[Hokerer]

At least the loop is really small also.  You can get a lot of "loopfulls" of yeast off of one slant 

[Thirsty_Monk]

I made my first plates.
Everything looks O.K. so far.

I used DME in my recipe and now I have hot break in the solid media.
It just does not look very pretty
Should this be a concern?

Next time I can make a wort up front and remover break from it before making plates and slants.

[Kaiser]

Should this be a concern?

No. But it will be easier to spot growth if the media doesn't have bits in it. You are right in that you may want to remove the break next time.

Kai

[roffenburger]

I made my first plates.
Everything looks O.K. so far.

I used DME in my recipe and now I have hot break in the solid media.
It just does not look very pretty
Should this be a concern?

Next time I can make a wort up front and remover break from it before making plates and slants.

I don't know if you plan on it, but I would suggest leaving the plates at room temperature for about a week to serve as a sterility check. Sorry, that was kind of unrelated to you question, but its a step I like to take.

[Kaiser]

I do that too and used to have a fairly high fail rate if I opened the plates before taping them shut. That act of opening them up used to be for flicking off condensation. Now I don't worry about it the moisture and rarely get spurious growth on any of them. 

Kai

[enso]

Thirsty monk what is the shipping from cynmar if you don't mind me asking..

Thanks!

[Thirsty_Monk]

it was almost $10.
Quite high if you ask me.

[enso]

it was almost $10.
Quite high if you ask me.

Thanks.  Yeah, sort of steep, though I have seen higher!  I am not surprised really though as their prices are considerably lower than many other suppliers I have looked at.  Usual internet retail tactic I guess.  Low prices offset by high shipping charges!

Still, not bad though I suppose

[Kaiser]

In cynmar's defense, their primary business are customers who buy larger amounts. Just look at the 500 ml flasks. They only come as 6 pks. If you have a club, organize a club buy. Or safe up until you can get everything you want. If you want to start you may also make slants using baby food jars or small mason jars. Metal wire works as innoculation loop and needle. That's how I got started before I bought more specialized lab supply.

Kai

[Hokerer]

Thirsty monk what is the shipping from cynmar if you don't mind me asking..

Just looked at my cynmar order from back in August.  Shipping was $9.95 on $59.15 worth of stuff which I don't consider overly steep.  And yeah, like Kai says, their quantities are geared toward bigger orders.  That's not a bad thing, though, as I've found tons of uses for the 12-pack of 150ml beakers

[Thirsty_Monk]

I am not complaining.
I wanted stuff from there so I bought it there.
My order was only $33 + $9.95 shipping.
I got everything what I ordered in timely matter.

I fired my Alcohol lamp first time and flamed the inoculation loop first time.
I do not see anything unusual on plates or slants so I am exited to streak some yeast on it.
I brew tomorrow so it might be Monday 

[tom]

Here's a little light reading on brewery yeast handling and bacteria identification:   http://brewingscience.com/PDF/BSI_brewers_lab_handbook.pdf

[Thirsty_Monk]

Here's a little light reading on brewery yeast handling and bacteria identification:   http://brewingscience.com/PDF/BSI_brewers_lab_handbook.pdf

Thank you for the link. I will check it out

I just streak my first two plates with WLP838 Southern German Lager.
We shall see in couple of days if I grow something.

[Thirsty_Monk]

Here is a picture of one petri dish:
You can see two streaks and some individual colonies.


and then I made more plates and slates:
Plates are in sandwich ziplock bags (they are supposed to be sterile).
Standing tubes are 10ml wort for first step starter.

[dean]

How long can you keep yeast in slants and how many steps are needed for a typical ale (1.050ish)?  I read where Kai said using wire is okay to start with so I may give it a try if I can find some damn agar within 50 miles of me.