First Steps To Liquid Yeast

[AdeDunn]

Well, I have bitten the bullet and taken my first steps to using liquid yeasts (hold fire, it'll soon be apparent why this isn't in the yeast, water and grist section).

Ordered a magnetic stir plate from Denmark on eBay (EU country, so shouldn't get hit with heavy import duty like you do from China or the US): ebay link

Also ordered a 2L Erlenmeyer Borossilicate glass flask: ebay link, fingers crossed that it reaches me in 1 piece... lol

Not going to order any yeast just yet, the stir plate could take up to 24 days to arrive, and I'd rather order yeast once I have it ready to go.

 

[Saisonator]

I don't know if you can change the order, but you will very soon wish you had paid a little more and bought the 3 litre flask.

 

[-Bezza-]

Interested to hear how you get on with the stir plate. I'm looking to move onto liquid yeasts myself and, as much as I could make my own, £35 and a few days for delivery seems a lot easier!

 

[AdeDunn]

I don't know if you can change the order, but you will very soon wish you had paid a little more and bought the 3 litre flask.

Not possible on eBay usually, the stir plate is only really rated for 2 litre flasks. I know what you are getting at though, the extra litre is room for the yeast to foam up into, saving mess. I've ordered an extra one in the 3L size. Good job that £15 of my order was paid with a Nectar points voucher. lol Here's hoping a 3 litre flask isn't too much for the stirrer....

Interested to hear how you get on with the stir plate. I'm looking to move onto liquid yeasts myself and, as much as I could make my own, £35 and a few days for delivery seems a lot easier!

I had the same thought to be honest. Too much bother making my own, with too much that could go wrong. I tried putting together my own LED light strips once (using waterproof ribbon LEDs) and narrowly avoided a house fire! They literally burned the waterproof casing... lol Besides, it's only a little more expensive once you've bought a PC fan, power supply, strong magnets, variable resistor/rheobus, stir bar, glue, something to remove the glue from the carpet and your clothes before your wife murders you horribly (she was rather unhappy the time I got Gorilla glue on the carpet and my t-shirt whilst making vivarium backgrounds, oh and a tiny bit on the dog who shouldn't really have been in the room in the first place to get it dripped on her....).... lol

 

[foxbat]

Ordered a magnetic stir plate from Denmark on eBay (EU country, so shouldn't get hit with heavy import duty like you do from China or the US): ebay link

I've got that one. Excellent stir plate and the supplied stir-bars are far better than than the half-dozen random cheap ones I ordered from China. Mine arrived much quicker than 24 days.

For future flask purchases keep an eye on Cream Supplies. Flasks, beakers, tubes or whatever, they always seem to be the cheapest.

 

[AdeDunn]

I've got that one. Excellent stir plate and the supplied stir-bars are far better than than the half-dozen random cheap ones I ordered from China. Mine arrived much quicker than 24 days.

For future flask purchases keep an eye on Cream Supplies. Flasks, beakers, tubes or whatever, they always seem to be the cheapest.

Brilliant, thanks for that bud, nice to know I've not made a mistake.

Thanks for the link for flasks too, they're a heck of a lot cheaper. Only seem to go to 2 litres though, is that the size you use? If so, if you have any hints or tips they'll be appreciated.

 

[Bigcol49]

Thanks for the link for flasks too

Hi!
The 2 litre flask is out of stock. The 3 litre flask is no longer listed - I think homebrewers have stripped them clean!

 

[AdeDunn]

Flasks just arrived, intact fortunately. Here's hoping I can keep them that way, my family are demons for smashing things.... Second oldest managed to knock a trial jar full of flat beer off a worktop just last week, luckily the hydrometer wasn't still in it and the trial jar itself is plastic......

Need to find a spot well away from where they might decide to go.... Behind the tarantulas maybe.... lmao

 

[AdeDunn]

Some eye candy?

 

[-Bezza-]

Hi!
The 2 litre flask is out of stock. The 3 litre flask is no longer listed - I think homebrewers have stripped them clean!

