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Aeration? How important is the method?

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boapiu:
My next system upgrade may be an aquarium pump for aerating the wort. At present I am pouring from bucket to bucket a couple times and results are fine. But along with implementing yeast starters I figured an aeration system would be a logical step. Opinions on pros and cons and good ideas about technique are welcome. I already bought a stone and HEPA filter a while back, got ahead of myself in the beginning. Now with harvesting yeast and making starters to help things get going, well, the hobby can be a self licking ice cream cone. I wonder what kinds of different methods folks are using and what the various opinions are.
ps. My transition to batch sparging has yielded excellent results and I can't see going back to trying to fly sparge. I'm still using my pump to vorlauf and am pleased with how clear the wort is.
Thanks in advance.

wissota:
Different aeration methods were actually tested scientifically.  Google "Effectiveness of Various Methods of Wort Aeration."  The study basically showed that rocking/shaking the wort for 2 minutes was as effective or better at aerating your wort than any other method.

paul:
I just glanced at the article.  That seemed to compare just aeration, not oxygenation.  I've heard the same thing about aeration methods--that shaking as as good as an aquarium pump--at a presentation by a rep from Wyeast.  But he also stated, and I've heard elsewhere, that oxygenation will get more O2 into your wort.

Ah, here it is on their web site: http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_oxygenation.cfm.

I usually shake, then hit the wort with a little O2.  More for a bigger beer, less for a smaller one.  I'm not too scientific about it since I have no way to measure flow rate anyway.

sparkleberry:
i've recently been cooling, gravity draining into a bucket, mixing the hell out of it with my stirring spoon, transferring into a carboy and pitching yeast.  my fermentation has been kicking off within two hours.  i feel like it's working pretty well so far.

cheers.

ryan

brushvalleybrewer:

--- Quote from: paul on June 22, 2012, 10:06:23 pm ---I usually shake, then hit the wort with a little O2.  More for a bigger beer, less for a smaller one.  I'm not too scientific about it since I have no way to measure flow rate anyway.

--- End quote ---

If you purge the carboy head space with oxygen before shaking, it will be more effective.

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