Toggle sidebar

Aeration during Growth Phase

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Barrel Char Wood Products
dr9

dr9

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 12, 2009
386
2
0
athens ga
From the NewBee Guide:

To avoid stressing the yeast during their growth phase, it is important to provide them with the oxygen they need. Aerate the Must a couple of times a day for the first three days by using an aeration stone, shaking, or stirring with a Lees stirrer. Make sure you sanitize whatever equipment you are going to use before putting it into the Must. Aerate for 2 to 5 minutes depending on the method, and then cover the Must again. WARNING - There will be CO2 dissolved in the solution that will begin to bubble out when you begin to aerate the must. This can sometimes result in a geyser effect that could spray your walls and ceiling, and will result in the loss of some of the must. To avoid this, gently agitate the liquid to expel the CO2 before you begin to add the oxygen. This is particularly important if you are using the shaking method.
Click to expand...

I've got extra buckets and such. To avoid spray, can I pour into a sanitized big bucket and just shake out the CO2 and get O2 into the must, twice daily? It would have air exposure, but it would also have the same exposure with a wine whip or lees stirrer too, if my understanding of those contraptions are correct. And by air, I mean ambient air, not just closed air in the vessel, since it would be transferred, a half-assed racking in a way.

Here's the recipe, but the question is more general than specific to it...

http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?p=139101#post139101

Thanks!
 
You can do it that way, but it seem like a lot more work than simply stirring the mead. It might also increase the risk of contamination, though I think that is not likely to be a problem. The easiest solution I have come up with is to just use a large primary - I often use a 10 gallon pail for 5-6 gallon batches. Antifoam drops really help with smaller fermenters.
 
I see what you are saying, I've got it in a 1 gallon glass jug now, but maybe I should transfer to one of my 6 gallon buckets for at least the first 3 days so I can shake it up recklessly. In other words, instead of transfering to a bucket and then putting it back into the glass, and doing that twice daily, just leave it in the bucket. It seems so obvious. But sometimes you (I) just need to hear someone else say something reasonable for the truth to become apparent.

Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns

Top Bottom