Comments on grove's beer log: Magnetic Stir Plate

Ah.. Didn't think of that, and I'll take your word...

2008-03-24T14:15:00.000+01:00

Ah.. Didn't think of that, and I'll take your word for it. :)

Regarding the link to VWR; I dont think they sell to "regular people". At least what they told me last time I met with them (via work). Registering as a company would do the trick they said, but it might be he was mistaken...

Olek, Yes I agree. Adding the stir bar to the flas...

2008-03-19T13:05:00.000+01:00

Olek,

Yes I agree. Adding the stir bar to the flask before heating sanitizes it. But don't add it while it is boiling as this will cause it to boil over. Trust me on that, as I've tried it. :)

Why don't you just add the magnet directly to the ...

2008-03-19T01:38:00.000+01:00

Why don't you just add the magnet directly to the flask before boil-up. Less sanitizing to do. The stir bar is teflon coated and can definetly take the heat.

I've built a stirrer and it works wonders. You rea...

2008-02-03T16:18:00.000+01:00

I've built a stirrer and it works wonders. You really get a lot of yeast for a relatively small amount of wort. I've been using just 1L starters and have been getting short lag times even for lagers, though of course a 2L starter won't do any harm, just as soon as I get some larger erlenmeyers.

I don't think you can achieve the same effect using a blender. It will probably spin too fast, will be hard to sanitize effectively, and will certainly be noisy, if it's anything like the blender I have! I can't bear to hear our blender for more than a few minutes, let alone 2-3 days!

I'm not trying to be a smart ass I'm very new to b...

2008-02-02T14:36:00.000+01:00

I'm not trying to be a smart ass I'm very new to brewing but Why not just use a blender or similar device? Wouldn't that be cheaper?

matthew,I got it from VWR via a friend of a friend...

2007-12-29T21:24:00.000+01:00

matthew,

I got it from VWR via a friend of a friend. :)

It looks like you should be able to order it directly from them through their web site.

Where did you get the stirrer? I've been thinking ...

2007-12-27T19:27:00.000+01:00

Where did you get the stirrer? I've been thinking about getting one, but found none in Norway, so now I will just build one from an old pc fan and harddisk.

Thanks Grove :-)

2007-11-22T03:04:00.000+01:00

Thanks Grove :-)

The magnetic stirrer will produce more healthy yea...

2007-11-21T09:29:00.000+01:00

The magnetic stirrer will produce more healthy yeast cells. It will also keep the yeast in suspension at all times making sure that there are no dead spots and makes for each contact with the wort sugars. The stirring increases oxygen levels and will drive off the CO2 (which suppresses yeast activity).

From what I can tell it helps you get things done ...

2007-11-20T23:05:00.000+01:00

From what I can tell it helps you get things done more quickly. So if you have an old yeast that takes a while to start (like my WLP002 I just used) it could save you a day or two.

Are there other advantages?

I was reading about these in BYO. It's pretty int...

2007-11-20T22:28:00.000+01:00

I was reading about these in BYO. It's pretty interesting stuff. How much of an impact do you figure it will have (from a practical sense) on the end product?

I definitely recommend getting one. :)

2007-11-20T09:10:00.000+01:00

I definitely recommend getting one. :)

I was thinking of buying one of these. Can't just...

2007-11-19T20:24:00.000+01:00

I was thinking of buying one of these. Can't justify the cost yet though. I suppose 17 or so batches of beer made with propagated yeast would be enough to pay for it.