Stainless Steel Mix-Stir... Worth It?

Thinking of buying the Stainless Steel Mix-Stir. http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/review/product/list/id/2162/

Seems like it could double as both a whirlpool decide while running the IC, and then I could crank it up just before pitching for good aeration.

I know it can't take the place of a stone on high grav beers, but if it means I don't have to shake 6.5 gallon buckets like a madman every batch, I'm all for that.

Will it do what I want it to do?

Pretty darn expensive IMO.. a stainless rod and a plastic (?) end to aerate. While you won't get.. THIS .. into a carboy, it'll sure work in a bucket.

I have one of these to do wine with. I think you can fit it into a carboy. It's not that big, but it would work well to airate your wort.

pretty ghetto but im sure it gets the job done...(not mine!)

I'll admit I thought the blades were stainless when I first looked at it. Back to the drawing board.

I was trying to avoid paint stirrers because most of the metallic-finish ones say "electroplated mild steel" or "nickel plated steel" or "chromed" in the product description. Obviously others are painted and easy to locate. I'm worried that chemicals would leech out of them when dipped into a very-near-boiling pot of wort. Stainless ones are difficult to locate so far. I would also consider solid aluminum.

Searching all over again now.

I just pour vigorously from two sanitized buckets back and forth... Never had a fermentation problem.

I'm also ordering parts to make my own IC. So, without* a stirrer or agitator of sorts, I'll have to stand there and move the IC around the whole time.

I have one. I don't think I paid that much for it but even at that price it will last forever. It does a good job degassing wine and I also use it for oxygenating wort. For carboys it is about the only thing you can get through the neck. Being as you ferment in buckets maybe you could go to a kitchen supply store and buy the biggest stainless wisk you can find and figure out a way to attach it to your drill.

ruralbrew said:

I have one. I don't think I paid that much for it but even at that price it will last forever. It does a good job degassing wine and I also use it for oxygenating wort. For carboys it is about the only thing you can get through the neck. Being as you ferment in buckets maybe you could go to a kitchen supply store and buy the biggest stainless wisk you can find and figure out a way to attach it to your drill.

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I'm using buckets for primary right now because I was afraid to shake my 6 gallon glass carboys, especially with wet hands and without a Carboy Buddy on them. I figured I could just reserve the carboys for my secondary.

Recently I've been re-thinking that, as I've read a few threads that make me worried about what my bucket fermentors could be harboring, as well as several people saying that with a little patience, a secondary can be skipped for most brews.

I'd almost certainly be aerating in the brew kettle. I try to keep power tools, steel, and glass away from each other whenever possible.

This one actually looks like a winner to me. No reviews is a little scary, but the price is right. It spec's the head as Polypropylene, which means that it's safe in boiling water.

5-gallon version with 5/16" shank $7
1-gallon versions with 1/4" shank $5

Appears to be available at most HD locations.

Head size is not spec'd on the product page, but AutoCAD tells me that it's 2-5/8" wide for one of them (they reused the same product picture, ugh).

Headed out now to measure some freezers. Will let you all know how well it's built later today.

Following up, I finally got around to buying the stirrer. I'm actually really impressed by them for $5 and $7. It's much larger than in the pictures, so I got the larger one to move liquid around my IC in the new keggle, and the smaller to aerate in buckets.



The big one pushes around a ridiculous amount of water with a decently powerful drill.

For larger than a 5 gallon batch, the long one is going to need an extension of sorts. Home Depot employees couldn't figure anything out that would work. Anybody have ideas?

I saw a video demo somewhere today using these to stir grist in the mash tun.

ThreeGnomes said:

I saw a video demo somewhere today using these to stir grist in the mash tun.

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Let me know if you happen to find that video again.

The larger of the two has made me wonder if, combined with a large enough Immersion Chiller, it might beat a plate chiller or pre-chilled IC.

I don't have the gear to test chillers head-to-head, but I'd be willing to give it a go if others wanted to bring their gear over.

'tis. Short but sweet.

Yep, that's exactly the one.

You'd want a decent drill for mash, or you'd risk burning out the motor.

I'm satisfied. Case closed.

Yah.. depending on the thickness of the mash. Mine is never like oatmeal More like I see in the video..

ruralbrew said:

It does a good job degassing wine and I also use it for oxygenating wort.

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This is a bit off-topic, but how does the same tool degas wine and aerate wort? The two processes seem to be the opposite of each other.

It isn't opposed IMO. In wine, you want to remove the CO2 from the wine. In beer / wort, you want to aerate it. In one, you agitate it to cause to CO2 to outgas.. in the other. you agitate to cause air to intermix with the wort to add oxygen. Both require significant agitation to do their "stuff".

OldBunny said:

This is a bit off-topic, but how does the same tool degas wine and aerate wort? The two processes seem to be the opposite of each other.

Click to expand...

I'll take a stab at this one. Not sure it's 100% correct, though.

In wine, the level of dissolved gasses is much higher than in the surrounding atmosphere. That is, gasses build during fermentation, up to an undesirable level.

In wort, the level of dissolved gasses is much lower than in the surrounding atmosphere. That is, oxygen is removed during boiling, down to an undesirable level.

The tool does one thing: it brings the amount of dissolved gasses in the liquid into equilibrium with the atmosphere... we just have opposite starting points with wine and wort.

EDIT: I didnt see there was a second page opps

This of is $10 rather interesting

A little more normal one for $5