Gerber

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rad14701
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Re: Gerber

Post by rad14701 »

newbie1982 wrote:Hey rad if I'm going to do a 50 gallon batch do you think I need to scale everything up evenly?
Most everything except the yeast can be scaled up in linear fashion... I would also start reducing nutrients like Epsom Salt or fertilizer as the volume scales up... The Gerber, which is the primary nutrient and flavor component should be scaled normally...
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Re: Gerber

Post by newbie1982 »

Awesome thanks
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Re: Gerber

Post by stony183 »

Stonemull wrote:I know, I cant help myself. I hope I am not testing your patience much, I intend to be a contributor as well as a nuisance one day.
its my first wash, first still. I like to understand things and if this lot goes out to water the grass in the back paddock I can live with that and guarantee I will have learned a lot in the process.

personally, by sheer luck perhaps, it seems to be going swimmingly.
I have done this recipe about 100 times now and I've never had a ferment stall. I usually ferment in 36-48 hrs... I don't even check my SG or FG these days because if you do the exact same recipe everytime AFTER you have found the right one there is no need. I run mine in reflux mode and always get 92% on every single run!!!
Last edited by acfixer69 on Tue Mar 31, 2020 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Gerber

Post by islander »

Finally got my first drinkable run in! This recipe is extremely easy to follow and scale up, only hangup I had was the only greber cereal available was multi grain. I ran 10 gallons and finished with 2.75 gallons going from 150 proof down to 40 proof on my pot still. It took about 1 week to ferment in my basement at 70 degrees and used Red Star Distillers Yeast, starting SG was 1.078, PH was 4.7 after I adjusted it with citric acid. When you get to the middle of the run it's got a nice spicy note to it. Thanks for the recipe!
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Re: Gerber

Post by Nunyo »

Rad, Thanks for your contributions here at HD and a big thanks for sharing your recipe. I've been lurking here for a couple years and just recently registered as I am finally about ready to do my first runs. I am thinking this will be my first wash to try which will be run through a 4" column still with 6 bubble plates and possibly an additional 12" extension packed with copper mesh with an aim at a high proof single pass neutral.
It was mentioned that the Gerber Barley flavored cereal was discontinued. I was looking on Amazon for Gerber cereal and came across this Gerber Single Grain Barley Cereal. Is this what you were using back when you stated this thread?
https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Baby-Cere ... aby+cereal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

On that note, I've been reading this thread (as well as many others) to exhaustion. My plan is to mix up about 50 gallons on my first run. I know you said to scale the water, sugar & Gerber up linearly but to reduce the yeast, salt and nutrients. I've also noticed that your experimentation have resulted in some changes to your recipe that isn't really noted in the initial post. Most notably the occasional use of 30-10-10. I also noted that some have used lemon juice which you don't note in your original recipe and I am assuming the lemon is used in lieu of citric acid to reduce pH. My tap pH is around 8.0 - 8.5 depending on the day. Since I plan on making a large batch in a 55 gallon barrel and will run up 15 gallons of the wash at a time in my boiler, I am curious what you would suggest as a recipe for this volume given the years of experimentation you have done using this recipe. I will note that I really don't care if it takes 3-4 days vs 1 week for ferment but at the same time, 3-4 days would't be bad as I am sure I will be anxious. I will likely use the first several gallons as my sacrificial cleaning run. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
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Re: Gerber

Post by Nunyo »

slief wrote:Rad, Thanks for your contributions here at HD and a big thanks for sharing your recipe. I've been lurking here for a couple years and just recently registered as I am finally about ready to do my first runs. I am thinking this will be my first wash to try which will be run through a 4" column still with 6 bubble plates and possibly an additional 12" extension packed with copper mesh with an aim at a high proof single pass neutral.
It was mentioned that the Gerber Barley flavored cereal was discontinued. I was looking on Amazon for Gerber cereal and came across this Gerber Single Grain Barley Cereal. Is this what you were using back when you stated this thread?
https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Baby-Cere ... aby+cereal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

