Anyone use one of these or something similar? http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/aeration-system/ Would that system above get me to the same spot as pure o2 and the only thing I'd be losing out on is time? (several seconds vs several minutes, etc) For those of you who are aerating with pure o2, how much did you have to pay for your tank? What does the average fill cost? Where do you get them filled? TIA
All the research I've done points toward pure O2 being much more effective. It doesn't take much and you can buy a disposable canister at home depot for less than ten bucks. I bought a kit with a 0.5 micron stone because it apparently doesn't foam as badly and if you use BrewCipher it matches the O2 calc in the sheet.
Look/ask for one of these at Home Depot or Lowes, Ace Hardware, whatever you got. I also got one of these from NB. Seems good. I appreciate the stiff SS wand. One of our LHBS stores sells the stone attached to vinyl tubing. Not as good.
I am not personally familiar with the Farmhouse Brewing Supply aeration system but it seems to include the important items of an inline filter and diffusion stone. Lots of folks like to use pure O2 but below is something that Ashton Lewis (BYO’s Mr. Wizard) has published in the past: “In the old days before high-gravity brewing (strong beer diluted with water prior to packaging) and commonplace double IPAs, brewers would aerate wort with air. Indeed, a significant volume of the world production of beer relies upon air for aeration, not bottled oxygen. The solubility of oxygen in wort decreases as wort strength increases, and it also decreases when air is used instead of oxygen. The use of oxygen for aeration makes sense for stronger beers. But even for high-gravity worts aerated using air, there is sufficient oxygen for yeast to produce the sterols and unsaturated fatty acids needed for cell wall synthesis. Yeast biochemists and practical brewers know that increasing the oxygen concentration in high-gravity worts can improve fermentation rate and the health of yeast cropped from these fermentations, but very few will argue that wort must be oxygenated. At Springfield Brewing Company we use air for all of our wort aeration needs, independent of wort strength, and we brew beers ranging from 11-24 °Plato (1.044 – 1.100 SG).” Above is from: https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/2891-aeration-mr-wizard Cheers!
I use the red $9 tank and lowes/ Home Depot. I got about 5 batches out of it. I attach this to the take. http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/oxygenation-kit.html
No details given, but this looks like a foot pump that just cycles air through your wort. As stated, with this equipment you will never run out of oxygen. Trouble is, the dissolved O2 in the wort will never get above 8ppm which is inadequate for anything resembling a medium-high OG wort. So no, it will not get you to where pure oxygen will take you. I have found used medical oxygen tanks are the way to go. Very common is a type E (search Google for description), this is what you regularly see strapped to a wheelchair or in a golf cart piloted by an octogenarian (I live in S Fla). On Amazon they are $60'ish new, a regulator is another $20. But they show up in flea markets/garage sales/eBay regularly. I have a couple that only cost $25 (full w/reg). They hold 680 liters and you will use 1-2 liters per batch so refills are few and far between. I'm down to 1000psi on my first one after 2+ years. I use it for all my beers and found it equally useful in starters (reduces time). You will need a stone and some cheap tubing to attach to a barb outlet. I suppose you need to have it hydro tested every five years but I'm usually at another flea market by then. Filling is regulated by your state. In Fla it is a commodity like gas or flour, just drive to the store and fill 'er up. Some states treat it as a drug, must be prescribed. In these states I believe most brewers just use welding oxygen, chemically it is identical to medical/aviators oxygen.
