Anyone make a stir plate that can make a 5 gallon starter? I want to build one but I can’t seem to find info on anthing except the little one or two liter models. I would like to make on that can handle a 5 gallon caroby even though I will probably only make 2 or 3 gallon starters.
i dont make beers anywhere neer that big. and i have a store bought stir plate…
but
i bet you could make it the same way as the small ones, but instead use a disassembled fan with multiple speeds. maybe two 15 inch square, ‘thin’ pieces of plywood; to house the fan. with a magnet of course.
you might have to go freelance and construct one from scratch. although there are some brewers on this site who make 20+ gallon batches i think - who might have more info
I’ve done some 1-2 gal starters (in a 3 gal carboy) on mine. 5 gal might be pushing it, but then again I only have a 25 mm stir bar.
http://seanterrill.com/2010/04/26/build ... stirplate/I just sold one that had a 10 inch square surface and also one with a 12 inch either one would spin a stir bar in a 5 gallon carboy.
Along with those I also sold two 6 liter flasks and at the time I bought them I could have had a 8 liter flask.
2 and 3 liter flasks were all I ever needed to make starters.
It was fun to own them.
Why not just make a 5 gallon batch of beer?
Why not just make a 5 gallon batch of beer?
^this
If whatever you’re doing requires a 5 gal stirred starter, you’d need to brew a 15 gal batch of beer to get to a similar cell count.
[quote=“a10t2”][quote=“TG”]Why not just make a 5 gallon batch of beer?[/quote]If whatever you’re doing requires a 5 gal stirred starter, you’d need to brew a 15 gal batch of beer to get to a similar cell count.[/quote]Why not just make a 15 gallon batch of beer? 
Actually I am only planning on making a 2 gallon starters but I want to make sure I can go up if needed. I like to pitch a lot of yeast in my light beers and I am also looking to start doing some lagers.
Ok, but once you are in the 3 to 5 gallon range doesn’t just make sense to brew a beer and reuse the yeast? Even if you use all extract at least you make something you can drink instead of throwing it down the drain like you would the finish starter (minus the yeast). Killing two birds with one stone.
a record player with a really big magnet?
That’s what I do for lagers. I make a 2 gallon batch around 1.04, do a quick ferment, rack a 5 gallon batch on it and then split the resulting yeast for a 10 gallon batch. No starter needed.
We manufacture a stir plate that will easily spin 5 gallons.
It’s called a Black MAXX Stir Plate.
http://towercooler.com/index.php?option ... &Itemid=97+1 to just brewing a batch and reusing the yeast
I’ve been studying this idea. I think it’s all about the strength of your rare earth magnet and the resolution of your potentiometer. Of course, you need a fan with enough torque, but I think that’s easier to find. I’m guessing you need an earth magnet with at least 50 lbs pull and a potentiometer of about 50 ohms with a DC 12v fan that pulls about 350 to 800 mA.
You can check my blog (below). The configuration above will be the 3rd one I try to build.
Oh, and the Black MAXX Stir Plate looks awesome if you want to get off the shelf.
