Oxygenating Wort

Benvarine

Do you oxygenate your wort? If so how? I typically stir with a whisk and pour from bucket to Carboy with a strainer in the funnel. Probably not very effective. I want an oxygen tank regulator and stone to use disposable oxygen tanks from hardware store. About $50. On wish list. How about everyone else?

scoob

I use a pump to transfer my wort, I use a fermentap wort aerator when racking to the fermenter , I also used a length of racking cane with holes drilled into it on a downward angle to pull in air when I was using gravity to drain the kettle into the fermenter, I might try using it in conjunction with my current wort aerator

C_B

Drain out of the kettle into the fermenter bucket. The wort free falls from just below the lip of the fermenter. It gets really foamy so I guess that's working... I have an oxygenation kit I got from my uncle but haven't used yet.

ceannt

I always pour from kettle to fermenter ..... and stir with a "soup kitchen ladle"... really glop it around .... seems to work just fine

Jayrizzle

I slop things around a bit, but don't really put much thought it to it anymore. Water can only hold so much O2 after all. Unless you're pumping it in, which I don't plan on doing. Yeast grow fast with O2, but don't ferment things the same way. It's a good step to do if you're pitching light, but with a good starter (or a few packs of dry) isn't a big deal.

frydogbrews

i just hold the tube running out of my chiller a foot or so out of the bucket. it splashes like hell and foams up as it falls into the bucket.
gives plenty of oxygen.
when i make a beer over 10% abv, i go back in on day 3 or so and stir to put a little more air back in to make the yeast power through!

Thym

I used to have an airstone hooked up to an O2 tank that i would use to aerate with. It worked well, but just felt like more work than it was worth. Now i just let it free fall a bit into the fermenter. given the same starting gravity and pitching rate, there is a noticeable difference in lag time...

scoob

When pumping from the kettle to the fermentor I have one of these hooked up to the outlet hose.

It fans out the wort nicely and builds quite a froth while filling.

Thym

azscoob said:
When pumping from the kettle to the fermentor I have one of these hooked up to the outlet hose.

It fans out the wort nicely and builds quite a froth while filling.

Oh, those are cool. I haven't seen them available at my lhbs. Where did you get it?

scoob

Lakewood said:

azscoob said:
When pumping from the kettle to the fermentor I have one of these hooked up to the outlet hose.

It fans out the wort nicely and builds quite a froth while filling.

Oh, those are cool. I haven't seen them available at my lhbs. Where did you get it?

I ordered a few from Williams brewing

Evan_B

Generally I just pour my wort from kettle to fermenter through a funnel and let it splash like hell.

I was experimenting a little with one of those small aquarium pumps, but it really didn't improve anything. Then I tried running the pump in my starter to see if continuous oxygenation was increase cell growth rate, but I have not been able to measure any significant findings yet.

scoob

Evan_B said:
Generally I just pour my wort from kettle to fermenter through a funnel and let it splash like hell.

I was experimenting a little with one of those small aquarium pumps, but it really didn't improve anything. Then I tried running the pump in my starter to see if continuous oxygenation was increase cell growth rate, but I have not been able to measure any significant findings yet.

Wow... I just pump through my wort aerator and hope for the best! :D

Jayrizzle

O2 promotes yeast to reproduce sexual and proses sugars aerobically (not fermentation). With O2 they do reproduce faster, but you're strain can go off track faster if you reuse washed yeast (maybe I'm the only cheap SOB who does that for 5+ bathes in a row).
Adding O2 to you're wort is really just a way to use you're wort as a starter. If you pitched enough you wouldn't need it (enough is much less than "mr.malty" says).

Cell multiplication is much greater with O2, but I keep it to the starters. I'll swirl my carboy when it starts to settle down. But at that point the head space is all CO2

themonstermasher

azscoob said:
When pumping from the kettle to the fermentor I have one of these hooked up to the outlet hose.

It fans out the wort nicely and builds quite a froth while filling.

This think looks pretty cool.

I just slosh it around in the bucket before pitching yeast. I guess it takes a day or two for the yeast to take off?

piping_pig

I just pour from the kettle.... foams up a bit... and stir in the yeast when I pitch. Seems to get enough O2 in there for the yeasties

jeepinjeepin

I too have the fermentap wort aerator thingamajig, but when pumping full bore with a march pump it turns up quite a bit of froth on its own.

Fuzzy

jeepinjeepin said:
I too have the fermentap wort aerator thingamajig, but when pumping full bore with a march pump it turns up quite a bit of froth on its own.

jeeeeeeep! what's happenin brotha.

jeepinjeepin

Nada mas. The stir plate email lured me in.

Fuzzy

jeepinjeepin said:
Nada mas. The stir plate email lured me in.

yup, they're pretty sweet.

Benvarine

themonstermasher said:

azscoob said:
When pumping from the kettle to the fermentor I have one of these hooked up to the outlet hose.

It fans out the wort nicely and builds quite a froth while filling.

This think looks pretty cool.

I just slosh it around in the bucket before pitching yeast. I guess it takes a day or two for the yeast to take off?

If it takes a day or two, the pitch is probably too low, o2 could also contribute but who knows. Mine are bubbling in under 12 hours usually. The lag time is why you want to pitch enough yeast and oxygenate well, to reduce infection risk.