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Accidental controlled experiment--aeration
I hadn't brewed in about 5 months, so I was a little rusty. Yesterday I did two batches, same recipe, same technique (but for one exception noted below), same Wyeast Irish Ale yeast with same expiration. This is a partial grain recipe.
My usual technique is to do my steep and subsequent boil with about 3.5-4 gallons. While steeping and boiling, I run an aeration stone in my cold add-back water, so that by the time I have my boil cooled down to around 98-100, the add-back water should be fully saturated. Because it's colder water, it holds more O2, which should remain in solution in the warmer wort that has little O2 after the boil.
In my rusty state, I filled my big brew pot right up to 20-21 quarts for the first batch. Oops, that's 5 gallons right there. When I figured it out, I just ran my chiller coil a bit longer and pitched. No aerated water added back. The fermentation started nice and mellow and within 12-14 hours.
The second batch, I measured correctly so I got to add back 1-1.5 gallons of aerated water. Everything else the same, and it took off, blowing out my airlock (not clogging, fortunately).
Moral of the story: the pre-aerated water seems to really kick things off nicely if you're doing a partial boil and have the option.
Never thought about trying that when I was doing partials. Seems like a good time saving technique.
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