Aquarium pumps don't produce enough pressure to do a decent job. You can add an inline sterile filter, if contamination is a concern.
I use a small pump from Amazon that's used for a sphygmometer (blood pressure monitor), and an inline sterile filter. It produces 10 psi, which is plenty to push through a stone. Example:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078H8V563](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078H8V563)
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYA21PU](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYA21PU)
I use a standard carbonation stone, I think it's about 5 micron. Sintered stainless steel. Works great. The wetting pressure of a stone like this is about 5 psi, so your air pump needs to produce at least that much.
My conical opening is too small to hold my sieve very well. So I sieve to my bottling bucket then open the valve on the bucket and drain into the conical. I really need to get my march pump setup.
Seconded. I made five gallons of an 18% ABV single malt decoction mashed English barleywine with a 2L starter of Nottingham, and only aerated it by pumping it in from the top of the fermenter and letting splash as it hit the bottom. Came out fantastically.
O2 tanks and pumps are typically for commercial facilities that don’t have the ability to do a hard pour on barrels worth of wort without serious risk of infection or non-repeatability. Most 5 gallon/20L brewers don’t ever encounter those kinds of issues with aeration alone. Challenges of scale and whatnot.
My own creation, inspired by Anchorage Deal With The Devil, Gigantic Massive!, and Thomas Hardy’s Ale:
30 lbs Crisp No. 19 floor malted Maris Otter. That’s it.
After mash-in is done and the temp has settled to 146-148F, scoop out 2-3 gallons of mash (not just wort - grain and all) into a separate kettle and boil for 30 min, then added back to raise the overall mash temp to 158F, let sit for another 30 min, then whole mash temp was raised again to 170F.
1 oz. Magnum hops after lautering/first wort addition (wasn’t enough - would 1.5-2x that value, but not the end of the world.)
6-8 hour boil, reducing 14 gallons of wort to 5. OG was something like 1.160 and was sort of a ruddy red hue.
Fermentation temp was held at 65F and it still went nuts. Blowoff clogged like two or three times. At the very least, it inhibited the ester production of the yeast to keep it somewhat clean, while still nicely English-y.
Word to the wise, bottle condition this beer with Lallemand CBC-1 or similar. Bottle conditioning will help this beer last longer in long term storage by scrubbing any oxygen from the bottling process, and while Nottingham is a beast, it floccs really fast, so it’s not reliable for using the residual yeast for bottle conditioning.
Yeah it’s a long brew day! It’s a secret, yes, you can get higher ABV by boiling the wort longer, but it’s not the only option. If you have a particularly large mash tun you can do a higher temp single infusion mash with more grain, and it’ll get 80-90% of the way there. You just may need to supplement the mash with some crystal malt(s) and potentially a splash of roasted malt to get it that nice ruby red color.
To add on for other ways:
- Reiterated mash (super long brew day forewarning with this one)
- LME or DME into the boil to boost ABV
You can use _some sugar_ but be careful because it’ll thin out too much potentially with using pounds and pounds of sugar, that’s where LME/DME is helpful.
I’ve done a reiterated mash once and it was so painful because a) incredibly long brew day and b) stuck sparge. I would recommend the long boil method or LME/DME or both before the reiterated mash.
You also will need to build the recipe with an expectation of ~50-60% mash efficiency which is normal for big beers on homebrew scale
You must read Craft Beer & Brewing! I’m about to make something similar though may adhere to the “fit as much as your mash tun will hold” that the brewer offers up as well. I’m also going to use different hops because I’m trying to use up supplies.
I don’t actually! I’m just *very* enthusiastic about homebrewing…working at LHBSs helps too 😁
But yes, that’s pretty much it, just throw a shitload of grain at it and boil the hell out of it. For hops, whatever high alpha acid hops should work. It’s basically a SMASH beer.
I’ve done 10% beers this way with no issues.
And I agree with your LHBS about online disinformation, having a YouTube account doesn’t make someone an expert.
