# First Attempt At Yeast Farming...



## James Squire (26/4/06)

Hello brewers,

Just after a bit of feedback on the method I recently used to farm some yeast. I have never attempted this before and want to know if im on the right track.

After racking a brew into secondary last week I thought I might try to revive some of the yeasties out of the trub that remained. I drained off all the liquid possible and was left with only the solid trub. I then added around 500ml of filtered water and stirred this into the trub.

Using a sanitised glass I scooped out two glasses full and tipped into a sanitised jar. I placed a lid on the jar, shook, and then fridged it.

After fifteen minutes or so I removed from fridge to find the solids sitting on the bottom and lots of murky liquid sitting above. I tipped off most of the murky liquid and replaced it with clean filtered water, then shook and put back into the refridgerator.

After fifteen minutes I removed again and repeated the process of tipping the murky water and replacing with the clean. I repeated this process around five times total then left for 24 hrs in the fridge.

After 24 hrs, I replaced the water one more time then 24 hrs later split into several smaller (50ml) tubes. Tubes are now sitting in the fridge and looking just like newly bought liquid yeast vials.

Is this an ok process to use???

JS


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## hockadays (26/4/06)

sounds good to me.
You could check it against the thread on yeast farming.

Matt


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## Stuster (26/4/06)

There are a few problems with this process. Firstly, you need to use pre-boiled water. Filtering water does not sanitize it. The solids are not really what you want. Unfortunately, you really want the murky water that you threw out. :blink: You may still have enough yeast there so don't despair.

Have a read of Chiller's post. It is airlocked at the top of the Common Ground forum, or walk this way.


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## James Squire (26/4/06)

Oh spewin! 

I was under the impression it was the solids that I was after! Bugger! 

I'll see how one of these vials go, otherwise might have to put it down to experience and try to reculture off my next liquid yeast and actually keep the murky stuff next time.

What are my chances of having active yeast remaining seeing as I was pretty thorough in chucking the murky stuff and replacing until I had clear liquid left?


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## MVZOOM (26/4/06)

James, 

Why don't you take all of the vials that you have and start them off in one larger vessel - ie.. take 1l of boiled water, dissolve 100g of malt into it. Wait till room temp, pitch each of the vials in and shake to buggary.

Then farm the yeast from there - or pitch into a new brew (you have a fermentor free!) and start again?


Cheers - Mike


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## Steve (26/4/06)

JS - dont sweat! After your secondarys done and you've racked it to bulk prime or bottle just pour some water into secondary and draw off a cups worth through the tap from secondary. Theres still plenty of yeast at the bottom of secondary. Put the cups worth of yeast in a clean plastic bottle and put in the fridge, LEAVE ALONE, make a starter up from that for your next brew. Easy
Cheers
Steve


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## sintax69 (27/4/06)

http://www.schwedhelm.net/brew/yeast_harv_freeze.html

Try this site just stop at the point where he adds the glycerin unless you want to try freezing some as well .The site has some nice photos that show the color of the slurry etc 

Cheers


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## Hoops (27/4/06)

Yeah sorry JS but you did the exact opposit to what you needed - you kept the crap and threw out the good yeast.
Have a thorough read of Chillers thread as posted above as this describes the whole thing in detail.
Remeber to make sure everything is STERILE not just clean.

Hoops


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## Ross (27/4/06)

JS,

I used to split/wash yeast trub, but found it a lot of work with mixed results.
i now just divide the smackpak (before it's smacked) into 10 vials & share half with a mate. It's so quick & easy, I would never go back to trub cleaning.

cheers Ross


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## James Squire (27/4/06)

Hey Guys,

Just an update... it appears that I've been lucky this time. Last night I made up 1L of wort and threw in all the vials to see if I could get it kicking (as per Mike's suggestion, cheers). This morning after 12 hrs things are starting to happen. It would seem that I didn't quite manage to chuck out all of the good yeast! Thank god! At least I now understand the process for next time! Thanks all!

