Aerating Wort Techniques

As the subject line implies, what are some techniques that you’ve used in the past or currently that has worked well to aerate wort before fermentation?

Thanks

I use pure oxygen now but I used to use a venturi tube when transferring my wort to the fermenter… then for awhile I was using a fish aerator…  The aerator has been repurposed to continuously blow air on to the top of my yeast starters.

I started using an bucket and just stirred really aggressively.  At some changed to a 6.5 gallon carboy and used the shake like h#$% method and now use a stone and pure oxygen.

They all worked but the oxygen route is so easy I’ll probably stick with that method.

Paul

I use a balloon whisk and whip it till the foam rises close to the rim of the bucket. good forearm exercise too.

I have been using a mix stir for the last 5 batches. So far I like it.

I went on craigslist and got a medical oxygen bottle on a roller stand with an awesome adjustable regulator.
The little number 1 on the left indicates the flow rate which in this setting is 1 liter of O2 per minute!  It can’t get any easier.  This tank will last me for years and then is only $15 to exchange.  No more messing around with those little red cans and the horrible regulator that I’ve been using on it.

Then I use a .05 micron stone on the end of a stainless tube - easy to clean and easy to put where I want it.

I use an aeration stone in the end of a wand (William’s Brewing) and the red O2 canisters. I don’t like doing that as much though because the O2 canisters are disposable and can’t be recycled…waste of materials. But I still use them. I have a mixstir that I use occasionally, but the pure O2 route is just so much easier and more reassuring that the wort will have adequate O2 absorption.

+1.  I’ve made many batches with a mix stir and love it. I still use O2 for a really big beer (1.090+), but occasionally I’ll use the mix stir on one that big if I’m out of O2 and I’m hard pressed to tell the difference in lag time, attenuation, or beer quality. I mix stir the foam near the top of the bucket, pitch, and let 'er rip.

Man I can’t believe you guys are stirring to aerate… Use a venturi tube it’s simple and you get to let physics do all the work for you.  You just need to stick a T in your current line you run from your kettle (or after the plate/counterflow chiller) and stick a sanitary air filter on the part of the T that sticks out.  Done.

Here’s my progression:
  1.  Shake method
  2.  Mixstir (now use it only to de-gas meads)
  3.  Aquarium pump with filter inline
  4.  Finally, the aeration stone on the wand from Williams.  I like being able to put the stone exactly where I want it.

For those who use to/currently stir the heck out of the wort, did you ever have issues with head retention?  I think I heard on Brew Strong that once the head forming proteins created that foam, they are gone.

Funny. I went from the pump and stone to the mix stir. I was tired of cleaning the stone and tubing. I rinse the mix stir after use and clean and sanitize before use.

As far as the head retention, haven’t noticed a difference. I figure that would also cause issues when using the shake carb method. Ehh. I am pretty sure Denny uses, or at one time used, the mix stir method. A buddy of mine has been using on or 5+ years.

you assume it’s reasonable or even possible to get your wort to pitching temps before or while transferring to the fermenter. During the winter I could probably get an ale down to pitching temps with my chiller alone but no dice during a 100+ degree day in summer. Every brew I make I stop chilling around 80-90 f and let my ferm chamber take it down the rest of the way before pitching. o2 does not dissolve well at those temps and will off gas again well before I get to pitching temps. my whisk is simple and it’s still using physics. pretty sure EVERYTHING uses physics :wink:

Nope.  For me, the only head retention issues I’ve had came back when I was learning to brew and fermented too warm. Since then I’ve gotten pretty darn good foam.

EDIT - I went from the stone to the mix stir as well.

no worries about head retention. if you are doing everything else right you will not use up all the foam positive proteins while aerating. There should be a lot of them.

Yes you would not want to aerate your wort at 80-90F that’s for sure.  If I couldn’t cool below that I would be using a pre chiller… I didn’t say it’s easier because it uses physics… I said it was easier because the physics does all the work for you (vs you having to expend energy whipping the hell out of it ;-))

Dan, I’ve tried that.  The MixStir is much more effective.

The main reason I stopped mixing of splashing etc was because your are indeed aerating the wort… but you’re also putting whatever is in that air INTO your wort (and probably a good deal of what is on your arm?)  Maybe not a huge concern (I never had an infected batch from it or anyting) but I do reuse yeast pretty often… Anytime I can increase sanitation without more effort I’m happy.

Still a MixStir user and advocate.  I stopped using the O2 setup for the same reasons as you, combined with the fact that I got equivalent results with the MixStir.

I saw a study indicating that an aquarium pump wasn’t that effective and that shaking the carboy (or bucket) to create a vortex for 40 seconds worked.  Now I shake the carboy.  I have always racked the wort so that it trickles down the side of the carboy (or bucket) to get some aeration there too.  I usually use a mix stir while wort chilling to get faster cooling and a little aeration.

Just messin. If I could I would totally use a venturi. pretty sure that’s what leos uses, or did. at some point I will build a prechiller but I am cheap and lazy, or at least when it comes down to it I always spend my limited brewing dollars on ingredients.