Stir plate, build, buy, or not necessary

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To me the stir plate easier, just set it and forget it

This is my thinking as well.

 

[mac_1103]

I think the reason people like it better is because they pitch the SNS at full krausen

Or maybe because they don't have to buy or build a stir plate and mess with magnets?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Instead, boil up your wort in a large enough (kitchen) pot on the stove. When done, put on a well fitting lid, and let cool in a sink or tub with cold water. One or 2 refreshes with cold water will get it quickly to room temps. Then pour the starter wort into the flask.

This is what I do, well sort of. I use either a ~32 oz pickle jar or a 1 gal jar/fermenter instead of a flask. I do have a 1L flask that I used to use and would boil in the flask. I thought about getting a larger one, but there are lots of stories of flasks breaking during boiling, the narrow opening makes boil overs way too common, and a decent quality large flask is easily $50+. $10 or free seemed like a better option for me.

 

[IslandLizard]

Be sure to wipe the water off the outside of the pan before pouring the contents into the flask/jar. If you don’t unsanitary water from the outside of the pan will drip into your “sterile” wort. Don’t ask how I know about that.

Yeah, that may not be common sense.
And we haven't talked about the lid either...

 

[day_trippr]

The lid is ok, what condenses on the inside of it was boiled water...

Cheers!

 

[DVCNick]

I actually have two stir plates and two 2L flasks for when I need to make a really big pitch.
Stir plates are cheap on Amazon, I never saw the need to figure out how to build one.

I did the "swish it around occasionally" thing for a while, but as above, the stir plate is so much easier... no need to come by and swish it, yeast doesn't start flocking until you want it to, and it takes the Co2 out on a consistent basis. I had several occurrences of the "SNS" method blowing up into the the foil cover on the flask; not good for sanitation.

I crash/decant the starter, then let the remaining slurry come up to room temp before pitching.

...all when I'm not using dry yeast, which is as much as reasonably possible.\

Edit... this is my first time every hearing the term "yeast shear"... will have to google that.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

this is my first time every hearing the term "yeast shear"... will have to google that.

This is usually a problem when yeast is harvested from a centrifuge. The forces in the centrifuge are so great it causes the yeast cells to shed protein off the cell walls. It's obviously hard on the cells and the protein that is shed from the cells can cause permanent haze in the beer. This is very unlikely to happen with a stir plate because the speed and power of the stir plate is so low.

 

[DVCNick]

This is usually a problem when yeast is harvested from a centrifuge. The forces in the centrifuge are so great it causes the yeast cells to shed protein off the cell walls. It's obviously hard on the cells and the protein that is shed from the cells can cause permanent haze in the beer. This is very unlikely to happen with a stir plate because the speed and power of the stir plate is so low.

Ah.. thanks, yeah I'm going to say that's not an issue for me.

I don't even run the stir plate on a high speed; just enough to keep it moving and keep the yeast in suspension.

 

[Deadalus]

This is usually a problem when yeast is harvested from a centrifuge. The forces in the centrifuge are so great it causes the yeast cells to shed protein off the cell walls. It's obviously hard on the cells and the protein that is shed from the cells can cause permanent haze in the beer. This is very unlikely to happen with a stir plate because the speed and power of the stir plate is so low.

I've been using stir plates for years, over 80 brews, not a problem.

This is what I do, well sort of. I use either a ~32 oz pickle jar or a 1 gal jar/fermenter instead of a flask. I do have a 1L flask that I used to use and would boil in the flask. I thought about getting a larger one, but there are lots of stories of flasks breaking during boiling, the narrow opening makes boil overs way too common, and a decent quality large flask is easily $50+. $10 or free seemed like a better option for me.

A 2000 ml flask runs about $25, a 3000 ml low 30's, a 5000 ml in the $50 + range. Those aren't really lab quality and I don't put mine on the stove. I didn't always consider thermal shock but never had one break from thermal shock either. Years ago I had one break on the stove. I warm the empty up under warm>hot water. Then initial cooling down hot water> cold water then ice bath. Usually they break from banging or dropping them.

No big deal if someone doesn't want to spend the money. It's just not as high a cell count otherwise. It's easy to forget to go back and shake the container.

I might try to build one someday just for kicks but the two I have were used and cheap. If I had to buy a computer fan and housing, not much to save there.

 

[EricFromLittleRhody]

Another long-time stir plate user here. Started with a fan-based homemade job, then bought the Maelstrom after a few years. I've got maybe 50 startes on that unit, and it's worked fine for me (fingers crossed). I will say, it's not the sturdiest thing in the world.

I also make up starter wort ahead of time. I make a 6 gallon or so 1.035-1.040 batch using whatever base malt I happen to have on hand, then pressure can the wort in 1-pint mason jars. It's definitely an investment in time, but it's really nice to be able to make a starter by just popping a few mason jars open, pouring them into a sanitized flask, and pitching yeast. And cheaper than using DME.

I've started to use dry yeast more these days, especially for cleaner beers, but there are some liquid yeasts that I love to use for Belgians, British beers, certain lagers, and so forth. Stir plate helps there.

 

[crazyjake19]

It's worth having a stir plate. Whether you want to build or buy is up to you, and whether or not you have the parts already.

I made mine with an old wine box, a PC fan, some magnets, a DC voltage regulator, a toggle light switch, and a 120V-12V rectifier ("wall wart"). All parts I already had on hand. Just had to buy magnetic stir bars.

If I didn't have any of that stuff, I probably would've just bought one.