Wyrmwood
Well-Known Member
How would I estimate how many yeast cells are in X cubic inches of settled yeast (like from yeast washing)? I know how to determine the volume, (pi * r ^2 * H) just not sure what to do from there.
Get a microscope, a hemocytometer, and a graduated cylinder and dilute the yeast and count the cells. You don't need a particularly strong microscope, you can probably pick up one used online.
That seems very cool Is there no "average" you could use for a rough guesstimate?
Care to give it a wag?I respect the quest for knowledge, but I am glad that I do not take yeast counting so seriously.
Think ancient germans had a hemocytometer? Me either.
Methinks my best guess will be as accurate as your extrapolated hemocytometer findings, and will take 1/100000000 of the time and effort.
To each their own though.
So, for each cubic inch, that's about 16ml and in my pint jars, about 8 cubic inches per inch of sediment. Most of mine are 1/8 to 1/4 inch, so between 1 and 2 cubic inches or between 16 and 32ml, or around 60 billion cells on average in a jar, say 50 to account for the slightly rounded end. So, for my next high gravity beer, brewtarget tells me I need 325 billion cells for 5 gallons at 1.096, or about 6 jars? Or should I just use a three or four jars and make a starter? (I have 8 jars.) I guess I should do the starter in any case, to ensure viability, but then how much do I need (or wait/keep adding until I have 300 billion in the starter?)
I respect the quest for knowledge, but I am glad that I do not take yeast counting so seriously.
Think ancient germans had a hemocytometer? Me either.
Methinks my best guess will be as accurate as your extrapolated hemocytometer findings, and will take 1/100000000 of the time and effort.
To each their own though.
cheezydemon3 said:cheezydemonmalfet
I do look at the density of the cake and take that into account, but I am probably more akin to your friend, interested in making good beer, not necessarilly reproducing it exactly again and again.
I have read that "Brewers generally took some sediment from the previous fermentation and added it to the next, the sediment generally containing the necessary organisms to perform fermentation. If none were available, they would set up a number of vats, relying on natural yeast to inoculate the brew." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot) Interesting that they while they did not "know" of yeast until Pasteur, they certainly understood it's usage and necessity.The old European brewers didn't even know about the existence of yeast; they only reason the were able to successfully brew was that their sanitation was also so bad that yeast propagated from one batch to the next.
Wyrmwood said:I have read that "Brewers generally took some sediment from the previous fermentation and added it to the next, the sediment generally containing the necessary organisms to perform fermentation. If none were available, they would set up a number of vats, relying on natural yeast to inoculate the brew." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot) Interesting that they while they did not "know" of yeast until Pasteur, they certainly understood it's usage and necessity.
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