full boil

[J.Brew]

Lots of good info on oxygenation vs. airation and wort vs. starter in this thread...
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/phpBB2 ... php?t=4000

[Norwalde]

I'm not a microbiologist, but I've been reading and listening to a lot on this subject. It seems like reasoning for the aquarium pump, as opposed to O2, may have as much to do with the timing of the yeast's use of the oxygen as with the risk of over-oxygenating. I think that the yeast take up and use all of the available O2 very quickly.

I'm not sure of the actual timeframe, but imagine this scenario: You use straight O2 to saturate the wort quickly. The yeast take the bulk of that O2 up in 15 minutes or so. Then they're healthier, but they only got that one brief shot of O2. If you aerate with air for an hour, then they have an extended period of time to continue taking in oxygen, softening cell walls, etc. In the end maybe that hour of continual, albeit perhaps slower, oxygen uptake may be more beneficial to the overall health of the yeast.

[izumidai]

I just brewed bottled my first brew that I used a starter for (a b3 blind pig clone/1.060 OG) and this was my process:

I made a 2000ml starter of wyeast 1056 2 days before I brewed and shook it every couple of hours. I then pitched it into 60 degree wort after I rocked it for about 3 minutes and let it warm up to 68 degrees on its own. Just as a side bar, I used a servomyces pill in the starter and in the brew. Fermentation went gangbusters like nothing I had ever seen before and I had to clean out the airlock on my bucket twice during fermentation. (I have since switched to blowoff tubes as my fellow BN'ers have recommended). Final gravity was about 1.014 so I think the yeast fulfilled their end of the deal. If the finished uncarbonated sample of this beer is an indication of how this beer is going to be after bottle conditioning, I think I just made my best beer so far (fingers crossed!). If so, this is the method I am sticking with.

~Kevin

[Speyedr]

I think I just made my best beer so far (fingers crossed!). If so, this is the method I am sticking with.

~Kevin

Nice! That's the best part about all of this I think. Once I stop finding things to improve my beer I will probably give up on this hobby...