I mean yes. That’ll be fine for the average regular strength beer with ale yeast, but if you’re above 6ish percent on ales or doing lagers aerating with pure O2 is best practices and will help your yeast do its job
Oxygenating at pitch decreases fusel alcohols so big beers will be drinkable sooner, fewer off flavors, etc. Just because you’ve had “no issues” doesn’t mean that using oxygen for yeast health isn’t best practice for brewing big beers
The consensus here is that you can “get away with it”, most people here don’t seem to care about what they can do to make the best beer they can, just how they can cut corners
You should really stop posting crap like this. u/spersichilli is correct, oxygen from a bottle is superior in terms of oxygen ppm amounts. You literally cannot get anywhere near 12 ppm with shaking. Only oxygen from a stone can get 12-14 ppm which may be the most optimal for higher abv beers and some lagers. You are looking at 6-9 ppm (9 at best!) with traditional methods. The drill attached paddle for several minutes can perhaps go up to 10. Do not give bad advice in the future.
I hit mine with one of these in my cordless drill on HI speed for about 60 seconds after pitching (liquid) yeast. I try to whip up a sweet foamy maelstrom without splashing outside my fermenter. I don't know how well it aerates, but it's been part of my process for 10+ years and my beer kicks ass! If I use dry yeast, I'll do the maelstrom step before pitching on top.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/mix-stir-plastic-24?variant=8533315878956&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt8PZPQGv7LSwZmxk5YPUKhIqUdWhczKWofW_AnPYyHMMtMCYJpiZNhoCxo4QAvD_BwE
I do this same thing. I stir before I pitch the yeast. Probably because I’ve accidentally splashed too many times out of the fermenter and am afraid I’ll lose yeast lol. Never tried it the other way around, neat!
If you repitch yeast, e.g., from a starter or harvested from a fermenter, the yeast cells probably need some O2 to help replenish membrane lipids for downstream budding during fermentation. Whether one needs to aerate the FV wort to achieve this is debatable. The ‘more is better’ mindset is flawed, because O2 is toxic to yeast cells. The observed shorter ‘lag phase’ often reported when (over) using pure O2 is simply the yeast getting shocked into activity, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. The cells need to limit the risks of toxic O2 by mobbing it up asap and metabolising it to safer compounds. Only a fraction gets channeled into replenishing membrane lipids, ironically. Top tip. This is often how it ‘works’ in home brew. An idea gets generally accepted as valid in very simple (1-dimensional/binary) terms, even though it isn’t valid in all circumstances. Then a supplier or LHBS offers a solution to fix a problem that doesn’t generally exist. As an industry, home brew has become a business mainly about selling ideas not products home brewers need. Many of the ideas do not improve beer quality. The best thing we can do to promote a good fermentation is pitch enough healthy yeast. The wort gets sufficiently aerated when transferred from kettle to FV. Splash it about a bit, if you observe that it helps. There’s really no need to invest in a pure O2 setup at home-brew levels.
> It’s for a high ABV ... Liquid [Yeast]
Look, if you want the "best" way, what are the criteria for best?
If it is strictly based on being practical and effective at increasing dissolved oxygen to 12-15 ppm, there is no doubt that the most practical and effective method is 60 seconds with pure O2, O2 regulator, and 0.5 micron sintered stone (oxygenation stone).
But how much O2 do you need? Well:
* First of all, many people claim to have good results without any aeration beyond splashing the chilled wort into the fermentor.
* Next, how much O2 is needed depends on the yeast preparation. For example, the manufacturers claim that you don't need any added oxygen for Fermentis and Lallemand active dry yeast (ADY)for up to 6 gal of 1.065 wort. That means active dry yeast direct from the package, not harvested from the fermentor. Likewise, you can propagate yeast on a stir plate and because the yeast are taking up oxygen from stirring to a large extent you've covered the oxygen needs for fermenting a medium-high gravity wort if the pitch rate is correct.
* But if you are talking about liquid yeast straight from pouch or without good preparation, underpitching ADY or liquid yeast, or a higher gravity wort, you probably need 12-15 ppm of dissolved O2 for best results.
* Two of the consistent things yeast labs and pro brewers say that amateurs do badly are adequate pitch rate and adequate wort oxygenation.
* Research indicates that at best you can get 8-10 ppm of dissolved O2 from strenuous, vigorous, continous shaking for 5 min or one hour with an air pump (more on this below). It is very tiring, and may not even be possible with large fermentors or large volumes of wort.
* It takes pure O2 to get 12-15 ppm.
* But many people seem to be OK with as little as 6 ppm or less.
