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Building a stir plate
I finally got some pictures posted from my stir plate build out on my site.
If anyone is interested you can check them out there.
Comments or questions can be directed here or on the site.
Here is probably better for everyone and is a better way to have dialog.
Brew-Dudes Photo Page
The photos are towards the bottom of the page.
Very cool.....A stir plate is one of the first things I want to get going in my future brews......I imagine it's relatively cheap and easy........
I think I spent around $20-$25 dollars for the Radio Shack parts. I already had the wire, wire connectors, fan, magnet and the wooden paint stirrer I used for a spacer to get the fan closer to the underside of the box cover.
very nice stir plate, mike. What did you use as a magnet in the bottle to stir things around? Have you tested this yet for a starter?
I just made a 4L starter of a German lager yeast for a Schwarzbier I made this past weekend and can attest to the huge amount of yeast that the stir plate can yield. I didn't count the cells but at the bottom of a 3 gal glass carboy there was easily an inch of yeast that settled out before pitching. It's really amazing what a little O2 and constant contact with the wort can do for yeast growth. This is a must have gadget for homebrewing!
brewchez wrote:
I think I spent around $20-$25 dollars for the Radio Shack parts.
I just built a stir plate. Not that I really need one at my stage in brewing but I needed another little project to work on. I got most my parts at radio shack too. Did you use one of the plastic project boxes? I looked at it but didn't know if it was sturdy enough to support a filled flask/jar/etc. I ended up using some pieces of maple for sides and lexan for the top and bottom.
1n1m3g wrote:
very nice stir plate, mike. What did you use as a magnet in the bottle to stir things around? Have you tested this yet for a starter?
I just made a 4L starter of a German lager yeast for a Schwarzbier I made this past weekend and can attest to the huge amount of yeast that the stir plate can yield. I didn't count the cells but at the bottom of a 3 gal glass carboy there was easily an inch of yeast that settled out before pitching. It's really amazing what a little O2 and constant contact with the wort can do for yeast growth. This is a must have gadget for homebrewing!
I used a lab quality type stir bar for in the bottle. Actually I have a 2L flask I use for staters. And yes I have tested it for making yeast starter, it works great.
FirePitBrew wrote:
brewchez wrote:
I think I spent around $20-$25 dollars for the Radio Shack parts.I just built a stir plate. Not that I really need one at my stage in brewing but I needed another little project to work on. I got most my parts at radio shack too. Did you use one of the plastic project boxes? I looked at it but didn't know if it was sturdy enough to support a filled flask/jar/etc. I ended up using some pieces of maple for sides and lexan for the top and bottom.
In one of the photos, I show the project box in its original package. The box seems plenty strong for my needs. I have used a 2L flask (1liter liquid in it). And I have also used a gallon jug with about 2L of liquid in that.
I used a box that was a little too tall for the project. I thin the box I got ia 4inch tall. I would recommend the 2 inch box.
I think you can see in one of the photos that I trimmed a couple pieced of wood from a paint stirrer and use that as shims on the underside of the lid. I attached the fan to these shims. The fan mounted on the bottom of the box would have been to far away from the box surface to effect the magnet.
FirePitBrew wrote:
brewchez wrote:
I think I spent around $20-$25 dollars for the Radio Shack parts.I just built a stir plate. Not that I really need one at my stage in brewing but I needed another little project to work on. .
No way man, don't look at it as early stages, tackle a project if you have the time and ability, it will definately improve the quality of your beer. As long as you know you will continue brewing take every step you can to upgrade tour process.
I was holding out getting an oxygen tank because I was aerating w/ a stone and an aquarium pump, I thought that was adequate- after blasting my wort w/ pure o2 my fermentations are borderline explosive and w/in a couple hours start up. I would place huge priority in proper starters and yeast management- thats all your flavor.
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