Poll: Stir Plates and Yeast Starters

[MaxStout]

After following a recent thread about whether or not stir plates worth it, I thought a poll is in order. You can vote for more than one category if they apply.

 

[Twinkeelfool]

I use one and love it.

 

[Doctor_M]

Yes.

 

[Rev2010]

I do, but lately I'm using dry yeast with no starter a lot. Voted for the stir plate though since I often use it with liquid yeast.

Rev.

 

[val214]

I would have to go with yes.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I always make a starter and use my stir plate. I make a starter twice the size of what I need and decant half for my next starter. I only buy new strains of yeast once a year or so.

 

[squash1978]

Worth it

 

[Gentlemans_Ale]

Yep, worth it

 

[Gixxer]

Yes for stir plate

 

[skw]

I don't always use liquid yeast
but when I do, I take it stirred, not shaken.

 

[watermelon83]

Dry no, wet yes

 

[MaddBaggins]

It's on my wish list of future equipment. For now, I just use a growler and shake/swirl it frequently.

 

[FarmerTed]

Dry, no. With smackpacks, sometimes I make a starter (with a stir-plate), but I'm just as likely to buy multiple packs and pitch them w/o doing a starter. I shoot for the appropriate cell-count, but don't lose any sleep if my theoretical count is off (hi or low) by 25%.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Answered "Whats a starter" to add some variety to the poll.

I am building my own stir plate right now with computer parts, thankfully I have like 15 years of old computer parts/hard drives. Otherwise I'm the dry yeast camp, couple bad experiences with smack packs and I cannot get white labs stuff from LHBS. I am building my stir plate and getting the flask/stir bar and all that jazz so I can still purchase liquid yeasts from my LHBS, thus expanding my yeast options. Also I want to try and have at least 1 beer win a category this year at a BJCP comp (not necessarily BOS but that would make me happy), after a year and a half of futzing around its time to get serious (Arnold Schwarzeneger accent).

 

[Brew_G]

Yes - starters on a stir plate.

I'm three beers into my homebrewing experience, but I've used a starter for the last two. For my first beer (California Common kit from a local LHBS), I honestly had no idea that a starter was helpful when using liquid yeast (in this case a Wyeast 2112 smack pack). I just assumed there would be plenty of yeast cells for proper fermentation. And, to be perfectly honest, I ended up with a decent fermentation and pretty good beer. That said...

I really enjoy the process of making a starter on my $20 homemade stir plate. There's a "mad scientist" feel to it that I love, and since I've only brewed every 5-6 weeks, it's given me something to do while waiting impatiently for my impending brewday. And with my last starter (of harvested Bell's yeast) I saved a small portion of the starter to use for a future beer. I may have gotten there without a stir plate, but I don't know if the process would have gone so well.

So...$20 spent on the stir bar and parts for the stir plate. That ought to pay for itself in just a few brewdays. I also bought a 2L flask for like $15, but I suppose it wasn't absolutely necessary.

 

[virtualpaul]

In the past I used mostly dry yeast. Last time I tried liquid yeast and did not see much difference. Maybe I'll try to use a stir plate with dry yeast next time so I can use only part of the dry yeast packet and save. I am a bit cheap like that... Not sure if this would work though.

 

[rhys333]

I don't make yeast starters for standard gravity ales, 5 gallons at 1.060 or less. I find it to be unnecessary, as long as the yeast is reasonably healthy.

Stronger beers or lagers get starters, but I don't use a stir plate. I will either shake once to aerate (if I'm pitching the starter wort into the beer), or shake intermittently (if I have time to cold crash and decant the starter wort).

 

[kh54s10]

I voted for using a stirplate. But for the last year I have used mostly dry yeast. If I get a new vial I am going to try the newer method of shaking the bejeebers out of the wort in a big jar and letting it sit. Denny Conn posted links to a couple of articles he wrote about the procedure. I also have a frozen yeast bank and it requires a lengthy step up method so it is stirplate for that.

 

[Alex4mula]

I have been brewing for one year and have done 33 beers using dry yeast on 75% of them. For the rest, most are WL and couple WY which I don't like much the smack pack. Most brews are around 5% ABV and the biggest brew has been 7% ABV. I have never done a starter. Stir plate etc. is the last piece of equipment that I don't have and may buy someday. I guess I need more information on why I need a starter since all my beers have fermented great.

 

[rhys333]

I have been brewing for one year and have done 33 beers using dry yeast on 75% of them. For the rest, most are WL and couple WY which I don't like much the smack pack. Most brews are around 5% ABV and the biggest brew has been 7% ABV. I have never done a starter. Stir plate etc. is the last piece of equipment that I don't have and may buy someday. I guess I need more information on why I need a starter since all my beers have fermented great.

Same here. I don't bother with starters on standard gravity beers. I think a lot of it is just brew lore and an overabundance of caution. That'll happen naturally when a sizable portion of hobbyists come from engineering and science backgrounds.

 

[A1sportsdad]

When I use liquid yeast, I do a starter and use a stir plate.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Poll options didn't include making stirred starters for dry yeast. Or maybe the first option covers that.

 

[day_trippr]

Seeing a selection for "No, I don't make yeast starters. I use dry yeast." I presume the author assumed all "starter" choices are for liquid yeasts...

Cheers!

 

[RPh_Guy]

Yeah, it's kind of ambiguous.

 

[day_trippr]

True enough. Should have had an explanifier

Cheers!

 

[hottpeper13]

how else are you gonna ranch a dry yeast,they cost as much as liquid did just a few years ago.

 

[Stand]

Stirplate FTW

 

[eric19312]

Starters are an issue for me since I started brewing larger batches. This thread got me doing some calculations and shopping for a 5L flask might get back to starters and liquid yeast.

 

[Stand]

I love this calculator so much. http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

 

[kh54s10]

Poll options didn't include making stirred starters for dry yeast. Or maybe the first option covers that.

Are you talking of rehydration? That is not really a starter. It does not increase cell counts.