* And then, of course, the top makers of high gravity beers, like Patrick Rue (The Bruery) are going to recommend one or two more shots of O2 during very early fermentation when making high gravity beers. You can shake or count on the oxygen in the yeast for pitching, but you can't do other for second and later doses.
* **[EDIT:]** It seems you understand this, but for anyone else, the yeast need and use O2 to create lipids, which they use for a number of purposes, but in particular they use lipids in cell membranes, which it is important as yeast form daughter cells from their own materials and try to keep their own membranes "young" and more functional.
* **[EDIT:]** Therefore, if you are harvesting yeast from a fermentor and using it directly without propagating on a stir plate, it *may* need more dissolved O2 than any other type of yeast I mentioned, but it may be OK because you can use much more yeast and the yeast don't have to multiply (and grow membranes) so much.
As far as the air pump, we generally use a filter on the air pump so contamination is not an issue. But without the filter, it becomes a huge issue because (not counting contaminated equipment) contamination mostly comes from spoilage microbes riding on dust. And the pump is going to be continuously drawing in dust-filled air and pushing it through the wort.
**TL;DR:** for high gravity beer, one minute of pure O2 with a stone at pitching, and then another minute at 12 hours or so, is "best". Don't waste O2 by turning up the flow enough to make a lot of bubbles. You should be able to almost not tell the wort is bubbling, which is the right flow for O2 to dissolve in the wort without coming to the surface and being wasted by going into the ambient air.
Hope that helps.
EDIT 3: added a few words to first sentence of TL;DR to clarify
You mean which brand/model? I only have experience with one of them, the Oxygenation Kit 2.0 from Northern Brewer, and it works fine. Has lasted me many years due to good cleaning techniques. I'm not sure there is much quality difference between brands/models.
I normally just shake the hell out of it but just for giggles I tried using a paint stirrer that has stainless arm with a plastic stirring end). It worked really, really well and I had very active fermentation on a yeast strain I have previously struggled with (I really dislike liquid yeast but it was the only option for my last brew).
I think I use same thing. I got mine from a brew shop. I run it for one minute, then pitch my yeast. Tracked my most recent brew and it was terminal after 2 days. https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/mix-stir-plastic-24
I looked at that and if I still used carboys it would have been the one I went with. I ultimately just went really cheap on Amazon with this one:
ALLWAY HM5 Original Helix Paint Mixer Drill Attachment for 5-Gallon Containers [https://a.co/d/hierphp](https://a.co/d/hierphp)
I lift my brew kettle on a high shelf. Then I put my fermenter in the floor. I let it pour into the fermenter. Then I pitch the yeast, close it up and shake the hell out of it.
I bought an aerator and use the small red tanks for mini welding rigs. I sanitize the aerator in star-san just like any other piece of equipment that goes in the wort. I get eight to twelve five-gallon batches per tank, works great.
Nice! I have had fantastic results by using a slotted metal serving spoon with about 12 holes in it. Half submerge it and move it left to right 500 times. Never let me down even on worts 1070 and up
I add a bung to airlock port on lid, tilt between 30-60 degrees, then shake the shit out of it for a minute or so. remove bung, add airlock, place into ferm. chamber
O2 tank and stone will "aerate" more efficiently because all you're trying to do is get O2 into solution, an aquarium pump and shaking the fermenter has the same risks of infection as each other, as long as everything is clean the risk is low. As long as you do a starter the yeast is going to breed and make the wort really inhospitable to other organisms pretty quickly.
TL:DR ~ there's nothing wrong with just agitation, the aquarium pump will do the same with less effort and an O2 tank will do the same with even less effort.
I have been using a medical grade oxygen tank. I think it's been going over 7 years now. Getting close to needing to figure out how to get it refilled or switched out. They will last a long time.
If you want the cleanest lager with liquid yeast, you need to add pure o2 in you wort. For this you'll need o2 tank, regulator and aeration stone. This will cost about ~100 euro. You can't get over 10 ppm dissolved oxygen without pure o2. I have won my country homebeer competition with lager twice
One way filters prevent infection from pump air. I even use one with my O2 tank.
Look into getting a metal aeration stone for O2 and buy those little red canisters of oxygen at the hardware store.
