Aeration of The Wort - Techniques

[Blunt]

Hi all,

 

Posting this to discuss the different methods of aeration before the pitching yeast

and their effectiveness...

 

i currently use the old long white spoon and stir/beat down so as to create as much bubbles/krausen as possible through out adding of water to the wort.

 

while this has been effective,

it is very tiring and I'm considering getting the paint stirrer drill attachment for $5-10 from bunnings.

 

My only concern is that it won't be as effective at aeration and creating as much bubbles/krausen

before the yeast it pitched.

 

Thoughts? Your techniques?

[BlackSands]

i currently use the old long white spoon and stir/beat down so as to create as much bubbles/krausen as possible through out adding of water to the wort.

That's what I do. I enjoy the exercise! Seems adequate enough for your average homebrewer, and my brews usually ferment with a good amount of healthy vigour! I think a key point is though that if you're using fresh yeast each time, which many brewers do, it's perhaps not so crucial but if you're using a multi-generational yeast, getting more oxygen into the wort might be more important in which case other aeration/oxygenation methods may be required, none of which I have any experience with.

[Mark D Pirate]

With my screw on lid FVs I half fill them from the cube and shake it like it owes me money , I also shake hell out of the cube

With my pitching rates I often get less than 8 hours lag and hit FG within 4 days

Paint stirrer will work but ensure its as sanitary as possible , possibly run it in reverse to force air down not wort up and don't allow stirrer to scratch the FV or you could earn yourself infections

[Otto Von Blotto]

I use an oxygen cylinder with a sintered stone on the end of a stainless steel wand. The flow of oxygen is only very slow as to produce tiny bubbles that just break the surface, rather than make it look like it's boiling. Prior to getting that set up I just used to tip the wort in from a height.

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

After I fast chill I just turn the tap on my urn into the fermenter. Creates enough aeration from the splashing IMO.

[joolbag]

I got my technique from Mark, as I have started doing all-grain batches or full-volume boils (extract and partial mash) and cubing.

 

Shaking the FV is a bit of a pain, but adds plenty of O2. Shaking the cube! Why didn't I think of that earlier! No need to whip the wort into a froth in the FV, increasing chance of infection. I just shake the half-full cube like Mark said, until I feel like my arm is about to fall off. Then transfer.

 

This aeration technique plus building up adequate yeast starters have helped my ferments finish healthy and fast. I had a few issues with stuck fermentations a while back

[Beerlust]

Hi Blunt.

 

What is your reason or interest in improving the aeration of your wort prior to pitching the yeast?

 

Are you having primary fermentation problems such as increased lag times prior to seeing noticeable signs of fermentation? Or some other issue(s)?

 

If you are having fermentation issues, there are other areas you can work on that will have a more profound impact than worrying excessively about aerating wort to specific levels in a home brewing environment (IMHO).

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I should pick up on something in the OP... aeration/oxygenation isn't about getting a heap of foam on top of the wort, it's about getting oxygen dissolved into the wort. The best way to do that is with small bubbles that slowly rise up through the wort, not huge ones that fly up immediately and burst/float on top. Think about it, what possible benefit to the yeast in the wort could oxygen have while it's sitting in bubbles floating on top of the wort?

[Morrie]

Hi all' date='

 

Posting this to discuss the different methods of aeration before the pitching yeast

and their effectiveness...

 

i currently use the old long white spoon and stir/beat down so as to create as much bubbles/krausen as possible through out adding of water to the wort.

 

while this has been effective,

it is very tiring and I'm considering getting the paint stirrer drill attachment for $5-10 from bunnings.

 

My only concern is that it won't be as effective at aeration and creating as much bubbles/krausen

before the yeast it pitched.

 

Thoughts? Your techniques? [/quote']

 

I use my plastic mash paddle in a cordless drill. Works brilliantly.

[ChristinaS1]

I read in BYO a long time ago that there are only so many foam making compound in the malt and if you foam up the wort a lot before fermentation they get used up, leading to poor head in the finished beer. After reading that I switched to shaking my top up water immediately before adding it to the wort, instead of shaking the wort itself; I have never read of anyone else doing this. I have sometimes wondered if the oxygen might actually come out of solution faster than it does out of wort.

