Using a haemocytometer

I've been getting some questions on how I do cell counting, so here's a quick documentation. It also serves as a quick reference for me to go back to, if I forget my calculations. My cell counts are done using a microscope at 400X magnification, and using a haemocytometer - i.e. manual cell counting. A good hemocytometer can set you back by hundreds of dollars, but I managed to get quite a decent one off eBay, even if it's made in China.

This is the central grid of the haemocytometer.

A microscopic look at "酒饼" - Chinese wine yeast

Remember the stuff I used to make the Chinese rice wine? I've been wondering what the hell this thing actually is. Is it pure yeast in some sort of a powdery binder? Does it have bacteria in it? Or even more sinister stuff?

Protein analysis of some malts

This is really just for fun, but a few months back I did have access to a really remarkable (and through-the-nose expensive - we're talking about the price of an average car here) piece of equipment. It's some sort of a compact/super high tech photospectrometer. Anyway, I decided to "check that the equipment is in working condition" and do some brew-related stuff with it. 

Saccharomyces boulardii

This is going to be fun.

From Wikipedia:
"Saccharomyces boulardii is a tropical strain of yeast first isolated from lychee and mangosteen fruit in 1923 by French scientist Henri Boulard. It is related to, but distinct from, Saccharomyces cerevisiae in several taxonomic, metabolic, and genetic properties. S. boulardii has been shown to maintain and restore^] the natural flora in the large and small intestine; it is classified as a probiotic."

S.boulardii under the scope

How great would it be to brew beer which you could actually say is healthful and probiotic??