Read the article , seems like i have a lot to do if i am going to use this Conan Yeast to its full potential. How many slants could one get out of the pitch pack ? Would ye pitch into new wort or just innoculate , where would ye get the necessary gear , seem some cryo tubes on ebay fairly cheap,
Must procure a pressure cooker some where.....
Pitch most of the pack in a brew & save a little bit for slanting in a clean & sterile container in the fridge. HBW have cryo tubes. Inoculate one or all of the cryo tubes with the bit of yeast you saved if you want (think there 12-15 pearls in each tube) then freeze those tubes.
Then you can make a slant from one pearl when you've all your kit together (you can borrow my pressure cooker - or do what tube does & microwave them) Then when that one slant takes off you can inoculate more slants from that one slant.
Would freezing the yeast not kill off the cells , sorry starting this from a very knowledge deficient starting point on this !I was contemplating doing a starter to build up to a 40 litre brew , put some pearls in a cryo tube and then use for slants ?
No cell damage if you freeze them in the cryo tubes. Its got glycol solution in there or similar.
Are we slanting or freezing here?
Freezing with glycol is a different process.
There was a mention of the coldest party of the fridge, not the freezer.
Quote from: johnrm on October 01, 2013, 07:21:31 AM
Are we slanting or freezing here?
Both. Cryo tubes for freezing the cells for long term storage. Then make one slant from one pearl - when that grows you can inoculate more slants & store them in the fridge for your yeast starters.
So Freeze the Agar slants then?
No. Yer freezing some yeast in the cryo tubes. Then you remove a pearl or two of yeast from these to make slants as you need them.
(http://i.imgur.com/8widE1f.jpg)
Someone should really do a youtube video or guide as there is zero info on it anywhere. Even the instructions with the cryo tubes are a bit vague.
They seem like the easier option as i dont have all the gear yet. So drop 25 pearls into a tube and freeze . Then when have gear for slanting take 'em out and put 1 pearl per slant so effectively you have 25 long term usuable pitches from each cryotube ? Sounds good
The cryo tubes have 25 pearls in each tube. You get 4 tubes for 15e in HBW.
You put some yeast in the tube, close the lid & shake it up with the solution thats in there & then freeze the tube.
Then you can just take 1 pearl out & make one slant. When that slant grows a few days later you can inoculate more
slants from that slant. Im guessing you could get maybe 10 slants from 1 pearl. So 250 slants from one cryo tube.
Then add in reusing yeast from brews & you'll probably never run out.
Quote from: Hop Bomb on October 01, 2013, 09:19:16 AM
Someone should really do a youtube video or guide as there is zero info on it anywhere. Even the instructions with the cryo tubes are a bit vague.
Would you be interested in doing a small guide on the cryo tubes as while slanting is fine for medium term, I find your experience with the cryo would be useful information to brewers for the long term?
Sorry, the subject was slanting and I thought referred to the recent (and super) slanting how to.
Should we do similar on Cryo?
It definitely seems to be a viable option.
There isnt much to it really. Just chuck in some yeast in the cryo tube - shake it - freeze it. Then when you want to slant just take out a pearl, inoculate your agar in the slant & let it grow. Then a few days later you make slants off that slant instead of a vial of white labs for example.
Quote from: shiny on October 01, 2013, 11:12:04 AM
Quote from: Hop Bomb on October 01, 2013, 09:19:16 AM
Someone should really do a youtube video or guide as there is zero info on it anywhere. Even the instructions with the cryo tubes are a bit vague.
Would you be interested in doing a small guide on the cryo tubes as while slanting is fine for medium term, I find your experience with the cryo would be useful information to brewers for the long term?
Looks like i will be calling in to HBW in the next week !
I was going to do something like in this link. The appeal over slanting is long term storage (over 2 years) and if you have your quantities right it's already at a pitchable number of viable cells when you defrost it. Realistically I'm only going to want to use this yeast a couple of times a year so I was liking this idea.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/guide-making-frozen-yeast-bank-35891/
It would only be at a pitchable rate if you froze an entire 2 litre starter worth of yeast for every brew you plan on freezing/storing for. If you plan on using this a few times a year then you'd want 10 litre starter worth of conan yeast frozen wouldnt you?
This link says it can give a pitchable qty of viable yeast.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/freezing-yeast.html
"WHY: The method(s) described below is sufficient for storing cells in portions large enough to pitch directly (50-200 billion cells, similar to the amount in a smack pack from Wyeast or a tube from White Labs) (See Figure 1). Nevertheless, we recommend an overnight starter to ensure a large number of viable cells and rapid initiation of fermentation. "
50 billion cells is only enough for 5 gallons of 1.013 OG beer. 200 billion cells is enough for 1.055 beer. (mr.malty calculator) Big difference between the two.
I dont see how he can get 8-10 vials of pitchable quantity yeast from one 2 litre starter. You'd defo have to do multiple 2 litre starters to bank enough pitchable yeast for 4 or 5 brews.
I'll probably freeze some straight from the pack, do a 5gal brew and harvest from that to freeze more. I've been collecting jars that are larger than the usual vial. 1 starter step for them then should be grand.
Lads, do you'se reckon you could post frozen yeast and then refreeze? Or would it need to be pitched as soon as it arrived?
I'm sure you could keep it in the fridge for a while until you are using it. Refreezing could damage the cells further.