Do I need to aerate?

[stevefarns]

I have really just been ignoring the idea of aeration because to this day I have never so much as shaken a fermenter to introduce o2. I can't imagine my siphon into my carboy with a racking cane introduces anything. I have been pretty satisfied with most of my beers and have never had one with a fermentation that never started. What is the harm of not doing it? And what is the benefit of doing it?
Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[beerbeerbeer123]

I have really just been ignoring the idea of aeration because to this day I have never so much as shaken a fermenter to introduce o2. I can't imagine my siphon into my carboy with a racking cane introduces anything. I have been pretty satisfied with most of my beers and have never had one with a fermentation that never started. What is the harm of not doing it? And what is the benefit of doing it?
Thanks for any thoughts.

Yeast need O2 during the first stage of fermentation. As the yeast reproduce they use up o2 to build stronger cell walls and helps the yeast do their thing thus promotes a faster more vigorous clean ferment from start to finish..Less off flavors and higher attenuation..But im sure you can ferment a batch without aeration/oxygenation, but with aeration/oxygenation your beer will improve drastically.

The harm of not doing it will be off flavors,under attenuation,stressed yeast,increased esters, slow
start,stuck fermentation

the benefit is clean,highly attenuated beer, minimal off flavors,happy yeast,better beer
cheers

 

[flars]

Are you using dry yeast?

 

[AussieBrewerInColorado]

Like beerbeerbeer said, yeast needs oxygen to do its job. I don't do aeration but shake the hell out of it when i add yeast, and then carry downstairs, hit my FG's that way. That being said, other things are important such as health of the yeast, fermentation temperature, adding any other yeast nutrients, and if you're using dry or liquid yest. As flars asked are you using dry yeast? When I recently went and brewed a beer with a commercial brewer, he told me that a little secret they don't tell you until you go to brew school in Belgium is you don't need to aerate dry yeast. So that makes a difference. Good luck!

 

[stevefarns]

I have used dry, vials and smack packs.

 

[stevefarns]

Interesting info about dry yeast. If you shake, do you add the yeast first of after?
If it seems to do the trick, I might just start shaking the carboy like crazy once I get my wort in.

 

[mvcorliss]

You really do t have to "shake like crazy". Place the bucket/carboy on a piece of carpet or doormat, have a seat on something low like a milk crate with the bucket in front of you. Lean it toward you about 30 degrees or so and start a nice rhythmic rocking motion. Keep this up for about 5 minutes and you will have a large froth formed and all of the o2 you're realistically going to get without an o2 tank.
BTW. I do this before the yeast is pitched. And I do it for both dry yeast and liquid yeast. Well at least I did until I got an o2 setup!

Note: if you are using a better bottle they warn against this method. They recommend placing a tennis ball underneath the bottle in the hollow and rocking on the ball. They don't want stress placed on the bottom edges of the bottle.

 

[unionrdr]

I use plastic fermenters & a dual layer fine mesh strainer. I pour the chilled wort & top off water through it in a circular motion. This makes the liquid come out the strainer like rain,aerating nicely & getting gunk out.
I then use my plastic paddle to stir roughly for 5 minutes to mix well & aerate a little more. I do this every time regarless of yeast type. Attenuation is always good.

 

[LouBrew13]

I aerate by draining my wort from my brew kettle using a ball valve above my bucket. I don't siphon and let it splash on the side going into the bucket. Nice big foamy top to pitch yeast onto at least a couple inches high. Works for me.

 

[stevefarns]

Sounds like the rocking method will be the easiest given my current equipment. I will give it a shot on my next brew and report back any changes I see.
So my fermentations typically take 18-24 hours to show any signs of activity. Would I expect that time to shorten up a bit?
What about the venturi effect? I have seen a couple of posts about that and it looks like a quick mod to some tubing can accomplish that. Will I get a higher o2 level using that or am I just as well off with the rock method?

 

[unionrdr]

You could start seeing fermentation in 12 hours or less with a healthy pitch.

 

[Evan_L]

Sounds like the rocking method will be the easiest given my current equipment. I will give it a shot on my next brew and report back any changes I see.
So my fermentations typically take 18-24 hours to show any signs of activity. Would I expect that time to shorten up a bit?
What about the venturi effect? I have seen a couple of posts about that and it looks like a quick mod to some tubing can accomplish that. Will I get a higher o2 level using that or am I just as well off with the rock method?

I just tried the venturi idea with my siphon for the last two brews, I think it makes a huge difference and with much less time and effort involved. Just don't forget and use the same siphon tube to transfer beer after fermentation, I almost made that mistake.

 

[LovesIPA]

A few months ago SWMBO and I got a good deal on a pair of wine aerators. They are the "Vinturi" brand and draw a lot of air into the wine as it pours into the wine glass. With this thread still fresh in my head, I went into the kitchen to make a starter today and it dawned on me.

Can I position the Vinturi over the carboy, slowly drain the chilled wort into the Vinturi and aerate this way? Seems like it would work well.

 

[JayMac]

You could, but this would take forever.


There is a thread on here about creating a Venturi tube in a taking cane. Try a little search. I'll try an summarize here:

Take your transfer tubing, cut it in half. Get a 3" piece of polycarbonate (or other hard plastic tubing) which has an outside diameter equal to the inside diameter of the transfer tubing and attach the two sections of tubing to it. Drill a hole (1/16") into the hard plastic.NOTE: I think 1/16" is right, but I'm not sure. Check the thread for the proper hole diameter. Only one hole is required, and the hole diameter is dependent on the size of the polycarbonate.

When the wort travels through the polycarbonate tube, it's speed increases with respect to the speed in the transfer tubing because the cross sectional area decreases. This creates a pressure gradient. Now, when the wort passes through the tube, air will be drawn through the hole, and aerate the beer. It's the same Venturi idea that the wine aerator uses (if you look closely you can see the hole and then reducing diameter).

Costs about a dollar and now you can aerate your beer AS it transfers to the fermenter. No need to pick up 50lb carboys anymore.

 

[LovesIPA]

I'm familiar with the Bernoulli principle. That's a good idea and I think I'll try it when I brew tomorrow. Thanks!