Thanks for the advice on previous stir plate post. Now trying to decide between the $50 Stir Starter and the $100 Stir-Plate 3000. Building my own is out of the question as am currently rewiring and insulating the garage. After all, brewing in a warm place is so much nicer.
Would be interested in hearing from people who have used either stir plate to make 2.5 L starters. Keep in mind I brew big beers that recommend 3 L starters. That seems a little overkill to me so going with the 2.5 L. I am just a little concerned that the Stir Starter will not handle 2.5 L starters on a monthly basis.
The review of the Stir-Plate below is very positive. Price ranges from $109 to $149, depending where you buy it.
I picked up a couple of 5L flasks and the best price I was able to find was a homebrew4less.com. Might want to check them out to see if they carry 4L (or just get the 5L)
Yeah, I should have mentioned that you need some decent magnets to make this work. A salvaged hard drive magnet probably won’t do the trick. I bought a little package of rare-earth magnets at the hardware store. They’re the size of a button battery but lift something like 12 lb, and they can spin a 25 mm bar through the bottom of a carboy.
Does it matter what material the flask is made out of? I noticed some are pyrex, some are borosilicilate. Is there a preferable material that prevents breaking, is able to be directly heated on the stove (electric as well), and has a flat bottom for the magnetic stir rod?
You can get barbell stir bars to deal with concave bottomed vessels.
Cheapest place to find flasks and stir plates is your local university’s lab surplus. There are also lab surplus places online. I got a couple of big flasks for $15 each, and a beefy lab grade stir plate for $50. It is now cherry red. I am thinking of adding flames.
Thanks for that tip Tom. Will pass it along to other brewers. Just bought a stir plate and flask on-line but we have the University of Maine just down the street. Will pay them a visit and see what they have.
Get in touch with them before hand so you’re not wasting time - the UW one is only open to the public one day a week for a few hours, otherwise it is for the UW personnel only. And when I’m buying for my home I count as the public, during non-public hours you need to give a budget number. So call them and figure out what their hours/policies are.
Correct. Wikipedia: “Borosilicate glass is sold under such trade names as Kimax, Pyrex, Endural, Schott, or Refmex.”
It really depends on your process. If you want to make the starter, cool and then transfer to the flask, any lab flask will do and you save some $. If you want to be able to boil and cool in the same flask, then you need some form of borosilicate glass.
The sticking point on this is your stove. If you have electric coils, don’t bother. It will crack. I have a glass top electric which distributes the heat well. So far I’ve had no issues…fingers crossed. If gas you should have no fear of cracking on the stove with Borosilicate.
If you want borosilicate glass, make sure it is borosilicate glass. Pyrex products for house goods, which used to be borosilicate, are now tempered soda lime glass. It is a cheaper material which some claim is more likely to fracture under extreme temperature changes. Some flasks being sold may not be borosilicate.