Yeast vials

Yeast vials....should I be keeping these things or just chucking them.... My inner pack-rat wants to keep 'em cause they are so neat.....What can I use them for, if anything....?

The White Labs Customer Club!

If you get into yeast harvesting, those vials come in quite handy.

if they are white lab vials

you can save em up to turn in for brew stuff look at white labs website

if you save up 5000 of em the owner of white labs will come to your house with a brand new all grain setup and brew a batch with you

and you get to keep the AG setup

winzerz said:

if they are white lab vials

you can save em up to turn in for brew stuff look at white labs website

if you save up 5000 of em the owner of white labs will come to your house with a brand new all grain setup and brew a batch with you

and you get to keep the AG setup

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lol who has a plastic fabricating company where we can build vial!?

Quick question for Fly... Do you actually reuse those vials for slants? Are they able to be autoclaved? I have a few laying around waiting for something, but never thought of using them for slants. Been washing yeast for a while and I would like to take it to the next level using slants and petri dished. The inner scientist coming out in me!

After I wash my yeast I refill at least 5 vials...and toss out even more every batch.

I did 8 vials of 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen yeast last night.

I currently have 70 (yes, that's SEVEN-ZERO) vials of yeast in my fridge...so, yes, you can reuse them...

Peel the labels off for sending back to White Labs...they don't want the vials back and will accept only the labels...saves on postage too...:rockin:

Soak the vials in water and the paper will scrape right off using only your finger. Once dried the glue will be VERY sticky. You can get this off using GOOP and an old sock.

I wash them in soapy water afterwards to get rid of the GOOP solvent.

I sanitize them in StarSan and refill using a sanitized funnel.

I also took a 2X4 and measured (I forget the measurement) 2 rows all the way down and 28 lines across. Then I took a 1 1/4 in (I think) blade bit and used a drill press to keep the holes straight. I had to use a round sand paper bit to enlarge the hole slightly while making it smooth. The vials fit nicely.

Here's an (old) pic of the 2X4 with some yeast in it...it's full and I have another container with many more vials on a shelf.

That is beautiful... How long are you able to keep those vials for? You talking about a 3-6 month timeframe max? Funny thing is we're trying to keep our own banks so we don't have to buy new yeast, but then where would we get the bottles from?

flyangler18 said:

The White Labs Customer Club!

If you get into yeast harvesting, those vials come in quite handy.

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I think for 5000 vials, Chris White should pay for the batch too.

Edcculus said:

I think for 5000 vials, Chris White should pay for the batch too.

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OK, my local HBS charges 7.95 for 1 vial...round up to $8.

8 X 5000 = $40,000, right?

I would think we could get him to show up for $5000 if we paid him cash...

I wonder if any one has ever collected

rsmith179 said:

That is beautiful... How long are you able to keep those vials for? You talking about a 3-6 month timeframe max? Funny thing is we're trying to keep our own banks so we don't have to buy new yeast, but then where would we get the bottles from?

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I keep mine over 1 year sometimes. Really depends on the style. Sometimes I'll use 2 vials for a starter.

I've used "new" yeast that was over 2 years expired without any problems. Just make a good starter.

There was an article I read about buying yeast only once a year...this is one way to do it.

winzerz said:

if they are white lab vials

you can save em up to turn in for brew stuff look at white labs website

if you save up 5000 of em the owner of white labs will come to your house with a brand new all grain setup and brew a batch with you

and you get to keep the AG setup

Click to expand...

he brings the yeast - where do you see that he brings an AG setup?

flyangler18 said:

The White Labs Customer Club!

If you get into yeast harvesting, those vials come in quite handy.

Click to expand...

Holy cow....I didn't even know this..... I guess I'll have to start saving the labels like homebrewer_99....and maybe start washing my yeast.... Thanks for the ideas!

hayabusa said:

he brings the yeast - where do you see that he brings an AG setup?

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I didn't see anything about him bringing the equipment and you keeping it.

It just says he'll brew with you...

rsmith179 said:

Do you actually reuse those vials for slants? Are they able to be autoclaved? I have a few laying around waiting for something, but never thought of using them for slants.

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I have tested the theory by pressure canning one of the vials. Didn't melt, and the lid still screwed on the same and sealed. The flange below the lid got a bit wavy but this did not affect function.

I have not used them for slants because it would require an inordinately large volume of media. I use small culture tubes.

Fratermus... you said that you have pressure canned on of your vials. Could you possibly explain that a little more in detail? I know how canning works, but when working with vials I've heard that you don't screw the cap on all the way. When do you actually get around to screwing the cap all the way on. Basically, I'd like to get some 5ml vials and put small amounts of wort in them for building up from dishes or slants. I'm just curious how you know if the sterilization was successful. With jars, you can tell by the popped top, but how do you tell with vials?

flyangler18 said:

If you get into yeast harvesting, those vials come in quite handy.

Click to expand...

I'm using lab vials since they can be sterilized. I'm not sure autoclaving the WL vials is a good idea. A whole box of glass vials is cheaper than one ruined batch.