 

I also saw this interview on YouTube with a representative from Wyeast who said that 45 seconds of vigorous shaking is enough to get 8ppm of O2 into the wort, which is the max you can get in using room air. It is actually hard to shake really vigorously for 45 seconds.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

 

[Beerlust]

...It is actually hard to shake really vigorously for 45 seconds.

I would think as part of enduring a typical Canadian Winter 45 seconds would be a snap for most folk there!

 

 

Cheers from freaking freezing Adelaide!

 

Lusty.

[Morrie]

I read in BYO a long time ago that there are only so many foam making compound in the malt and if you foam up the wort a lot before fermentation they get used up' date=' leading to poor head in the finished beer.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

[/quote']

 

Christina - I think I must have read that same article some time ago. It doesn't really make sense to me but I do believe that it is most likely correct. I will soon find out as my last 2 brews which I kegged today both had the mash paddle / cordless drill treatment. That is the first time I've done this and yeah, I did foam the living bejesus out of those 2 brews. So this will be a good experiment for me to see if I have lost any beer foam qualities.

 

Cheers

Morrie.

[PXR-5]

I must have missed something in reading yeast 101. what I read is that when there is oxygen in the wort, yeast multiply. It isn't until the oxygen is used up that they enter the anaerobic stage and then start producing beer and CO2.

 

If that is correct, a longer lag time would mean more yeast multiplication wouldn't it?

 

Confused ...

 

John

[ChristinaS1]

I read in BYO a long time ago that there are only so many foam making compound in the malt and if you foam up the wort a lot before fermentation they get used up' date=' leading to poor head in the finished beer.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

[/quote']

 

Christina - I think I must have read that same article some time ago. It doesn't really make sense to me but I do believe that it is most likely correct. I will soon find out as my last 2 brews which I kegged today both had the mash paddle / cordless drill treatment. That is the first time I've done this and yeah, I did foam the living bejesus out of those 2 brews. So this will be a good experiment for me to see if I have lost any beer foam qualities.

 

Cheers

Morrie.

 

Hi Morrie. Sounds like a good test. Please report back on your observations of the finished brews....When you do, please mention whether they were light or dark and if they all grain or extract. Thanks.

 

Cheers Morrie,

 

Christina.

[ChristinaS1]

I must have missed something in reading yeast 101. what I read is that when there is oxygen in the wort' date=' yeast multiply. It isn't until the oxygen is used up that they enter the anaerobic stage and then start producing beer and CO2.

 

If that is correct, a longer lag time would mean more yeast multiplication wouldn't it?

 

Confused ...

 

John[/quote']

 

Yeah, good question John. I am not sure I can answer it, but I have a hunch it is complicated. Here is what I know about it:

 

- Over-pitching leads to less multiplication, under-pitching to more multiplication, and they only multiply so much, to whatever the food supply can support.

- Low temperatures and low pitching rates increase the length of the lag time.

- If dry yeast is used, the trehelose reserves built-in by the manufacturer reduce the need for oxygen.

- Finally, if one uses the sloppy slurry method, in other words pitching dead yeast along with viable yeast, the dead yeast provide the viable yeast with many of the substrates they need for cell wall production, so they don't have to manufacture them in oxygen demanding processes. Products like GoFerm and Servomyces are made from purified dead yeast cells. Because I don't have an oxygen set up, when I make a high gravity brew I make my own dead yeast (aka yeast hulls or ghost cells) by boiling bread yeast at the GoFerm rate of 1.13 X the amount of dry yeast used; for example 11.5gm of S-04 x 1.13 = 13gm (boiled) bread yeast. One can use spare brewer's yeast, but bread yeast is cheaper.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[Morrie]

 

Hi Morrie. Sounds like a good test. Please report back on your observations of the finished brews....When you do' date=' please mention whether they were light or dark and if they all grain or extract. Thanks.

 

Christina.[/quote']

 

G'day Christina - they were both AG Pale Ales approx 14 EBC. ESB and APA with an OG of 1.044. Mashed at 67ºC.

