Making slants

[mexican]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of storing a couple of different yeast strains I've got and want to put them onto slants.

I screwed up the first set of slants and had to empty them out. The medium didn't set at all even after 24 hours. I think I didn't put enough gelatin into the wort I made.

What ratio of gelatin to wort is recommended for slants ?

I've seen ratios listed as anything from 10:1 through to around 30:1 wort volume(ml) to gelatin(grams)

Thanks,

mex.

[Thirsty Boy]

Hey mex,

aren't you meant to use agar, not gelatin?

Also, where did you source your tubes from? I cant find autoclavable tubes that have caps.

Or are you just going to put foil / gladwrap over the ends?

Thirsty

[Speyedr]

I think he means THIS

...or something like it anyway. Gelatin mixed with wort is the easy agar... This method worked for me for a while, but since yeast is relatively cheap here in Seppo world, I just buy it and make starters now. It's nice to know you CAN do it this way though...

Happy slanting!

Rob

[mexican]

Thirsty,

I DO mean gelatin. You can actually use either agar or gelatin as the setting medium. I found some agar from the local chinese market and also found a ratio for it so I'm hoping to make up some slants today.

For those interested, you should use around 1.5-2% agar to DME.

I got my sample vial from www.proscitech.com.au. Cost around $25 for a bag of 50 50ml plastic capped vials. The postage was nearly as expensive as the bag of vials though. Only took a couple of days to arrive in Melbourne from Sydney, I think. The only potential issue is that they are plastic so flaming the top may be an issue. They are screw-topped vials with a flat base so you don't need a test tube rack to store them in.

Get bags of 50 if you can. You'd be surprised how many you go through. I'm working on having around 4 or 5 slants for each yeast strain as well as leftovers for short term storage. I've put samples from a yeast cake in them and stored them in the frisge for a week or two before building them up again for another pitch.

mex