Oxegenating wort

[Chris P]

Hi all I had a quick look at proper set ups for oxegenation before pitching yeast and found  some pretty expensive ways to sort this out but am after a more economical way. (I swear Im not Scottish!) 

How do you guys go about this as Im sure I could do more than a big stir up/ Shaking the fermenter pre-pitch.

Cheers

[Hillman]

I just use an air pump for a fish tank, attached to an aeration stone. Sanitize the stone and line, bubble away for about 30 minutes and Robert's your father's brother.

EDIT: This is the cheapest one I could find with a quick search. With the airline and the stone it shouldn't set you back more than $30. Well worth it -- insufficient aeration has caused a couple of stuck fermentations for me.

[Andrew]

I just drop the wort into the FV from a good height and never have any issues, but Olive oil is another option:

http://www.brewcrazy.com/hull-olive-oil-thesis.pdf

http://brewcrazy.com/brewing-beer-with-olive-oil-article/Original-U...

 

[Kevin romond]

I took some left over 1/4 inch copper pipe, bent it into a paddle with a long handle and run that in a drill, like one of those paint mixers.  I leave it in the boil for a few mins to sanitize, then spin it around for a minute or two in the fermenter before pitching.  it was very economical 

[Richard Deeble]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75gpehf_6Gk 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEkwp_2Yezo Listen from about 25:30 

You can't get more than 8ppm with standard air, no matter how long or how intensively you shake or pump air into the wort. The most effective method is still shaking the fermenter hard for at least 45 seconds. That will get you to 8ppm but you will not get past that without using pure 02. I wish we could find cheap 02 like you can get in the states!

[JR]

If you need more than the 8ppm then you can shake up the fermentor when you pitch for an inital 8ppm then 12-18 hours later when the yeast have used up alot of that inital dose you can shake it up again for another 8ppm.  I only ever bother with that when making extra strong beers though.

[martin w]

i have the Yeast book by chris white, i recall that he states that yeast consume the available 02 within the first 30 minutes of pitching, so if you want more than 8 ppm then continuous aeration after pitching would be the best option,of course its a bit of a guess as to what the total saturation would be though.excessive oxygenation can also have negative effects.

i can find more specific info if you want but i'd have to read the book for it as its been a while since i read it!

[Flanagan]

Q the novice questions:

I usually get good fermenting activity for a couple of days but usually only get the gravity down to 1.020 regardless of the OG, even with ideal fermentation temps, and using same-day yeast starters. So I have been racking my brains about how to get more out of the yeast & I'm very tempted to give these ideas a go.

However I have always assumed that fermenting beer should be as settled and undisturbed as possible after pitching to settle out the (for want of a better word) crap. Would shaking or stirring it after a couple of days of fermenting adversly affect it or would the conditioning phase be sufficient for the (FWOABW) crap to settle out?

Also I'm a bit of a sucker for aesthetics so I like to use Irish Moss, so being completely ignorant of the science behind how Irish Moss actually works, I am wondering if shaking the fermenter would disturb the trub and "re-cloud" the beer, or would the Moss still have the clear-out effect at that stage?

[Smiffy]

Are you brewing extract or grain?

What yeast are you using?

What temperature is the fermenter at? (constant or very variable?).

I would have no hesitation giving it a shake after a couple of days, and have done so after longer times when the s.g has not been as low as it should.

[Flanagan]

All Grain BIAB... I usually use US05, I have rehydraded it, made yeast starters with sugar+water, and simply added straight to the fermenter. I have tried out a few Wyeasts too.

I just ordered an STC 1000 this week for temp control, so up to now I've been relying on a bit of luck for hitting the right fermentation temps, I had one brew at 18-20C, and others at 16-20C, others went awry.

I normally don't bother checking the gravity til racking or bottling but I think i'll start monitoring it & give a stir or shake-up when the bubbling slows down. Not sure if I'm dedicated enough to invest in a pump for oxygenation yet, but I'll keep it in mind.

[Smiffy]

Perhaps your mash temperature is resulting in too many unfermentable sugars.

[MrC]

 yeast starters with sugar+water

Is the sugar you refer to malt extract?  You should always use malt for starters as yeast lose there ability to ferment maltose after they munch on sucrose.  

I stopped hydrating/proofing my dried yeast ages ago and it made no difference to the beers.  Just one less thing to go wrong.

[Paul Fraser]

I think you may have hit the nail on the head. The yeast won't be working well after working on simple sugars.