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Date: 09 Aug 2006 14:33:23
From: John Bleichert
Subject: query about mag stirrers
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Hello All
I've always made starters, but a recent experience with an IPA showed
me I need to make bigger and better starters for high grav beers. I've
been looking at magnetic stirrers and I'm wondering - do folks get a
starter going on a magnetic stirrer and then leave it on there at low
RPM for days until they're ready to pitch? Does this really help?
How do folks use these stirrers? Leave the starter on one in a dark
area and leave it running til you're ready to pitch or step it up?
Thanks - JB
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John Bleichert syborg@earthlink.net
The heat from below can burn your eyes out!!
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 17:09:54
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 14:33:23 GMT, <syborg@earthlink.net > wrote:
> Hello All
>
> I've always made starters, but a recent experience with an IPA showed
> me I need to make bigger and better starters for high grav beers. I've
> been looking at magnetic stirrers and I'm wondering - do folks get a
> starter going on a magnetic stirrer and then leave it on there at low
> RPM for days until they're ready to pitch? Does this really help?
>
> How do folks use these stirrers? Leave the starter on one in a dark
> area and leave it running til you're ready to pitch or step it up?
I do my starters on a magnetic stir plate, and I know of others in this
group that do it as well. It definitely does make a difference. How much
is open for debate. I've read everything from increasing your cell count
by 2X all the way up to increasing by 6X (compared to the same size starter
without a stir plate). IMO, probably something in between is more realistic.
I start the stirrer and then leave the starter on there with the stirrer
running for a couple days. I do turn it off about a day before I'm ready
to brew in order to give the yeast time to settle out. That way I can
decant off the liquid and just pitch the slurry.
John.
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 10:55:49
From: The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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John Bleichert wrote:
> Hello All
>
> I've always made starters, but a recent experience with an IPA showed
> me I need to make bigger and better starters for high grav beers. I've
> been looking at magnetic stirrers and I'm wondering - do folks get a
> starter going on a magnetic stirrer and then leave it on there at low
> RPM for days until they're ready to pitch? Does this really help?
>
> How do folks use these stirrers? Leave the starter on one in a dark
> area and leave it running til you're ready to pitch or step it up?
I generally leave it on the stirrer until the starter has femented out
-- stuff grows fast on a stirrer, so this is often just 24 hours. Then I
crash out the starter. When I pitch, I'll decant the spend starter beer
(which will be pretty nasty) from the yeast cake prior to pitching.
One advantage of a stir plate is that it does seem to grow cultures with
larger cell counts. I did a couple of side by side tests doing counts on
a hemacytometer and saw about a 2.5x increase in cell counts over
samples that were just occasionally swirled. I've seen claims for 5-7x,
but I have never verified this.
--
(Replies: cleanse my address of the Mark of the Beast!)
Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web:
http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html
Coauthor with Dennis Clark of "Building Robot Drive Trains".
Buy several copies today!
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 15:58:26
From: John Bleichert
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty <mikey666@666swampgas.666com > wrote:
> John Bleichert wrote:
>> Hello All
>>
>> I've always made starters, but a recent experience with an IPA showed
>> me I need to make bigger and better starters for high grav beers. I've
>> been looking at magnetic stirrers and I'm wondering - do folks get a
>> starter going on a magnetic stirrer and then leave it on there at low
>> RPM for days until they're ready to pitch? Does this really help?
>>
>> How do folks use these stirrers? Leave the starter on one in a dark
>> area and leave it running til you're ready to pitch or step it up?
>
> I generally leave it on the stirrer until the starter has femented out
> -- stuff grows fast on a stirrer, so this is often just 24 hours. Then I
> crash out the starter. When I pitch, I'll decant the spend starter beer
> (which will be pretty nasty) from the yeast cake prior to pitching.
>
> One advantage of a stir plate is that it does seem to grow cultures with
> larger cell counts. I did a couple of side by side tests doing counts on
> a hemacytometer and saw about a 2.5x increase in cell counts over
> samples that were just occasionally swirled. I've seen claims for 5-7x,
> but I have never verified this.
