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"padraic":22fqif4i wrote: What sort of alcohol would be best for the burner? Where might I aquire it?[/quote:22fqif4i]
It used to be methylated spirits from the chemist back in the old days. I'd say it still is.

"Joey.de":2h2cnkxt wrote: Im sure you know Cryo vials are for low temperature storage.

The beads have a small hole in them and each bead stores a little of the cell solution so when you revive bacteria/yeast you only have to remove one bead from your vial as opposed to using a whole vial. Saves a lot of space and work freezing down vials.[/quote:2h2cnkxt]

Thanks Joey, seems a bit clearer now!

So the beads just act as very small store of the cells you are banking. You just remove 1 and culture it up?

How many beads to a container?

So its the beads that are special, the vials are just autoclavable plastic?

However for cryo preservation with this you still need to follow the glycerine method to avoid cell rupturing?

Will

"Will_D":27mvu9d8 wrote: So the beads just act as very small store of the cells you are banking. You just remove 1 and culture it up?
However for cryo preservation with this you still need to follow the glycerine method to avoid cell rupturing?
[/quote:27mvu9d8]
Yes they still need to be in a glycerol solution to prevent crystal formation. You innoculate the bead and glycerol solution with the yeast, mix and leave it for 20 mins and then remove all the solution with a pipette before freezing. Then when you want to streak a plate, you take out the vial and remove a bead and streak out, placing the vial back in the freezer before it defrosts.

"Will_D":27mvu9d8 wrote: So its the beads that are special, the vials are just autoclavable plastic?
[/quote:27mvu9d8]
They arrive sterile as long as they are closed, its not that they are autoclavable but they can resist very low temperatures, most plastics will get brittle and break below -20.

"padraic":27mvu9d8 wrote: Are the disposable innoculation loops a waste of time? best to just use a stainless one and run it through a flame?
[/quote:27mvu9d8]
Ive never used a disposable loop, we use the steel ones. Just make sure that you heat it till its red hot (literally) and make sure you let it cool before use keeping it in the vicinity of the flame.

"padraic":27mvu9d8 wrote: Building up a started from a slant, how many flasks would be nessicary to get to a pitchable quantity for 5 gallon and 10 gallon batches?[/quote:27mvu9d8]

A lot of variables there depending on the yeast strain and media etc, just to be clear my experience is with animal cells and bacteria, not too much experience with yeast but the skills are transferable. I will have a lot more experience with yeast in the coming months!

"padraic":3qzfqwoj wrote: Building up a started from a slant, how many flasks would be nessicary to get to a pitchable quantity for 5 gallon and 10 gallon batches?[/quote:3qzfqwoj]

I just grew up a starter for a 5 gallon batch from a slant of San Diego yeast that Richie gave me. I started by making 100ml of wort at 1.030 and swishing bit by bit in the vial to get all of the yeast into solution. I then popped this on to a stir plate for 24 hours at 25C. I made another 1 litre of wort at 1.030 and combined this with the original solution and left it on the stir plate at 25C for an additional 48 hours. It took off like an absolute rocket.

I brewed today and used this as the starter. It's a monster beer that myself, Richie and Kev are doing for our second barrel project. I'm expecting the yeast to go mental in such a high gravity wort. San Diego is great for big beers, so hopefully it will attenuate well.

Anyway, it's very straightforward to grow starters from slants.

You might want to read Richie's[/url:3qzfqwoj] post on preparing slants. It's a good starting point for homebrewers.