JS


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## jagerbrau (27/4/06)

Ross i take it then you step it up with starters, to get back up to a viable pitching rates.
cheers David


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## MHD (27/4/06)

Ross said:


> JS,
> 
> I used to split/wash yeast trub, but found it a lot of work with mixed results.
> i now just divide the smackpak (before it's smacked) into 10 vials & share half with a mate. It's so quick & easy, I would never go back to trub cleaning.
> ...



Why before smacking? why not let them multiply on the wort in the pack and then separate that?


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## sintax69 (28/4/06)

Ross 

Please explain!!!

what do you store it in / do you store it under sterile water
how do you split it syringe or just pour it out 
where is the yeast in them in the bag you pop or is it in the outer bag

cheers


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## lucas (28/4/06)

+1 member waiting to hear ross' method


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## NRB (28/4/06)

sintax69 said:


> where is the yeast in them in the bag you pop or is it in the outer bag



Outer bag.


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## James Squire (28/4/06)

Well folks,

The starter made with the vials of incorrectly washed trub is now pitched into a brew and is firing away nicely. Airlock bubbling beautifully. I was lucky this time and thanks to everyone's help here I'll do things properly next time. 

Just for interests sake, is there many of you out there that use the trub washing yeast farming method? I see Ross farms using a different method, are there other methods people are using?

For those of you who do use the trub washing method, how many generations would you continue to use the yeast for? I guess any more than two is a fair risk huh...

JS


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## razz (28/4/06)

G'day JS. I've just been washing some Irish ale yeast with cooled boiled water and storing it in some small plastic vials I got off one of the guys on here. (thanks again Doglet) I split each final wash into 5 vials. The good thing about Ross's method is the samples he is storing are pure with no fermented beer on them, so there is no chance of autolysis. With washing my yeast from secondary fermentation I have to keep washing out the beer to prevent eventual autolysis. As far as how many times do I keep using them, the current batch (irish) was taken from the fermenter after 3 brews. It's trial and error for me at this stage but as long as they look and smell okay then that will be my guide. I'm just building a kolsch starter (1st gen) on the stir plate and I will store some yeast from it using the wash method. This will give me a 2nd gen yeast rather than 4th or 5th.


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## Ross (28/4/06)

jagerbrau said:


> Ross i take it then you step it up with starters, to get back up to a viable pitching rates.
> cheers David
> [post="122851"][/post]​



Yes, sure do...


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## Stuster (28/4/06)

Have a look at posts 12 and 14 on this thread. I believe Ross splits the pack before smacking it using a syringe. I think he may be right to split before smacking. The yeast are ready to go, with the right cell resources to grow provided by the culturing done by wyeast. It seems better to keep them asleep rather than waking them up with the nutrients and then putting them back to sleep again. Anything to add, TL?

JS, as far as I know, the most common advice is that up to six generations should be ok, assuming good sanitation techniques.


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## Ross (28/4/06)

sintax69 said:


> Ross
> 
> Please explain!!!
> 
> ...



I don't smack it first, because I don't want my vials containing yeast that's still multiplying, I prefer to store the dormant virgin yeast as supplied by the manufacturer.
The yeast is in the main pack - the bubble is the nutrient.
I simply sterilise my vials & add a small quantity of sterile water to each. I then sterilse the wyeast packet snip the corner & fill each tube, cap & store in fridge. Done in a few minutes. Some guys use a syringe to draw the yeast from the packet & then insert it into the vials under the water - this lowers risk of contamination further, but I think it's unecessary over kill. When you do the trub wash method your yeast is getting far more contact with the air than when you simply pour straight from the smackpak into the vials.
Then it's just a case of stepping up your starter in the usual manner.

cheers Ross


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## Steve (28/4/06)

How many vials per wyeast do you get Ross?