On that note, I've been reading this thread (as well as many others) to exhaustion. My plan is to mix up about 50 gallons on my first run. I know you said to scale the water, sugar & Gerber up linearly but to reduce the yeast, salt and nutrients. I've also noticed that your experimentation have resulted in some changes to your recipe that isn't really noted in the initial post. Most notably the occasional use of 30-10-10. I also noted that some have used lemon juice which you don't note in your original recipe and I am assuming the lemon is used in lieu of citric acid to reduce pH. My tap pH is around 8.0 - 8.5 depending on the day. Since I plan on making a large batch in a 55 gallon barrel and will run up 15 gallons of the wash at a time in my boiler, I am curious what you would suggest as a recipe for this volume given the years of experimentation you have done using this recipe. I will note that I really don't care if it takes 3-4 days vs 1 week for ferment but at the same time, 3-4 days would't be bad as I am sure I will be anxious. I will likely use the first several gallons as my sacrificial cleaning run. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
OK... I just finished reading every post of this thread. My head is now spinning. :crazy: Information overload. I see that the citric acid is used to invert the sugar when added to the sugar during simmering. Now I just need to do the math to scale the recipe up and figure out how much yeast to use in a 50 gallon. I’ll likely go to Costco to get the bakers yeast. Any tips on a 50 gallon recipe would me much appreciated. Also, any feedback on the above mentioned Gerber Barley flavor from Amazon? Is that the same stuff that was being used early on?

Based on my calculations this is what I am looking at for 50 gallons.
87 pounds of sugar
50 cups or Gerber ( I think that’s about 12 of the 8oz packages?)
100 tbsp (6.2 cups) of bakers yeast
11 tsp of citric acid (1/8 tsp per pound of sugar)

My plan would be to simmer 87 pounds of sugar in 10 gallons of water along with the citric acid. Due to the amount of sugar, I will likely split this into two batches. Each of about 43.5 pounds of sugar in 5 gallons of water with 5.5 tsp of citric acid. Once it’s simmered for 30 minutes or once it turns to a hay yellow color, then add the Gerber and a bit of yeast and simmer for a bit longer before putting it into the fermenter and adding the remaining 40 or so gallons of cool water. Hopefully that will result in temps that are around 90* for pitching the yeast. I will aerate the crap out of the wash using a drill and mixer paddle both before and after adding the yeast. I’ll likely start the yeast in advance using a mix of warm water and sugar with a bit of Gerber in it.

If I want to expedite the fermentation, I’d add 5 tsp of Epsom Salt and 10 tsp of 20-20-20 or 30-10-10 to the sugar syrup once the sugar has inverter?

It’ll be another couple weeks before I start this wash as I am still completing my still. Any further tips or critiquing the above numbers would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Alphadog007 »

I have a question on Rad's original post. He writes:

" * Simmer equal amounts of water and sugar for 30 minutes or longer to invert sugar.
* Combine boiled components with cold water and cereal to bring up to total volume.
* Let cool to 95F.
* Pitch yeast.
* Aerate for one hour.
* Cap and insert air lock. "

Later in the thread he and others talk about boiling the cereal (some say as long as 30 minutes) rather than just combining along with cold water (above) to the inverted sugar water. Doesn't that denature the cereal? What is the best way, Rad's original post or boiling the cereal also (for 30 minutes)? Note: The post started with Gerber but changed to various other cereals.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Nunyo »

After reading this thread from end to end as well as countless others, I just started a 45 gallon batch which is cooling now in prep for me to pitch my yeast. This is my first wash ever. A bit of this will be used for my sacrificial run and the rest will be run in 12-15 gallon batches in my new flute.

I dissolved about 75 pounds of sugar in about 17 gallons scalding hot water with 17 tsp of citric acid. I simmered for 30 minutes until the solution turned a hay yellow/inverted and then added 12 boxes of Gerber Barley flavor and about 1 cup of yeast. This was split across 2 seperate batches as my pot only holds 15 gallons. That was added to the fermenter with 25 or so gallons of cold tap water. Total volume came out to about 47-50 gallons in my 55g fermenter.

