Aeration

[Canadoz]

Hey guys, in relation to "limewood" airstones if anyone is interested:

It seems there may be light flavor elements and medicinally useful compounds contained in the wood, although in very low concentrations compared to in it's flowers and leaves.
Interestingly one of the medicinal applications of Linden is to heal and promote liver health. (grog that undoes it's own damage to your body?) lol.
I'm keen to have a go using it as aeration with a small batch of UJSM as an experiment.
If it adds a little something special to the flavor profile, that could be really cool, and if it doesn't, no worries. cheap easy airstone! :handgestures-thumbupleft:
at any rate It would seem it's not going to to any harm.

I also liked that idea of using an oak block instead, although the advantage with limewood airstones and the reason they have a place in the aquarium hobby even after all this time is that they create a large quantity of very very fine bubbles which is needed to make protein skimmers function, but also means that the water or in this case spirit, is more highly oxygenated than with a less fine stream of bubbles such as a cheap air stone or an open pipe end.

References for anyone interested

Quoted from :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilia

"Most medicinal research has focused on Tilia cordata[citation needed], although other species are also used medicinally and somewhat interchangeably. The dried flowers are mildly sweet and sticky, and the fruit is somewhat sweet and mucilaginous. Limeflower tea has a pleasing taste, due to the aromatic volatile oil found in the flowers. The flowers, leaves, wood, and charcoal (obtained from the wood) are used for medicinal purposes. Active ingredients in the Tilia flowers include flavonoids (which act as antioxidants) and volatile oils. The plant also contains tannins that can act as an astringent.[11]."

and From:http://vitalitymagazine.com/article/the-linden-tree/

"A RELAXING ANTI-STRESS REMEDY

Linden flowers have always been used in herbal medicine as a calming, relaxing remedy for the nervous system. This is one of those safe herbal teas that can be taken by almost anyone and consumed over a long period of time. When you substitute linden tea for your coffee, you will soon feel a great reduction in stress levels. It is a gentle relaxant especially effective for anyone suffering from nervous irritability. This is because the flowers contain an essential oil composed partly of an alcohol sesquiterpene called farnesol which is antispasmodic and sedative. The tea has been used without harm even for small children, and in Europe a calming bath is made for overwrought infants by adding a strong linden infusion to their bath water.

Children also benefit from the diaphoretic activity when it is given to them during influenza or severe colds. (A diaphoretic promotes sweating, using the skin as an organ of elimination.) There also seems to be an anti-catarrhal effect; one American study has demonstrated that the use of linden flowers for children in the early stages of a respiratory illness will prevent the inner ear infections that often follow."

RESTORING THE LIVER

One of the most remarkable therapeutic effects of linden is on the liver. In this case, it is the inner bark or sapwood of the tree that is used. The French have a phyto-pharmaceutical specialty called “aubier de Tilleul de Roussillon,” Roussillon being a region in the south of France where it is thought that the very best linden trees grow. The sapwood is sometimes used in England to treat kidney stones and gout. But in France it is considered an important liver remedy because it has a mild choleretic action (stimulating the flow of bile through the liver) which assures non-aggressive drainage of the liver. This is the key to natural self-restoration of the liver.

In France it is also known to be effective in treating viral hepatitis, and patients with hepatitis C have shown very positive results after using it for some time. Over the course of treatment, raised liver enzyme levels were carefully monitored and showed considerable diminishment — almost to normal. Other plants with anti-viral activity were used as well, but the importance of linden bark is its non-aggressive action. When there is liver disease, many conventional pharmaceuticals are simply too toxic for the liver to process. Herbal medicine excels in treatments for the liver — all of them bitter remedies which work to decongest and restore this essential organ that protects us from the effects of pollution and chemicals in our food and the environment.

- See more at: http://vitalitymagazine.com/article/the ... iyPCh.dpuf"

:geek:

[greenguy]

So hows every one going on the Aeration??
im at day 15 today all though it is cold here atm but it looks good and is tasting pretty good atm im going to leave it go till the end of the week and asses it then but think it can go for a bit more not to woody at all the angels have taken there share but not to worry

[bt1]

Howdy,

yeh the rye really has progressed. I rate this real time 1 month old at about 6 + months in effect. happy.

Definitely be a technique for the colder months for mine as you said Green angels are well supplied.

bt1

[BackyardBrewer]

Howdy,

yeh the rye really has progressed. I rate this real time 1 month old at about 6 + months in effect. happy.

Definitely be a technique for the colder months for mine as you said Green angels are well supplied.

bt1

Yes I'm noticing a lot of evaporation/spirit loss. But if the spirit at the end is better then I don't care. Mine is in two demijohns with two air stones and a lot of headspace and only covered with a coffee filter, so if you had it in SS kegs or barrels then loss would be a lot less certainly.

[greenguy]

Howdy,

yeh the rye really has progressed. I rate this real time 1 month old at about 6 + months in effect. happy.

Definitely be a technique for the colder months for mine as you said Green angels are well supplied.

bt1

Yes I'm noticing a lot of evaporation/spirit loss. But if the spirit at the end is better then I don't care. Mine is in two demijohns with two air stones and a lot of headspace and only covered with a coffee filter, so if you had it in SS kegs or barrels then loss would be a lot less certainly.

yea i got mine in 4 litter jar with about a 4" opening but as u said if it taste good then why not i think i will use this when my drinking stock it low and i need to get it up

[unsub]

The 2 micron SS air stone I got is the one with the barb connector and I found that it fits perfectly in a 1/2" copper joiner with no leaks. So I have a length of 1/2" copper tube with a 1/2" copper joiner soft soldered to the end and the air stone jammed into the joiner about 1mm, no solder or plumbers tape needed, just like a press fit and I am going to fit a hose barb to the other end of the copper tube to fit the air supply to.

