pisssssssssed!!!!!!!!!

[Soulrebel]

You guys need the barbell shaped stir bars for rounded bottom containers...but it sounds like a o ring works too.

 

[aaronbeer]

where do you get those? I looked at norther, Austin and more beer?

 

[hopsoda]

I have been having many problems with my home made stirplate, throwing the stir bar, mine works better with the rod from a cdrom drive? still working on it.

take apart a computer cdrom drive , there is 2 steel bars that the laser eye moves on (some are aluminum) , but i have cut one of those down and it spins quite nice on a round bottom flask , and creates a decent vortex , better than i expected. It spins really well in a mason jar.

 

[Soulrebel]

After a quick search,here are some examples. I haven't checked for best price though.

Discount Magnetic Stir Bars, Spin Bars, & Labware

 

[dutch101st]

One thing I also found is that the length of the stir bar is a factor as well. For the 2000ml flasks, a 1 inch bar does the trick. I have a 1 1/2 and a 2 inch and they just dont work.

 

[beesy]

you can find stir bars all over the place. fisher scientific, mcmaster-car, labdepotinc.com (they have same crazy ones - crosses, triangels, egg shape). most any scientific/lab supply place carries them.

 

[aaronbeer]

I will check thoughs places out. Thank you.

 

[Smurfe]

You want your starter gravity around 1.040 for any beer. Many mistake a bigger starter for higher gravity. You don't want higher gravity you want more volume so instead of a 1 liter starter for a normal gravity beer you may need a 1 gallon starter for a high gravity beer. The starter is just to wake the yeast up and get them propagating to build up the cell count, not cell strength.

Don't worry about the stir plate thing. Just make it in the growler, cover it with some aluminum foil so the wort get some O2 for the yeast. You don't have to shake it every hour. Just a couple times a day or so is fine. I made a stir plate and have had fits with it trying to get a bar that doesn't throw in it. I guess the magnet isn't perfectly centered on the fan motor or the fan motor had a bit of wobble in it. I had to finally get stir bars shaped like + to not throw the bar. I discovered how good some dry yeast strains/brands are now so I don't make many starters anymore. I use dry yeast 80%+ the time now. I just re-hydrate it and pitch.

 

[aaronbeer]

Dry yeast is very tempting! I feel like it a debate just like plastic or glass. It will never end.

 

[Smurfe]

If I am brewing a beer that calls for American/California Ale yeast I use Fermentis SA-05 dry yeast. If it calls for English Ale yeast I use Fermentis SA-04. I have never had a disappointment yet. The majority of my brews are English Session Ales or American Pale Ales so these yeasts meet the majority of my requirements. I have used the Fermentis SA-23 lager yeast with fine results as well. I am a fan of these yeasts and even if you are a liquid yeast user I always recommend having them on hand for brew emergencies. Many of the fine craft brews you buy are fermented with dry yeast. I don't know why they get a bad rap. Hell, in winemaking dry yeast is king and there are numerous liquid wine yeasts. I don't know hardly anyone that uses liquid yeasts.

I will add though that the main reason I switched was I live in South Louisiana and had no LHBS and it was a pain to get liquid yeasts here still somewhat cool. I do have a couple shops that opened in the area (I might add like a month before I was going to open one ) and they do carry liquid yeasts. I still have to wonder if they get them in good shape but they are available. I will still use the dry yeasts for most general brews and just use the liquid when I need a specific strain to match a brew.

 

[aaronbeer]

I like stouts and dark beers I also like hefes, dubels and porters. If you had to give me a list of 3-5 yeasts to keep on hand for emergencys "stuck fermentations etc" or when I bulk up on grains, what would the list be?

 

[Smurfe]

I always keep Fermentis SA-04 and SA-05 on hand. They are great when I decide to brew on a whim and don't have a starter made. We brewed an American Lager with Saflager S-23 that was really good and I have used the S-33 for Belgian wheat beers. I have heard it does well with other Belgian ales as well. I haven't tried it on anything like a Strong Ale but have read where many have used it with good results. I don't want to say I am a crusader of dry yeasts. Just saying they work good for most of my brewing. I have enjoyed every beer I have brewed with Fermentis yeasts. Evidently they have improved their quality over the fast hew years.