I sent the following reply to the "slanting yeast tutorial" posted by Saccharomyces, but it is so far down the thread that I don't think anybody will see it so I'm starting it over. Basically I think I am misinterpreting the part about being careful not to drop in the stir bar, but it seems to imply you don't want it in the second flask at all (for the first flask it says "drop in the stir bar"....)
Anyway, can somebody enlighten me?
Sir, your tutorial on slanting yeast was outstanding. In the past I've made several false starts trying this - but using the vials you recommended and the straight-forward procedure for innoculation brought it all within my grasp. I made some nice slants. Now I am wanting to make a starter from one of them, and I plan to purchase a stir plate, but I am confused by your comment about being careful not to drop in the stir bar, to wit:
"Remove the tape from the vial, make sure the lid is tight, and drop the vial in sanitizer before opening. With the sanitized small funnel, add a bit of wort to the vial. Re-cap, shake, and dump into a sanitized 250mL flask. Repeat to get all the yeasties out. Drop in your stir bar (if it isn't already in the flask), and add the remaining wort to the flask."
[SO FAR, SO GOOD....]
"Cover the flask with sanitized aluminum foil and let it ride on the stir plate for 24-36 hours. When it's ready to step up you will know because the wort will look like chocolate milk rather than wort -- that's healthy yeast cells in there!"
[SO FAR, STILL GOOD...]
"Being careful not to drop in the stir bar, decant your small starter into a 1L or 2L flask depending on batch size and gravity. Add enough fresh wort for the volume of starter required. 24 more hours on the stir plate and it will be ready to pitch, or you can refrigerate/decant after 48 hours if you wish. I pitch the whole thing into the fermenter right off of the plate. Typical lag time is about 2-3 hours!"
My confusion is, why don't you want the stir bar in the second flask? Doesn't the stir plate require the bar in the vessel to work? Or is there a different size stir bar required for the larger vessel?
Please explain.
Thanks!!
Anyway, can somebody enlighten me?
Sir, your tutorial on slanting yeast was outstanding. In the past I've made several false starts trying this - but using the vials you recommended and the straight-forward procedure for innoculation brought it all within my grasp. I made some nice slants. Now I am wanting to make a starter from one of them, and I plan to purchase a stir plate, but I am confused by your comment about being careful not to drop in the stir bar, to wit:
"Remove the tape from the vial, make sure the lid is tight, and drop the vial in sanitizer before opening. With the sanitized small funnel, add a bit of wort to the vial. Re-cap, shake, and dump into a sanitized 250mL flask. Repeat to get all the yeasties out. Drop in your stir bar (if it isn't already in the flask), and add the remaining wort to the flask."
[SO FAR, SO GOOD....]
"Cover the flask with sanitized aluminum foil and let it ride on the stir plate for 24-36 hours. When it's ready to step up you will know because the wort will look like chocolate milk rather than wort -- that's healthy yeast cells in there!"
[SO FAR, STILL GOOD...]
"Being careful not to drop in the stir bar, decant your small starter into a 1L or 2L flask depending on batch size and gravity. Add enough fresh wort for the volume of starter required. 24 more hours on the stir plate and it will be ready to pitch, or you can refrigerate/decant after 48 hours if you wish. I pitch the whole thing into the fermenter right off of the plate. Typical lag time is about 2-3 hours!"
My confusion is, why don't you want the stir bar in the second flask? Doesn't the stir plate require the bar in the vessel to work? Or is there a different size stir bar required for the larger vessel?
Please explain.
Thanks!!
