Giant stirplate?

[ramloese]

I'm making a 5 gallon yeast starter, but normal stir plates won't do for this.

I'm making it in standard brewing plastic bucket.

How can I stir this starter?

 

[yeahfairly]

Do you own a Bass boat with a trolling motor or have a buddy that works in the paint department at Lowes? Sorry.... couldn't resist..... Not sure how helpful this will be... but you might consider putting the lid on the bucket with a blow off tube and hooking up an aquarium pump w/ an inline filter to provide oxygen..... you would need to manually swirl the starter in the bucket as often as possible. It won't give you optimum results but I suspect it would be adequate. Five gallons of yeast starter in a plastic brewing bucket could get messy at High Krausen... What is your pitch rate going to be for the 5 gallon starter?

 

[ramloese]

Do you own a Bass boat with a trolling motor or have a buddy that works in the paint department at Lowes? Sorry.... couldn't resist..... Not sure how helpful this will be... but you might consider putting the lid on the bucket with a blow off tube and hooking up an aquarium pump w/ an inline filter to provide oxygen..... you would need to manually swirl the starter in the bucket as often as possible. It won't give you optimum results but I suspect it would be adequate. Five gallons of yeast starter in a plastic brewing bucket could get messy at High Krausen... What is your pitch rate going to be for the 5 gallon starter?

Im thinking about 5-7 White Labs wet packs.

The bucket is a 10 gallon bucket, so I think it'll be ok.

 

[Nagorg]

You can get a Maelstrom stirplate!

 

[Miraculix]

Why not use your small stir plate?

Put the bucket on two pieces of wood, or whatever else creates a gap big enough that the stir plate can sit below the bucket without getting smashed by its weight and use it.

The liquid won't move as fast as in a smaller vessel but it will definitely move!

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Isn't a 5g starter called a batch of session beer?

To answer your question, I wonder about using a box fax as the base. Finding a stir bar big enough is going to be a challenge, and magnets powerful enough to pull through the bucket.
But I think @yeahfairly is right- an aquarium pump with a sanitary filter is probably the easiest and cheapest solution. Or talk to a friendly local pro about getting a pull from his or her fermentor.

 

[Nagorg]

Or get the Maelstrom. If making starters and needing larger ones (up to 5G) you wont regret it. Its one bad mutha!

 

[kh54s10]

Why not brew a light beer then use the yeast cake from that. You get a beer that you can drink AND the yeast you need.