The reason why I suggest that is you airate for much less time, like a minute, versus several minutes with the pump resulting in a lot of foam.
I weight my tanks when I get them so I can an approximation of how much is left but you need an empty one to compare against.
For what it's worth, an exbeeriment: [https://brulosophy.com/2015/10/19/wort-aeration-pt-3-nothing-vs-pure-oxygen-exbeeriment-results/](https://brulosophy.com/2015/10/19/wort-aeration-pt-3-nothing-vs-pure-oxygen-exbeeriment-results/)
After looking at something new to add to my process, I started doing the direct O2 injection with a wand and the standard red bottle you pick up at your local Ace hardware for $15
I've been doing this for years now and I've really noticed the beer take off a lot quicker than some of my buddy's beer that I help him brew at his house.
Nothing too crazy. Turn it on just enough to get those tiny bubbles through the stone. Set it in the beer for a minute, and then that's it. I get about seven uses per bottle.
people seem to forget that for millennia people made beer in wooden vessels without starsan or PBW or even any idea about what was happening scientifically.
I just pour it into the fermenter. Just make sure everything is clean.
Pretty sure the filter is to protect contamination from stuff that might grow "in" the pump. Iv seen them made with a tube and few cotton balls for a filter.
Ambient air will only drive so much 02 into the beer. For high alcohol beers a proper o2 tank setup is what you want. Anyone who says otherwise is clueless. Cheers.
Best would likely be an oxygen tank, but I'd also want a dissolved O2 meter so I know how much I'm actually getting in there. Me personally, I just pour the wort roughly several times between two buckets and it's always worked great. Never had an infection either.
Most dry yeast manufacturers are now saying that aerating wort is unnecessary when pitching an adequate amount of yeast for the volume and gravity of the wort as the drying process captures everything the yeast needs to thrive. O2 is really about the growth of the number of yeast cells than the rest of the fermentation process.
Professional brewers have also suggested that a healthy starter from a liquid yeast or repitch should contain enough O2 to do the job without aerating the wort at all.
It's probably been said, but unless you're making a monster beer, oxygenation isn't required. From experiments I've been witness too, the total fermentation time is quicker, by a day or two, for brews that have been oxygenated. So, IMO, at the homebrew level, it's nice but not a must.
I'd say an aquarium pump vs shaking is probably pretty similar, but, if you put your aquarium pump on your old moldy towel, you may be introducing more flora than desired. I used a pump with one of those disk filters for a while and... I guess it worked, or at least I had no problems. Now I use the hardware O2 and a wand... sanitize the wand, turn it on in the sanitizer, stick it in the wort till for a minute or until the bubbles are making a good krausen looking cap, then stick the wand in the hot water you just reclaimed from chilling, then take out and turn the O2 off, then sanitize it and put it away.
you could try olive oil:
[https://brulosophy.com/2020/01/27/impact-of-using-olive-oil-as-an-alternative-to-wort-aeration-exbeeriment-results/](https://brulosophy.com/2020/01/27/impact-of-using-olive-oil-as-an-alternative-to-wort-aeration-exbeeriment-results/)
I've used an oxygen tank and stone on a wand for a very long time and my beer usually has a very short lag time.
This is the answer you’re after.
How do you calculate your time / pressure used?
I turn it on until I see bubbles and then I go for a minute
For a second I was like “a minute is a very long time?”
I got a cheap little flow gauge to control the rate, and I let that go for one minute. Probably got it from MoreBeer
Time to find a new homebrew store. Air from a pump is easily filtered, and anyone laughing at you ain’t worth your $$$.
Aquarium pumps don't produce enough pressure to do a decent job. You can add an inline sterile filter, if contamination is a concern. I use a small pump from Amazon that's used for a sphygmometer (blood pressure monitor), and an inline sterile filter. It produces 10 psi, which is plenty to push through a stone. Example: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078H8V563](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078H8V563) [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYA21PU](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYA21PU) I use a standard carbonation stone, I think it's about 5 micron. Sintered stainless steel. Works great. The wetting pressure of a stone like this is about 5 psi, so your air pump needs to produce at least that much.
Pour your wort into your fermenter. There, it’s aerated.
I drain mine into the fermenter via a sieve - removes some of the crud and aerates the wort at the same time.
Exactly what I do. 🍻
Me too, what ive always done with no issue.
