Slanting yeast

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I bought an 8Litre one and wow do we love it. Gets use every week for beautiful stews, soups, etc and I always have it on hand for yeast storage activities. One of the best homeware decisions I have ever made.
 
Money. By the time you step up to pitching amounts you have super fresh liquid yeast for about $3
 
As above cheapest freshest yeast you can get. Can my wort left over from dead space mlt and kettle so the yeast is practically free after inital investment. Another benefit is no more dead yeast due to hot weather.

Clem
 
Folks are heralding Fermcap-S (dimethylpolysiloxane) for reducing the foam on starters and primary fermentation for reducing boilovers in the BK.

Does anyone have experience with reducing boilover in the autoclave by using Fermcap? Also, does it "denature" during autoclave? Would it double-duty once in a starter?
 
From my use of it (just starters) I think it would work in the autoclave, but yes, it appears to denature, even in the normal boil. i know if i add more DME to a starter after it has been boiling even with fermcap, it will boil over if i do not add more fermcap.

Wish i had more exact chemistry answers, but haven't looked anything up, just some observations from my use.

Edit: to clarify, i think it would do it's job in the autoclave, but not *necessarily* double duty in the starter. Would be interested to know, may have to try.
 
if you have a boil over in a autoclave that is a seal issue. Fem cap will denature if you want to use the water for a starter you will need to add it. Though I do not see why you would. Unless your container is to small.
 
i'm assuming he means to pressure cook jars of either wort or a mix of water and DME, so he has ready made sterile wort on hand. Though if that is the case then you don't need to boil it for a starter... so yeah, now i'm not sure the purpose. But canning jars allow hopefully just gas to escape the jars, but if it were to boil over then the wort could escape as well, the seal is not at fault, that is simply how it works, the lids are not supposed to be on so tight that material cannot escape or they will not work. In actually there may not be a boil over problem because the whole system is pressurized, but i have not pressuredcooked wort to know.
 
From what i can find it looks like the fermcap/PDMS stays more or less at the interface of the wort/air, and is generally left behind when transferring the wort, due to sticking to surfaces or particles in the trub left behind. it may be when adding more dme to the mix the fermcap adheres to the dme particles and that disrupts its anti-foaming quailities. This may or may not be temporary if the particles of dme/pdms settle out or if they bind permanently and thus stop the anti-foam action.

So, there should not be any actual "denaturing" or chemical breakdown at the temperatures used for brewing, and if the wort is autoclaved and boiled in the same container without any transfers it may continue to work, or it may have had time to bind with other compounds in the beer and be useless.
 
If Sacc is still lurking this thread (or anyone else has tried it)...

Did you ever get around to culturing any Bug Blends? Agar/Dextrose media either by slants, or separating the strains on plates? If so, how did you make starters?
 
Just did this for the first time last week. Did 5 vials of WLP090 off a new vial used for a brew this past weekend. Nice growth on the slants. They are now sealed and in the frig for the next brew day.

Thanks, great guide. The only thing I did different was to make my yeast started and put the vial aside After I had it on the plate then I did my slanting. Also there was carbon build up on the paper clip from the candle. Does this matter? Probably would not happen if I used an alcohol lamp. Any thoughts?

Joe

Joe
 
Carbon film is fine cause it is sterile. And remember basically everything is made out of carbon
 
if you do not have beakers to secure the vials in the pressure cooker , is there an alternative? Maybe wrap them together a lot of thick tin foil?
 
Any glass container would work (pint glass...), you could also make a "beaker" out of foil, w/e to keep them standing.
 
all good ideas, thanks fellas. I guess I was a little cautious of using a pint glass or smaller drinking glass because of the temperature.
 
Can I get by with a 6 quart pressure cooker? I got it for free and would rather not pay 30$ for a new one.
Also do you need to have a pressure gauge?
 
I get by with a 4 qt low pressure cooker that only gets up to 4 or 5 psi. Since I can't get to 15 psi I use a technique called tyndallization...I do 3, 20 minute boils, 24 hours in between each boil.
 
When using Dehydrated Agar Powder, is there an exact Agar: DME:Water ratio? I have read several different ratios.
 
When using Dehydrated Agar Powder, is there an exact Agar: DME:Water ratio? I have read several different ratios.

You'll probably have to try a few times before you get a consistency that will be successful for you. I've settled in on 3%. Any less, and I rip of the surface. Any harder, I seem to not get any growth.
 
