Yeast starter and stir plate

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sigmund

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So I finally got around to getting a stir plate for yeast starters. My question is, how much do you actually run the stir plate? Is it an on/off type thing to get things going with an occasional stir, or continual for a certain amount of time? I tried searching but didn't seem to have much luck. I'm trying to get my yeast counts up without straining the little critters.
 
I suggest running it continuously at a speed so that the vortex is about halfway down your total volume...so for an 800ml starter the vortex is ~3" down in a 1000ml flask. Obviously a larger flask would be better, for more surface area, but continuous for the whole fermentation is the key.

I am building a stir plate tomorrow, and that's how I plan to run it. This is how we grow bacteria in our lab, and it work tremendously better than our shaker plates.

have fun,
 
I just run it fulltime with the yeasties riding the twirl-a-whirl.

The first step up (agar slant culture in a 50ML flask) takes 18-24 hrs. Then subsequent steps move increasingly faster as cell counts increase geometrically ("they tell two friends, and THEY tell two friends, and so on, and so on...")
 
Just in case you were interested :
This is what you are trying to emulate with your stir plate
A fermentor or bioreactor:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-BRUNSWICK-BIOFLO-110-FERMENTOR-FERMENTER-BIOREACTOR_W0QQitemZ310100238186QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item310100238186&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1215|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Sorry I couldn't find a video of one in action with a continuous whirlpool and air or oxygen bubbling in at the same time. Most of these also have pumps that can introduce various nutrients etc. at a set rate.
 
I run mine continuously for 24 hours. When I do a 2 liter starter, I have gone 48 hours, but it is apparent that the starter wort is spent, and the yeasties are ready for another meal.
 

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