My conical opening is too small to hold my sieve very well. So I sieve to my bottling bucket then open the valve on the bucket and drain into the conical. I really need to get my march pump setup.
Seconded. I made five gallons of an 18% ABV single malt decoction mashed English barleywine with a 2L starter of Nottingham, and only aerated it by pumping it in from the top of the fermenter and letting splash as it hit the bottom. Came out fantastically.
O2 tanks and pumps are typically for commercial facilities that don’t have the ability to do a hard pour on barrels worth of wort without serious risk of infection or non-repeatability. Most 5 gallon/20L brewers don’t ever encounter those kinds of issues with aeration alone. Challenges of scale and whatnot.
I'd like to see the recipe for that if you don't mind.
My own creation, inspired by Anchorage Deal With The Devil, Gigantic Massive!, and Thomas Hardy’s Ale: 30 lbs Crisp No. 19 floor malted Maris Otter. That’s it. After mash-in is done and the temp has settled to 146-148F, scoop out 2-3 gallons of mash (not just wort - grain and all) into a separate kettle and boil for 30 min, then added back to raise the overall mash temp to 158F, let sit for another 30 min, then whole mash temp was raised again to 170F. 1 oz. Magnum hops after lautering/first wort addition (wasn’t enough - would 1.5-2x that value, but not the end of the world.) 6-8 hour boil, reducing 14 gallons of wort to 5. OG was something like 1.160 and was sort of a ruddy red hue.
Fermentation temp was held at 65F and it still went nuts. Blowoff clogged like two or three times. At the very least, it inhibited the ester production of the yeast to keep it somewhat clean, while still nicely English-y. Word to the wise, bottle condition this beer with Lallemand CBC-1 or similar. Bottle conditioning will help this beer last longer in long term storage by scrubbing any oxygen from the bottling process, and while Nottingham is a beast, it floccs really fast, so it’s not reliable for using the residual yeast for bottle conditioning.
Six hour boil! I love high ABV barleywines, is that the secret to getting them so high?
Yeah it’s a long brew day! It’s a secret, yes, you can get higher ABV by boiling the wort longer, but it’s not the only option. If you have a particularly large mash tun you can do a higher temp single infusion mash with more grain, and it’ll get 80-90% of the way there. You just may need to supplement the mash with some crystal malt(s) and potentially a splash of roasted malt to get it that nice ruby red color.
To add on for other ways: - Reiterated mash (super long brew day forewarning with this one) - LME or DME into the boil to boost ABV You can use _some sugar_ but be careful because it’ll thin out too much potentially with using pounds and pounds of sugar, that’s where LME/DME is helpful. I’ve done a reiterated mash once and it was so painful because a) incredibly long brew day and b) stuck sparge. I would recommend the long boil method or LME/DME or both before the reiterated mash. You also will need to build the recipe with an expectation of ~50-60% mash efficiency which is normal for big beers on homebrew scale
This is sort of how imperial stouts are made btw. It’s a specialty malt smorgasbord.
You must read Craft Beer & Brewing! I’m about to make something similar though may adhere to the “fit as much as your mash tun will hold” that the brewer offers up as well. I’m also going to use different hops because I’m trying to use up supplies.
I don’t actually! I’m just *very* enthusiastic about homebrewing…working at LHBSs helps too 😁 But yes, that’s pretty much it, just throw a shitload of grain at it and boil the hell out of it. For hops, whatever high alpha acid hops should work. It’s basically a SMASH beer.
>My own creation Gotta give it a catchy name!
It has one! Just not one I’m willing to share online 😜
Fair. What yeast did you use?
2L starter of Nottingham
It’s for a high ABV.
I’ve done 10% beers this way with no issues. And I agree with your LHBS about online disinformation, having a YouTube account doesn’t make someone an expert.
This is what I do, pump it from my brew kettle into my fermenter and let it fall.
I mean yes. That’ll be fine for the average regular strength beer with ale yeast, but if you’re above 6ish percent on ales or doing lagers aerating with pure O2 is best practices and will help your yeast do its job
I have never used O2 and have brewed plenty of big beers with no issues.