It's been running in a 5l demi with about 3 litres in it for about a week now and it's still solid plus the benefit is I can have the stone almost on the bottom of the demi. I was initially concerned about there being no real movement in the liquid but I used a powerful LED torch to look in there and all of the liquid is constantly moving around.

So no silicone or plastic tube in my whisky, just copper and the SS stone and even after a week the difference is noticeable. I have some charred oak in a single malt I made a few weeks ago and I can already smell the vanilla and the peat is starting to come back through.

cheers

unsub

[1 2many]

The 2 micron SS air stone I got is the one with the barb connector and I found that it fits perfectly in a 1/2" copper joiner with no leaks. So I have a length of 1/2" copper tube with a 1/2" copper joiner soft soldered to the end and the air stone jammed into the joiner about 1mm, no solder or plumbers tape needed, just like a press fit and I am going to fit a hose barb to the other end of the copper tube to fit the air supply to.

It's been running in a 5l demi with about 3 litres in it for about a week now and it's still solid plus the benefit is I can have the stone almost on the bottom of the demi. I was initially concerned about there being no real movement in the liquid but I used a powerful LED torch to look in there and all of the liquid is constantly moving around.

So no silicone or plastic tube in my whisky, just copper and the SS stone and even after a week the difference is noticeable. I have some charred oak in a single malt I made a few weeks ago and I can already smell the vanilla and the peat is starting to come back through.

cheers


unsub

Good stuff usub looks like you have found a cheap and easy solution to avoid the nasty stuff, will give it ago :clap:

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[greenguy]

I gave up on the stone swear mine has glue or some shit in it as it sucks
but my 6mm stainless tube is moving it something chronic and doing the job infact i just got home from work i think ill go have a wee taste :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[unsub]

I started out with a length of 1/2" copper tube with an end cap soldered on and then drilled 1.5mm holes in the tube and that worked ok, the bubbles were smaller than an open ended tube. You could give that a go and see if there is any difference to how it is now?

[gavogr]

Hi there, Just a quickie for you all.
I hope i haven't missed what im about to ask, sorry if i have.
If you start to aerate at above 40% do you leave it above 40 or do you dilute it down to 40 before you bottle and drink it?
Cheers
Gavo

[Kimbo]

Yeah Gav, Dilute to 40% when bottling :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[gavogr]

Yeah Gav, Dilute to 40% when bottling :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers
Thought i would ask just to be sure.
Thanks for the quick reply

[greenguy]

or to 50% :teasing-neener:

[bt1]

Guys,

watered down the rye to bottle strength and gave it a couple of days on the aeration.

Dam good in fact I'm impressed :D

For a rye to turn this quick :handgestures-thumbupleft: ...very thankful to RC & Doc & others for assists and comments

bt1

[the Doctor]

Such a pleasure this is one innovation that I am now using every day...and it just makes such a difference...the quality of the spirit I lay down now to that I have been making for years is astonishing...if anyone doubts this technique I urge them to give it a go. Cheers.
Doc

[greenguy]

yup this will be implemented in all my sprit's from now on amazing results :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Petulance]

What is the object of aeration of the wash?

1. Is it to inject oxygen into the wash to make the little yeasties happy?
2. Is it to create an upward current (similar to a convection current) to move the wash ingredients around?
3. Is it to create a disturbance in the wash to force carbon dioxide (another excretion in the fermentation process) to be freed from solution. The CO2 buildup would stress the yeast, as well as raising the ph of the wash.

If the answer is 1, wouldn't direct oxygen injection be a far more efficient method? Given the number of "slightly older" folk with home oxygen bottles, this may not be too difficult.

I've been trying standard aeration using a fishtank aerator. In non-quantative terms, I think it improves fermentation times.

I've yet to try aeration of distilled product. Once again, the same three questions above can be applied to the aeration of distilled product.

Thoughts, anyone?

[Dominator]

AFAIK, you only want to areate your wash before it ferments. Oxygen helps the yeast multiply however adding O2 after fermenting has started is inviting infections and bacteria.

[Lowndsey]

Wish I hadn't seen this thread...got something else I am gonna have to give a go . Will have to put off rebuilding that front fence for a bit while I try this....the missus is gonna be pissed off with you lot :))

[BackyardBrewer]

What is the object of aeration of the wash?

1. Is it to inject oxygen into the wash to make the little yeasties happy?
2. Is it to create an upward current (similar to a convection current) to move the wash ingredients around?
3. Is it to create a disturbance in the wash to force carbon dioxide (another excretion in the fermentation process) to be freed from solution. The CO2 buildup would stress the yeast, as well as raising the ph of the wash.

If the answer is 1, wouldn't direct oxygen injection be a far more efficient method? Given the number of "slightly older" folk with home oxygen bottles, this may not be too difficult.

I've been trying standard aeration using a fishtank aerator. In non-quantative terms, I think it improves fermentation times.

I've yet to try aeration of distilled product. Once again, the same three questions above can be applied to the aeration of distilled product.

Thoughts, anyone?

It's #1 only mate. You are looking to create an oxygen rich environment for the yeast to start. After that you actually want carbon dioxide (pushed out by the yeast as they convert sugar to alcohol) to inhibit any other nasties.

This is important because if you have an airlock then you should have a nice 'cushion' of co2 on top of your wash when it's finished. That cushion means you can safely leave the wash for weeks, if not a couple of months with nothing nasty taking hold.

Every few weeks someone will post here or on a beer forum asking about "how long can I leave my wash after it's finished" and if you have a barrier of co2 against nasties then bloody ages.

So: oxygen before pitching, then seal the fermenter up and let it do its magic. But do you have to? No. Most don't bother and as you can see there's plenty of booze being made without members oxygenating the wash first.