Beer Forum

I am new to making a starter and wanted to know your opinions on using aluminum foil on top of the starter vs using a foam stopper. I am going to be using a stir plate and I would think if you just use aluminum foil the stirring would draw in outside which could have contaminants. I also saw morebeer suggest using a stopper with a sanitary filter. What do you guys think is the best???

Just loosely cover your stirplate with a piece of crumpled aluminum foil. You'll be fine. The stir plate doesn't create that much suction. You're really only trying to keep stuff from falling in.

I soak my foil for a couple minutes in sanitizer first though just to make sure nothings on it to start.

I have used both methods (aluminum foil and B3's inline filter) both work great.

Ditto, with a plate I just draped clean foil (with the inside part of the foil in contact with the flask) and if was gonna be a while used sterile cotton plug. Always flame stuff that the beer might come in contact with obviously. This stuff is much more critical IME when using very small volumes of "seed" solution in the starter when the expansion of volumes is 10/1 or so or much greater--say when adding a slant's worth of water/yeast slurry to 12 oz starter. Nowadays with the great commercial products, guessing such is less critical.

I do a variation on the foil thing ...... without the foil. When I sanitize my flask with a little Star San I dump the sanitizer out of the flask into a bowl. I then submerge a plastic sandwich bag in that and then stick that over the top of the flask. Works the same as the foil.

When I clean and sanitize carboys, I leave a little star san in there and then put one of these bags over the opening and put a rubber band on it to hold it in place.

Wayne

Great idea Bug. I too am a foil user with no problems at all. I think I will give the dope baggies a try though.

I'd stay away from the foam stopper

the foam stopper comes from laboratories that grow "little critters" in flasks. The reason they can get away with it is because they are using an autoclave for sterilization. Usually what they do is put the media (starter) in the flask, then a foam stopper, and then a piece of foil over that.

Since we use chemical sanitization (not sterilization), you can just use the foil. Plus, as soon as the starter is cool enough we add and insane amount of yeast so no critters are going to stand a chance.

Is there any reason not to use the foam stopper or is it just unnecessary to use it? To me it seems like if it would help filter out any particles in the air, it can't hurt to use it.