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## Ross (28/4/06)

Steve said:


> How many vials per wyeast do you get Ross?
> [post="123097"][/post]​



I split into 10 & share 50/50 with a mate. If you don't want to worry with a sterile water top up, a smackpak will fill 6 vials.
I then only ever reuse the fresh yeast cake once - 10 batches from half a smackpak is more than enough for me.

Everyone to their own - But I'd never go back to washing/storing yeast trub, as it takes much longer & in my case gave very mixed results. I've never had a bad starter since using the split pak method.


Cheers Ross


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## Steve (28/4/06)

Cheers Ross - sounds like a good idea to me. When you say sterile water, do you mean cooled boiled water? Do you use the nutrient pack in the Wyeast pack for anything? Chuck it into the starter?
Steve


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## Ross (28/4/06)

Steve said:


> Cheers Ross - sounds like a good idea to me. When you say sterile water, do you mean cooled boiled water? Do you use the nutrient pack in the Wyeast pack for anything? Chuck it into the starter?
> Steve
> [post="123106"][/post]​



Yep, cooled boiled water - I use the nutrient pack straight away in the first starter, as I only split the pack when I'm ready to make one. I bought some wyeast nutrient for adding to future starters, but it's not necessary.

cheers Ross.


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## Steve (28/4/06)

Thanks for that Ross.
Steve


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## jagerbrau (28/4/06)

Ross thanks for the info, great way of doing it that i had toyed with but now will try.

David


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## Steve (28/4/06)

...just out of interest Ross, when labelling your vials do you put both the date that is on the wyeast packet as well as the date you split it?
Cheers
Steve


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## Ross (28/4/06)

Steve said:


> ...just out of interest Ross, when labelling your vials do you put both the date that is on the wyeast packet as well as the date you split it?
> Cheers
> Steve
> [post="123118"][/post]​



I haven't, but it would certainly make sense.

cheers Ross


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## chug!chug! (28/4/06)

Could I use this method with whitelabs yeast?

The container is 35mls.

Is this amount similar to wyeast smackpack?

What size vials?

Cheers :chug: :chug:


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## Ross (28/4/06)

chug!chug! said:


> Could I use this method with whitelabs yeast?
> 
> The container is 35mls.
> 
> ...



Yes, or you could just draw off a little of your whitelabs vial each time & leave the rest. You need very little yeast to make a starter with, as yeast platers will verify.

cheers Ross


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## pint of lager (28/4/06)

I am a plater, and Ross is right, it doesn't take much yeast. Yeast off a plate is very fresh and a matchhead or so would be much fresher and more active than a sample stored in a vial from a smakpak in the fridge.

Also when making up starters, the initial step is very small and done as aseptically as possible, including pressure cooking wort and tubes to minimize infections.

The smaller the quantity of yeast you are handling, the more care and attention you must pay to techniques and cleanliness.

The best way to get a handle on yeast work is to start out making starters from Coopers dregs, then slowly build up your skills. Sosman's brewiki page has an excellent collection of yeast links. Also, the airlocked yeast links have plenty of info in them.


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## NRB (28/4/06)

razz said:


> The good thing about Ross's method is the samples he is storing are pure with no fermented beer on them, so there is no chance of autolysis.



Do you know of any evidence to back this up? I'm intrigued by that statement.


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## AndrewQLD (28/4/06)

I just wish I had started my yeast farm when the whitelabes Australian Ale was still available.
Keeping and propagating yeast from a bank is a good way to keep commercial yeasts active after they become unobtainable. I love my yeast farm, and it is one more brewing thing to play with when I am not brewing  I like to look in my frideg and see 10 varieties of yeast to choose from.

Cheers
Andrew


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## razz (28/4/06)

NRB said:


> razz said:
> 
> 
> > The good thing about Ross's method is the samples he is storing are pure with no fermented beer on them, so there is no chance of autolysis.
> ...


