2.5 gallon jar for yeast starter

Just want to share this great find.

I was needing to make a one gallon starter for a lager and the largest thing I have to make the starter in is one gallon wine jugs. But I don't want my starter to spill over and since I only have one stir plate, I didn't want to use 2 one gallon jugs.


So while at target the other day, I spotted this beauty.

It's 2.5 gallons, has a mostly flat bottom and worked perfectly. It was only $20. I could have gotten a smaller 1.5 gallon one just like it, but for 5 more bucks, now I have room to make even bigger starters.

The opening is big enough to clean the inside really well and the cover is stainless steel, and lets air in an out (if you take the silicone stopper out).


Here's a couple pictures of it in action on my stir plate.



Here you can see how the bottom curves just enough to sit flat on my homemade stir plate. I usually have little rubber bumpers (you can see them off to the left on the second picture and sometimes I use a piece of plexiglass.

The distance between the magnets and the stir bar was so small I was able to crank the fan up to high.

Yeah, Some folks are using Montana Jars as fermenters....They come in all different sizes including 2 gallons.

From here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/tepache-200053/

And here's info on turning one into a fermenter...


2 1/2 gallon Montana Jar Fermenter

If you look closely you should find two small holes in that silicone seal. I closed them up with hotglue.

really, as fermenters, that's an idea.