How long to aerate a starter????

[Pierre le Grand]

merci, danke, grazie!

[Pierre le Grand]

I shouldn't reply so much to my own thread.

But I thought I would report back about my findings. Here is what happened:

I used my stir plate and made a 500 ml starter and began to stir. Then I inserted my filtered aquarium pump line into the flask, but I didn't put it below the liquid line. I just kept fresh filtered air coming in, and the vortex of the stir plate kept the air mixing into the starter.

I kept it all clean by crimping foil over the top of the flask.

I added a little more fresh sweet wort a couple of times.

[/b]DUDE! After 2 brews I am hooked! I've never seen my yeast this active. My beer tastes totally clean now too. 6 hours after pitching I woke up to check my beer and both of them bubbled the airlock faster than I could count. Complete fermentation and full attenuation quicker than I've ever seen.


I'm stoked!

[yeast_slurry_speech]

A sanitary inline filter with some hose on either side would give you more peace of mind with using that aquarium pump.

Northern Brewer
http://www.northernbrewer.com/aeration.html
#7861 In-Line Sanitary Filter $5.25 EACH

MoreBeer
http://morebeer.com/view_product/16797/
FIL90 Sanitary Filter $5.25 EACH

[Pierre le Grand]

forgot to mention...I use the inline filter with the aerator.

[Junket]

My problem with aerating with this method is foam. I don't use a stirplate, and I find that I can only run the air for 10 to 15 minutes before the foam of a 1500ml starter reaches the top of the 2000ml flask. Does a stir plate reduce foaming?

[DannyW]

Pretty much eliminates it entirely.

If you are boiling your starters (as opposed to using canned wort), then the little bit of Foam Control in there also keeps the fermentation foam down.

[Pierre le Grand]

My problem with aerating with this method is foam. I don't use a stirplate, and I find that I can only run the air for 10 to 15 minutes before the foam of a 1500ml starter reaches the top of the 2000ml flask. Does a stir plate reduce foaming?

That stir plate keeps the foam stirred in. There is ussually one point where the foam rises dispite the vortex of the stir plate when the yeast is going nuts, but that doesn't last too long.