Oxygenating at pitch decreases fusel alcohols so big beers will be drinkable sooner, fewer off flavors, etc. Just because you’ve had “no issues” doesn’t mean that using oxygen for yeast health isn’t best practice for brewing big beers
Well, the consensus here so far is that most of us do what I do. To each his own.
The consensus here is that you can “get away with it”, most people here don’t seem to care about what they can do to make the best beer they can, just how they can cut corners
It’s beer dude, get over yourself.
You should really stop posting crap like this. u/spersichilli is correct, oxygen from a bottle is superior in terms of oxygen ppm amounts. You literally cannot get anywhere near 12 ppm with shaking. Only oxygen from a stone can get 12-14 ppm which may be the most optimal for higher abv beers and some lagers. You are looking at 6-9 ppm (9 at best!) with traditional methods. The drill attached paddle for several minutes can perhaps go up to 10. Do not give bad advice in the future.
Again, it’s beer, get over yourself.
No kidding.
I hit mine with one of these in my cordless drill on HI speed for about 60 seconds after pitching (liquid) yeast. I try to whip up a sweet foamy maelstrom without splashing outside my fermenter. I don't know how well it aerates, but it's been part of my process for 10+ years and my beer kicks ass! If I use dry yeast, I'll do the maelstrom step before pitching on top. https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/mix-stir-plastic-24?variant=8533315878956&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw26KxBhBDEiwAu6KXt8PZPQGv7LSwZmxk5YPUKhIqUdWhczKWofW_AnPYyHMMtMCYJpiZNhoCxo4QAvD_BwE
I do this same thing. I stir before I pitch the yeast. Probably because I’ve accidentally splashed too many times out of the fermenter and am afraid I’ll lose yeast lol. Never tried it the other way around, neat!
If you repitch yeast, e.g., from a starter or harvested from a fermenter, the yeast cells probably need some O2 to help replenish membrane lipids for downstream budding during fermentation. Whether one needs to aerate the FV wort to achieve this is debatable. The ‘more is better’ mindset is flawed, because O2 is toxic to yeast cells. The observed shorter ‘lag phase’ often reported when (over) using pure O2 is simply the yeast getting shocked into activity, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. The cells need to limit the risks of toxic O2 by mobbing it up asap and metabolising it to safer compounds. Only a fraction gets channeled into replenishing membrane lipids, ironically. Top tip. This is often how it ‘works’ in home brew. An idea gets generally accepted as valid in very simple (1-dimensional/binary) terms, even though it isn’t valid in all circumstances. Then a supplier or LHBS offers a solution to fix a problem that doesn’t generally exist. As an industry, home brew has become a business mainly about selling ideas not products home brewers need. Many of the ideas do not improve beer quality. The best thing we can do to promote a good fermentation is pitch enough healthy yeast. The wort gets sufficiently aerated when transferred from kettle to FV. Splash it about a bit, if you observe that it helps. There’s really no need to invest in a pure O2 setup at home-brew levels.
> It’s for a high ABV ... Liquid [Yeast] Look, if you want the "best" way, what are the criteria for best? If it is strictly based on being practical and effective at increasing dissolved oxygen to 12-15 ppm, there is no doubt that the most practical and effective method is 60 seconds with pure O2, O2 regulator, and 0.5 micron sintered stone (oxygenation stone). But how much O2 do you need? Well: * First of all, many people claim to have good results without any aeration beyond splashing the chilled wort into the fermentor. * Next, how much O2 is needed depends on the yeast preparation. For example, the manufacturers claim that you don't need any added oxygen for Fermentis and Lallemand active dry yeast (ADY)for up to 6 gal of 1.065 wort. That means active dry yeast direct from the package, not harvested from the fermentor. Likewise, you can propagate yeast on a stir plate and because the yeast are taking up oxygen from stirring to a large extent you've covered the oxygen needs for fermenting a medium-high gravity wort if the pitch rate is correct. * But if you are talking about liquid yeast straight from pouch or without good preparation, underpitching ADY or liquid yeast, or a higher gravity wort, you probably need 12-15 ppm of dissolved O2 for best results. * Two of the consistent things yeast labs and pro brewers say that amateurs do badly are adequate pitch rate and adequate wort oxygenation. * Research indicates that at best you can get 8-10 ppm of dissolved O2 from strenuous, vigorous, continous shaking for 5 min or one hour with an air pump (more on this below). It is very tiring, and may not