Carboy stirplate?

[triangulum33]

If a stirplate is good for a yeast starter wouldnt it be good the fermenter?

Does anyone make or use some kind of stirplate or agitator for this?

 

[BilltownBandit]

I thought stir plates were to provide a constant flow of oxygen, being good for multiplying yeast, but would make for off flavors if used in the fermentation. However, I'm not sure what it would do if there were an airlock involved. Interesting thought....

 

[edecambra]

This would produce tons of oxidation. I guess it would be good if you could do it for the first 30 minutes or an hour and then shut it off, but a stir plat big enough would probably be pretty expensive, my guess.

 

[Ryush806]

There's no way it would cause oxidation if you had an airlock. After the initial growth phase where the yeast use the oxygen that you put into your wort on purpose, there will be only CO2 in the head space. Usually a good fermentation will stir the wort enough that I don't think a stir plate would help things much in most cases. You might be able to keep a highly flocculant yeast in suspension longer to improve attenuation though. Next time you brew you should pull off a quart of your wort and ferment it in your starter fermentor with a stir plate and an airlock. Bottle it the same as you do the main batch and then compare. Then report back!

 

[passedpawn]

Would be pointless I think.

AnOldUR (I think) had the mother of all stir plates, and I believe it did stir a carboy. He grew massive amounts of yeast in it I think.

[edit] Naw, it was subbuster: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/mega-stir-plate-w-pic-144360/

 

[theredben]

There was a recent thread on this called "5 gallon stir plate", search is your friend.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/5-gallon-stir-plate-274067/