Tight Arse Stir Plate

[Tony]

I made up a starter with some WLP850 copenhagen lager yeast i had in the fridge an hour ago.

I had it sitting there and remembered i made a tight arse stir plate a year or 2 ago.

I dug deep and found it.

chucked the starter on it and it works bloody great. I have had it there all this time and never used it.

here are some pics

cheers

 

[TidalPete]

I made up a starter with some WLP850 copenhagen lager yeast i had in the fridge an hour ago.

I had it sitting there and remembered i made a tight arse stir plate a year or 2 ago.

I dug deep and found it.

chucked the starter on it and it works bloody great. I have had it there all this time and never used it.

here are some pics

cheers

Tony,

That looks like a 240v jobbie to me? I recently upgraded my stir plate to 240v (Thanks Doc) & am really pleased with the extra oomph that I get. Not that there was anything wrong with my 12v job.

You've got to keep reminding yourself that you have it. They are so handy. :beerbang:

:beer:

 

[Tony]

yep 240v.

the fan inside was an industrial electrical panel ventilation unit fan.

its run by a 240v fan controller...... well thats obvious

cheers

 

[TidalPete]

yep 240v.

the fan inside was an industrial electrical panel ventilation unit fan.

its run by a 240v fan controller...... well thats obvious

cheers

Off Topic I know Tony, but are you really as good looking as your avatar shows? I love it. :beerbang:

:beer:

 

[Tony]

click on my name above the 3 toothed smiling dero and see a rum soaked dero at a B&S ball

its the only photo i could find of myself

cheers

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

For what it may be worth, I've documented to some extent my stirplate here ----> http://sillybeertricks.blogspot.com/

There's not much new, except that I'm using a different way to mount the magnets and it's mine...

 

[Tony]

has anyone had problems with heat from the fan heating the brew up.

my fan is a bloody heavy duty metal industrial unit, not a wimpy computer fan but im finding its getting warm and haeting the brew in the starter flask a bit.

that will be grouse in winter to keep ale yeasts healthy but im trying to start a lager yeast and wanted it cool. the heat from the fan has kept it at about 20 odd deg in a cold breeze in the garage.

also........

im thinking of making a bigger unit for a 50 liter firmenter and mounting it under a support in the brew fridge.

i figure it would give me better firmentation and hence, better beer.

anyone gone big with this?

cheers

 

[Hogan]

has anyone had problems with heat from the fan heating the brew up.

my fan is a bloody heavy duty metal industrial unit, not a wimpy computer fan but im finding its getting warm and haeting the brew in the starter flask a bit.

that will be grouse in winter to keep ale yeasts healthy but im trying to start a lager yeast and wanted it cool. the heat from the fan has kept it at about 20 odd deg in a cold breeze in the garage.

also........

im thinking of making a bigger unit for a 50 liter firmenter and mounting it under a support in the brew fridge.

i figure it would give me better firmentation and hence, better beer.

anyone gone big with this?

cheers

Tony - when doing a lager starter I put the stir plate and flask into the temp cabinet and run it there during the start up process. Keeps the starter at pitching temp. No problem with a fan heating up that way.

Actually 20c is not a bad temp for a starter, particularly if you decant the liquid on a big starter and only use the grown yeast. Even if pitched at 20c there is a 12 hour window to drop it down to a low temp before bad flavours inhabit the wort.

As for a stir plate beneath a 50 lt fermenter I think Doc was moving in a similar direction some time back but don't know where that ended up. Maybe was Doc - maybe not.

Cheers, Hoges.

 

[Doc]

As for a stir plate beneath a 50 lt fermenter I think Doc was moving in a similar direction some time back but don't know where that ended up. Maybe was Doc - maybe not.

