What equipment do I need to occulate small vials from a liquid yeast pack?

I know very little about using liquid yeast and inoculate small vials with agar so that they could be used in starters and then to ferment beer. (I am not even sure if inoculate is the term to use )

Anyway......so, I buy a liquid yeast pack. I get small vials and instead of agar I'd like to use gelatine (my friend has been using it with great success). Then I need some vials (surely can get them from ebay).

What else? An inoculating stick or whatever it is called? A burner to kill everything harmful close to the yeast pack and the vials....and pretty much that's it, right?

P.S. just found this one. (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Yeast_Slants)
It is a pretty complex walkthtough on what I have to do.

You will need a means of sterilizing the tubes once they have been filled with the agar/gelatine mixture. A stove top pressure cooker is adequate for this. To make the stabs a sterilizable inoculating loop and a small burner to heat it with is required. A laminar flow hood is a good idea but that will cost quite a bit. With or without that the table top should be wiped down with alcohol so add that to the list (it is probably already on it since an alcohol burner is often used to heat the inoculating loop and flame the mouth of the vials.

ajdelange said:

You will need a means of sterilizing the tubes once they have been filled with the agar/gelatine mixture. A stove top pressure cooker is adequate for this. To make the stabs a sterilizable inoculating loop and a small burner to heat it with is required. A laminar flow hood is a good idea but that will cost quite a bit. With or without that the table top should be wiped down with alcohol so add that to the list (it is probably already on it since an alcohol burner is often used to heat the inoculating loop and flame the mouth of the vials.

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Thanks for the reply.

There is still one thing that drives me crazy (I simply cant find a way to understand it):
do we put the vials in the pressure cook (or the pot with a jug and some water....the steam will sterilize for sure everything) with the agar or gelatine inside and the cap on?
And then set it aside in an angle of 45º?

This pdf is brilliant: http://www.haveahomebrew.net/PGYSHB.pdf
I havent read it all....but seems to be a really decent guide with photos.

Elysium said:

Thanks for the reply.

There is still one thing that drives me crazy (I simply cant find a way to understand it):
do we put the vials in the pressure cook (or the pot with a jug and some water....the steam will sterilize for sure everything) with the agar or gelatine inside and the cap on?
And then set it aside in an angle of 45º?

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Yes but be sure the caps are loose. A tube rack intended for this purpose (angle slope) is a help.

ajdelange said:

Yes but be sure the caps are loose. A tube rack intended for this purpose (angle slope) is a help.

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I still havent bought the equipment....I need to look into that.

One more thing: so the cap needs to be a bit loose in the pressure cook too? Otherwise it might explode or something?

I guess people sterilize the vials before use too. Just a thought.

The tubes contain air which will expand when heated in the pressure cooker. The caps should be loose so this air can escape when it expands.

Not much point in sterilizing the tubes separately as they must be sterilized when filled with agar.

ajdelange said:

The tubes contain air which will expand when heated in the pressure cooker. The caps should be loose so this air can escape when it expands.

Not much point in sterilizing the tubes separately as they must be sterilized when filled with agar.

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I hear you....I thought they must be sterilized already when the agar goes inside, but I was wrong.

One method is to put a jar with the vials in it, in a bigger pot that has a few inches of water. Does that really sterilizes? I understand that steam does....but a jar is relatively tall. How will the steam be in contact with the vials? It flows upward...
Or shall I just cover the pot and that way the steam will somehow circulate in the pot?

However you place the vials (in a jar or not) the theory is that eventually everything will come into thermal equilibrium (be at the same temperature). In a pot with a cover on that temperature will be close to 100 °C (a bit lower the higher your altitude and a bit higher for any steam pressure the lid is able to hold. In a pressure cooker you will get higher temperatures depending on what pressure you set it for. That's the advantage of a pressure cooker. Higher temperature means more certain death for bacteria, molds and wild yeasts.

ajdelange said:

However you place the vials (in a jar or not) the theory is that eventually everything will come into thermal equilibrium (be at the same temperature). In a pot with a cover on that temperature will be close to 100 °C (a bit lower the higher your altitude and a bit higher for any steam pressure the lid is able to hold. In a pressure cooker you will get higher temperatures depending on what pressure you set it for. That's the advantage of a pressure cooker. Higher temperature means more certain death for bacteria, molds and wild yeasts.

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I guess I will have to visit the lady next door (who has a pressure cook )

The altitude here is at 660 meters above see level.

Do you think I'd get away using a normal pot with a lid? Or shall I go and get that pressure cook to be on the safe side?

Oh...and thanks a lot for the info. Extremely helpful.

You will definitely be on the safer side with the pressure cooker. While 660 m altitude does not lower the BP much (down to 99.6°C) a pressure cooker set for 1 bar will get you up to 120 °C. That's an appreciable difference. Perhaps she will lend the thing to you for a couple of days. How often can she be using it?

ajdelange said:

You will definitely be on the safer side with the pressure cooker. While 660 m altitude does not lower the BP much (down to 99.6°C) a pressure cooker set for 1 bar will get you up to 120 °C. That's an appreciable difference. Perhaps she will lend the thing to you for a couple of days. How often can she be using it?

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She lives next door...so picking it up and return it wont take more than a minute.
She is also like my sister, family to me. So....I'll just get it from her.

Thanks again for all the information.