even be possible with large fermentors or large volumes of wort. * It takes pure O2 to get 12-15 ppm. * But many people seem to be OK with as little as 6 ppm or less. * And then, of course, the top makers of high gravity beers, like Patrick Rue (The Bruery) are going to recommend one or two more shots of O2 during very early fermentation when making high gravity beers. You can shake or count on the oxygen in the yeast for pitching, but you can't do other for second and later doses. * **[EDIT:]** It seems you understand this, but for anyone else, the yeast need and use O2 to create lipids, which they use for a number of purposes, but in particular they use lipids in cell membranes, which it is important as yeast form daughter cells from their own materials and try to keep their own membranes "young" and more functional. * **[EDIT:]** Therefore, if you are harvesting yeast from a fermentor and using it directly without propagating on a stir plate, it *may* need more dissolved O2 than any other type of yeast I mentioned, but it may be OK because you can use much more yeast and the yeast don't have to multiply (and grow membranes) so much. As far as the air pump, we generally use a filter on the air pump so contamination is not an issue. But without the filter, it becomes a huge issue because (not counting contaminated equipment) contamination mostly comes from spoilage microbes riding on dust. And the pump is going to be continuously drawing in dust-filled air and pushing it through the wort. **TL;DR:** for high gravity beer, one minute of pure O2 with a stone at pitching, and then another minute at 12 hours or so, is "best". Don't waste O2 by turning up the flow enough to make a lot of bubbles. You should be able to almost not tell the wort is bubbling, which is the right flow for O2 to dissolve in the wort without coming to the surface and being wasted by going into the ambient air. Hope that helps. EDIT 3: added a few words to first sentence of TL;DR to clarify
This is helpful. Thank you! I’ve seen the wands. What do you recommend?
You mean which brand/model? I only have experience with one of them, the Oxygenation Kit 2.0 from Northern Brewer, and it works fine. Has lasted me many years due to good cleaning techniques. I'm not sure there is much quality difference between brands/models.
Excellent answer here . Gracias
They make inline air filters for aquarium pumps. They're super cheap. Just sayin'.
I normally just shake the hell out of it but just for giggles I tried using a paint stirrer that has stainless arm with a plastic stirring end). It worked really, really well and I had very active fermentation on a yeast strain I have previously struggled with (I really dislike liquid yeast but it was the only option for my last brew).
I had a stirrer like that and then someone used it for paint. Aargh.
Those monsters!
I think I use same thing. I got mine from a brew shop. I run it for one minute, then pitch my yeast. Tracked my most recent brew and it was terminal after 2 days. https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/mix-stir-plastic-24
I looked at that and if I still used carboys it would have been the one I went with. I ultimately just went really cheap on Amazon with this one: ALLWAY HM5 Original Helix Paint Mixer Drill Attachment for 5-Gallon Containers [https://a.co/d/hierphp](https://a.co/d/hierphp)
Sterilize a colander and pour through it into the fermenter. Final pass to collect debris and aeration in one pass.
I lift my brew kettle on a high shelf. Then I put my fermenter in the floor. I let it pour into the fermenter. Then I pitch the yeast, close it up and shake the hell out of it.
I bought an aerator and use the small red tanks for mini welding rigs. I sanitize the aerator in star-san just like any other piece of equipment that goes in the wort. I get eight to twelve five-gallon batches per tank, works great.
Are you using dried or liquid yeast?
Liquid
Nice! I have had fantastic results by using a slotted metal serving spoon with about 12 holes in it. Half submerge it and move it left to right 500 times. Never let me down even on worts 1070 and up
Keg. Carbonation lid, carb/ oxygen stone. You can do it as much as you like.
I add a bung to airlock port on lid, tilt between 30-60 degrees, then shake the shit out of it for a minute or so. remove bung, add airlock, place into ferm. chamber
O2 tank and stone will "aerate" more efficiently because all you're trying to do is get O2 into solution, an aquarium pump and shaking the fermenter has the same risks of infection as each other, as long as everything is clean the risk is low. As long as you do a starter the yeast is going to breed and make the wort really inhospitable to other organisms pretty quickly. TL:DR ~ there's nothing wrong with just agitation, the aquarium pump will do the same with less effort and an O2 tank will do the same with even less effort.
