Yeast slants - Agar too firm?

[aslander]

Let me preface this, by saying I am new to making slants. I picked up all the necessary supplies, and tried it tonight. There were a few issues.

The agar I bought at the asian store was Golden Coins brand, which was a powder that upon further inspection had sugar as the main ingredient.

Because of this, instead of following the normal recipe, I tried to make it more in-line with the recipe instructions. I used a higher ratio of agar than the recipe, in order to make it more firm, as I had read that the PH of the wort can make the agar thin out more than plain water.

Overall, I guess what I am asking is:

1) How firm is too firm, and how do I tell?

2) What impact will the firmness and the sugar content have on the yeast?

 

[tally350z]

I am also somewhat new to making slants, but I am also using the same agar. I have had to increase my ration of agar to water quite a bit. The slants that I made the other day are pretty firm. I don't it matters if they are too firm. I would almost think that it is better they be too firm then too soft. You want the yeast growing on top of the media, rather than grow into it.

What is your ratio?

 

[aslander]

The package says 1 pouch (165g) for 6 cups water. I converted that down to the 400ml water I had heated. Using the same ratio, it would have been:

400ml water
35g dme
47g agar powder

Instead, I wanted to make it thicker because I remember reading that the acidity thins agar somewhat. So I used:

400ml water
35g dme
60g agar powder

I will open and check one tonight to see how firm it is. They do appear to retain the slant, so they aren't runny.

I'm wondering how bad all the extra sugar is for the yeast. I popped some powder in my mouth and it was noticeably sweet.

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