cheap great way to oxygenate wort

[ryan tockstein]

Hello everyone... I thought I would share this piece of information for those who haven't opted for the oxygen tank and stone.   Shaking the carboy definitely doesn't get near enough oxygen dissolved into the wort, and I have a nice cheap way to get plenty of oxygen dissolved without buying the gas tank set up.

 

Small bubbles dissolve into wort much better than large bubbles... that's why you use an oxygen stone with the tanks. You can avoid doing this by using a length of your vinyl tubing and putting a few small holes in it.

 

Take about 2-3 ft of tubing, and drill or cut 5-10 very small holes in it near one end. They need to be 1/16" . I don't know how well 1/8" would work. When the wort travels through the tube, the low internal pressure from the flow of the wort will "suck" air in the small holes. The smaller the holes, the smaller the bubbles. More holes more bubbles. But only start with a few holes. If you put too many holes in the tube it won't work well. You want the end without the holes to be the end where the wort comes out. That way the bubles are in contact with the wort as long as possible.

 

This is a great way to get oxygen dissolved into your wort, and I have definitely noticed a difference in the quality of fermentation I get when using it. I hope this helps a few people!

[Tim Roettiger]

Interesting. Very good idea. Just like the Venturi valves we use to oxygenate the water on our fish transport trucks. I feel dumb that I did not think of it!

[Rob]

Care to share any photos of this? My wort usually gets poured directly into a bucket or carboy so I am not sure where the use of a tube comes in.

[Chris Thornton]

Seconded; do you have this tubing running from a funnel to a carboy, or what?

[ryan tockstein]

Before I started using a pump, I would just use an autosiphon to transfer the wort to the bucket... that way I could avoid dumping the settled hop and break materials into the fermenter. So I just use the regular 3/8" vinyl tubing that comes with the siphon to make the aerator. As far as a picture, I don't have one and I don't believe you'd be able to see the holes because I don't have a decent digital camera. But, it is just the vinyl tubing with a couple of very small holes cut in it. I'd say you want these holes to be about 1/16" in diameter. 1/8" would probably work too. I just used the tip of a very sharp knife to do it. Let me know if there's any other questions!

[Chris Thornton]

Hey, that's pretty easy, and I've considered using the autosiphon to take the cooled wort into the primary to get around some of the hop sludge anyhow.

I suppose you still stir/shake the primary, but a little extra oxygen couldn't hurt.