displacedtexan

Recipes 

I don't have a small scale and am having trouble measuring the 2.5 grams of agar.

I used 1/2 teaspoon and my agar hasn't set after about 12 hours.

Anybody know the volumetric equivalent of 2.5 grams of agar (e.g. 2.5 ml, 5 ml, etc).

Thanks!

mordantly

Recipes 

powder or jelly? if it's powder, ummm i can check. the jelly, can't you estimate like a cube of butter?

displacedtexan

Recipes 

I have the universal beer agar powder from Midwest Brewing Supplies.

Thanks for the help!

dfohio

Recipes 

My Agar is in flakes. 2.5 grams = 1Tbsp for these. Not quite sure about a powder though

__________________
"If you do it right, brewing is about ideas. A big impression can be made with brute force, but sometimes a whisper speaks louder than a shout." - Randy Mosher

Primary: Citrus Wheat Experiment/WLP029 & WYEAST 1056
Secondary: Oktoberfest
Bottle: Empty

displacedtexan

Recipes 

Got it, thanks! I'll give it another try in a few days!

JimE

Recipes 

I wouldn't use regular Jello. Try Knox or some other brand of unflavored, unsweetened gelatin. Let your wort provide all the nutrients. How did they turn out after you waited another day?

mordantly

Recipes 

it was a complete failure:

melted at room temp
very little growth (was impregnated in media)
co2 created pockets in media
media moved around in vials
a complete pain to clean the vials
was a tricky ratio of jello/dme

pictures here

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/slanting-yeast-133103/index3.html#post1730057

chuckjaxfl

Recipes 

Have you considered a low-end reloading scale? Ammunition reloaders work in 0.1 grain (or 0.000228571429 ounce, or 0.006479891 gram) measurements.

Here is a low price, low tech, high precision scale. Accurate to 1/20 grain, allegedly. It will only measure up to about 1/4 ounce, though.

For a few dollars more this one is digital, and will measure up to about 3.5 ounces.

riromero

Recipes 

I got one of these little scales from Harbor Freight to measure brewing water salts...

http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-pocket-scale-93543.html

I didn't have much hope that it was accurate, but I calibrated it with volumes of water and it was right on the money.

pbarning

Recipes 

Would I be correct in assuming that the pressure cooker provides a means of sterilizing both the media and vials?

I am thinking about boiling the media and funneling it into the vials. Then I'll put the filled and partially capped vials into a beaker that will be placed into a boiling water bath. I will cover the bath (pot) so as to allow the steam to make contact with the vials. This should be sufficient for sterilizing the vials, right?

-or-

Could I simply boil the media and funnel it into the vials and then place the partially capped vials into a stove for a period of time? Like a ghetto autoclave?

Bottom line is that I do not own a pressure cooker, but there should be alternative means of successfully sterilizing the media and equipment.