[tschmidlin]

I probably wouldn't get one, but scopes hurt my eyes.  i don't do much scope work anyway, but I've been spoiled by the ones with video cameras hooked up to computers so I can just look on the screen and see everything.

[bluesman]

As much as I'd like to get a scope, I find that I get headaches from eye strain. Now a scope with video is another story but that's out of my price range for sure. The question of acquiring a scope and hemocytometer is a decision that's still up in the air for me.

Tom...do you know of any good resources for using a spec in brewing?

[tschmidlin]

The assays we talked about earlier are the main ones, but there might be others.  Don't expect to be able to test IBUs unless you spend a few hundred dollars on reagents - iso-octane, octanol, and HCl come to mind.  The nice thing is once you have those reagents you'll be able to run a LOT of samples, it doesn't take much per sample.  But it's a pretty big initial outlay.  Plus you need a quartz cuvette, a plastic one isn't going to hack it with those solvents in there.

[thcipriani]

The question of acquiring a scope and hemocytometer is a decision that's still up in the air for me.

I think everyone ought to own a scope given how cheap they are. You can get a cell count with 400x.
I use this scope and it's been great for years:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380248813512

WRT eye-strain, I know you can buy adapters for your dslr or other cameras that'll replace the eyepiece.

[dimik]

Yeah, you can get a camera easy. I have one though looking into the eye piece looks way better.

[Jimmy K]

As much as I'd like to get a scope, I find that I get headaches from eye strain. Now a scope with video is another story but that's out of my price range for sure. The question of acquiring a scope and hemocytometer is a decision that's still up in the air for me.

Tom...do you know of any good resources for using a spec in brewing?

What you need is a nice flow cytometer. They are only around $150,000 ... used.

[dimik]

Unless his yeast express GFP or something I don't think it would be a good way of cell counting. Otherwise it'll just be same as counting without determining viability. But then again he'd probably be able to get the total number of cells without projecting calculations... Hahaha, honestly I think it's the funniest post so far hehehehehe.

[a10t2]

Few seconds?  How fast can you count with a hemocytometer?  A lot faster than me apparently.

After doing several a week, for several months, I'm down to <10 min total. That includes diluting the sample and methylene blue, prepping the plate, doing three counts at ~100 cells, and cleanup. Once you get a good system going, the counts are the fastest part.

[bluesman]

As much as I'd like to get a scope, I find that I get headaches from eye strain. Now a scope with video is another story but that's out of my price range for sure. The question of acquiring a scope and hemocytometer is a decision that's still up in the air for me.

Tom...do you know of any good resources for using a spec in brewing?

What you need is a nice flow cytometer. They are only around $150,000 ... used.

Maybe...if I hit the powerball. 

[tschmidlin]

Unless his yeast express GFP or something I don't think it would be a good way of cell counting. Otherwise it'll just be same as counting without determining viability. But then again he'd probably be able to get the total number of cells without projecting calculations... Hahaha, honestly I think it's the funniest post so far hehehehehe.

You can use propidium iodide as a viability stain for a flow cytometer.

Few seconds?  How fast can you count with a hemocytometer?  A lot faster than me apparently.

After doing several a week, for several months, I'm down to <10 min total. That includes diluting the sample and methylene blue, prepping the plate, doing three counts at ~100 cells, and cleanup. Once you get a good system going, the counts are the fastest part.

That's faster than me, but I don't do them regularly.  Still not as fast as a spec though.

[dimik]

Heh, you're right! If he invests into flow cytometer, might as well get PI hehehe, just don't run the entire starter with it.

[anje]

Flow cytometer is a bit out of my budget right now, unfortunately. (After all, I'm still starting out here. Haven't even gotten my own Pipettemen yet.) Though I do have a friend who was trying to develop a field-size or possibly pocket-size one for her degree....

[Jimmy K]

Pocket size flow cytometer?

[tschmidlin]

That would be awesome

[dimik]

But impossible