Dude, you got me there. Just an educated guess


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## doglet (28/4/06)

I've just divided 6 Wyeast packets up tonight (5 Activator and 1 normal) and ended up with 34 vials of yeast. Have a look at my photos. I used the method described by Ross as I first used it a few months ago and think it's a great way to make my dollar go a bit further. I used a syringe to draw the liquid up and used boiled demineralised water to top the vials up.






I keep the wort packages and use them up in the first mini starter in a 250ml flask.



Steve said:


> ...just out of interest Ross, when labelling your vials do you put both the date that is on the wyeast packet as well as the date you split it?
> Cheers
> Steve
> [post="123118"][/post]​


Yep I do - Check out the photos...


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## NRB (28/4/06)

doglet said:


> boiled demineralised water to top the vials up.



From my research, sterile tap water is better as the yeast need trace minerals for ongoing metabolism.


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## Steve (2/5/06)

OK - im going to be giving this splitting wyeasts into vials a go this weekend.

I have:
1 Blue 125ml Activator Pack (Kolsch)
1 Gold standard wyeast pack (1187).

If I wasnt going to top up with sterile water once splitting how many vials do you think I need to buy for each of the two different packs? Im presuming I will get double the amount from the Blue 125ml Pack? Thoughts much appreciated.
Cheers
Steve

P.S. Sorry to James Squire for hijacking your thread....but its very interesting.


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## MHD (2/5/06)

Hey Steve, 
Where do you get your vials?

I'm keen to start doing the same thing...


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## Steve (2/5/06)

I noticed Col at BYOAH has some last saturday when I was in. They were glass test tubes with a lid which I presume would be fine. Ideally I would like some like doglet has in his pics a few posts up. Maybe a chemist would sell them or some kitchenware place that sells tupperware? I dunno.
Cheers
Steve


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## MHD (2/5/06)

Yeah, they look ideal... And would take up very little space in the fridge which would keep SWMBO on side!


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## doglet (2/5/06)

Steve said:


> 1. If I wasnt going to top up with sterile water once splitting how many vials do you think I need to buy for each of the two different packs?
> 
> 2. Im presuming I will get double the amount from the Blue 125ml Pack?
> [post="123857"][/post]​



1. Depends on the size of your vials. I only topped up with water to reduce the head space. My vials are I think 30mL.

When the yeast settled down I got about 1cm of yeast at the bottom of the vial for most of my yeast although the Belgian Ale is about 3cm (?). I'll post more pics tonight to show the difference in colour and typical amounts in each vial.

2. Activator Pack - about 95mL yeast, Large gold foil - about 40ml-ish


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## Steve (2/5/06)

Cheers Doglet. Where did you get your vials?
Steve


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## Airgead (2/5/06)

AndrewQLD said:


> I just wish I had started my yeast farm when the whitelabes Australian Ale was still available.[post="123186"][/post]​



Andrew

I was under the impression that the white labs Australian ale was the coopers strain. Last tiem I checked Brewsters Yeast had an Australian ale available on slants.

Edit : I just checked again and they have at least 2 Australian pale ale strains plus one they specificaly label as coopers. One of their Australian strains is numbered WL9 which means it is a copy of WLP009 - white labs Australian Ale.

Cheers
Dave


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## doglet (2/5/06)

Steve, I was selling some test tubes in late Feb in this thread. I can also set up another bulk purchase if others are interested.

The details about where I got mine from and cost are:

Southern Cross Science Pty Ltd in Adelaide.

Ph: 8277 1541
email: [email protected]

Part No. TPP8027-UU (30ml container u/label nat cap)

Cost was $75.41 inc GST for 500.


I consider these to be a 1 use item for yeast as they are boiled and I can't guarantee their long term 'robustness'. At 15 cents each you are still saving heaps from splitting your yeast.


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## doglet (2/5/06)

Here is a photo of the 6 yeasts I split up after being in the fridge for 4 days.




