[morticaixavier]

I've always been fond of my good old stainless steel balloon whisk. It's already in my kitchen so it's free and it gives my forearms a good workout.

[HoosierBrew]

It's times like this when I think to myself WWDD?

probably use a mix stir and tell every one that he had great results and it's cheap and easy.

First of all, +1 to the mix stir.  Secondly, I shot coffee out of my nose on the 'WWDD'. It's gold.   

[denny]

Don't worry about flaming here. It is rare.

I've heard of some using olive oil in place of oxygen. Never tried it and I question its value.

olive oil huh? hows that work (or supposed to work)?

It doesn't.  It was meant for yeast storage, not to replace aeration.  And even that didn't work out well.  I interviewed Grady Hull, the creator of the process, about it and there's a section in our book.  He was mystified where homebrewers got the idea it could replace aeration.

[denny]

It's times like this when I think to myself WWDD?

probably use a mix stir and tell every one that he had great results and it's cheap and easy.

Anyway, that would be my method if I was looking for something aside from an aquarium set up. I would not look for an "artificial" method of aeration. I would consider experimenting with the olive oil method though. There were homebrewers experimenting with it who reported good results "back in the day".

You know me so well!

I never saw anyone report good results with OO.  I saw one pretty good test that gave it poor marks.  Everyone else kinda went "Well, it didn't hurt".  Not exactly resounding praise! 

[narcout]

I interviewed Grady Hull, the creator of the process, about it and there's a section in our book.  He was mystified where homebrewers got the idea it could replace aeration.

In our defense, the paper he wrote is titled Olive Oil Addition to Yeast as an Alternative to Wort Aeration.

The final paragraph of the intro also states, "In this paper we will look at the results of a study in which full-scale fermentations were conducted . . . with yeast that was treated with olive oil during storage instead of aerating the wort."

I think what might have been missed is that the olive oil was added to the yeast in storage tanks five hours prior to pitching.  It was not added directly to the wort.

[denny]

I interviewed Grady Hull, the creator of the process, about it and there's a section in our book.  He was mystified where homebrewers got the idea it could replace aeration.

In our defense, the paper he wrote is titled Olive Oil Addition to Yeast as an Alternative to Wort Aeration.

The final paragraph of the intro also states, "In this paper we will look at the results of a study in which full-scale fermentations were conducted . . . with yeast that was treated with olive oil during storage instead of aerating the wort."

I think what might have been missed is that the olive oil was added to the yeast in storage tanks five hours prior to pitching.  It was not added directly to the wort.

What was also missed was that the method didn't work all that well and was abandoned.

[narcout]

What was also missed was that the method didn't work all that well and was abandoned.

The paper I reference above noted slower fermentations and increased esters but improved flavor stability.  However, I later heard (though just through the forum grapevine) that long term flavor stability actually suffered.

It was a cool idea though.
 

[narvin]

I think someone tested out sea monkeys a few years ago and got good results.

[kramerog]

Hydrogen peroxide releases oxygen too, but "O" not "O2".  Can yeast digest O?

Not exactly, but O· can probably digest yeast pretty well...

2 KClO3(s) → 3 O2(g) + 2 KCl(s) (per Wikipedia) is the reaction gone to completion.  However, based on Wikipedia it sounds like the reaction would evolve oxygen over time not just when you need it. Also lots of bad things can happen like using pure oxygen.

Yeah, K Chlorate sounds like nasty stuff to deal with. But if you can manage it safely then it may be ok for starters or maybe something like a high gravity mead, where you're introducing oxygen over an extended period of time at the beginning of fermentation.

I could see using it for a mead if the meadmaker was going out of town for a few days maybe.  K is an important element to add to mead.

Personally, I would use a mixstir and delay starting the mead if necessary.

[majorvices]

I think someone tested out sea monkeys a few years ago and got good results.

Hahaha! I'm glad someone remembers that!