>
"hemacytometer" he says. LOL.
Thanks for the responses guys - I think I may pick up a stirrer.
JB
-----------------------------------------------
John Bleichert syborg@earthlink.net
The heat from below can burn your eyes out!!
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 11:09:57
From: The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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John Bleichert wrote:
> "hemacytometer" he says. LOL.
>
See other posts re: brewing costs and gear frenzy.
--
(Replies: cleanse my address of the Mark of the Beast!)
Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web:
http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html
Coauthor with Dennis Clark of "Building Robot Drive Trains".
Buy several copies today!
|
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 16:57:03
From: John Bleichert
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty <mikey666@666swampgas.666com > wrote:
> John Bleichert wrote:
>> "hemacytometer" he says. LOL.
>>
>
> See other posts re: brewing costs and gear frenzy.
>
As a longtime recording musician and guitar player, I have merely
transferred my inate "gear frenzy" to a new venue in homebrewing. If
it wasn't for brewing I'd find someplace else to plunk down my
hard-earned $$$...
-----------------------------------------------
John Bleichert syborg@earthlink.net
The heat from below can burn your eyes out!!
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 17:41:10
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 16:57:03 GMT, <syborg@earthlink.net > wrote:
> The Artist Formerly Known as Kap'n Salty <mikey666@666swampgas.666com> wrote:
>> John Bleichert wrote:
>>> "hemacytometer" he says. LOL.
>>>
>>
>> See other posts re: brewing costs and gear frenzy.
>>
>
> As a longtime recording musician and guitar player, I have merely
> transferred my inate "gear frenzy" to a new venue in homebrewing. If
> it wasn't for brewing I'd find someplace else to plunk down my
> hard-earned $$$...
Yeah, tell me about it. What I don't spend on brewing I just end up
spending on my car. Of course, anything I actually manage to save my
wife just ends up spending.
John.
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 15:42:39
From: C.D.Sparks
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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That's how I do it I feed the yeast for a few days in advance with the
stirrer going slow . I put a shopping bag over the stirrer to catch any over
flow that should happen when I'm not around . I found stirrers on Ebay two
for less than $40 not pretty but they work great . Also found the flasks and
stirbars on Ebay you'll need more than one stir bar( dropped one in barley
wine didn't get it back for 6 months) try to find stir bars 1" or longer the
smaller bars don't seem to do anything in a yeast slurry hope this
helps..................HAGD
"John Bleichert" <syborg@earthlink.net > wrote in message
news:TmmCg.1667$Sn3.129@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Hello All
>
> I've always made starters, but a recent experience with an IPA showed
> me I need to make bigger and better starters for high grav beers. I've
> been looking at magnetic stirrers and I'm wondering - do folks get a
> starter going on a magnetic stirrer and then leave it on there at low
> RPM for days until they're ready to pitch? Does this really help?
>
> How do folks use these stirrers? Leave the starter on one in a dark
> area and leave it running til you're ready to pitch or step it up?
>
> Thanks - JB
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------
> John Bleichert syborg@earthlink.net
> The heat from below can burn your eyes out!!
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Date: 09 Aug 2006 17:38:50
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: query about mag stirrers
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On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 15:42:39 GMT, <ksparks@cfl.rr.com > wrote:
> That's how I do it I feed the yeast for a few days in advance with the
> stirrer going slow . I put a shopping bag over the stirrer to catch any over
> flow that should happen when I'm not around . I found stirrers on Ebay two
> for less than $40 not pretty but they work great . Also found the flasks and
> stirbars on Ebay you'll need more than one stir bar( dropped one in barley
> wine didn't get it back for 6 months) try to find stir bars 1" or longer the
> smaller bars don't seem to do anything in a yeast slurry hope this
> helps..................HAGD
Also, watch out for combination stirplate/hotplate. A lot of them are like
that, but you definitely don't want your starter sitting on a hotplate. IMO
either try to find one that isn't a hotplate, or at least that you can turn
on/off the stir/heat functions seperately.
John.
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