The 5 from the left were all Activator packs and made up 6 vials. The 1 on the right (1318) was a large gold foil pack and was split into 4 vials.

Each pack was split as evenly as I could using a 10mL syringe. Each variety batch was then topped up with cooled boiled water to the same height. Looking at my photo I can see my standard height between each variety batch varies.  

As you can see the Belgian Abbey 1214 has lots of bedded down yeast. Maybe an indication of the work this yeast needs to do to get through a high gravity wort. I will make sure my starters for them are big and active.

The resulting colours of the yeast and liquid is also interesting and something I can't really explain.

PS - Sorry for the thread hijacks. A mod can separate the yeast washing from the yeast dividing if they want.


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## Duff (2/5/06)

AndrewQLD said:


> I just wish I had started my yeast farm when the whitelabes Australian Ale was still available.
> [post="123186"][/post]​



G'day Andrew,

I have some in my stock, if you are in Sydney at some point or can work out a way to get some to you I will.

One of my favourites :chug: 

Cheers.


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## James Squire (3/5/06)

Steve and Doglet,

Dont be concerned about the 'hijack' as I dont consider it to be that. I started this thread with the hopes that I could get some interesting conversations going in regards to "who does what and how?" when it comes to farming yeast. 

Keep on keepin' on guys, im hungry to learn all i can about such an interesting topic!

Cheers

JS


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## Steve (3/5/06)

Cheers for the Info and Pics Doglet. I think I'll just go and buy 12 glass vials and split the two packs into them. They are tall (about 150mm) and I think 50 cents each. I'll just suck it and see. I think I will now also put cooled boiled water in to top them up.
Cheers
Steve

I feel a Canberra yeast swap coming on


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## NRB (3/5/06)

I store mine completely differently - I have a fine dusting in the bottom of my vials of sterile water. There's plenty of yeast there in reality. All I have to do is shake up the tube to suspend yeast, culture on agar (or perhaps in a couple of millilitres of sterile wort) then select colonies to grow in sterile wort. There's no need for a thick mass of cells on the bottom and if anything, the larger the mass of yeast the greater the chances of autolysis etc.

My profession allows me easy access to sterile syringes and needles, so any transfer I perform is done with an aseptic technique.


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## Darren (3/5/06)

doglet said:


> Here is a photo of the 6 yeasts I split up after being in the fridge for 4 days.
> View attachment 6922
> 
> 
> ...




Hope you used a new syringe between packs?

cheers
Darren


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## doglet (3/5/06)

> Hope you used a new syringe between packs?



I cleaned and sanitised my work area and the syringe between packs. The technique might not be completely foolproof but I don't have the resources to do it any better.


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## Trough Lolly (3/5/06)

Stuster said:


> I believe Ross splits the pack before smacking it using a syringe. I think he may be right to split before smacking. The yeast are ready to go, with the right cell resources to grow provided by the culturing done by wyeast. It seems better to keep them asleep rather than waking them up with the nutrients and then putting them back to sleep again. Anything to add, TL?
> [post="123093"][/post]​



G'day Stuster,
With aseptic techniques, this is a great method for maximising the utility of each smackpack, as Ross already suggested. 

Re the autolysis, it doesn't matter if the yeast is in wort, beer, sterile water or a chocolate milkshake - if the yeast is not dormant and the temp and composition of the solution does not kill the yeast, autolysis will inevitably occur. The trick is to cleanly decant the yeast from the smackpack and store the yeast dormant (ie, in the fridge) otherwise the cells will look to feed and if they run out of nutrients, will breakdown in order to feed -> autolysis...

Cheers,
TL


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## goatherder (3/5/06)

Trough Lolly said:


> The trick is to cleanly decant the yeast from the smackpack and store the yeast dormant (ie, in the fridge) otherwise the cells will look to feed and if they run out of nutrients, will breakdown in order to feed -> autolysis...
> 
> Cheers,
> TL
> [post="124222"][/post]​



Is using a sterile syringe and sharp and piercing the smackpack bag a clean way of decanting the yeast? After sterilising the bag surface with alcohol first?


