Low on $. Wort chiller or stir plate?

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AaronP123

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I've been extract brewing for about 2 years and am looking to improve my brewing quality. As stated I don't have a ton of money to spend on equipment, but am considering either a wort chiller or a stir plate for yeast starters.

As of now I have just been cooling wort in a ice bath.

Eventually I will get both, but have to pick just one for now. Any opinions on which to buy first? Thanks in advance.
Aaron

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I cast my vote for a chiller. You can always gently stir your yeast starters by hand. Swirl the botlle around, been doing that for 5 years.
 
both! buy the chiller and build a stirplate. or build both if you can find some copper tubing on the cheap.
 
MikeHNF said:
Just my opinion but I would say wort chiller. You could continue to use dry yeast for awhile eliminating the need for a stir plate. You have to cool every batch of wort however. :drunk:
Click to expand...
Yep, gotta cool stuff every batch. When you get to 10 gal high gravity brews, get your stir plate.........
 
I'd 100% say wort chiller. It will make your brewing experience much easier.

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I personally think yeast in the most important so I'd look at a stir plate

I built this stir plate for < $25 using a USB fan and hard drive magnet and it works better that my pre built stir plate. Then maybe stash some money for a chiller.

image_zps40f06509.jpg
 
Thanks Everyone. I was leaning toward a chiller

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My vote is for the wort chiller. It's a critical piece of equipment IMO. A stir plate, on the other hand, is really not. That's one of those "extras" you get when you have some spare cash.
 
Wort chiller definitely. I've made many good starters without stir plate and with dry yeast there is no need for either. But you have to get it cool/
 
NervousDad said:
I personally think yeast in the most important so I'd look at a stir plate

I built this stir plate for < $25 using a USB fan and hard drive magnet and it works better that my pre built stir plate. Then maybe stash some money for a chiller.

View attachment 175271
Click to expand...

Very nice and inexpensive

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MikeHNF said:
Just my opinion but I would say wort chiller. You could continue to use dry yeast for awhile eliminating the need for a stir plate. You have to cool every batch of wort however. :drunk:
Click to expand...

This was my exact thought. Stick to beer styles that lend themselves to using proven great dry yeast varieties. S-05 I have discovered is a magical yeast - perfect for west coast style IPA's and I also just used it to great success in a Blue Moon Clone if you can believe that.

Get a chiller and work on improving the rest of your process before tackling yeast starters...
 
both can be made for less then $30. immersion chiller is the easiest and takes about 15 mins. Plans are online.

But if you had to choose one, I would go with the chiller. you need a quick cold break and the it will help prevent infection.
 
If you have an old junk computer that you can scavenge a fan and a hard drive magnet out of and an old cell phone charger, you can build everything you need for a stir plate except for a rheostat, a stir bar, and a flask. The only thing I had to buy for mine was the stir bar for $7.

An IC is nice and can seriously shorten a brewday.

Given a choice of the two, I'd buy/build an IC. It is a really easy build project. Buy a glass gallon bottle of juice or growler and use it for making no-stir starters until you can build the stir plate.
 
Chiller, absolutely. I've brewed nearly 100 batches over 8 years, never used a stirplate. I bought a chiller about 3 batches in, have been using it ever since.

In fact....

I'd buy a grain mill before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd buy a refractometer before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd get a full-size ported kettle before a stirplate.
I'd buy, and then sell, a Cool Brewing bag before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd get a temp controlled fridge before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd build a mash tun before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd build a SECOND mash tun before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd upgrade my mash tun before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd buy an outdoor propane burner before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd build a 6-tap keezer before I'd get a stirplate.

In fact, I've done all those things, and I've brewed award-winning beer.

Really, you don't NEED a stirplate for anything. You can just use a bigger starter and manually agitate it. All the stirplate does is help you grow up more yeast with less wort.

And if you REALLY want a stirplate but you're short on cash, you can build one for approximately $0 if you scavenge the parts. See here for an example: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Building-a-Basic-Stirplate-for-Yeast-Suspension
I've actually already scavenged just about all the parts I need, but laziness has won out. I actually make starters pretty rarely, and instead brew half batches of low-gravity beers and then use the yeast slurry.

I also agree with the posters above, US-05 is a fantastic yeast. I use it a lot. I'm also a cheap bastard and reuse my US-05 slurry a lot. :D
 
Wort chiller for sure. But do both, smash an old hard drive and get the Neodymium Iron Boron magnets out, find a plastic box for cheap or free and a 12V muffin fan for cheap or free and a 12v supply, look at old phone chargers, you need 12vdc out, amps not important, fan draws .2 amps maybe, cheap or free and make the stir plate. Find a guy that repairs and upgrades computers, he probably has most of the stuff in the junk box. Add a switch a few nuts and bolts, you have a stir plate. There are several youtube vids, showing how to make one.
If you know high voltage electrical, a 110vac fan will work great also.
 
QuercusMax said:
Chiller, absolutely. I've brewed nearly 100 batches over 8 years, never used a stirplate. I bought a chiller about 3 batches in, have been using it ever since.