Corrected SG of 1.080
pH of 5.5

It’s been a few hours since I finished and the temp is down to 105 with constant aeration(air stone) and an occasional drill mixing using the plaster mixer. It’ll be a few more hours until it hits a pitching temp of 95* at which point I’ll add 4.5 cups of Red Star activated dry bakers yeast, aerate some more and put the airlock on. Will update over the coming days.

Edit, it’s 6:30 am the next morning. I pitched yeast about 25 minutes ago. I’m aerating with a stone and hitting it with the drill mixer every 15 minutes. Will button it up in about 30 minutes or so. Yeast seems to be working already.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Nunyo »

Wow.. I pitched the yeast at 6AM and at 7AM when I covered it up and put the airlock on, the bubbling was insane! Like a machine gun! :crazy: This stuff took off like a bat out of hell! I had to remove the water with Star San from the airlock and just put plain water in because it was bubbling so hard the stuff in the jar started foaming up within seconds. I only had a tiny drop of Star San mixed with a lot of water in my mason jar airlock but. I had to run to the office and since this is my first ferment, I opted to put my spare webcam in there aimed at the airlock just to make sure it doesn't go nuts and spew through the airlock while I am at work. My airlock consists of a 1 pint mason jar with a 1/4" RODI filter type tubing run into it using push lock connections. I am hoping the tubing diameter will be sufficient.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Nunyo »

slief wrote:Wow.. I pitched the yeast at 6AM and at 7AM when I covered it up and put the airlock on, the bubbling was insane! Like a machine gun! :crazy: This stuff took off like a bat out of hell! I had to remove the water with Star San from the airlock and just put plain water in because it was bubbling so hard the stuff in the jar started foaming up within seconds. I only had a tiny drop of Star San mixed with a lot of water in my mason jar airlock but. I had to run to the office and since this is my first ferment, I opted to put my spare webcam in there aimed at the airlock just to make sure it doesn't go nuts and spew through the airlock while I am at work. My airlock consists of a 1 pint mason jar with a 1/4" RODI filter type tubing run into it using push lock connections. I am hoping the tubing diameter will be sufficient.
Well, exactly 4 days later and it appears that my ferment is done. The bubbles have pretty much stopped as of this morning and it now reads a corrected .993 SG. I’ll let it settle until tomorrow morning before racking it off into another drum for at least another day. Then I’ll do my sacrificial run and decide whether I will run the remaining 43 or so gallons at full reflux in my flute or dumb my flute down and run as a pot still to strip the wash and then run the low wines in a spirit run. Decisions decisions...

That said, I am very impressed with the speed at which this fermented out. I will do a final SG reading before racking it as I expect the SG to drop a bit more between now and tomorrow. Thanks Rad for the great recipe! I hope you’re stil lurking on this forum despite your apparent lack of activity.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Changnoi »

I'm still working my way through the thread, but thought I'd pipe in about starting my first batch. I went with the following recipe because it fits a 25# bag of sugar and will fit into 2 stripping runs in my pot still:

15gal water
25# sugar
2T citric acid
2ea, 8oz gerber rice cereal
3T DADY
pinch epsom salt

I boiled 5gal of water, added the sugar and acid, stirred, let it come back to the boil for about a half hour, then slowly transferred it with cold water to my fermenter to bring it up to about 15gal volume. Gravity ended up 1.070. While I was doing that I put some cold water in a mason jar, added some of the hot sugar water until it felt about right, put the yeast in and hydrated it while I did the rest.

Added the epsom salt, baby food, and yeast at about 90 degrees F. Used my power drill paint mixer and aerated for about 10min.