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## doglet (3/5/06)

> Is using a sterile syringe and sharp and piercing the smackpack bag a clean way of decanting the yeast? After sterilising the bag surface with alcohol first?



Pretty much what I did. I wiped down a pair of scissors with alcohol wipes and then the Wyeast package and cut the top off. This way I could be sure that I didn't pierce the smackpack of wort inside. I have collected these wort packs and will use them in a small flask with the vial of yeast. I'll give this about 24 hours before stepping up a into a large flask with a 1.5L wort.

TL or anyone - Do you think I need to boil that first smackpack of wort or just put it straight into a sanitised flask with the yeast vial? I assume that smackpack is sanitised already.


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## Duff (4/5/06)

If you need to reuse a syringe between packs, wipe it in alcohol and flame it over a gas stove until it glows, let it cool slightly, wipe it again and flame it again. Wipe down the area you are working with alcohol and you'll be should be fine. Not every one has a laminar flow hood in their home  .

I use the same vials as you doglet, give the thread a swab and run a flame around the rim of the vial before and after adding your yeast. 

Cheers.


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## Steve (4/5/06)

Jeez now you lot are getting a bit technical :blink: 
I was just going to put everything, vials, lids, scissors, smackpacks in a few litres of idophor/water solution for half an hour and then put everything except the smackpacks into my little boys milk bottle steamer/steriliser that goes in the microwave :lol: 
Cheers
Steve

P.S. That'd be ok wouldnt it?


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## Weizguy (4/5/06)

Duff said:


> Not every one has a laminar flow hood in their home  .
> [post="124268"][/post]​


Has _anyone_ got one of these in their home?

Can anyone point me at a cheap, but effective, one?

Steve,

You're prob OK to clean and sanitise like that. As has been said earlier, you *absolutely* need all the gear and "sterile technique" when dealing with micro quantities.


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## Airgead (4/5/06)

Weizguy said:


> Duff said:
> 
> 
> > Not every one has a laminar flow hood in their home  .
> ...



Weizguy

You really don't need anything like that for working with yeast. None of the micro labs I have ever seen use hoods for working with yeast. They are more commonly used when working with potential pathogens.

I cook everything for 10 minutes in a second hand pressure cooker and clean down work surfaces and hands with alcohol (usually just meths). My inoculating loop is flamed in a metho burner till it glows. Vials etc are wiped with meths before I open them and I am always careful not to touch the lip or sides with the loop when I am transfering yeast. 

Pretty low tech stuff and it works well.

Cheers
Dave


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## goatherder (4/5/06)

Yep, like Airgead said. Alcohol (metho), fire and a pressure cooker.

For a bit of extra protection, make yourself up a glovebox.

Buy one of those clear plastic storage containers from Big W. Cut two holes in the side, big enough to fit your arms into. Tape a pair of rubber gloves into the holes and you have yourself a glovebox. Before working in it, place all your equipment inside it and drown the inside surfaces with Glen 20. Put the lid on, wait 10 minutes, and you have a pretty sterile area to work in. A bit awkward, but clean enough.

I used to muck around with growing edible mushrooms from spores, I never had a contamination problem using the glovebox and the methods Airgead mentioned.

Flaming things is a bit impractical inside the glovebox - just stick with an alcohol wipe, or use two different innoculation loops.


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## Ross (4/5/06)

It certainly pays to take all precautions available to you - But I simply sterilise everthing, spray some non-rinse sanitiser in the air, cut the corner off the packet & pour directly into the vials. Not had an infected starter yet, but yes it's possible...

Cheers Ross


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## hockadays (4/5/06)

I have made starters the same sort of way as Ross but recently threw one out as I thought I had an infection. It was a Belgian Strong Ale that I had stepped up twice and it was going quite strong but before I stepped it the third time I noticed a tiny bit of mold on the rubber stopper and the smell of the starter stank of band aids so I chucked it. It wasnt untill I thought bout it that the medicinal smell may be due to the style of yeast. doh. 

