water by using the "out" hose of my immersion chiller. It's pretty thin at the end and the water comes out with a lot of pressure and adds quite a bit of bubbles/air into the wort.
I still shake it like crazy though, just to make sure.

Not sure how that aerates it at all, and (maybe off topic) do you sanitize the inflow and outflow tubing of your chiller? The very brief contact time with the hot wort as the water passes through the copper wouldn't be long enough to kill the bacteria?

 

[divrguy]

James From Basic Brewing just did a podcast on aerating. Seems the oxygen bottle worked the best in the tests they did. there were a couple flaws in the process but nothing big. I have been using a paint stirrer on a Dewalt for years and have always had good results but after listening it made me think ...could it be better if I bought an O2 kit?

 

[Damoxemus]

Not sure how that aerates it at all, and (maybe off topic) do you sanitize the inflow and outflow tubing of your chiller? The very brief contact time with the hot wort as the water passes through the copper wouldn't be long enough to kill the bacteria?

Yep, I sanitize them first, for sure.

I'm not sure if it *is* adding a lot of oxygen or not. The chiller is still in the sink, and the bucket is on the floor. The water is travelling from the tube to the bucket quite fast, and about 3 feet or so. When it hits the wort there is a tonne of foam/bubble. After I get 5 gallons I throw a lid on it and shake it.