It's already foaming up a few minutes later. I'll come back every 15min or so and give it a good stir since I pitched a bit light compared to some of the ratios I've seen here. Should all come out in the wash, right? ;-)
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Re: Gerber

Post by Choady »

This looks likea great recipe for a first run!
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Re: Gerber

Post by Deplorable »

I cant find the Gerber Barley anywhere. But Wal-Mart has an Oats, wheat and Barley cereal mix.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/3-pack-Earth ... /191853654
Would this be a viable cereal. I'm really trying to stay away from a turbo wash for my sac run, and looking for a simple fast fermenting alternative.
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Re: Gerber

Post by metalsmith »

Deplorable wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 11:35 pm I cant find the Gerber Barley anywhere. But Wal-Mart has an Oats, wheat and Barley cereal mix.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/3-pack-Earth ... /191853654
Would this be a viable cereal. I'm really trying to stay away from a turbo wash for my sac run, and looking for a simple fast fermenting alternative.
You are good with this for a sacrificial run. And many runs past that. Just stay away from the turbos. Just stay away from the turbos.

It should be a good drink after the cleaning runs too.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Deplorable »

Thanks metalsmith. I'll pick up a few boxes of this. I'm going to put a Kale wash in tomorrow for the sac run, then I'll play with a couple of these while I learn WTH I'm doing. Once I learn how to drive this still, I'll put my home brew experience to work. For now I'm not going to waste grain to make something that's mediocre at best. The still I ordered is on back order, and expected to be available for shipping this month. I figure I can get a couple of washes ready to run, and store them in corny kegs under CO2 until the still gets here. I've got a few kegs I can store washes in and get a few lined up to run freeing up my fermenters for more wash. :wink:
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Re: Gerber

Post by Deplorable »

I just started a 5 gallon wash of the Gerber Multi Grain Cereal.
6.5# sugar simmered 40 minutes in 2.5 gallons of water
6.5 Ounces Gerber Multigrain cereal added with the remaining water. Used a wort chiller to drop the temp to 95F.
SG 1065 @ 95F (calibrated for temp)
2 pkts of Lavlin EC-1118 rehydrated in 2 cups of cooled wort ( every store in town is out of bakers yeast)
Pitched yeast at 98F
The fermenter is now capped and wrapped in Reflectix bubble wrap.
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Re: Gerber

Post by SGB »

Just did 18lt. With 3 k of sugar ( afterwards I realised I should've used 4 kilos ) and a box of Baby Burbur ( I guess it was wheat baby food , it had a picture of wheat on it ) citric acid and a multi vitamin and sugar tolerant bakers yeast
Fermentation went OK. But I couldn't distill it for about two weeks because I got to busy with a building project.

Tastes like the baby food with a multi vitamin however
I ended up getting the exact same ratio as I do the UJSSM.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Amphibious »

On my second run on Gerber. First go was to 5gal batches of Rice Flavor Gerber. Made a very clean neutral, and after a run through the brita we're using it as a base to experiment with flavored spirits.

My second run is with the Honey Wheat Gerber. I didn't read the ingredients and low and behold it has Canola and Sunflower Oil in it. Fair bit floating on thw surface after ferment. I racked it off carefully and left most of it in the bucket.

4x 7gal Buckets fermented dry in 4.5 days in an insulated cabinet at 78F.

Will strip this lot and see how it turns out. Smells amazing.
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Re: Gerber

Post by LWTCS »

Amphibious wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:07 am On my second run on Gerber. First go was to 5gal batches of Rice Flavor Gerber. Made a very clean neutral, and after a run through the brita we're using it as a base to experiment with flavored spirits.

My second run is with the Honey Wheat Gerber. I didn't read the ingredients and low and behold it has Canola and Sunflower Oil in it. Fair bit floating on thw surface after ferment. I racked it off carefully and left most of it in the bucket.

4x 7gal Buckets fermented dry in 4.5 days in an insulated cabinet at 78F.

