Yeast stir plate

Do you generally find these worth the investment? Any recommendations on a stir plate and/or starter kit?

Thanks for the help

It does benefit because you don't have to worry about shaking your flask. It benefits by exchanging the gases on a constant basis, and keeps the yeast in suspension better. Look at some of the DIY threads. I recently built one with about $30 in parts. Works great..

HoppyMcHopster said:

Do you generally find these worth the investment? Any recommendations on a stir plate and/or starter kit?

Thanks for the help

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Quite a few have made their own with mixed results.

There are several low cost stir plates available on-line including three models we manufacture, but I'm not a site sponsor and linking woud be considered advertising.

My best suggestion would be to shop around starting with your local homebrew shop.

It;s one of the best things you can do to improve your beer. Either make your own for ~$20 or buy one from www.stirstarters.com for $45.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it's really kind of in the ball park of what I need to know.

Once I've made my starter and pitched the yeast, should I run the stir plate constantly and if so, for how many hours? Days?

I think by using a stir plate you can get away with doing it like 48 hours in advance. If I plan on brewing on a Saturday I will make a starter Thursday on the stir plate, put it in the fridge Friday before I go to bed, decant in the morning and allow it to rise to room temp. I usually have activity with in 12 hours if not less.

cherrob123 said:

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it's really kind of in the ball park of what I need to know.

Once I've made my starter and pitched the yeast, should I run the stir plate constantly and if so, for how many hours? Days?

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It really depends on how big of a starter you need and what you are starting from. A 1 liter starter can be pitched at high krausen or about 12-18 hours on a stirplate. I would decant anything larger that 2 liters so about 18 hours on the stirplate and a day or two in the fridge to let the yeast settle.

I also propagate yeast from frozen vials of about 10 ml yeast. I have to step up 3 or 4 times so that takes a week even with a stirplate.

I made my DIY stirplate from an old computer and some other items and spent only $7.40. Fan, hard drive magnets an old cigar box - free. A rheostat and knob from Radio Shack and a some nuts and bolts from Walmart. Happy yeast ever since.

cherrob123 said:

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but it's really kind of in the ball park of what I need to know.

Once I've made my starter and pitched the yeast, should I run the stir plate constantly and if so, for how many hours? Days?

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I let my starter run on the stirplate for 24 hours. Then take it off and cold crash for 24 hours. Decant and pitch on brew day.

I went with the Yeast Hog at Rebel Brewer and couldn't be more satisfied.

Hey guys....thank you very much for the info on the stir plates. I now have the info I've been looking for. This place rocks!!!!

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Bottled Chimay Red Clone
Secondary Gruit Ancient Viking Ale
On Deck Kolsch

A related question. I'm using my new stir plate for the first time. I pitched the yeast into the starter last night and it's been stirring for about 12 hours. My concern is that it doesn't really look any different. Should I see some sort of krausen, or does the constant stirring keep any foaming from happening? Just wondering if I should be concerned. Appreciate any feedback! Thanks!

Rob

I think they are wonderful to have, I use mine alot. That being said, I've never seen one at a homebrew store that was anywhere near the quality that can be had on ebay used (real lab plates) at roughly the same cost.

NavyRob said:

A related question. I'm using my new stir plate for the first time. I pitched the yeast into the starter last night and it's been stirring for about 12 hours. My concern is that it doesn't really look any different. Should I see some sort of krausen, or does the constant stirring keep any foaming from happening? Just wondering if I should be concerned. Appreciate any feedback! Thanks!

Rob

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depends on the yeast strain. Sometimes I get a ton of foam and have to use some Fermcap S to keep it down (i.e belgian strains). Chico strain never really shows much activity for me. Bottomline - keep it on the stir plate for 24 hours. I always let mine go for around 24 hours.

I purchased my stir plate from stirstarter.com over 2 years ago and it has been a very good investment. Customer service was very good too. I sent an email requesting shipping costs at 9:00pm. Received response by 11:30pm. Placed the order after midnight and had a shipping confirmation email that morning at 9:00am. Stir plate arrived in 2 days.

I definitely think a stir plate is worth the (relatively small) investment. I will get lag times of less than 5 hours if I make a starter with a stir plate as opposed to 18-24 hours without. I've found that I'm able to get even older yeast going wonderfully with very little effort in 24-48 hours. Generally I put the flask on the stir plate 24 hours before pitching unless there's some extenuating circumstance, such as old yeast.

Another vote for stirplates are awesome, mine is how I really got started doing bottle cultures. I also expect 12ish hour lag times or I worry now.

Stir plate options:

There are a few factors when choosing a stir plate.
1) How many starters do you want to make at once?
2) Does the plate need to be silent?
3) What is the largest size starter you want to make?
4) Is it ok to be restricted to flat bottom glassware only?

The Stirstarter plate (or homemade plate):
Pros:
-completely quiet
-good price, can get multi-unit discounts
-small footprint
-great customer service and guaranteed for life

Cons:
-can be picky with stir bars, might throw if wrong size
-Magnet is weaker, only works for 2L flasks.
-requires flat bottom glassware
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Used single lab grade stir plate
Pros:
-allows any sized stir bar
-Never throws stir bar
-stronger magnet, not restricted to 2L flasks, can use concaved glassware (mason jar pickle jar etc)

Cons
-More difficult to find, and possibly may be more expensive (they sell for 50cdn at the local used labware store.
-Sometimes makes noise.
-only can grow 1 starter at a time
-some have heating option

Used multi lab grade stir plate
________
Pro:
-can grow 4 starters at a time (but only fits 2x 4L flasks, I haven't tried to fit multiple 5 or 6L flasks but most likely 2 of those would fit)
-allows any sized stir bar
-Never throws stir bar
-stronger magnet, not restricted to 2L flasks, can use concaved glassware (mason jar pickle jar etc)
-has 115v plug outlet on back



Con:
-reliatively loud.
-Even more difficult to find and more expensive (mine was 100cdn from local used lab equipment store)
-can break belts on occasion, but old keg O-rings can be used as replacement.


Since we have a local yeast bank and yeast samples are only 2$, I regularly grow more then one sample at a time. Therefore the multi stir plate was best for me. If you get a 4 slot stir plate, I would recommend one that has the 4 stir locations in a line, otherwise you wont be able to fit 2 large flasks on it.


Here is a pic of the 4 spinner stirplate I have, it may be old and very heavy, but its built like a tank!:


Happy Brewing!

Step starters, if the beer is over 1.100 I do a 700ml starter in my liter flask. Next day I start about 1200ml in my 2 liter flask and put the first starter in the fridge to crash. Once the second flask has cooled I pour off the top of the first flask, then pour the yeast and the magnet into the second flask. The next day I have a huge starter and I often have bubbles in less than four hours.

And remember buy a dozen stir bars those thing end up in the beer half the time.




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