Few too many drinks + online homebrew shops = huge overkill stirplate

So..... yeah.

A few evenings ago I was doing some quality control on my taps, you know, making sure that each of them work consistently pint after pint. Then I got the idea that I should get a stirplate. As far as drunken ideas go, this one certainly wasn't the worst I ever had.

So I went looking around online, and then saw a video of this badass Black Maxx stirplate: http://towercooler.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=97

So needless to say, I was sober enough to type in my credit card info and it's arriving later today...

So at this point, I'm now just thinking how I'm going to use it. I've got a 1 gallon glass jug that should work well for doing starters (flat bottom). In fact, I think that I'm going to be making a starter for every brew for the rest of my life to try to justify the purpose.

The main thing I'm trying to figure out, is how best to use it for primary fermentation. I'm thinking for the first 24 hours I'll want to have it running fairly vigorously to help aerate and propagate, but after that I'm not sure about. I want to make sure that I'm not ending up with oxidized beer, but I think a slow gentle stir throughout the primary process might be beneficial for encouraging fermentation.

What do you guys think? I don't doubt that I've got a lot of trial and error ahead of me, but am certainly looking forward to playing with this beast

Rumor is oxidation starts if you oxygenate while fermentation has started. Typically start oxygentating prior to pitching the yeast into the primary.

You could experiment and let us know if the oxidation does occur.

kapbrew13 said:

Rumor is oxidation starts if you oxygenate while fermentation has started. Typically start oxygentating prior to pitching the yeast into the primary.

You could experiment and let us know if the oxidation does occur.

Click to expand...

I always thought this was correct, but what about the guys doing the 25% abv Utopias clones? With those big beers they pitch yeast and when fermentation slows they aerate and add more wort, every couple of days.

hmmm, looks like a great wine degassing unit.

Antler said:

I always thought this was correct, but what about the guys doing the 25% abv Utopias clones? With those big beers they pitch yeast and when fermentation slows they aerate and add more wort, every couple of days.

Click to expand...

This isn't beer anymore and subtle things like oxidation don't enter into it.

I'm really interested in seeing if I can get a nice slow rotation going with it after the primary is done without it sucking in new air. I'll set up a blow off tube so I can watch to see if I'm creating any suction. I'm hoping that I can encourage quick and healthy fermentation by keeping the yeast up and moving and let Co2 move out of solution, but without sucking in new air and oxidizing.

And I agree, this would also work great for wine degassing

With a stir plate like that you might not even need to make a starter. Stirplates help bring oxygen into the wort because oxygen helps yeast use to reproduce.0 If this thing is on for 24 hours on your whole batch it sounds like you are taking care of the propogation stage, then you turn it off for the rest of the fermentation and it should be just like you pitched a healthy amount of working yeast. It might take some trial and error to find out just how long to leave it on for but I don't think you want to have it on through the entire primary.

Let us know how it works out!

i've pondered the possibility of putting a carboy on stir-plate, glad to see i'm not the only one. this thing looks bad-ass. nice drunk-shopping purchase :rockin:

H-ost said:

With a stir plate like that you might not even need to make a starter. Stirplates help bring oxygen into the wort because oxygen helps yeast use to reproduce.0 If this thing is on for 24 hours on your whole batch it sounds like you are taking care of the propogation stage, then you turn it off for the rest of the fermentation and it should be just like you pitched a healthy amount of working yeast. It might take some trial and error to find out just how long to leave it on for but I don't think you want to have it on through the entire primary.

Let us know how it works out!

Click to expand...

+1. use the stir-plate for the first 12-18 hours, then turn it off and let the yeasties do their thing. i would still make a starter, especially if brewing a high-gravity beer. might not need to make the starter as big as you would if you didn't have this mofo of a stir-plate that you can put the whole carboy on...

I'd ferment out a 5 gal 1.050 batch to see how quick it goes and what it tastes like. Maybe 3 days from kettle to mouth (with force carb).

