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yeast slants

Chas at Tahoe

Master Brewer
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Location
Reno, Nevada
Anyone doing yeast slants?  I've read a little about how to get started and a little about how to isolate a yeast.  Don't know where to get equipment though.  Is it worth the effort/expense?

Chas, still at Tahoe!
 
I slant rare strains that I have used. I see no reason to do slants of the standard yeast's. You can find loops vial's, plates, torches, vial base, agar, ets at places like Ebay and other scientific equipment places. My whole setup with 50 vials was under $50. You should note that it does not take much agar for a batch. I will probably have enough agar for many, many, many, many, years to come... d:

Cheers
Preston
 
I looked for kits and only found two, both at Midwestsupplies, both out of stock.  I finally bought a yeast starter kit and 10 tubes with caps and a nickel innoculator.  No petri dishes yet and don't know if I will.  My wife did find a pretty nice 15lb pressure cooker for $9.99 on sale at Bed and Bath.  Now she's muttering because she couldn't find what she wanted but got a super deal on what I needed.  :eek:)

My plan was to cut costs.  I can buy, atleast that's my plan, an $8 yeast and spread it over enough batches to pay for itself and my equipment.  Did I say, that's my plan.  ;D

I really think it's just boardom.

What kind of "rare" yeasts do you have?

Thanks for the imput.
 
You really should think about getting the petri dishes. They will help you identify good clean yeast for culturing. However if you are going to go directly from a new tube, you should be fine.

Rare strains I have on slants and the beers I brew with them:
Fat Tire WYXL1792 (Flat Tire, go figure)
Rogue Packman ?_? (IPA Heaven!)
Edme Ale ?_? (Edme My Love)

Standards that I Wash on a regular basis.(Because I brew them on a regular basis)
Abbey Ale WLP530 (GoodBeer)
Hefeweizen Ale WLP300 (Ms. Wit)
Scottish Ale #1728 (To Don a Kilt)

Cheers
Preston
 
I recognize Fat Tire, but Rogue Packman?  I thought that was a video game.  :)

Did you culture any of these from a bottle? 
I had a "Jack Russel" apple hefe last Summer that was pretty good.  It had just enough apple to make it different.  I'm wondering if the yeast would make a noticable difference in the taste ( with the apple added to the recipe ) and would it be worthwhile to try and culture the yeast from a bottle.
Jack Russel brewery is just a little East of Sacramento and not a large place.  I wonder if they would have the where-with-all to develope a specific yeast for their brew.

Ahhh.  Petri dishes.  The only place I found them was in a bag of 25 for $15.  I'm not sure I want to invest yet. It may depend on your answer to the above Jack Russel question.

Chas, still at Tahoe!
 
The Rogue "Pacman Yeast" is from a bottle of Rogue "Dead Guy" ale. The Fat Tire yeast was a WYeast VSS SmakPak released in 07 I believe. I guess the Packman is not "Realy" a rare, because I always have some in the beer fridge... But I did plate it and culture the active strain so I know it was in top form for the slants.

I found the Petri dishes in a 5 pack with lids here: http://www.agile-fx.com/servlet/the-2267/PETRI-DISH-w-fdsh--COVER/Detail along with some other misc supplies like loops and bunson burners.

Cheers
Preston
 
way cool.  I thought I scoured the internet but I didn't find this site.

Guess I'll get some petri dishes and maybe a graduated test tube with penny stopper too.  :)

thanks,
 
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