Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:49 pm
After dealing with this exact same issue, I have developed a little trick to keep from accidently dumping a stir bar into the fermenter with the starter. This was a little kluge job and involved parts from both the home center (Lowe's) and the auto parts store (NAPA). I generate an electromagnetic field through the neck of my carboy using a couple of 2 inch nails that are wrapped with copper wire attached in series to a couple of 12 V car batteries. The wires are wrapped in an anti-parallel manner, then placed against the neck of a carboy (much like placing a probe against the carboy) on opposite poles and hooking the circuit to the battery terminals. This generates a powerful magnetic field that is strong enough to attract (and trap) the stir bar that is inadvertently poured into the fermenter. Another added benefit of pouring your starter through a magnetic field is that positively charged (and undesirable) starter proteins and lipids are retained in at the neck of the carboy and never enter the primary ferment.
