Stir plate/starter advice please

[Buttwidget]

If you are boiling in the flask, weigh/portion out your DME in a metal mixing bowl, get the water to a boil and dump it in, whisk it together, and pour through a funnel back into the flask. If you add water to malt and try to boil, DME will get stuck on the bottom of the flask.

Is this why my 5L flask shattered and sent 160 degree 1.040 wort all over my kitchen?

I quit cooking in my flask and now use a small pot on the stove. I also use my old 1/4" copper immersion chiller (from when I first started brewing) to chill it down. It so much faster than an ice bath. From there I dump it through a funnel into the flask, pitch my yeast and drop my stir bar in.

I picked up a really nice stir plate on ebay for $25 that can easily spin a full 5L, not that I'll ever need to....

One thing I saw upthread, though. A great starter will not make up for not having well oxygenated wort. I'd start thinking about how to get that done too.

~widget

[snowcapt]

How do you do it? Tihats probably my next purchase.

[tlael]

Good to know tlael...Sounds like a plan. I'll just go with a 5 then.

On another note, you mentioned stepping up older cultures. Assuming it's been handled properly, I know you can estimate viability based on the date code/best by date. What's your viability percentage cutoff for doing this?

I rarely keep yeast around for a really long time, but I have stepped up a vial that was properly stored (refrigerated) for about 6-7 months. I wouldn't make that a regular practice, but I wanted to see if it worked. It did... just fine. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye at something in the 50% range. I'd just make a 1l and smell/taste the wort from the starter before stepping it up to a normal 2l starter.

[Ozwald]

Good to know tlael...Sounds like a plan. I'll just go with a 5 then.

On another note, you mentioned stepping up older cultures. Assuming it's been handled properly, I know you can estimate viability based on the date code/best by date. What's your viability percentage cutoff for doing this?

I rarely keep yeast around for a really long time, but I have stepped up a vial that was properly stored (refrigerated) for about 6-7 months. I wouldn't make that a regular practice, but I wanted to see if it worked. It did... just fine. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye at something in the 50% range. I'd just make a 1l and smell/taste the wort from the starter before stepping it up to a normal 2l starter.

All you need is one good cell. Provided, the lower the viability, the harder it is to get that one good cell. I just look at how much work I'm willing to put into a particular sample. Cleaning & growing a low viability 1056 isn't worth my time. Now, the Ommegang strain I've got hanging out, I'll definitely put some more time & care into.

[Duzdisluk Infektid]

Well, I didn't get a stir plate soon enough for this one, so I went with a 2L 1.040 starter with three vials of cal ale. According to a different pitch rate calculator, this puts me in the ballpark of a "pro brewer, high gravity" pitch rate of 320 billion cells. (5 gal batch)

Holy hell was that a rocket ship fermentation! 48 hours and it went from 1.071 to 1.016. It's hasn't floc'd yet of course, but that thing was rockin! About a half a liter of blow off and half an inch of yeast in my 1 gal blowoff container.

Started at 68F and raised 1 degree per day. Will stop at 72. Will begin dry hopping as soon as the yeast starts dropping out.

[Ozwald]

Well, I didn't get a stir plate soon enough for this one, so I went with a 2L 1.040 starter with three vials of cal ale. According to a different pitch rate calculator, this puts me in the ballpark of a "pro brewer, high gravity" pitch rate of 320 billion cells. (5 gal batch)

Holy hell was that a rocket ship fermentation! 48 hours and it went from 1.071 to 1.016. It's hasn't floc'd yet of course, but that thing was rockin! About a half a liter of blow off and half an inch of yeast in my 1 gal blowoff container.

Started at 68F and raised 1 degree per day. Will stop at 72. Will begin dry hopping as soon as the yeast starts dropping out.

3 vials, 2L starter & 5g batch? You probably could of saved yourself the cost of 2 vials or the starter & 1 vial. Gotta love those rocketship fermentations though.

[spiderwrangler]

Well, I didn't get a stir plate soon enough for this one, so I went with a 2L 1.040 starter with three vials of cal ale. According to a different pitch rate calculator, this puts me in the ballpark of a "pro brewer, high gravity" pitch rate of 320 billion cells. (5 gal batch)

3 vials, 2L starter & 5g batch? You probably could of saved yourself the cost of 2 vials or the starter & 1 vial.

Yeah... rule of thumb I go by is 100bil/vial, so at 3 vials in your 2L starter, you managed to grow that last 20bill.... So based purely on numbers, it cost more to grow those 20b than they cost by the vial. A kickass ferment is worth it though!

[Duzdisluk Infektid]

Yup. I don't plan on doing this for every brew. Just wanted to see what the difference would be.

Even with three vials, I still had to make up 65 b after accounting for age/viability.

Hopefully I'll have my stir plate ready by the next time I brew.