Everyone always tells posters to aerate enough. So how much O2 is enough without using too much :?:
Most of the time I use 1 minute of red bottle O2 through a Williams’ SS wand set-up for ales, and 2 minutes for lagers/high gravity beers. Is this enough, or not enough, or too much :?:
I do exactly like you with the red bottle and the williams wand except I go 2 mins for ales and lagers, 10 gal batches…
Not sure really how much o2 we are getting into solution with this method though. Seems like most of it is quickly expelled in bubbles as waste. I have been looking at making a nice in-line aerator myself.
You are probably right… Although, I will do this in my kettle after chilling and then transfer to the fermentor in the fridge. I don’t have the room to get in there to really do it… I’ll give it a shot!
I am simply sick of buying the red bottles anyway. For the longest time, I used my Porter Cable air compressor, sterile filter and my wand… It too worked great but again I just didn’t feel like I could get the saturation level that we need with that method either. Like Bo_gator was saying, how much is enough on our level… I have no idea, and I have misplaced my o2 level meter!
Once the wort is cooled down to 90F I rapidly move the chiller up and down thru the wort cilling it to (usually) below 70F and simultaneously aerating the wort. Lots of foam