My next upgrade - aeration or stir plate?

[jappler]

Slowly building up my brewing knowledge and technique. I've been doing wort in a bag kits (Festa and Brewhouse) and improving with each. My last kit was the first time I made a starter using the swirl when I remember method (not very often unfortunately) and I aerated using the shake till your arms hurt technique. Also the first time I used my home built STC1000 and fridge as a fermentation chamber which worked wonders to keep the temps stable.

So for my next equipment upgrade I'm trying to decide between a o2 aeration kit or a stir plate? Looking for opinions on what the best option would be?

 

[Komocabo]

I would say a stir plate. It's cheap, and help a lot! I harvest fresh yeast, thanks to my stir plate. Save money on yeast, then get the aeration set up. I get one smack pack and it will eventually make 50-70 gals of beer. Make a starter, split it. Step up one half and save the other half until the next brew time. Make another starter and repeat. No problem for about 7-10 batches.

Cheers

 

[beerpete]

Aeration for sure. Get a kit for pure O2. The o2 cans cost $10 at HD, but with only 1-2 min of run time you get a few batches out of it. Make sure you get one with a hepa filter (little white disk). If I had to buy mine again I would perfer one with a ridged want instead of a stiff black hose.
If you don't already use Mr Malty for your calcs, he has a setting for no stir plate. If using white lab vial count 4 months backward from the use by date.
I hope this helps.

 

[decoleur]

some things to think about...

prioritize on what you think is most important, oxygenated wort makes yeast happier and a stir plate makes more yeast. With the caveate that most sources do not recommend using a stirplate with dry yeast.

Two things that might bias you towards a stirplate, big beers or lagers. I would consider how big your beers are because if they are over 1.060OG some think you should be either double pitching or needing to do a starter. The same goes for most lagers. In that case I would look at a stirplate.

The O2 thing can be fun and might help all kinds of beer. The things to consider with that would be the source for the O2 canned or pumped. After reading from many sources I came to the conclusion that either works but there are tradeoffs. You can get pre-made solutions from most of the vendors on-line and the only real difference in use is the time it takes to oxygenate the wort. Canned O2 can be done in less than five minutes and a pump can take 10 minutes to half an hour.

I got a stirplate first and then built a pump based 02 aerator using parts on sale for less than $25. I was making a lot of big beers and didn't want to spend the money on yeast.

If you go for a stirplate get a second stir bar and really strong magnet to trap the stirbar when you are doing a transfer, if you dump one you still have a second Also get a 2,000 ml beaker that is substantial enough to move from the stove top to an ice bath.

If you decide to go with an aeration kit make sure that the aeration stone is 2 micron for canned air or 5 micron for pumped. If you pump you need to have a fish pump that is rated for at least a 20 gallon tank and a sanitary filter. Another reason I went with the pump for aeration is I didn't want to babysit it. I put my aeration stone at the end of a stainless tube and drop it into my fermentor so it aerates while I am cleaning up. Set it and forget it works for me.



Hope this helps.

-t

 

[241]

+1 for the stir plate. Stirstarter.com is a great place to go for it

 

[atoughram]

Stir plate

 

[Brettomomyces]

I built a stir plate from a fan with a speed control I found on amazon, HD magnet, and a cigar box, total cost to me was $15. You can do em cheap!

Also, william's brewing is doing a deal right now, spend $130 and you get their $50 aeration kit for FREE. I just bought one two weeks ago too...

 

[Black Island Brewer]

In a way, both options are about accomplishing the same goal: cleaner, fully attenuated beer. Both are more important as the gravity of your wort climbs. The stir plate may be more important for flexibility of larger batches.
My recommendation would be to invest money into the oxygenation system, and invest the time into making a cheap stir plate and hunting down a gallon jug with a flat enough bottom to not throw a stirbar.

 

[Komocabo]

I built a stir plate from a fan with a speed control I found on amazon, HD magnet, and a cigar box, total cost to me was $15. You can do em cheap!

Also, william's brewing is doing a deal right now, spend $130 and you get their $50 aeration kit for FREE. I just bought one two weeks ago too...

What??!! I don't see it on the site :-( Maybe I missed the special...

 

[jappler]

What??!! I don't see it on the site :-( Maybe I missed the special...

I looked too. I'd be ALL OVER that. Isn't hard to spend $130.

 

[Owly055]

I top crop hugely in my wide mouth fermeters, by taking off the krausen that is loaded with active yeast. The product is abundant and it is excellent, I often take two crops from a single brew, and pitching this into a new brew, I often get fermentation within an hour or two, and full attenuation in a little over 2 days. My feeling is that unless I were making very large beers, either oxygenation or a stir plate would be pointless. (for me)


H.W.

 

[Cyclman]

Aeration. You can always brew a small batch to generate yeast to do a big batch. You can do a starter that isn't stirred on a plate. You can also use cheaper dry yeast, it makes great beer. But aeration, in my experience, gives much better fermentations and excellent attenuation.