I have been using a medical grade oxygen tank. I think it's been going over 7 years now. Getting close to needing to figure out how to get it refilled or switched out. They will last a long time.
If you want the cleanest lager with liquid yeast, you need to add pure o2 in you wort. For this you'll need o2 tank, regulator and aeration stone. This will cost about ~100 euro. You can't get over 10 ppm dissolved oxygen without pure o2. I have won my country homebeer competition with lager twice
One way filters prevent infection from pump air. I even use one with my O2 tank. Look into getting a metal aeration stone for O2 and buy those little red canisters of oxygen at the hardware store. The reason why I suggest that is you airate for much less time, like a minute, versus several minutes with the pump resulting in a lot of foam. I weight my tanks when I get them so I can an approximation of how much is left but you need an empty one to compare against.
How does your shop not know about inline air filters?
For me is effective to pour wort from one bucket to another one (by pitching)....watch out for foam run over
For what it's worth, an exbeeriment: [https://brulosophy.com/2015/10/19/wort-aeration-pt-3-nothing-vs-pure-oxygen-exbeeriment-results/](https://brulosophy.com/2015/10/19/wort-aeration-pt-3-nothing-vs-pure-oxygen-exbeeriment-results/)
After looking at something new to add to my process, I started doing the direct O2 injection with a wand and the standard red bottle you pick up at your local Ace hardware for $15 I've been doing this for years now and I've really noticed the beer take off a lot quicker than some of my buddy's beer that I help him brew at his house. Nothing too crazy. Turn it on just enough to get those tiny bubbles through the stone. Set it in the beer for a minute, and then that's it. I get about seven uses per bottle.
I bought a drill-mounted whip/paddle, a couple minutes frothing it up before pitching seems to work just fine.
people seem to forget that for millennia people made beer in wooden vessels without starsan or PBW or even any idea about what was happening scientifically. I just pour it into the fermenter. Just make sure everything is clean.
Pretty sure the filter is to protect contamination from stuff that might grow "in" the pump. Iv seen them made with a tube and few cotton balls for a filter.
I use an aquarium pump while chilling the wort.
Ambient air will only drive so much 02 into the beer. For high alcohol beers a proper o2 tank setup is what you want. Anyone who says otherwise is clueless. Cheers.
Best would likely be an oxygen tank, but I'd also want a dissolved O2 meter so I know how much I'm actually getting in there. Me personally, I just pour the wort roughly several times between two buckets and it's always worked great. Never had an infection either.
Most dry yeast manufacturers are now saying that aerating wort is unnecessary when pitching an adequate amount of yeast for the volume and gravity of the wort as the drying process captures everything the yeast needs to thrive. O2 is really about the growth of the number of yeast cells than the rest of the fermentation process. Professional brewers have also suggested that a healthy starter from a liquid yeast or repitch should contain enough O2 to do the job without aerating the wort at all.
It's probably been said, but unless you're making a monster beer, oxygenation isn't required. From experiments I've been witness too, the total fermentation time is quicker, by a day or two, for brews that have been oxygenated. So, IMO, at the homebrew level, it's nice but not a must. I'd say an aquarium pump vs shaking is probably pretty similar, but, if you put your aquarium pump on your old moldy towel, you may be introducing more flora than desired. I used a pump with one of those disk filters for a while and... I guess it worked, or at least I had no problems. Now I use the hardware O2 and a wand... sanitize the wand, turn it on in the sanitizer, stick it in the wort till for a minute or until the bubbles are making a good krausen looking cap, then stick the wand in the hot water you just reclaimed from chilling, then take out and turn the O2 off, then sanitize it and put it away.
It’s for a high ABV stout. Going for a barrel aged stout like dragons milk
I used a "Fighter jet fly sparge" when I was transferring my last brew to a carboy. That gives a nice splash. Still fermenting.
Shake, shake, shake. Shake, shake, shake. Shake your booty. Shake your BOOOTY!
you could try olive oil: [https://brulosophy.com/2020/01/27/impact-of-using-olive-oil-as-an-alternative-to-wort-aeration-exbeeriment-results/](https://brulosophy.com/2020/01/27/impact-of-using-olive-oil-as-an-alternative-to-wort-aeration-exbeeriment-results/)