November 14 Lab

I was not able to attend this lab because I was attending the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting in Knoxville, TN. Here is a brief overview of what the lab did while were gone, including pictures provided by Lorna Nissen.

The purpose of this lab was to:

• Grow mushrooms! Either pearl or shiitake. 
• Transfer beer into new carboy

Growing mushrooms

My team (Lorna, Danny, Charity) was given a kit for growing both pearl and shiitake mushrooms. The oyster mushrooms were set up by placing the provided bag of growing media on a tin tray and erecting a tent of clear plastic and sticks around the bag. This needs to be misted with spring water several times a day. 

The directions for the oyster mushroom kit. 

What the kit looks like inside the box.

Adding water to soak shiitake kit.

Spraying the oyster mushroom kit with spring water.

Placing the "tent" over the oyster mushrooms.

The shiitake mushroom media was submerged in mineral water for 2-3 hours. It was then removed from the water, taken out of the bag that it was provided in, placed on a tray, and covered with a clear plastic bag. This also needs to be misted several times a day. These will both remain in the lab until they are ready for harvest in a couple of weeks.

Directions for the shiitake mushroom kit.

Beer transfer

The beer in the original carboy that had been fermenting needed to be transfered to separate it from any proteins that had precipitated out of the solution. They sterilized a new, smaller carboy, and then transfered the beer into this one. It will be bottled next week.