1 gal jug with stirplate?

[rocketman768]

Is it possible to use a 1 gallon jug on a stirplate? A friend lent me his homemade stirplate (the computer fan + hard drive magnet type), and I couldn't get it going without throwing the stirbar to the side, even when I tried it in a flat-bottomed flask. I started it off as slow as I could, but unfortunately, the fan goes from 0 to half-speed with a small turn of the knob. However, the stirbar was pretty a pretty thick 1.5 inch one with a ring around the middle. Do I perhaps need a smaller stirbar without the ring?

The reason I ask is because I need to build up a 1 gal (actually maybe like 5 or 6 L if I had a big enough vessel) starter for 5 gal of 1.096 barleywine from a WLP tube. I'm guessing that a stirplate is my best bet to get the amount of yeast I need for this. If I can just pitch into a 1 gal jug without the stirplate, tell me.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I use a 1 gallon jug. A small stirbar (1" I think) with a o-ring pivot to keep it high centered on the curve of the jug.

And a homemade PC fan stirplate.

 

[bja]

The stir plate is running too fast. Can you use a different power supply with a reduced voltage? I use either a 5, 6, 7.5 or 9 volt PS depending on the speed I want and i can use 1 gallon pickle jars. My stir bars are 1".

 

[Randar]

Is it possible to use a 1 gallon jug on a stirplate? A friend lent me his homemade stirplate (the computer fan + hard drive magnet type), and I couldn't get it going without throwing the stirbar to the side, even when I tried it in a flat-bottomed flask. I started it off as slow as I could, but unfortunately, the fan goes from 0 to half-speed with a small turn of the knob. However, the stirbar was pretty a pretty thick 1.5 inch one with a ring around the middle. Do I perhaps need a smaller stirbar without the ring?

The reason I ask is because I need to build up a 1 gal (actually maybe like 5 or 6 L if I had a big enough vessel) starter for 5 gal of 1.096 barleywine from a WLP tube. I'm guessing that a stirplate is my best bet to get the amount of yeast I need for this. If I can just pitch into a 1 gal jug without the stirplate, tell me.

How flat is the bottom of the jug? Some are kind of concave and I would be concerned it is not well balanced in that way.

Stirplate adjusts to almost nil on the speed... I know this cause it's MINE! LOL!

I have used with various sized Erlenmeyer flasks but they have a very flat bottom. You can't have SWMBO borrow a 4L flask from lab?

Other thing to try is a 2" stirbar. That is what I used but I felt a shorter one would stick to the rotation better, but I could have been wrong on that!

 

[maida7]

I use a 1 gallon jug. A small stirbar (1" I think) with a o-ring pivot to keep it high centered on the curve of the jug.

And a homemade PC fan stirplate.

I have a similar set up but I use a flat stir bar with no o-ring. I mostly use a smaller 1/2 gallon growler type jug but I have used a giant 1 gallon apple juice jug and it did great.

My homemade stir plate has a fancy adjustable speed knob that helps dial in the proper speed.

 

[rocketman768]

I got a variety of stirbars to test yesterday, and it seems that the smaller the better (for me). I'm using one that looks to be 0.5 inches with the ring in the middle, and it's doing just fine in the jug...well, at stirring anyway. I can't tell that any fermentation or growth is happening there; it just looks like plain wort to me.