Will strip this lot and see how it turns out. Smells amazing.
Sorry sir. Not trying to be confrontational, but I think you should confirm if the filtration media in one of those Brita things is safe for high proof alcohol.
Certainly the coconut based activated carbon is fine. It is the "ion exchange resign" I'm pretty sure is only intended for actual water.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Amphibious »

Ran 40% abv through it, no one died, but I do understand your concern. Funny enough we have switched to a coconut charcoal media, as we ended up purchasing a bunch at work that didn't fit our fridge and couldn't be returned. Seems to work just as well. Going forward I think we'll just use a stripping run to bring the flavor profiles down.
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Re: Gerber

Post by LWTCS »

Amphibious wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:01 pm Ran 40% abv through it, no one died
Sorry for being too cryptic.
It's got polystyrene in it mate.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Bee »

Did a batch of this. Instead of Gerber I used 2 boxes of generic Rice Chex in 12gal of water and I inverted my sugar. Threw some clamshells into the wash the day after I pitched. Stripped & spirited on a pot still. Turned out so good after the second run that I left it there. Nearly zero foreshots & heads. Very smooth, taste hints of rock candy. Yielded 10% in the wash. Fermented down to .990. No sweetness left in the wash.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Pops33 »

Just started a 40 liter batch of this 3 days ago but used 2 box of Gerber(wheat, honey and flakes)and 2 box of Heinz mixed cereal with fruits(peach, pineapple and orange), it's all I could find. After mixing everything, there's oily droplets floating on the surface. I'm thinking it's the ingredients in the cereals but can someone confirm? Everything seems to be fermenting good. Starting gravity was 1.092 and last night was 1.024.
I'm also using a 10 gallon bucket with lid but it's loose fitting and there's no holes to attach an airlock. Should I drill a hole to attach airlock or it's fine the way it is.
Here's picture of ingredients.
Thanks,
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heinz baby food ingredients.JPG
heinz baby food.JPG
gerber ingredients.JPG
gerber.JPG
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Re: Gerber

Post by Durhommer »

Never done Gerber but I've I've fermented plenty of other things I'd say a loose fitting cap works
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Re: Gerber

Post by Deplorable »

Your loose fitting lid will be fine. No need for an air lock.
Judging by the packages nutritional info, those should be fine for fermenting, Hard to say what flavors will carry over. How you run it will also impact what flavors you get.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Pops33 »

Perfect!, Thanks.

What about those oily droplets floating? Should I be concerned?
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Re: Gerber

Post by Deplorable »

No, that's likely the lipeds/fats from the cereal. It wont carry over in the distilate until the deep tails. Then it will manifest itself as a floating film on the top of the jar. You shouldnt be keeping that far down in the run anyway.
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Re: Gerber

Post by Pops33 »

Thanks again,
Hopefully it won't
It's only my 3rd making spirits and I'm still learning cuts. Last time I was to conservative in cuts. The Maple whiskey aged for a year and tastes good but it's hot on the tongue and my wife finds it tastes like chemicals.
cheers!
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Re: Gerber

Post by Pops33 »

I'd say fermentation is done or almost done. Specific gravity is 0.996. I think I'm going to let it sit a few days to clarify before I run it. It tastes sour(maybe vinegar) and there's a layer of broken up foam floating. I'm new to this and I don't distill often so I have a few questions:
1. I'd like to know if it had a vinegar taste would it be strong like cooking vinegar?
2. Also, if it's done fermenting, there's no gas escaping. I'm using a loose fitting lid with no air lock. So is there a chance nastie's can get in to the mash and infect(hence the layer of foam)?
3. Should I do a single spirit run or strip run, then a spirit run?
4. My pot still is 10 gallon with electric element about 2" from bottom. If I do a strip run then spirit run, can I charge the still 1/3 full, 1/2 full etc...? Does it need to be full?
Thanks
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Re: Gerber

Post by Deplorable »

Pops33 wrote: Sun Mar 21, 2021 1:08 pm Thanks again,
Hopefully it won't
It's only my 3rd making spirits and I'm still learning cuts. Last time I was to conservative in cuts. The Maple whiskey aged for a year and tastes good but it's hot on the tongue and my wife finds it tastes like chemicals.
cheers!
That sounds like too much heads. Collect in small jars 2 to 300 ml in each. Smell each jar as they come off the still. Air for 24 to 48 hours, dilute and sample using the Novice guide to making cuts found here, and you'll get better.
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