I am toying with the notion of using a hole saw to add carb stones to my 7-gallon Brew Buckets so that I can ditch my oxygenation wand. My current process involves oxygenating before placing the fermenters in their fermentation fridges which means lifting full fermenters into fridges which is increasingly a PITA. The theory behind this plan would be to fill the Brew Buckets while they are already in their fermentation fridges and then apply oxygen via the carb stone after the transfer is complete.
As far as my cleaning and sanitization plan is concerned, after each batch I would remove carb stone assemblies from the Brew Buckets and soak them in PBW. During this soak, I'd burst CO2 through the stones to push out any gunk that seeped in during fermentation. I'd follow this with a soak in hot rinse water and more CO2 bursting. I'd follow that with a quick boil of the stone assemblies followed by a soak and CO2 burst in Star San before reinstalling them in the Brew Buckets. Curious if anyone has tried something like this. Input from folks with Unitanks would be appreciated as well since I believe most of those have carb stones in place during the entire fermentation. I've used a wand and stone to oxygenate for years and given my meticulous cleaning, boiling, sanitizing practice, I have never had issues but those stones are only in contact with the wort for a few minutes, not days or even weeks. My biggest concern is the stones becoming permanently clogged with fermentation gunk over time or causing contamination.
FYI - I do not intend to carbonate the beer in the Brew Buckets as I know they are not designed to be pressurized and the oxygen would be applied with a blowoff in place.
As far as my cleaning and sanitization plan is concerned, after each batch I would remove carb stone assemblies from the Brew Buckets and soak them in PBW. During this soak, I'd burst CO2 through the stones to push out any gunk that seeped in during fermentation. I'd follow this with a soak in hot rinse water and more CO2 bursting. I'd follow that with a quick boil of the stone assemblies followed by a soak and CO2 burst in Star San before reinstalling them in the Brew Buckets. Curious if anyone has tried something like this. Input from folks with Unitanks would be appreciated as well since I believe most of those have carb stones in place during the entire fermentation. I've used a wand and stone to oxygenate for years and given my meticulous cleaning, boiling, sanitizing practice, I have never had issues but those stones are only in contact with the wort for a few minutes, not days or even weeks. My biggest concern is the stones becoming permanently clogged with fermentation gunk over time or causing contamination.
FYI - I do not intend to carbonate the beer in the Brew Buckets as I know they are not designed to be pressurized and the oxygen would be applied with a blowoff in place.
Last edited:
