The curse of the home brewer is equipment upgrades. There are so many gadgets and toys available to make better beer or to help you make beer easier. And once you get those gadgets, there are usually newer gadgets to replace those gadgets. The cycle can be exhausting. This week John prepares himself for his next set of upgrades. We discuss the merits of choosing between a stir plate or Ferm-wrap.

The premise of using a stir-plate is that you generate lively and healthy yeast. In the past we have all been taught to believe that the stir plate also increases cell numbers as well. In reality cell numbers do increase, but depending on the size of your starter and the length of time you give it, the cell number issue can be pretty varied. However, a good steady supply of oxygen and access to fresh sure will certainly increase the viability and performance of any starting source of yeast.

Using a Ferm-Wrap has different benefits. Many of us have fridges that we can use with a thermostat controller to keep things cold in the summer. Active heating is something that is usually an after thought. But in the winter time a cold fridge or basement isn’t going to help brew most ales. A Ferm-wrap in combination with a temperature probe can really help maintain a constant temp when the ambient temps fall. I always found that having the option to heat up a brew towards the end of its ferment a benefit. This practice helps drive the beer to its lowest gravity before the majority of the yeast start to go dormant and flocculate out. A Ferm-wrap also makes it easy to heat up a fermentor in an attempt to restart a sluggish or stuck ferment.

Both of these things certainly point towards better beer through better fermetation or yeast management. My vote for anyone is always temp control. Temp control before even any type of starter. You can always buy more yeast, but you can’t ferment at 70F in a 50F basement. In John’s case, I think he already does a good job with a standard starter made by occasional shaking to create and suspend the yeast. His beers have very little fermentation flaws derived by sluggish or under pitched yeast. So my vote would be for the Ferm-Wrap to assist and lend more control to the good yeast he is already pitching. A stir plate later down the road would only enhance the high quality yeast he already pitches.

What’s your take? What’s your vote? Do you have experience with one or the other? Do you think one provides bigger rewards when in the absence of the other? Let us know with a comment or an email.

BREW ON!