In fact....

I'd buy a grain mill before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd buy a refractometer before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd get a full-size ported kettle before a stirplate.
I'd buy, and then sell, a Cool Brewing bag before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd get a temp controlled fridge before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd build a mash tun before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd build a SECOND mash tun before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd upgrade my mash tun before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd buy an outdoor propane burner before I'd get a stirplate.
I'd build a 6-tap keezer before I'd get a stirplate.

In fact, I've done all those things, and I've brewed award-winning beer.

Really, you don't NEED a stirplate for anything. You can just use a bigger starter and manually agitate it. All the stirplate does is help you grow up more yeast with less wort.

And if you REALLY want a stirplate but you're short on cash, you can build one for approximately $0 if you scavenge the parts. See here for an example: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Building-a-Basic-Stirplate-for-Yeast-Suspension
I've actually already scavenged just about all the parts I need, but laziness has won out. I actually make starters pretty rarely, and instead brew half batches of low-gravity beers and then use the yeast slurry.

I also agree with the posters above, US-05 is a fantastic yeast. I use it a lot. I'm also a cheap bastard and reuse my US-05 slurry a lot. :D
Click to expand...

Awesome response! Made me laugh, but sounds like solid advice.

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Chiller. People get by and make incredible beers without starters and you can make a starter just stirring it now and then. Chilling wort; however, is so much easier with a chiller.
 
I started home brewing 5 years ago and stopped 2 years after my son was born. Barely got back into it last week and I always wondered where my brew went wrong. I used an 15 gal keggle ported. I would make 5-gal and 10 gal batches. Sometimes I swear I kept everything sanitized, but in the end some of the beer got skunky. I knew there was a contamination somewhere.

I would brew my beer and then cool the entire keg in a 3' plastic pond bath with Ice water. It would take over an 1hr-1/2 to cool to pitching temp. That where I think I went wrong. So this time around I got a 50' S.S. wort chiller, a $20 garden pump, two deep buckets I pre-chill to 32deg with water and I recirculate.

Last weekend it took me 15 min to get to pitching temp. Long story......but a big Vote for the Wort Chiller.


Jonathan
(Cali)
 
cooling that wort fast and getting the yeast pitched is the number one thing you can do to prevent infection.

get the chiller

you can always make a starter, a stir plate just makes it better.

I admire you for asking this question, too many guys would have thought it was stupid and not asked

but at your level there are a few basics that you need to get better, A stirplate is for guys who are improving the starter process. At your level making sure you had all your basic equipment, being able to full volume wort boil, and good fermentation equipment is the goal. refining the processes and improving them is next
 
I don't need either. I brew no-chill and use dry yeast. I do have a nice ferm chamber though. I think ferm temps are more important than either a chiller or a stir plate.
 
Veedo said:
both! buy the chiller and build a stirplate. or build both if you can find some copper tubing on the cheap.
Click to expand...

THIS! You can easily build a stir plate for cheap, especially if you have an old computer lying around! I know the FAQ here says to use hard drive magnets, but the rare earth magnets you can get for cheap are da bomb! :D
 
When you are talking beer quality, I think stir plate is most important. You can get them $40 here or build your own on the cheap; product and directions:http://www.stirstarters.com/

When talking brew day convenience, the wort chiller is awesome. I made my own with copper tube I bought at home depot for $20. literally bought the tubing and attached some vinyl hose with hose clamps, put a garden hose attachment on one end. Worked like a charm. It doesn't have to be anything fancy to get the job done.

On another note on cheap things to do to improve beer, what are you doing for your water? Are you filtering or using camden tablets to get rid of the chlorine. Camden Tablets are super cheep and really helped improve my brews by eradicating chlorine. This was before I had a filter, now the filter seems to do a fine job.
 
Also, if you are low on cash if you start investing in an all grain system and build what you can yourself, you will save money over time. Extract is expensive. You can crank out 5g-6g batches of 1.050-1.060 beer for $15-$25 as opposed to paying $40 for a kit and only getting 4.5g of finished product.

I mean if you have a >= 5g cooler you can start going all grain. Again, doesn't need to be fancy to work.
 
A $5 voile curtain is a cheap way to get started with AG BIAB. Save up and buy a 55# sack of base malt and a cheap # of hops and start brewing $10-$15 batches.
 
I am working towards all grain for sure


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Just like the majority of brewers on here, I would say wort chiller. You can buy the copper tubing from Home Depot and make your own if you're strapped for cash. I make yeast starters by boiling 2 cups water, 1/2 cup LME, and then adding yeast when it's cooled. I just put it in a glass 1 gallon jug with an airlock and keep it in my fermentation chamber, swirling it by hand from time to time. When it's time to pitch the starter is usually healthy and active. Good luck!


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thanks everybody for your suggestions I did end up getting a chiller. Used it yesterday on a Belgian triple. And I was very impressed with how quickly it cooled the wort. Thanks again!

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