Getting 20ml of yeast slurry

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guypettigrew
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Getting 20ml of yeast slurry

Post by guypettigrew » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:22 am

In an earlier post it was suggested that 20 ml of yeast slurry is plenty to use in a litre of malt extract for a starter.

The amount of collected yeast in this jar is clearly far too much. How do I get 20ml out, please? A large syringe, a couple of spoonfuls, tip it a bit?

If I want to keep the yeast then the procedure needs to be as clean as possible or I'll end up with contaminated yeast.
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Thanks.

Guy

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Kev888
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Re: Getting 20ml of yeast slurry

Post by Kev888 » Tue Jan 23, 2018 7:24 pm

To get the slurry alone, then personally i'd use a stainless spoon that had been sterilised by pressure cooking (and obviously, allowed to cool).

Depending on the nature of the slurry, with luck a (sterile) syringe may also work extremely well. But if it is compacted then you may need to mix up the beer and slurry to make it thin enough for the nozzle. If that is the case, it tends to be more messy if your intention is to cleanly reseal and save the remainder.

An alternative would be to make a bigger starter and save some of that instead, freshly produced. Or use smaller sterile containers so the jar need not be resealed and re-opened each time you want some yeast, which isn't without risk.
Kev

guypettigrew
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Re: Getting 20ml of yeast slurry

Post by guypettigrew » Wed Jan 24, 2018 3:08 pm

Thanks Kev

A sterilised stainless spoon it will be.

Next time I'll use smaller containers and chuck away what isn't used. Seems the safest way to go.

Guy

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Jocky
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Re: Getting 20ml of yeast slurry

Post by Jocky » Wed Jan 24, 2018 3:49 pm

I'd also be careful about storing in sealed glass jars like that. Any additional fermentation and you'll have pressure build up in the jar until it goes bang.
Ingredients: Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast, Seaweed, Blood, Sweat, The swim bladder of a sturgeon, My enemies tears, Scenes of mild peril, An otter's handbag and Riboflavin.

guypettigrew
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Re: Getting 20ml of yeast slurry

Post by guypettigrew » Wed Jan 24, 2018 4:11 pm

Indeed. I occasionally let the pressure out early on in the storage period. What do you store your yeast in?

Guy

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