Aeration

[JesperP]

Hi Guys

In the never-ending process of improving my homebrewery i would like some advice on aeration.

I have had some problems with my beers finishing a little higher and being a little sweeter than i'd might have hoped for. I have tried a lot of things, with mash temp and PH, and it does not seem to have solved my issues. So now I would like to look into some proper aeration of my wort as the next step.

So far i have been splashing and shaking my fermentation bucket, but im starting to think that it might not be sufficient. So i am going to try my luck with an aquarium pump for my next brewsession (Can't really afford the O2 gear). Has anyone had some improvements in their brew with this?

I also read about a technique called "double dropping", where the wort is aerated again some time after the yeast has been pitched (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewing_methods).
Is anyone doing this in their homebrewery?

From this videoclip:

It seems that its not even be possible to meet the recommendations, when using just air. Im thinking that perhaps an addition of air using an aquatium pump, similar to the double dropping technique, could be benificial. Would anyone recommend doing this?

I think this experiment in the following clip is interesting, as to the effects of proper aeration.


Dont hold back with your thoughts on this
BR. Jesper, Copenhagen

 

[forstmeister]

I use a simple plastic diffuser on the end of my transfer hose. It only costs a couple bucks and provides as much aeration as possible without getting an O2 setup in my opinion. There was a really good thread a while back where a member bought an O2 sensor and tried different methods of aerating. He found that shaking was ineffective. Diffusion at transfer worked fairly well. An aquarium pump was better still (but only a few ppm).

 

[maltoftheearth]

On James Spencer's podcast they did an aeration experiment and found that rocking the carboy was second only to a pump and stone for proper aeration.

I rock my carboy for at least 5 minutes prior to adding yeast and I hit my numbers pretty much every time.

 

[maltoftheearth]

On James Spencer's podcast they did an aeration experiment and found that rocking the carboy was second only to a pump and stone for proper aeration.

I rock my carboy for at least 5 minutes prior to adding yeast and I hit my numbers pretty much every time.

 

[g-star]

I tried shaking the carboy and using an aquarium pump with a sintered stone. Good beer was made.

However, once I got a real O2 setup, it was a revelation. Proper O2 levels unattainable with aeration alone just gave my beers another gear I didn't know was there. This was especially true for my lagers and high gravity beers, which really need 10-12ppm O2. All of my beers tasted more "professional".

In short, a pure O2 setup is well worth the $$ IMO.

 

[kh54s10]

I have done only shaking to aerate the wort and have had no problems. If you are using liquid yeast, are you making starters? I feel this is far more important than mechanical aeration.

 

[JesperP]

I tried shaking the carboy and using an aquarium pump with a sintered stone. Good beer was made.

However, once I got a real O2 setup, it was a revelation. Proper O2 levels unattainable with aeration alone just gave my beers another gear I didn't know was there. This was especially true for my lagers and high gravity beers, which really need 10-12ppm O2. All of my beers tasted more "professional".

In short, a pure O2 setup is well worth the $$ IMO.

That sounds very interesting, i will definately consider this as a future investment.

How about the double dropping thing, has anyone tried this?

 

[rkbarnes82]

I don't think an O2 setup Is that much more than an air pump. I got the regulator and wand from Williams home brewing for around $50? The O2 tank from Home Depot for $7. Not sure what your looking to spend but I think it was well worth it.

 

[masskrug]

As part of the cooling process, I vigorously stir the wort around the wort chiller. Gets me down to temp in about 20 minutes and aerates the wort.

 

[b-boy]

That sounds very interesting, i will definately consider this as a future investment.

How about the double dropping thing, has anyone tried this?

I've heard of this for monster beers like barley wines. I don't think i'd try it on a regular beer. Too much chance for oxidation. I think you'd really have to time this so you add the O2 while the yeast are still dividing.

I highly recommend an O2 setup. It really helped my beers.

 

[wailingguitar]

If you feel you aren't getting sufficient aeration, I would look into the olive oil method. I haven't done it myself since I pretty much always just use a fresh pack of S04, but the science is good and it is probably the simplest, most stress free method for a home brewer.

 

[cfrazier77]

I would recommend a medical 02 bottle. Check Craigslist for O2 and oxygen. You can normally find a D size bottle full and a regulator for around $30. That would be enough O2 for a lifetime of brewing. The nice thing with medical O2 is that the regulators are set up in liters per minute so you can use the same amount of O2 each time. Chris White in "Yeast" recommends 1 liter per minute for one minute for a 5 gallon batch at 1.050 and under. For every ten points increase add 1 minute of time per 5 gallons. This has worked very well for me.

 

[JesperP]

Thanks a lot for all the input

Im looking into where i can pick up a cheap O2 system here in Denmark.