They now have a 5l one in stock. :bla:

 

[AdeDunn]

They now have a 5l one in stock. :bla:

That's a tad large... lol

Stirrer arrived this morning, works a treat. :thumb:

 

[Saisonator]

They now have a 5l one in stock. :bla:

It's only £11.99 !
Could be a bit big for most peoples stir plate.

 

[-Bezza-]

It's only £11.99 !
Could be a bit big for most peoples stir plate.

Quite. Not sure an upturned quality Street box would support the weight of that when full. But with only 2l of liquid and a whole lot of headroom it might not be such a bad shout.

 

[Saisonator]

Quite. Not sure an upturned quality Street box would support the weight of that when full. But with only 2l of liquid and a whole lot of headroom it might not be such a bad shout.

If you're using 1469 West Yorkshire yeast, I bet it would still manage to climb out

 

[Zephyr259]

If you're using 1469 West Yorkshire yeast, I bet it would still manage to climb out

Yeah... it does like doing that...

I didn't see any 3L flasks when I got mine, finding that 2L is tricky for some bigger beers or lagers as I can't really go above 1.5 L starts without them leaving. However, My stirplate might start to struggle as there's only a small vortex with 1.5L.

Thanks for the ebay links, they have a 3L one for £20 which isn't too bad. Temped by the 5L for £12 but it's gonna be way to big and I'm not sure my homemade stirplate would move it enough.

 

[Saisonator]

Yeah... it does like doing that...

I didn't see any 3L flasks when I got mine, finding that 2L is tricky for some bigger beers or lagers as I can't really go above 1.5 L starts without them leaving. However, My stirplate might start to struggle as there's only a small vortex with 1.5L.

Thanks for the ebay links, they have a 3L one for £20 which isn't too bad. Temped by the 5L for £12 but it's gonna be way to big and I'm not sure my homemade stirplate would move it enough.

My 3L has a thicker base than the 2L so the magnets struggle to offer enough pull to spin the stirrer. I am taking it to work tomorrow and see if I can make adjustments.

 

[jceg316]

I have a 3L erlenmeyer as well, never needed bigger but sometimes I've noticed 2L would have been too small.

Back in the day liquid yeast was supposed to be better than dry yeast, but this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Commercial breweries are using Fermentis yeast in their beers, and if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. Although there was a Brulosophy comparing US-05 to a liquid equivalent and the latter came out on top in a side by side test.

Anyway, getting a stir plate and erlenmeyer flask was a fantastic purchase, I rarely buy yeast anymore and culture up from bottles. It's also really useful for hydrating dried yeast.

 

[Saisonator]

I would be interested to know if the top modern craft breweries are using dried yeast for beers that are not hoppy IPA 's and stouts?

 

[foxbat]

My 3L has a thicker base than the 2L so the magnets struggle to offer enough pull to spin the stirrer. I am taking it to work tomorrow and see if I can make adjustments.

I found this with the 3l as well due to the thick base. Assuming you've got Neodymium magnets in your stir plate then the fault is with the stir bar. The AlNiCo magnets in them are pretty ****. To solve this I bought a five pack of these rare-earth Samarium-Cobalt stir bars from a private seller on ebay and wow, huge difference. When I dropped one in the 3l flask it instantly centered itself with no encouragement required and I could run the plate at full blast without it chucking the bar, or even looking likely to chuck it. Plus it was so well planted that it was more or less silent with no rattling sound.

 

[AdeDunn]

I'd lay odds that a lot of smaller craft breweries that use dried yeast do so not because it produces beer that's as good as using liquid, but to maximise their profit margins. With a lot of bigger chains (looking at spoons here) offering a pittance for craft beers so they can sell them on the cheap, whilst the government takes their pound of flesh too, it can't be easy staying in profit when you're not a huge brewery. So paying somebody to sort out liquid yeasts, and the time it takes making starters etc, vs been able to just rehydrate some dried yeast and tip it in... Plus there's the price of the yeast. I know it works out a bit cheaper to breweries, but I'll bet that liquid is still more expensive to purchase.

My next brew is going to be a stout, I was planning to use Mangrove Jacks M42 New World Strong Ale (rumour is it is M07...), but so tempted to use a liquid now I have the kit to make a starter...