New Project - Building a Stir Plate

I have a new homebrew project to occupy the next couple of weeks.

I am going to try my hand at building my own stir plate. I've seen nice commercial versions all over the web from $50 to over a $100 bucks depending on all of the bells and whistles that you have. I've started putting together my requirements, and what I think I need as far as a parts list. From looking over several posts in zymurgy, and a great walkthrough on www.donosborn.com, I think I should be able to do this pretty easily. So here it goes.

Requirements:
1.) Must be able to hold a 2 liter Erlmeyer flask.
2.) Must have an on/off switch
3.) Must have speed variability
4.) Must be aesthetically pleasing as possible.

Parts List:
1.) 6 Volt Power Supply - I think I have a few of these at the house.
2.) CPU Fan - I know I have at least ten of these!
3.) Wood Box w/ lid - I'm budgeting $10 for one of these at the local cigar shop
4.) Wire Quick Disconnects - $3 at Ace or Radio Shack
5.) 25 Ohm Potentiometer - $4 at Radio Shack
6.) 4 bolts
7.) 4 neoprene spacers - $1 at Radio Shack (So I can have room above the fan for the magnet)
8.) 4 neoprene washers - $1 at Radio Shack (Absorb vibration)
9.) Control knobs - $2 at Radio Shack
10.) Switch - $3 at Radio Shack (I want one I can mount nicely to the box)
11.) Rare Earth Magnet - I should be able to scavenge one from a dead hard drive at home.
12.) Stir Bar - $5 at Northern Brewer

So.  As I take this project on, I will take some photos, and put together a how-to blog post.  I hope to get it done by the end of November, and have it cranking away at building some great yeast populations by new years!

Empty Fermenters and a possible Attenuation issue

Well, Both of my fermenters are now empty. I kegged up both my Dunkelweizen and the CDA (Black IPA). The first task was doing a double keg clean out. I will fill one keg up with 5 gallons of easy clean, and then push that through my beer lines into keg 2. I then push it from keg 2 into a bottling bucket that has the tubing I plan to use while siphoning out the beer from the fermenters. The next step is to repeat the process with Star San.

It looks like I may have had my first brewing anomaly with the Dunkelweizen batch. The OG was 1.052 when I put it into the carboy. Last night when testing with my refractometer it finished at 1.028. Not even close to the 1.013 that I was expecting. The only thing that I can think of is that perhaps my Wyeast smack pack got too warm in shipping, and when I did the smack, I didn't have the proper number of yeast cells at pitching time. I think that from this point forward, even with the smack packs, I am going to get at least a 1 liter starter going the day before brew day. This is the first batch that I have ever missed my finishing gravity on. I do recall however that all three ice packs that were in the shipping container had melted by the time I got home and brought the package in the house. I always immediately refrigerate my yeast, so that may have saved enough to get to where it actually finished at.

I did take a quick taste of the dunkel, and I have to say, the sweetness lends pretty well to the roastiness of the dark wheat malt. It's going to be quite sessionable at the 3.18% ABV mark.

As for the CDA, it finished at 1.020 just as I had hoped. It's still got quite a bit of HOP AA zing, and should be quite a good beer. I'll be serving both of these beers at an upcoming Knights of Columbus fundraising dinners supporting the Holy Rosary Pro-Life group.

Special Thanks to Carlos for bringing me an extra Keg! Also, to my wonderful wife and brew assistant. Without her, nothing is possible.