Aerate, or not aerate - does it make a difference?

bitter_dave · Post by **bitter_dave** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:31 pm

Slurp, presumably you are pouring your wort from the boiler post cool, probably via a tap, into your fv with no tubing? If this is the case then you are aereating your wort (this is all the aeareation I do, and I don't bother with starters).

dartgod · Post by **dartgod** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:41 pm

i still believe its the water or whats not in it thats the main factor in attenuation.WE could run a poll on whether you get good attenuation or not with S-04 and link this to hard/soft water areas this might support or blow my theory

When measuring attenuation mash temperature will be your most influential factor as this will determine the amount of fermentable sugars you have in your wort.......

http://www.mbaa.com/TechQuarterly/Abstr ... 74ab21.htm

GOODBREWING........[/quote]

David Edge · Post by **David Edge** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:30 pm

slurp:

i still believe its the water or whats not in it thats the main factor in attenuation

I suspect that if this were the case it would pop up in the professional literature. However, you're right that it is one factor. Calcium and magnesium are important for yeast performance. I think few waters are so soft there's not enough magnesium, but calcium might be a problem.

At the 2007 Derby Festival Hilary Kane from Murphys said that professional books often suggest you don't need to add calcium for brewing lager and recall that the famous lager-brewing centres - Wrexham, Glasgow and that place in the Czech republic have very soft water. However she then said that not adding calcium for lagers only worked when decoction mashing, not when doing an infusion mash. So maybe a teaspoon of a calcium salt wouldn't go amiss if S-04 isn't behaving.

FlippinMental · Post by **FlippinMental** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:04 pm

eh, thanks gents

very informative

tricksie little devils these yeast. i wonder if providing additional aeration contributes to increased yeast induced fluctuation

slurp the apprentice · Post by **slurp the apprentice** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:48 am

bitter_dave wrote:Slurp, presumably you are pouring your wort from the boiler post cool, probably via a tap, into your fv with no tubing? If this is the case then you are aereating your wort (this is all the aeareation I do, and I don't bother with starters).

I do pour streight into fermenting bucket from boiler but wort at this stage is still very hot as i have not yet sorted out a wort chiller i leave it in f/bucket to cool over nite then pitch yeast so any areation caused by this action takes place 9hrs b4 pitching yeast

David Edge · Post by **David Edge** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:19 pm

Slurp spake thusly:

I do pour streight into fermenting bucket from boiler but wort at this stage is still very hot

Hot wort cannot dissolve as much oxygen as cold; aereating when cold will give a higher O2 level. Whether you need it or not, who can say? Worth a try though.

Some people report that beer stales more quickly if hot wort is aereated; others cannot reproduce the finding. The cardboard taint we had in early brews stopped when we stopped slopping hot wort about; it might just have been coincidence. I don't know of any good reason for aereating hot wort so you could drop from copper to FV theough a piece of tubing and aereate the cool wort. But if your beer doesn't stale and attenuates fully, carry on.

slurp the apprentice · Post by **slurp the apprentice** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:52 am

My point is that i feel i get good attenuation dispite poor aeration i view my cooling method as archaic and will be moving towards cooling the wort right after the boil and hop steeping stages are over via a wort chiller .Does anyone know whether i could get a free water analysis for my area from the water authority ?

Wobbler · Post by **Wobbler** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 11:04 am

slurp the apprentice wrote:Does anyone know whether i could get a free water analysis for my area from the water authority ?

Yes you can. I just phone up and they send me a report the same day through email. I'm not sure all water authorities are quite as amenable though.

slurp the apprentice · Post by **slurp the apprentice** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:37 pm

Nice one i just called yorkshire water and they said they will send me an anaysis thru the post i will post this then on the forum to see if it useful in relation to this tread

David Edge · Post by **David Edge** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 8:42 pm

Good luck!

The Drinking Water Directive requires far more monitoring of organics, pesticides etc, but there is no requirement to report brewing ions in general.

Most people have found that if you don't get what you want on a schedule report if you persist with the call centre you will be put through to someone with more knowledge.

You could always contact your local micro if that fails.

slurp the apprentice · Post by **slurp the apprentice** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:00 pm

got a report i have posted on brewing liquor forum see ianb's thread

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Aerate, or not aerate - does it make a difference?