[Morrie]

I read in BYO a long time ago that there are only so many foam making compound in the malt and if you foam up the wort a lot before fermentation they get used up' date=' leading to poor head in the finished beer.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

[/quote']

 

Christina - I think I must have read that same article some time ago. It doesn't really make sense to me but I do believe that it is most likely correct. I will soon find out as my last 2 brews which I kegged today both had the mash paddle / cordless drill treatment. That is the first time I've done this and yeah, I did foam the living bejesus out of those 2 brews. So this will be a good experiment for me to see if I have lost any beer foam qualities.

 

Cheers

Morrie.

 

 

 

Hi Morrie. Sounds like a good test. Please report back on your observations of the finished brews....When you do, please mention whether they were light or dark and if they all grain or extract. Thanks.

 

Cheers Morrie,

 

Christina.

 

G'day Christina - please see my previous post regarding some of the information you are interested in. I have sampled both those brews and in my experience I have formed an opinion that frothing a wort pre-fermentation has no affect on head formation or head retention. Both beers have more than adequate head formation and retention.

 

In the ESB I used 8.4% wheat malt and 10% in the APA. I don't know if that compensated for any beer foam loss but in my opinion there is no difference in these 2 brews when compared to my previous ones using wheat. I'm not sure if I'm violating any BJCP guidelines by using wheat in these 2 styles, but I love what a little wheat brings to a beer and I'm not hung up on hard and fast style rules.

 

Just a side issue here, I used 5% Gladfield Toffee malt in the ESB and WOWWWW!!!!!!

 

Freaking delicious, yummy,yummy,yummy.

 

I will definitely be using this malt again in an ESB and may even take it out to 10%. It brings a unique flavour to beer and one that I've never experienced before.

 

Cheers - Morrie

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Just digging this one up again. I have been looking at aeration techniques to apply to my high ABV brews. While im quite happy with the outcomes already im always looking for improvement. My tecnhiques have at the moment just been splashing the wort into the fermenter. I got given an aquarium air pump from a mate who got rid of his fish so am going to try the aquarium pump method. Has anyone tried this? Any tips? From what i have read it will be a 20 min aeration as opposed to a 1 or 2 min with straight oxygen.

[MitchBastard]

Attach ya long white spoon to a battery drill. 

Bzzz bzzz !

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

13 minutes ago, MitchBastard said:

Attach ya long white spoon to a battery drill. 

Bzzz bzzz !

Yeah seen blokes doing that but not sure that gets as much into the wort as splashing would even. Just stirring it mostly. 

[RDT2]

I just splash mine from the kettle into the fermenter like greeny seems to work fine and when I use harvested yeast its cranking by the next morning both with US05 and S04. I didn’t even bother stirring the last one and took off no worries  

[Beer Baron]

You best bet would be to get an oxygen cylinder and stone to get the most amount of oxygen into your wort

[Cosmo2450]

I do the battery drill thing and it is wicked! Almost a deadly weapon. The amount of torque this thing puts out nearly rips the paddle in half! But as you can it airates the wort to the point where I have to stop or risk it making a mess! Get a nice whirlpool going one way than reverse the drill. Do that twice and the results speak for themselves. 

[The Captain!!]

5 hours ago, Greeny1525229549 said:

Just digging this one up again. I have been looking at aeration techniques to apply to my high ABV brews. While im quite happy with the outcomes already im always looking for improvement. My tecnhiques have at the moment just been splashing the wort into the fermenter. I got given an aquarium air pump from a mate who got rid of his fish so am going to try the aquarium pump method. Has anyone tried this? Any tips? From what i have read it will be a 20 min aeration as opposed to a 1 or 2 min with straight oxygen.

Hey Greeny,

Your high gravity beers are your Belgians and what not yeah? With candi sugars? Just thinking out loud, the simple sugars would be easier to get chomped up than malt sugars. Therefore I wouldn’t be too concerned about it. Other than aerating as normal. Could pay to use zinc monohydrate in there though to help the yeast in the high alcohol environment.

i use a paint stirrer. But I’m really considering oxygen 

[Worthog]

I don't aerate! Well, other than dropping my wort into the FV through a seive.

Only had one stall in 100 batches which proved to be an UNstall because I used S04 yeast and it chomped to 1.013; which I learned later is all it does.

Aerate....shmaerate...  Cheers