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Stupid question, but what's everyone using a stir plate for, whirlpooling hops out of the wort after boil? Or is it used for something else?

yeast starters, and mixing salad dressing

Ah. I never use a starter... Probably should someday.

mr x wrote:yeast starters, and mixing salad dressing

Shit - now I'm tempted to set up the stir plate for salad dressing just to see the look on the wife's face!

HopGrower wrote:Ah. I never use a starter... Probably should someday.

I do - but I'm still not convinced of the need for a stir plate

Ive always wondered about the stir plate myself. I seem to get pretty good results from simply shakin it (altho I do it very often!) It would be interesting to do the two side by each sometime.
Im thinking its just a labor saver. Set it and forget it thing. I actually enjoy the active part of it tho.

I am sure that you get the same results from intermittent shaking as you do with a stir plate. I prefer to use a stir plate because once it's on there you can forget about it and walk away, go to bed, etc.

I love the idea about mixing salad dressing too!

There was an interesting podcast on Basic Brewing Radio which tries to look at yeast starter sizes using different methods. Stir plates did seem to make a difference over shaking.

http://podbay.fm/show/75092679/e/1273622400?autostart=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

canuck wrote:I am sure that you get the same results from intermittent shaking as you do with a stir plate. I prefer to use a stir plate because once it's on there you can forget about it and walk away, go to bed, etc.

I think that's the whole point - if you stir it as much manually as you would with a stir plate, it shouldn't make any difference. So it really comes down to how much you think you'll remember to shake it up.

I use a stir plate because I brew 10 gallons and need all the cells I can get. Another reason is I can't get fresh yeast. But, it seems to be getting better as I see on the net HB stores are getting the word out when they order yeast. Last year I ordered a vial and when it came it was out of date already I ask what the date is now before ordering.

I get a huge difference in culture density between shaking occasionally and stirring on my stir plate. I made starters for about a year before switching and the difference was crazy. I haven't done cell counts yet, but using visual opacity as a measure, using a stir plate is certainly more effective.

McGruff wrote:I use a stir plate because I brew 10 gallons and need all the cells I can get. Another reason is I can't get fresh yeast. But, it seems to be getting better as I see on the net HB stores are getting the word out when they order yeast. Last year I ordered a vial and when it came it was out of date already I ask what the date is now before ordering.

I know a guy that can help you out with that soon...

Sounds great. Dave where is your store going to be located?

Fishdisease wrote:I get a huge difference in culture density between shaking occasionally and stirring on my stir plate. I made starters for about a year before switching and the difference was crazy. I haven't done cell counts yet, but using visual opacity as a measure, using a stir plate is certainly more effective.

I agree entirely. I believe the Yeast book by White/Zainasheff gives some actual data on cell growth using the various starter aeration methods. IIRC, the Basic Brewing Radio episode someone mentioned above was not very scientific and pretty much just observational.

Here's a good read: http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

Anddddd the best tool for making a starter out there (IMO): http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Plus, the stir plate is just really, really cool, and you can build one for a few dollars.

According to mrmalty, if I have a vial of yeast from June 1st, I need a 1.05l starter with a stir plate or a 1.61l starter with intermittent shaking - so the stir plate is about 35% more effective.