No-chill and aeration

[BetterSense]

After boiling, there is almost no oxygen in wort. Also, you are not supposed to aerate hot wort. So, what do no-chillers do about wort oxygenation? Do you just not aerate, then RDWHAHB?

 

[eastoak]

maybe they use dry yeast, or maybe they aerate after it's cool?

 

[RM-MN]

After boiling, there is almost no oxygen in wort. Also, you are not supposed to aerate hot wort. So, what do no-chillers do about wort oxygenation? Do you just not aerate, then RDWHAHB?

Whether you chill or no-chill, if you use liquid yeast you aerate when the wort is cool. As mentioned above, dry yeast supposedly doesn't need aeration but it still seems like good practice to aerate when the wort cools.

 

[wilserbrewer]

If pitching dry yeast, I typically just sprinkle it over the wort since I don't really do high gravity beers. If reusing a yeast slurry, I aerate when cool and pitch.

 

[Homercidal]

I think they let the wort cool and THEN aerate it, then pitch yeast...

 

[ArcLight]

Let the wort cool for 2 reasons:

1 - certain bacteria, like the kind that make Vinegar, want Oxygen. So don't aerate the wort until ready to use it, then aerate it.

2 - Does aerate boiling wort because it may give off flavors or premature staling due to hot side aeration.
We are talking 200 F Wort being whipped with a Mixer for a minute or two, as opposed to a few spins by a spoon to start a whirlpool.


>>Do you just not aerate, then RDWHAHB?

Only if you want to increase the stress on the yeast and risk them stopping fermentation sooner (i.e. not attenuating and having a higher final gravity)
The yeast want that Oxygen to build up their cell walls.

 

[brent77]

Aren't there a lot of articles out there that disprove hot side aeration? At least at the homebrew scale...

 

[eastoak]

Aren't there a lot of articles out there that disprove hot side aeration? At least at the homebrew scale...

yes there is.

 

[BetterSense]

So if you aerate after cooling, how do you do it?

I guess what I'm getting at is I no-chill in a corny keg. Then I want to just pitch yeast into the same keg and use it as a fermenter after the wort cools. The problem is that the wort is not aerated. I don't want to buy a air stone and stuff because that defeats the minimal-equipment ethos of no-chill.

 

[brent77]

So if you aerate after cooling, how do you do it?

I guess what I'm getting at is I no-chill in a corny keg. Then I want to just pitch yeast into the same keg and use it as a fermenter after the wort cools. The problem is that the wort is not aerated. I don't want to buy a air stone and stuff because that defeats the minimal-equipment ethos of no-chill.

Same way you would if you were starting out with out an airstone. Put a spoon in the bucket and splash around.

Are you using a spundig valve to release the fermentation pressure building up in the keg, or do you just release it randomly from the pull tab?

 

[sikkingj]

So if you aerate after cooling, how do you do it? I guess what I'm getting at is I no-chill in a corny keg. Then I want to just pitch yeast into the same keg and use it as a fermenter after the wort cools. The problem is that the wort is not aerated. I don't want to buy a air stone and stuff because that defeats the minimal-equipment ethos of no-chill.

What I do is 'no chill' in my kettle. Once the wort is cooled to pitching temperatures (I'm not storing for more than say 12-14 hrs.), I pitch my decanted yeast starter into the corney and then transfer the wort from the kettle to the corney. It gets plenty aerated from that transfer. I usually have active fermentation (bubbling out of the blow off tube) within 6 hrs. And more often then not 3 or 4 hrs.

This has been working like a charm for two years.

 

[BetterSense]

Same way you would if you were starting out with out an airstone. Put a spoon in the bucket and splash around.

Are you using a spundig valve to release the fermentation pressure building up in the keg, or do you just release it randomly from the pull tab?

I have a blowoff hose rigged.

 

[judsonp]

How much head space is in your fermenting keg? Just close it up and shake it after the wort cools.

I do no-chill in a bucket, so trying to aerate while hot would be a recipe for burning yourself anyway. Just aerate after it's cooled.

 

[BetterSense]

It has plenty of head space, but corny keg lids always leak when unpressurized. At least mine all do.

 

[fmr_army]

I use an airstone from Petsmart hooked up to some tubing (Petsmart) attached to an industrial oxygen cylinder from Home Depot. I think the stone was a couple bucks, with tubing; the cylinder is about $10 and the regulator was maybe $30.

I suppose you could put a squirt of CO2 into your corny to pressurize it and then shake the bejeezus out of it. You'd probably want to do that a couple of times (introducing fresh new air into the headspace each time).

EDIT: All the above AFTER it's been cooled down by whatever method floats your boat.

 

[Homercidal]

I don't consider No-Chill to be a minimal-equipment method. I consider it a time-saving method and a labor saving method.

I think an O2 tank and airstone is a very fast and easy way to aerate. Just sanitize the wand, stick it in the fermentor and turn on the oxygen for a minute. Then shut it off and rinse the wand and sanitize it again.

I think it's about as easy as slashing buckets and get a LOT more Oxygen in the wort.

 

[ArcLight]

Aren't there a lot of articles out there that disprove hot side aeration? At least at the homebrew scale...

Please cite some.
The "Hot side aeration myth" is geared towards a small amount of splashing of hot wort.
In this case you are using a mixer for 1-2 minutes and introducing 7-8 ppm of Oxygen (given the temperature I don't know if it will hold 8ppm)

Thats a lot different from taking a spoon to boiling wort and stirring it a little.

 

[ArcLight]

yes there is.

Can you please provide some links that show its ok to Oxygenate near boiling wort before letting it gradually cool down?
I don't think I've ever read any .

The ones I've read say not to worry if you have a spash here and there. They say that its a problem when the boiling wort is actively mixed when pouring into a big tank (at a brewery).
By aerating boiling for, you are doing the same thing.

 

[brent77]

Same way you would if you were starting out with out an airstone. Put a spoon in the bucket and splash around.

Are you using a spundig valve to release the fermentation pressure building up in the keg, or do you just release it randomly from the pull tab?

http://s125483039.onlinehome.us/archive/bs_hsa1-26-09.mp3

HSA is supposedly attributing to staling of beer/shorter shelf life. Bamforth basically says, the oxygen you would be able to dissolve into the hot water will be consumed in some way upstream, weather it be in chem. reactions, or consumed by the yeast, and worrying about oxygenation after fermentation is the real worry.

Secondly, does anyone actually aerate a wort with a mixer when its still hot? I would imagine not. If the beer is near boiling temperature you can blend it all you want its not going to get anywhere near that high of an oxygen saturation, as the solubility of o2 in liquid decreases as you bring it to boiling temperatures.

 

[ArcLight]

>.Secondly, does anyone actually aerate a wort with a mixer when its still hot?

That was what someone proposed. I don't think its common, but I was responding to their proposal, which I still think is a bad idea.


Thank you for the link.