headmaster Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 G'day Masters of the Brewniverse. My latest lager is lagering, so without much to do at the moment, apart from drinking the odd beer from my last batch, (that actually turned out to be an Amber lager I've realised) I began to build a magnetic stir plate. Mostly from parts from a box under my house, I've wired up an LM317 variable regulator as a speed control to a 12v computer fan, mounted in a $7 Jiffy box from Jaycar. Just about to mount magnets on top of a WD40 lid, glued to the fan. I have some recovered Hard Drive magnets, and also have some button or small disc rare earth magnets, maybe 7mm dia. Would you recommend using the HDD magnet over the button magnets? The HDD ones are not symmetrical, I.e. bent like a flat banana if you know what I mean. But I have seen them mentioned regularly when building these stir plates. My other question is about the Erlenmeyer flask I should buy. If I’m going to be making starters for lagers and also wanting to harvest from starters, I guess I should just go straight for a 5000ml flask? I have some smaller beakers from some largish 8 and 12 cup coffee plungers, 1000ml/1200mls that I figure I could use as they have flat bases that might work with the stir bar, so I can use those for stepping up if I had to. I guess you could run 2 litres in the 5000ml flask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I'd go the 5000mL for lagers and a 3000mL for ales. This is what I currently use and it works well with harvesting and still leaving enough for the main batch. However, you can get away with using the 5000mL for all of them if you only want to buy one flask. I have a 1000mL and 2000mL as well, but I don't use these for starters much anymore. The 1000mL one has a slight crack in it, so I won't boil it anymore, but I do use it to take SG samples before and after the boil on brew days. If I need to step up, or I'm just making a small starter to keep the yeast viable, I use the 2000mL one. I'd probably also use it when I get to the last use of a particular yeast, because if I'm not harvesting any from it, I won't need the extra volume, however it wouldn't really matter if you used a bigger one. The thing I like the best about these flasks is that you can boil them on the stove, which makes it so much easier. No faffing around with bloody saucepans and shit, and less chance of infection. I actually "no-chill" mine as well. I work split shifts, so I make the thing up in my break, boil it for 10 mins or so with the stir bar in it, cover the top with al-foil, boil it again for 20-30 secs while covered, then turn the stove off and leave it sit there while I go off for my second half at work. It's usually cooled down by the time I get home again and ready for the yeast to be pitched. You don't have to do that though, you can put the flask straight into a tub of cold water without breaking it. Borosilicate is designed to withstand rapid temperature changes without cracking or breaking. Just make sure you don't boil them dry and then dump water in.. I did this accidentally once and it broke the whole damn thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil2803 Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I've been mucking around the last few days creating a starter. I don't have the luxury of a magnetic stir plate so thought I would experiment first with some kit yeast. I have a high speed blender so a 1:10 DME 500ml water and 1/4tsp of yeast left the blender going at its slowest speed. Bit of trial and error with adjusting the speed and the blade created sufficient heat to keep at around 20deg. Not sure I like the idea of keeping it going for a few days. Another idea. I have a PID controller connected to a rice cooker inside an esky. It also comes with an air pump. So yesterday I bought a small wooden air stone and using that to aerate the wort kept at 20deg. I think ideally I need an inline air filter to keep airborne crud out. Its only about 36 hours and notice quite a layer on the bottom of the jar. I think I will gently drain the liquid and just use the sediment in my next batch and see how it goes. What do you reckon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I use the "crash and decant" method when I pitch my starters. I basically stick the starter in the fridge for a couple of days to drop all the yeast out, then decant most of the spent beer off it, leaving just enough to swirl up the yeast cake in the bottom to pitch into the batch. Starters are not needed with dry yeast though. The only reason I make starters with dry yeast is so I can harvest a portion from the starter before pitching it into the main batch. It's better to rehydrate it before pitching into a starter as well. Also, they don't need to be kept at a steady temperature, only warm enough for the yeast to be able to work. I do all mine at whatever the room temp is. Your 3.3 litre batches are basically a yeast starter in themselves anyway, my lager yeast starters are bigger at 4 litres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 To each their own. I have a 1 and 2 litre erlenmeyer and have no difficulty at all making very dense starters. A friend took a sample to the lab at uni and, using a haemocytometer, calculated a viable cell count 1.3 trillion cellls in the 1.8 litre volume starter for the Phienna Lager (WLP835). As you know, I usually pitch into 40 to 46 litre worts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnaman Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Oh P2 how very Muttley of you, "my starter is more densely packed then your's" nar narny nar nar...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 OK, MagnificentMan. Maybe I'm closer to Dick Dastardly than Muttley (though you gotta love a good wheezy laugh). It wasn't meant to sound like that, though. I've been looking into getting larger flasks, but when I got the chance to get my yeast "efficiency" measured, I jumped at it. It looks as though I've saved myself a lot of $ by not having to, since the good quality ones with proper borosilicate glass (like Schott Duran) cost about $30+ for a 2 litre. A 5 litre can set you back $50-80 which is 25 kg grains. Anyway, my wife is bigger than your wife. And uglier too! So take that. Please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil2803 Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Got myself a stirring plate today and made up a 1.5l malt solution with 1/8tsp of dried yeast as an experiment. If I decide to do a 2 stage yeast starter by discarding the malt solution 150g of DME and 1.5l of water could I use that as part of my wort in a new batch and adjust the recipe accordingly? When I see how it all works I'm going to get a lager yeast and like others, take advantage of the nippy weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 You can use the spent starter beer in a proper batch and adjust the recipe for it, although I would think the best way to do this would be to pitch the starter into the batch while it is at high krausen, i.e. actively fermenting, rather than saving the fermented beer after the fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil2803 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Well started 2 batches tonight, both pretty much the same except one just pitched dried yeast and the other a yeast starter 3 days old. Just checked 4 hours later and the yeast starter is bubbling already. I don't normally get any sign of activity for 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headmaster Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 Sounds like you nailed the started Phil. By the way, I think I might have mentioned in another post, about using the decanted starter wort for ginger beer. I had quite a bit of starter wort from a 4.5 litre lager starter WLP800. I boiled a little water in a small pot, added a few tablespoons of sugar, and some freshly grated ginger. Also a small amount of lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice. Boiled it for a couple of mins, then filled 6 PET bottles 3/4 full with the decanted wort, and topped up with the boiled ginger/lemon/sugar mix. I knew there was far too much sugar in the mix, so would cause the bottles to explode if I just left them to their own devices. That's why I chose the PET's so I could squeeze them to check on carbonation level. When they were almost firm enough I put them in the fridge to halt fermentation and left them there. The remaining sugar also provided the sweetness needed. So I tried some early on, it was ok, a bit yeasty, but left three of them about a week in the fridge, by which time they were clearer and very tasty indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 I'm not even sure why you'd bother making a starter for a 3.3 litre batch of beer. The batch is basically a starter in itself anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil2803 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Sounds like you nailed the started Phil. By the way' date=' I think I might have mentioned in another post, about using the decanted starter wort for ginger beer. I had quite a bit of starter wort from a 4.5 litre lager starter WLP800. I boiled a little water in a small pot, added a few tablespoons of sugar, and some freshly grated ginger. Also a small [/quote'] Not quite as many steps but I've done the same with apple juice. Bought the 3l bottle for $3 from Coles used it to wash out my fv. 3-4 days at about 20 deg it had lost its sweetness and found it quite palatable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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