Oxygenate in a conical?

[spittybug]

I currently do both 5 and 10 gallon batches by fermenting in cornies, blowing off into a bottle. This last batch got a bit of an oxygen kick by pumping from the out to the in using a little Chinese pump and having it go through a Tee with an aeration stone in it. This is connected to my disposable O2 cylinder, but I'm thinking a better long term solution is simply to connect to my air compressor via a nice Starsan soaked filter and just bubble it through the wort a couple of times in the early part of fermentation. Give those yeasties a fighting chance on the big beers!!

I'm getting itchy to buy a SSBrewtech 14gal conical however. It will fit in my ferm cabinet (barely). I suppose I could pump in via the racking port so long as I have the right connections. While the pressure on it would be significant, I'd just have to make sure the air pressure was greater before opening valve. I could even use the same pumping logic between the dump and the racking valves if I wanted...

Surely I'm not the first to ask this question. What do others do?

 

[Dcpcooks]

I use a stone with a long arm Ss arm and medical grade o2 from Air gas. After I rack it to the conical I hit it with pure o2 for about a min then pitch my slurry.

If you decide to push air from a compressor make sure you filter it very well. I'm not sure I'd go that route for hygiene reasons. I'm sure you can find a hepa filter to reduce the risk of moisture and airborne bugs.

That said aeration without o2 will only get you about half way to the correct o2 levels according to white labs tests.

You could just mount a stone to a tee and attach it to the out side of your pump ( depending on how you cool) as you push your beer to the racking arm on your conical.

 

[IslandLizard]

Don't use air from a compressor tank for food and beverages!
Even air from the tankless ones will contain oil, unless there's an suitable filter in between.