Well my Cynmar order is looking to be about $75, did I forget anything? I already have a 1L Flask:


11527910 CLEAR GLASS VIALS w/AUTOCLAVABLE CAP, 24ml 12/PK X2 US$17.00

11520035 5 PIECE BEAKER SET, BOROSILICATE GLASS, 50ml-1000ml-PKG 035 US$18.50

15025994 PLASTIC TEST TUBE RACK, WHITE, HOLDS 24 - 25mmTUBES US$4.25

11533371 PYREX RIBBED FUNNEL, SHORT STEM, 65mm##CL US$7.30

CIM89101 DEHYDRATED AGAR POWDER, 4 oz US$18.00

13225101 NICHROME INOCULATING LOOP, 25 GAUGE WIRE, 8" TOT LENGTH
US$1.50

12030895 GLASS ALCOHOL LAMP w/CAP, 4oz, US$3.75
 
Looks like you have it Brewski. You might want to grab a 2L flask for stepping up starters.....1L isn't going to cut it for most gravities.

Jason
 
+1 to Jason. edit: (regarding 2L flask in addition for starter sizes)

Also, I bought two of the plastic racks. That way I can leave one in the fridge with my current vials in it, and the other is available for putting in the pressure cooker / storing empties in a safe way in between samples, etc.
 
ZBrewski said:
Well my Cynmar order is looking to be about $75, did I forget anything? I already have a 1L Flask:


11527910 CLEAR GLASS VIALS w/AUTOCLAVABLE CAP, 24ml 12/PK X2 US$17.00

11520035 5 PIECE BEAKER SET, BOROSILICATE GLASS, 50ml-1000ml-PKG 035 US$18.50

15025994 PLASTIC TEST TUBE RACK, WHITE, HOLDS 24 - 25mmTUBES US$4.25

11533371 PYREX RIBBED FUNNEL, SHORT STEM, 65mm##CL US$7.30

CIM89101 DEHYDRATED AGAR POWDER, 4 oz US$18.00

13225101 NICHROME INOCULATING LOOP, 25 GAUGE WIRE, 8" TOT LENGTH
US$1.50

12030895 GLASS ALCOHOL LAMP w/CAP, 4oz, US$3.75

I'd add some petri dishes, for plates.

Edited to add: I also wanted some small Erlenmeyers. You can put 100ml in a 1L, but the stirbar seems to work better for me if the flask is 25%-75% full.
 
If Sacc is still lurking this thread (or anyone else has tried it)...

Did you ever get around to culturing any Bug Blends? Agar/Dextrose media either by slants, or separating the strains on plates? If so, how did you make starters?

When I remember to lurk. These days I'm usually just hanging out in the chat room on IRC. :)

So far I have only slanted brett. It slants just like saccharomyces yeast, it just looks quite a bit different -- the colonies grow up with funny looking fractal shapes that are very neat looking.
 
When I remember to lurk. These days I'm usually just hanging out in the chat room on IRC. :)

So far I have only slanted brett. It slants just like saccharomyces yeast, it just looks quite a bit different -- the colonies grow up with funny looking fractal shapes that are very neat looking.

So I traded a HBT'er for White's Yeast book and read most of it this holiday. They suggest swiping the top of your slants for yeast and punching down into the media for bacterial strains with your loop or paper clip or whatever.

I would highly suggest that book too it describes the process of plating and selecting appropriate healthy colonies for propagation which can be very useful, in good detail too.
 
Just wanted to say thanks Sacc for the great info just got my slants done can't wait to try my hand at this just waiting on my loop.


yeastbank_001.JPG
 
Nice ! That's looks like you'll have plenty of nice first-generation yeast this year ...I got the exact same rack from cynmar

I still need to get the canner (got a computer for christmas instead of a canner )
 
I get shredded husks in a moderate amount with my floating plate style model. That said, I do let the lhbs grind the 1lb increment grains (i do some self roasting frequently) and add rice hulls if it seems necessary. I've honestly only had issues with tannins with multi temp mashes with over 3hrs mash time. Also to be up front, I don't brew to compete but rather to taste.
 
Pardon if I missed it - been reading 32 plus pages. The original guide shows 2.5 grams of Agar (or half a bar). What is the agar agar recipe for powdered Agar Agar (one packet of gelatin is 0.25oz - which equates to roughly 7 grams). 2.5 grams seems light.?.?.?
 
I used the strands at first til they got wet. When I went to get more they only had the powder (white phone). @2.5g it makes a really near rock solid product so I dropped it down to 2.1 (i want to say someone was using 1.8 actually but not sure what type) and had no issues. I think others here have used the powder without that problem so I would try the base recipe first. If it's too solid then go with the lesser. Either way, a little goes a long way.
 
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