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Appreciation post: That guy at the homebrew shop who called me out on my lazy starter technique
I was at Brew Lab Supply in Austin last April buying DME for my starter and the guy behind the counter, older dude named Roy, just straight up asked if I was skipping the stir plate step. He said "you're gonna get low cell counts if you don't shake it every few hours" and I was like yeah I usually just swirl it once and call it good. He spent 15 minutes showing me his DIY stir plate setup with an old computer fan and a magnet. I've been using one for 6 months now and my lag times dropped from 24 hours to under 12. Has anyone else had a random shop guy call them out on something that actually helped?
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jason_stone3mo ago
Lazy starters are a trap a lot of folks fall into. Roy's right that shaking alone won't get you the oxygen transfer you need, but even a cheap stir plate makes a world of difference.
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the_gray3mo ago
Stir plates are cheap enough now that theres no excuse not to use one. Seen too many batches stall because people thought swirling it every few hours was enough. Even the basic ones on amazon for $30 work fine. Oxygen is oxygen whether you pay $30 or $300.
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