I tasted it b4 chucking it and it tasted a little odd. This is my first possible infection. Has any one noticed this with this yeast and does an infection normally taste pretty bad?

Sorry for the diversion from the main topic..

Matt


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## Steve (12/5/06)

Well I got my 12 test tubes yesterday for my 3 smack packs and split them directly into the test tubes - 4 tubes for each of the packs. All went smoothly (I think)! I was as clean as possible - I found I was even holding my breath without noticing and then wondering why I was getting out of breath! It was pretty bloody nerve racking. Little boy running around the kitchen trying to help, my wonderful wife trying to prepare our dinner whilst I was sat there at the kitchen bench doing a very good impersonation of mad scientist (beer in hand). Labelled each tube and put them to bed in the fridge. And then I had a terrible thought! When I picked the tubes up from LHBS the only caps/seals he had were these little corks. They were brand new and I put in a bowl of boiling water and then into a bowl of iodophor for half an hour. But then im thinking hmmmm cork, cork contains little gaps n crevices, nice places for things to live in! Does anyone else use cork? Have I just wasted 3 smack packs? Will the cork deteriorate and turn mouldy! Anyone help?
Cheers
Steve


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## Steve (12/5/06)

Anyone?  

Im half thinking of rushing home and swapping the corks with glad wrap and elastic bands?
Cheers
Steve


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## Weizguy (12/5/06)

Steve,

You might wanna swap the corks when you get home, but in the meantime it should be OK.

As you thoroughly cleaned and sanitised the corks, and the yeast is not in contact with those surfaces anyway, it should be fine.

I would have recommended rubber bungs or alfoil perhaps.

Please advise in future, when culturing for a brew, if you get a problem from using corks. I would think not, though.

Seth


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## Stuster (12/5/06)

Since you did such a thorough job on the corks, I'd say you'll be fine. If bottled wines can last for hundreds of years intact, your yeast samples in the fridge should be roses. You could swap half of the corks over to al foil and do your own experiment. You could also just rush home, relax and have a homebrew. :super:


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## Steve (12/5/06)

Cheers Seth - will swap with alfoil and elastic bands when I take my early early mark today  
Steve


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## Airgead (12/5/06)

Steve said:


> Cheers Seth - will swap with alfoil and elastic bands when I take my early early mark today
> Steve
> [post="125897"][/post]​



if you are really paranoid, swab down the inside if the alfoil with meths before you put it on the tube.

Cheers
Dave


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## Steve (12/5/06)

Cheers Dave - I was going to immerse it in boiling water for a while and then immerse it in iodophor for half n hour. Should be right.
Cheers
Steve


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## NRB (13/5/06)

I would also recommend sterilising your tubes next time rather than simply sanitising. My other recommendation is to do the split away from everything and in a relatively still environment rather than in a kitchen with vigorous activity

Don't stress, you'll be fine; I'm as paranoid about contamination of my yeast bank as Darren is about _Clostridium botulinum_ contamination when using the "no chiller" method. h34r:


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## Trough Lolly (15/5/06)

doglet said:


> > Is using a sterile syringe and sharp and piercing the smackpack bag a clean way of decanting the yeast? After sterilising the bag surface with alcohol first?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Doglet - Apologies for the late reply...

The smackpack is typically full of pre-boiled yeast slurry so you don't need to boil any smackpack, and of course, doing so will kill most bacteria and all of the yeast there anyway... :blink: 
Greg Doss (Wyeast) confirmed to me that the inner sachet is a combo of yeast nutrient and malt so you can use that when you want to kick off some yeast in a starter. He also agreed that a 10 Plato (approx. 1.040) gravity starter is perfect for their strains.

Cheers,
TL


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