Do NOT aerate??

[evans5150]

Hey guys,

I made a clone of Oscar's Chocolate Oatmeal Stout last night and it says "Do not aerate the wort" because you "want a high ending gravity for this beer." I've never seen or done this before until this recipe.

So, this morning my wort was at 72 degrees and I pitched the Irish Ale Yeast without aerating. How long do you think this would take to start fermenting?

Thanks,

evans5150 of Reno

 

[bradsul]

Aerating is about healthy yeast growth, not controlling the final gravity. You always want to aerate your wort before pitching. You will probably get a pretty long lag time, so don't worry if it takes 48 hours for it to get started (maybe more if your temperature drops).

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Where did you get that kit? The directions sound a little suspect.

I would've aerated it. It's not a lack of aeration that will contribute to a high FG so much as using a yeast that is not highly attenuative.

You'll probably get a little bit of a long lag time. Give it at least 72 hours.

For now, RDWHAHB!

 

[McKBrew]

Could you post your recipe so we can take a look at it and give some better advice? What was your OG? If you only pitched one vial of yeast without making a starter, I really wouldn't be too concerned if it took up to 3 days for fermentation to start.

The advice not to aerate seems a bit odd, not quite sure why that would be part of the recipe.

 

[evans5150]

Thanks for the advice so far, guys.

I got the recipe from BYO's 150 Classic Clone Recipes magazine.

6.6 lbs of pale extract
1 lb of munich malt
1 lb of wheat malt
4 oz. roasted barley
10 oz. flaked oats
1.5 oz. Goldings hops (60min)
1 oz Goldings hops (5 min)
WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

OG of 1.056
FG target of 1.020
4.75% ABV

Thanks,

evans5150

 

[FlyGuy]

That's just plain strange advice. Typically, if you wanted a higher finishing gravity, you would just mash a little warmer (say 156 F) and produce a highly dextrinous wort (for AG/PM) and/or add some maltodextrin (e.g., for extract brews). Once the wort is ready, then you would pitch the type of yeast that matches the flavour profile you want to achieve, and aerate it really well to ensure a strong fermentation with no off flavours.

 

[evans5150]

That's what I thought as well.

Can I still aerate the wort because I pitched the yeast about 4 hours ago? I wouldn't think that would hurt anything.

Thoughts?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I think you could safely aerate at this point. The sooner you do it, the better.

 

[FlyGuy]

If it has only been four or five hours, no problem. I would do it.

 

[evans5150]

Thanks again, guys. I went ahead and just did a heavy aeration and put some blankets around the bucket to keep the temps at 68-70. I'm assuming I'll see some activity around noon or later tomorrow. I'll throw out an update when it starts.

Also, a homebrew store had told a friend of mine that he didn't need to keep the yeast out of the fridge for 3-6 hours. The wort was at 72 degrees when I pitched it and I had it out of the fridge for only an hour. I'm sure that will be fine as well. Yeast is hardy.

 

[Orfy]

Are you saying the BYO instructions say Do Not Aerate?

 

[bradsul]

Are you saying the BYO instructions say Do Not Aerate?

I just read the instructions for that in the issue and it does indeed!

Cool the wort to 75F (24C) - do not aerate (you want a high ending gravity for this beer!).

I have trouble believing it but there it is in print.

 

[FlyGuy]

I have read some funny stuff in BYO. In a fairly recent issue one of their articles claimed that if you ever leave your fermenting beer on the yeast in the primary for longer than a week it will NECESSARILY lead to autolysis and off-flavours. I don't have the quote in front of me, but it said it that directly like it was a certainty. In the most recent issue, Mr Wizard also claimed that oxygenating wort at more than 8 ppm will kill the yeast. Etc., etc. Ridiculous stuff.

 

[bradsul]

For Christmas I was given Homebrewer's Answer Book by Ashton Lewis (BYO Mr. Wizard) and I've found some of the information to be somewhat interesting and contrary to my (and many other HBT'ers) experience. I actually let my BYO membership lapse, it's very repetitive after only 1 year.

 

[evans5150]

For Christmas I was given Homebrewer's Answer Book by Ashton Lewis (BYO Mr. Wizard) and I've found some of the information to be somewhat interesting and contrary to my (and many other HBT'ers) experience. I actually let my BYO membership lapse, it's very repetitive after only 1 year.

Okay...I'm glad I'm not crazy!! When I read that as well I thought, "Okay...I'll give it a shot." But I'm glad I double-checked here with the REAL experts. I aerated yesterday like I said I would and sure enough, at around 11pm last night I had some airlock activity. As of right now (12 hours later) the airlock is still bubbling strong. I'm excited about this beer as I've never made a stout before. I will enter the ingredients and exactly what I did in my Beertools and tweak the recipe to my taste in the next batch.

I also let my BYO membership lapse as now I have SO MANY recipes on this website as well as all over the internet. Thanks again, guys! You all rock!!

 

[david_42]

The writers at BYO seem to be a bit weak (or maybe just outdated) when it comes to how to treat yeast. I've read other things in BYO concerning yeast that make the people at Wyeast cringe.

 

[HuggerOrange]

For what it's worth, I read somewhere (can't remember quite where) someone saying not to aerate the wort, but instead just the starter. The basic thought was all the oxygen the yeast needed would be in the starter thus no risk of too much oxygen in the wort therefore no off flavors. As far as Ashton Lewis goes, I got his book also and I don't always agree with what he has to say. He also has a tendency not to answer the question being asked and instead go off on some tangent.

 

[david_42]

From the folks at Wyeast, "You cannot put too much oxygen into the wort if you only do it once. Wort saturates at 33 ppm (using pure O2) and that will not bother the yeast unless you damaged it already." Continuous aerate for long periods can be a problem.

 

[eddie]

Always aerate your wort. If you want a little extra sweetness then either mash at a higher temp or add lactose to the boil.

 

[EinGutesBier]

Thanks for the advice so far, guys.

I got the recipe from BYO's 150 Classic Clone Recipes magazine.

6.6 lbs of pale extract
1 lb of munich malt
1 lb of wheat malt
4 oz. roasted barley
10 oz. flaked oats
1.5 oz. Goldings hops (60min)
1 oz Goldings hops (5 min)
WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

OG of 1.056
FG target of 1.020
4.75% ABV

Thanks,

evans5150

I've spoken to Todd, the brewer of Oscar's Oatmeal Stout (Sand Creek Brewing, Black River Falls, WI) and there was never any mention of no or minimal aeration of the wort for this beer. So just stick to what the guys on the forum said and aerate that wort!