I use one under a bucket to tilt a fermenter when I'm racking or bottling.

rsmith179 said:

Fratermus... you said that you have pressure canned on of your vials. Could you possibly explain that a little more in detail? I know how canning works, but when working with vials I've heard that you don't screw the cap on all the way. When do you actually get around to screwing the cap all the way on.

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I canned the White yeast vial to see if it would take the temperature without failure, and it held up. I wasn't actually intending to use it for yeast culturing.

When sterilizing lab glassware (like culture tubes or test tubes) in the canner I have the caps threaded on but not tightened. After the canner cools, usually overnight, I open the canner and screw down the caps.

rsmith179 said:

Basically, I'd like to get some 5ml vials and put small amounts of wort in them for building up from dishes or slants. I'm just curious how you know if the sterilization was successful. With jars, you can tell by the popped top, but how do you tell with vials?

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The popped-down top on a canning jar does not indicate sterilization was successful; it indicates there is a vacuum seal. The sterilization would (or should) have happened earlier in the game during the heating phase.* The time and pressure required for sterilization varies by the stuff being sterilized and the volume/shape of the container, but for wort in small containers 15#/15mins seems to come up frequently in the literature.

I have not had any sterilzed wort in canning jars or vials ever get contaminated AFAIK. Brilliantly clear with no off smells.

You can easily see contamination on solid media (plates/slants/stabs). I usually make a stack of plates or slants at the same time. I've never had a contamination of a slant but plates have massive surface area and do not seal perfectly so I get a mold or bacteria colony on one of those every once in a while. . Just toss it (metaphorically speaking) and use a good one.



*yes, the USDA uses the cooldown time when calculating recommended times/temps, but I didn't want to muddy the waters.

I believe the vials are nothing but 2-liter bottle blanks (right before they heat them and blow them up inside a mold). Surprised they stand up to autoclaving.

I give mine to my friends for storage of 'tobacco'

B

Silly FYI but did you know what these vials are actually intended for?
They're 2 liter soda bottles! Since large 2L bottles would be difficult to ship, they are made like that and each bottling plant has a machine that blows them up. Pretty cool! I learned this from someone I met that worked for Coke!

fratermus said:

The time and pressure required for sterilization varies by the stuff being sterilized and the volume/shape of the container, but for wort in small containers 15#/15mins seems to come up frequently in the literature.

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Sorry for the self-quote, but I was listening to JZ's yeast reuse show last night as I was falling asleep and I think he mentioned he runs his canner at 250F (ie, 15#) for ~22mins.

Bopper359 said:

Silly FYI but did you know what these vials are actually intended for?
They're 2 liter soda bottles! Since large 2L bottles would be difficult to ship, they are made like that and each bottling plant has a machine that blows them up. Pretty cool! I learned this from someone I met that worked for Coke!

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I had been in one of those factories before, and always wondered were these the same little "slugs" (I think that's what they call them) that I saw! I think modern marvels did a show on them too. I'm glad that someone else had heard of this.

Bopper359 said:

Silly FYI but did you know what these vials are actually intended for?
They're 2 liter soda bottles! Since large 2L bottles would be difficult to ship, they are made like that and each bottling plant has a machine that blows them up. Pretty cool! I learned this from someone I met that worked for Coke!

Click to expand...

Or exactly what I said two posts earlier.

Edit: I actually learned this from my 5 year old's "chemistry" set where they describe where the tubes come from.

Phideaoux44 said:

I had been in one of those factories before, and always wondered were these the same little "slugs" (I think that's what they call them) that I saw!

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They are called 'preforms' in the industry and they are VERY cheap if you don't buy them from someone who has re-labeled them for some niche use (like yeast culturing). I bought a case of 100 for under $20 with the intention of using them for geocaching and some chemistry fun, but now I'm envisioning a huge yeast farm.

cataclysmcow said:

They are called 'preforms' in the industry and they are VERY cheap if you don't buy them from someone who has re-labeled them for some niche use (like yeast culturing). I bought a case of 100 for under $20 with the intention of using them for geocaching and some chemistry fun, but now I'm envisioning a huge yeast farm.

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I am very interested where you picked up these 'preforms'

Basically, I am looking for vials equal to the White Lab vials. I use 8oz ball jars for yeast, but I think the vials would be easier

kappclark said:

I am very interested where you picked up these 'preforms'

Basically, I am looking for vials equal to the White Lab vials. I use 8oz ball jars for yeast, but I think the vials would be easier

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Wow. Necropost.

But here you go.

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/test-tubes

Thanks!

It's aliiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvveeeeeeee.


The owner of my LHBS gave me a great idea, smuggle booze into sporting events, like hockey games. They hold a couple of ounces of your favorite spirit and won't show up on metal detectors. Just slip a few into the breast pocket of your jacket, buy an overpiced coke at the concession stand and bob's your uncle. So you pay 4 bucks for a coke, as opposed to 8 for a bud or 12 for a mixed drink.