I was thinking about it, and even asked Chris White when he was in town last year. Basically, don't do it if you are making beer. If you are making yeast, no problem. Beer from a stirplate is not that nice flavourful beer that we want.
If you are making yeast for a micro, then go for the big 50 litre stirplate :beerbang:

Doc

 

[barls]

i just finished mine which i made out of an old firewire case that stopped working so here it its

one question how long before i should see some form of action from the yeast and what should i be seeing as i know im not going to see a sediment layer due to the constant motion of the starter

 

[razz]

Evening Barls. I usually find that the stir bar slows down as the yeast starter hits high krausen and then picks up a little after high krausen. For example, bar spins at 200rpm then noticeably slows at high krausen and then goes back to it's 200 rpm. Also you should notice a thick head on top of the starter and the foam will change from cream to a brown scum top at high krausen. Time will depend on yeast age, temp, gravity and who knows what else.

 

[Hutch]

Hey Barls,
I don't know how you can see the rpm of the stir-bar, but I certainly agree with razz in that it seems to slow down, and looks thicker as the culture multiplies. I had meant to take some photos showing various stages of a recent Coopers Pale yeast culture on the stir plate, but the camera was full of baby photos...

In a few words, it starts off murky dark brown (wort colour), and gradually becomes lighter as the yeast multiplies, eventually ending up looking like iced-coffee BigM. While this is all happening, I usually see a constant swirling of small bubbles that can leave a frothy layer, depending on the temperature and vigour of the stir. I think it's generally best to stir as vigorously as possible to encourage continuous mixing of oxygen into solution, encouraging yeast growth. Obviously these observations will depend on the quantity you pitch into the starter, and the type of yeast being pitched.

You know it's pretty much done when the small bubbles cease to be driven off, and the liquid is a nice light chocolate milkshake colour.

At this point I take it off the stir-plate, and put the Erlenmeyer flask in the fridge for 24 hours. This settles out the yeast, enabling you to pour off the "beer", and pitch the thick layer of white yeast into your brew (making sure you don't pitch the magnetic stir-bar in the process!)

The stir plate is probably the most valued piece of brewing equipment I have made
Hope it works for you too :beerbang:

 

[barls]

cheers guys im getting none of that with the irish ale i decided to try it with but thats not unusual for my starters as they normally kick on in the second day. unfortunately i need to change the yeast to the beer im brewing tomorrow. ill give this one a go and see.
cheers

 

[razz]

I used the 200 rpm bit as an example, but I guess Hutch was just taking the piss out of me. Don't stir your starter to vigorously as to much can cause sheer stress on the yeast, any stiring action will rapidly accelerate the starter which is what you want. Barls you may need to put your stir plate and starter in a warmer position. Wyeast have updated their website so read some of their pages on yeast starers.

 

[barls]

im going to have to change out my variable resistor from a 5k to a 2.5k as i dont have much adjustment at the moment, its ether just turning or flat out no in between. ill see how this one goes and ill let you know

 

[barls]

cheers guys i changed the yeast to the one i wanted yesterday and put the other one in the standard form of starter and they both have kicked the irish ale just took 2 days but the other has a nice little layer of froth. looks like my worrying was unnecessary. cheers guys

 

[Jye]

Im bored so heres a pic of some polyclar on the stir plate for a pils and ofest.

 

[Plastic Man]

have some fun with the kids with the rare earth magnets (apologies for off topic....)

linky

 

[rwh]

im going to have to change out my variable resistor from a 5k to a 2.5k as i dont have much adjustment at the moment, its ether just turning or flat out no in between.

Mine has a 500 ohm potentiometer in it, and it's still touchy as all hell. Actually, I think I put a 100 ohm resistor in parallel with it too, but still touchy. Usable though if you're careful. 500 ohm was the lowest I could find.

 

[drsmurto]

At this point I take it off the stir-plate, and put the Erlenmeyer flask in the fridge for 24 hours. This settles out the yeast, enabling you to pour off the "beer", and pitch the thick layer of white yeast into your brew (making sure you don't pitch the magnetic stir-bar in the process!)

Hutch

Is that the normal practice or can you just dump the whole thing into the wort?

Cheers
DrSmurto

p.s. not technically home made but it cost me $0.....