Areation techniques.??

Any hardware used for mashing, fermenting or aging.

Moderator: Site Moderator

User avatar
BaxtersDad
Swill Maker
Posts: 242
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:11 pm
Location: Upper Left Coast of US

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by BaxtersDad »

Actually, a stainless sintered stone does not harbor mold or bacteria. You santize it by boiling for two minutes before use. Air is pumping out through the 2 micron pores from the time you put it in the wort until you take it out, so nothing get in the pores of the stone. You simply rinse it off after use, The finer bubbles do a better job or aeration. $15 and it lasts a lifetime. It is pretty important to use a HEPA filter inline so youj are not pumping bacteria from the air into your wort. I have used one like this one since the 1980s and it makes a tremendous difference in fermentations.

Danespirit wrote: A similar device is what i have, just cheaper..think it was 6 or 7$.
I ditched the airstones at the end and made myself a little basket out of stainless.
The airstones are porous and stuff from your ferment will settle inside them, causing a environment for mold and/or bacteria.
The stainless basket is just flushed with a squeeze of boiling water, when i make my coffee anyway..
It should be sufficient to kill everything that may be on there..
RandyMarshCT
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 718
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:46 am
Location: Hopkinton, RI

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by RandyMarshCT »

bearriver wrote:I fill my fermenter through the drain valve with silicone tubing. There is a small hole in the tubing that I plug with a golf tee. With the hole unplugged and water running, it sucks tiny bubbles aggressively into the line as the fermenter is filled. That's two dead birds, one stone.

I have a crap load of airstones and aquarium pumps. Those work well but I don't bother with them.
That's damn clever!

I use a 2 micron stainless stone on the end of a stainless racking cane (Brewhaus). It's connected to the disposable oxygen bottles from the hardware store. I got the oxy regulator and airstone from Norther Brewer. I give it about 1 minute per 10 gallons. It's expensive, but with a ripping starter on the stir plate I can ferment 20 gallons out in 3 days.

I have also used this setup in the past to try and induce more rapid aging (hence the stainless racking cane). It didn't seem to be worth the price of the oxygen bottles.
Life member, representative, and proud supporter of the Hobby Distiller's Association.

http://www.hobbydistillersassociation.org
Full_moon
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:58 am
Location: So. Ca.

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by Full_moon »

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-59 ... B003NQE8B0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Just bought one of these hand blenders. Saw a youtube video of someone using one just prior to pitching yeast. 3-4 minutes for what looked like a 5 gallon fement and it was aerated.
User avatar
raketemensch
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 2001
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 2:10 pm
Location: Tralfamadore

Areation techniques.??

Post by raketemensch »

Full_moon wrote:http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-59 ... B003NQE8B0

Just bought one of these hand blenders. Saw a youtube video of someone using one just prior to pitching yeast. 3-4 minutes for what looked like a 5 gallon fement and it was aerated.
I've got one of those, too, but I was worried because it only goes down about 8 inches into the barrel, so you're really only aerating the top of the bucket. I would assume that you want to get all the way down if you can, but I don't know that for a fact.
diesel75
Novice
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:31 pm

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by diesel75 »

Whats wrong with dumping two 5 gallon pails back and forth or a paint mixer with drill
wtfdskin
Swill Maker
Posts: 451
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:33 pm

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by wtfdskin »

I use a 3' long mixing paddle from the local wine store chucked in my cordless drill
RandyMarshCT
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 718
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2012 7:46 am
Location: Hopkinton, RI

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by RandyMarshCT »

diesel75 wrote:Whats wrong with dumping two 5 gallon pails back and forth or a paint mixer with drill
Nothing at all. It's much more difficult with 20+ gallon ferments, though.
Life member, representative, and proud supporter of the Hobby Distiller's Association.

http://www.hobbydistillersassociation.org
BoomTown
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1498
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:41 am
Location: Virgina

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by BoomTown »

Guess I don't understand this problem, unless someone is Mashing, and Fermenting in the same vessel? The problem is the boil right? Too long a boil and the oxygen gets driven out of the mash? Slows down the yeast launch?

Here, we do 45 min rests at 160F and 180F during the cooking, and pop the temp up to boil at the end for about 10 minutes.

For our "Pilot Still line" (what we call our 30gal mash Tun / 30 gallon fermeters), we simple let the cooked mash squirt out into the 30 gallon barrels, until the drip is slowed to an intolerable slow drip. It makes lots of bubbles from the fall into the barrel. Then we move it to the warm room and let it set till the temps drop to 100F, take an SG and toss in the yeast. Yeast kicks off in minutes, never have an oxygen issue...
“…Let’s do this one more time....”
User avatar
firewater69
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1332
Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2014 9:55 am

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by firewater69 »

BoomTown wrote:Guess I don't understand this problem, unless someone is Mashing, and Fermenting in the same vessel? The problem is the boil right? Too long a boil and the oxygen gets driven out of the mash? Slows down the yeast launch?

Here, we do 45 min rests at 160F and 180F during the cooking, and pop the temp up to boil at the end for about 10 minutes.

For our "Pilot Still line" (what we call our 30gal mash Tun / 30 gallon fermeters), we simple let the cooked mash squirt out into the 30 gallon barrels, until the drip is slowed to an intolerable slow drip. It makes lots of bubbles from the fall into the barrel. Then we move it to the warm room and let it set till the temps drop to 100F, take an SG and toss in the yeast. Yeast kicks off in minutes, never have an oxygen issue...
sounds familiar. :thumbup:
Moonshine.... American as apple pie & it's part of our heritage, history & culture.
DrMalt
Novice
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2010 11:51 am
Location: The Island eh...

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by DrMalt »

For my all-grain wort I use a stainless steel air stone with a HEPA filter as described in posts above. I have it attached to a very large commercial sized aquarium pump. Instead of aerating the fermenter I aerate the flow as it is being pumped from chiller to the fermenter though an in-line Tee. I digress, that's pretty complex, but for the most part I am not distilling that.

For my Sugar washes I don't bother to use carboys or a conical to ferment in. Just a 20 gallon HDPE tub with a lid. I aerate it with a hand mixer. A cheap Wal-world deal made by sunbeam or some such brand. That thing gets 12 gallons of wash saturated with oxygen in less than 5 minutes. It would seem it only gets to the top 5 inches or so but the trick is to use it near the surface and it sucks air into the fluid. Foams it up really well. The oxygen does mix throughout. The yeast love it. I do this just before I pitch and then again a few hours after pitching.

Obviously I have less concerns with foreign bugs in my sugar washes. They ferment dry, and rather quickly. It will also be distilled to 96% and the finished wash does taste quite good. At least so far.

edited to change a word
User avatar
subbrew
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1275
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:40 pm
Location: West of the Mississippi

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by subbrew »

One thing I would add, if using an aquarium pump, you don't have to aerate just once. When I am doing big beers or mead, I will drop in the stone for 10 to 15 minutes at the time of yeast pitch and then do it again three or 4 hours later. It seems to give it an extra boost got get the yeast numbers up for eating through a high gravity wort.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Areation techniques.??

Post by NZChris »

Since my last post on this thread, I've started putting a pump in the headspace and leaving it on until the ferment starts to slow. Doing that agitates the wash and speeds up fermentation.
Post Reply