Thanks, I'm giving it another shot today. I started before you replied but this time it's 1500mL at 1.035. It's a different yeast this time but will be interesting to see what happens.
When you defrost the yeast and make the 250mL starter roughly how many cells should you expect to have once it's fermented out?
Just wondering because when I go to do the second step it would be good to know how many cells I've started with so I can calculate the size of the second step to end up pitching the right amount.
the baby soda bottles are approximately 60ml. they seem just about right for the freezer and to use for starters. I have order a bunch and will be trying them out on my next batch if they arrive in time.
Edit: this answer was for scinerd3000. still learning how to post
Last edited by beerthirty; 06-01-2008 at 06:04 PM.
Reason: wrong spot
For vials on the cheap, go to your local wal-mart or other photo processing store and ask for 35mm film canisters (usually the little black jars, gray lids). They seem to be somewhere around 40 ML, I sanitize them in star-san for a while (I actually keep them full of star-san when not in use).
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"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
I know there could be some problems with the film canisters, I did taste some hot water I had sit in one for a while, didn't seem to have any taste, plus I'm only pitching 30 ml of possibly tainted solution into a starter, then decanting off that liquid and then pitching it into 5 gallons of wort.
It's not the perfect solution I know, but it's the free solution.
__________________
"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V
Primary: Nothin Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead Kegged: Crappy infected mild Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash
I just tried brewing from my yeast bank that I created with this method, and it worked great! I used 50 ml tubes for my frozen yeast.
When creating the starter, I was worried for awhile because there seemed to be nothing going on there, but after 8 hours or so there was a nice layer of foam on top so I knew it was fine.
I created a 1 pint starter for my 50 ml tube of yeast, and it worked great in my beer. This was my first batch with a starter (I've always either just dumped the liquid in or rehydrated dry yeast), and even though I knew to expect a lot of Krausen, I was surprised at just how much there was. I'm really glad my primary fermenter is actually an 8 gallon bucket which had plenty of room.
Belated thanks for posting this, Flyguy - I've just placed an order for vials and glycerin, so thanks to this thread I should have a yeast bank up and running by the end of the week. I can't believe how simple it is. Cheers!
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Bottle conditioning: Pliny the Elder clone; Tramp's Overcoat Barley Wine
Next up: Vanilla Porter
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