I've done this, with very good results. Here is the thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/stirred-fermentation-291116/

Sulli said:

I've done this, with very good results. Here is the thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/stirred-fermentation-291116/

Click to expand...

Awesome, just read through that thread!

Have you had a chance to do any other brews after the one documented there? Curious if you tried stirring for longer. Basically, I'm interested in ANY data points you have!

It won't oxygenate. Per Yeast by Mr. White you will get higher levels of fusol alcohols. I did a stir plate on a 16.5% imperial stout and I saw it first hand. Try it for yourself.

5 gallon starters now you have to get a 100 gallon fermenter.

kh54s10 said:

5 gallon starters now you have to get a 100 gallon fermenter.

Click to expand...

Now I'm worried. I know that sounds ridiculous right now, but after I have a few beers...
... I better give my CC to SWMBO to be safe.

Pinck said:

Awesome, just read through that thread!

Have you had a chance to do any other brews after the one documented there? Curious if you tried stirring for longer. Basically, I'm interested in ANY data points you have!

Click to expand...

I haven't had the opportunity to try it again. My brewing has taken a back seat to other priorities lately. I've been needed a brewing fix for several weeks now, your thread just might push me over the edge.

I can say that in the end the beer that was on the stir plate ended up being the superior beer, in fact i still have some on tap.

Pinck said:

Now I'm worried. I know that sounds ridiculous right now, but after I have a few beers...
... I better give my CC to SWMBO to be safe.

Click to expand...

I hope your memory sucks - I have all my numbers, dates, cvv codes, etc. memorized for all my cards/bank accounts. Only being away from any electronic device can save me when drunk :cross:

What I would do is to make the starter in the carboy and then pitch directly on top of it. That would be the real advantage to this. The amount of oxygen you will pull into wort with this is not enough for healthy fermentation, you really need pure 02 to get the proper concentration. If you use it to make your starter, you are using less vessels, there are less chances for infection, and less clean up.

Brandonovich said:

What I would do is to make the starter in the carboy and then pitch directly on top of it. That would be the real advantage to this. The amount of oxygen you will pull into wort with this is not enough for healthy fermentation, you really need pure 02 to get the proper concentration. If you use it to make your starter, you are using less vessels, there are less chances for infection, and less clean up.

Click to expand...

But then how do you get the stir bar out?

H-ost said:

But then how do you get the stir bar out?

Click to expand...

Magnet retriever slid along outside of the carboy.

Yep, so I've started playing with this beast using a batch that was already 1 week into fermenting.

The batch I had on the go was a Northern Brown fermenting with WL Burton Ale yeast. I always find that yeast to keep a krausen going FOREVER and this brew was no exception. I tossed the stir bar in, but I had a fairly thick bed of yeast and trub already settled. I had to play with a rare earth magnet to find the bar and get it to the bottom of the center of the carboy. After that, I was able to get a good spin going. The stir bar got thrown if I tried to go fast enough to get a good vortex going, but I'm kind of attributing that to the amount of crap that was on the bottom of my carboy already.

I was really interested to see how the stirring affected the airlock. For this, I decided to use an S style airlock so I could see clearly the push and pull. Initially when I started up, as expected, I was knocking Co2 out of solution and caused the airlock to burp a little. After that, it seemed to equalize maybe with a little suction, but nowhere near enough to pull bubbles of air in. Maybe if I had a really vigorous stir going with a vortex I could suck in some air, but that's what I was hoping to avoid so I'm happy.

I'm fairly comfortable with my pre-fermentor aeration regime, so I'm not counting on the stirplate to replace that. My pot's faucet has external threading, so if I shove my transfer tube on making sure to leave some of the threading exposed, it sucks in air and I end up with a very foamy fermentor.

Good idea on using a carboy as the vessel for a starter. I wonder with that much width and so little depth, how much agitation I'd actually see in the starter wort furthest from the stir bar. Sounds like another water experiment to me!

Cheers,

John

Pinck said:

... I better give my CC to SWMBO to be safe.

Click to expand...

Shocking. This is the first time I have ever heard this...