Yes.
Those pics are awesome. I'm finding that a microscope is a very important part of my brewery, not just another toy to play with.
I'm brewing a big Stout on Saturday and made a starter for it this past Tuesday. Looking for 765 Billion cells so I put 3 vials (WLP001) in a 4L starter. It was finished this morning so I did a cell count. Only 394 Billion cells! My microscope has officially saved it's first beer. I can easily supplement with some dry yeast now to get the correct pitching rate. Before the microscope, the only tool available to me was Jamil's calculator which it seems doesn't by itself insure the correct cell count.
dstar26t said:Vials dated 7/11/12 and kept cold at homebrew shop. I drove the vials home from the homebrew shop in a cooler with ice. Let them warm to room temp before pitching. 3810 grams water and 381 grams DME on stir plate for 36 hours at 66ºF. Treated the water with K2S2O5 at the recommended rate (.44g/20gal) and used the recommended amount of Wyeast Yeast Nutrient (2.2g/5gal).
I'm at a loss as to why they didn't multiply more, glad I checked though!
I have some Alkaline Methylene Violet
Did you get that from White labs or did you buy the powder and make it yourself?
Have you guys counted cells right out of the pack? I'm gonna look at that tonight. I put a drop on the scope last night and it needs a LOT of dilution... didn't have time to play then, but tonight I will.
That's an interesting point and something I've thought about. It gets added to the water before it's boiled for 15 minutes and cooled. I wonder if it may have an effect on the yeast? Ever since I had what I thought was a chlorine/chloramine related flavor in a batch a couple years ago, I treat all water with K2S2O5.dstar, can I ask why you treated the starter water with potassium metabisulfite? I know that will neutralize chlorine and thus polyphenols in the finished product but I never use it on my starters because it's such a small amount and I'm fermenting warm and producing all kinds of off-flavors with the starter that I really don't care about one more. Wouldn't the kmeta inhibit yeast growth or did you wait a certain amount of time for it to neutralize before you pitched?
That's an interesting point and something I've thought about. It gets added to the water before it's boiled for 15 minutes and cooled. I wonder if it may have an effect on the yeast? Ever since I had what I thought was a chlorine/chloramine related flavor in a batch a couple years ago, I treat all water with K2S2O5.
Oh boy, more geeky stuff to buy for brewing...something to look forward to for next brew season!
Do you have time to decant your starter and repitch into wort without the K2S2O5? Interested in hearing if you get the growth you're expecting.
Cell counts.
Very cool PP, but don't be offended, I never will feel the need for one.
Can someone give me a short rundown on the cost and type of equipment I would need to get into this? I have a very old scope that I haven't touched since HS, but I doubt it would work for this. I know my local college sells used lab equipment a few times a year.
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