In January’s meeting we learned just how easy it is to build a stir plate out of spare computer parts. This is a great tool to aid in achieving proper yeast pitching rates when you’re making a beer >1.060 OG.
Most liquid yeast starters you buy are good if your OG is <1.060 , but if you are making a big beer you’ll need to have a yeast starter. The general rule is 1 million yeast cells- per ml- per 1 degree Plato- that’s a lot of yeast cells!
For reference THIS is a great pitch rate calculator located at mrmalty.com.
So you’ve done the math and come to the conclusion that you need a starter- now what? Well a starter can be made in any sanitized vessel,- just add your yeast to about a quart of 1.040 wort ,stir well and cover loosely with an aluminum foil cover. Without a stir plate you would need to “swirl” the wort a couple times a day to keep the yeast in suspension- which helps in increasing yeast cell count. But if you want to make this process a little more automated, or if you just like to build stuff, you need a stir plate.
BYO has a great step by step article on making a stir plate HERE.
For those that are more visual take a look at the video below. Enjoy-
