Stir Plate for Top Cropping Hefeweizen Yeast?

[Epos7]

I'm going to brew a hefe over the weekend, so I got my 3068 out of the fridge and into a flask with some DME.

I'm wondering if a stir plate is necessary with a top cropping yeast. It's so active on its own that putting it on the stir plate inevitably causes too much foam and I end up losing yeast out the top of the flask and making a mess.

My understanding of the purpose of the stir plate is to introduce oxygen and encourage the yeast to replicate. But for a top cropping yeast, they may already get enough oxygen with the fermentation activity happening on top of the wort?

 

[BroomVikin]

Slightly off-topic but you might try using some Fermcap (https://www.northernbrewer.com/fermcap-s-1-oz) to keep your starters under control. I put a couple of drops in my flask and can usually fit 1600-1800mL in my 2L flask w/o any trouble.

 

[Epos7]

Slightly off-topic but you might try using some Fermcap (https://www.northernbrewer.com/fermcap-s-1-oz) to keep your starters under control. I put a couple of drops in my flask and can usually fit 1600-1800mL in my 2L flask w/o any trouble.

Big fan of Fermcap. It keeps everything under control except my 3068!

 

[BroomVikin]

I suppose that'd be way too easy of a solution.

 

[paneubert]

putting it on the stir plate inevitably causes too much foam and I end up losing yeast out the top of the flask and making a mess.

Do you find that happens to you a lot? I seem to get less explosions with a stir plate since the vortex helps to pop bubbles for me. I mean, I have had overflow before, but it seemed less than normal when it happens.

 

[Epos7]

Do you find that happens to you a lot? I seem to get less explosions with a stir plate since the vortex helps to pop bubbles for me. I mean, I have had overflow before, but it seemed less than normal when it happens.

For me the stir plate seems to create bigger bubbles, which climb out of the flask pretty quickly. Maybe I'll experiment with putting the flask on the stir plate for short periods, or letting the fermentation die down a little bit before putting it on there.

 

[rhys333]

I'm going to brew a hefe over the weekend, so I got my 3068 out of the fridge and into a flask with some DME.

I'm wondering if a stir plate is necessary with a top cropping yeast. It's so active on its own that putting it on the stir plate inevitably causes too much foam and I end up losing yeast out the top of the flask and making a mess.

My understanding of the purpose of the stir plate is to introduce oxygen and encourage the yeast to replicate. But for a top cropping yeast, they may already get enough oxygen with the fermentation activity happening on top of the wort?

I guess it all depends on how old the yeast is. If its been in the fridge a couple months, then a small starter is probably a good idea. If it's fresher, and you can tell that its still healthy and active, I would just pitch it directly. My experience is similar to yours with that top cropped stuff. It tends to be extremely active, and probably with a very high cell count.

 

[Craigmn]

I heard a theory/method the other day on starters. Instead of using a stir plate to just either shake the bejeesus out of your starter or use your oxygen stone to put the do level super high.

The thought being that it will build happier healthy yeasts because the movement of the stir plate beats up the yeast.

I haven't tried it yet, but i thought it was interesting.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I have 2 flasks, but switched to 1 gal jugs years ago. Never had a mess.