Tequila attempt not going so hot

[chris173]

Hey all,
Used 7 bottles of Raw blue agave nectar. I read the other thread saying I'd have to age it a few months, and I was fine with that. Anyways, 7 Bottles, then a bit of tomato paste and yeast energizer. Added water until the temperature was about 75 before I pitched the yeast. I activated the yeast first for about 15 minutes in some 100 degree water with a little sugar. It was definitely bubbling. It's been over a week and still not bubbling. I used EC-1116 yeast (not 1118). Yeast definitely was working.. and I can see evidence there are bubbles at the top of my carboy, but it wasn't bubbling out of the airlock. There appears to be some sort of tan sediment on the bottom. Temperature is about 75 degrees.. I put a sweater around the carboy to keep it warm, as before it was about 68. After four or five days I added the yeast energizer and tomato paste to give it a kick. And I stirred it with a sanitized wand. I got like.. two bubbles out of it, but nothing else. The starting gravity was 1.072.

Thoughts I'm considering: Purchase another kind of yeast... and add that with some real yeast nutrient... And or, add sugar. I'm also doing a batch of Rum and it's working perfectly.. in the same room.

Wish me luck..

[cuginosgrizzo]

What is the ingredient list of the agave nectar? It might have preservatives in it

[chris173]

Thank you for the reply! The only ingredient was "Organic Raw Blue Agave Nectar" ...

[Snackson]

I made a similar wash recently and stripped it the other night. Got 3 gallons of low wines out of 10 gallons wash. I used DADY for the yeast and kept temp in the 80s. I would check ph and bring temp up some.

[chris173]

I don't have anything to check PH levels.. I had a heating pad under it the last 3 days and it was like.. 79, was getting scared it might be too hot. Then again, it's not doing anything else. That's so exciting snackson to get 3 gallons of this. very cool. How much of that DADY Yeast would you recommend for a 3 gallon wash? I'll overnight some.. Going to florida in 12 days so I want this fermented asap

[chris173]

Just ordered some... Will be here Friday. I'll see if that makes a difference. Any other ideas are welcome!

[Snackson]

I don't have anything to check PH levels.. I had a heating pad under it the last 3 days and it was like.. 79, was getting scared it might be too hot. Then again, it's not doing anything else. That's so exciting snackson to get 3 gallons of this. very cool. How much of that DADY Yeast would you recommend for a 3 gallon wash? I'll overnight some.. Going to florida in 12 days so I want this fermented asap

I'll be lucky to get a gallon of product after the spirit run. I can't taste/smell too good right now with a cold but will keep you posted. My ph crashed and one bucket took 2 weeks to ferment while the other was done in 4 days. Just use some regular bakers. I used the Dady cause I was out of bakers. If the temp is in 80s and bakers doesn't take off, I would throw some calcium pills or calcium carbonate in it to up the ph.

Edited to add that I meant a gallon of 40% when all the cuts are made.

[chris173]

But the bakers yeast doesn't yield hardly anything in comparison to wine yeast or distillers yeast. I'll see if I have any calcium pills or something. I'll turn the heating pad on again.

Edit: Oh I see. Yeah that's like.. 5-10% ABV. I'm hoping to get up to 10 or 15%.

[skow69]

But the bakers yeast doesn't yield hardly anything in comparison to wine yeast or distillers yeast.
Yeast is yeast. Yield is determined by how much sugar is fermented.

I'll see if I have any calcium pills or something. I'll turn the heating pad on again.
Yeast activity doubles with every 10oC increase in temperature. 90oF won't hurt anything with bakers or DADY.

Edit: Oh I see. Yeah that's like.. 5-10% ABV. I'm hoping to get up to 10 or 15%.
I'm not sure what you are referring to, but the ABV of the wash, like yield, depends on how much sugar gets fermented. SG of 1.072 gives you potential alcohol content of approximately 9.4%.

[rubber duck]

So you just chucked a packet of wine yeast on a 1.072 wash and your wondering why it's not fermenting?

Most guys here are kinda tired of answering the same questions over and over. You've obviously not done any homework and dumped a bunch of money into some crappy surup you think is going to be easy. I've taken a long break so I'll be kind.

You have a high gravity wash and a little bit of yeast. Yeast doesn't multiple well in a high gravity wash,"I could wright you a paper on why it doesn't but you wouldn't read it so just take my word on it". You need more yeast, do a quart low gravity starter 2-3 days in advance and pitch that on your high gravity wash that's going to taste like crap because you over stressed the yeast.

The other thing is your not going to make good racillia with out agave hearts, and the correct rocks roasted with the correct wood.

[chris173]

I agree yield has a lot to do with sugar quantity. As for the yeast is yeast thing.. why would some yeast say specifically that it can go up to 12% alcohol like some wine yeasts. And DADY can go up to 20.. to 22%. I've read that it depends on the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. I had bakers yeast in my Rum wash and fermentation stopped a week ago. I did another reading with my hydrometer and it had a ton more sugar in it. So I switched to D47 yeast and it's been very active ever since. heating pad has been on all night and no activity. So strange... Same tap water on both the rum wash and the tequila wash and the tequilas not doing anything :-( When I shake it around a little (not in a way to add air bubbles I think) Carbon dioxide does come up to the top and the airlock does bubble a little. But the activity level is nothing otherwise.


rubber duck: I'd never heard that a gravity of 1.072 was too high for yeast... I appreciate you being kind rather than rude... Everyone's a beginner some time, and in the states the resources available like a real tutor are nearly impossible to find. My rum was about the same gravity, but is running great. I know this won't taste like genuine tequila, but It is just a fun experiment.

[skow69]

why would some yeast say specifically that it can go up to 12% alcohol like some wine yeasts. And DADY can go up to 20.. to 22%. I've read that it depends on the alcohol tolerance of the yeast.

Those numbers are the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. That means that the yeast will always die at or above that concentration of alcohol. They cannot tolerate any more. In reality, getting anywhere near those numbers requires near-perfect laboratory conditions. The amount of alcohol you get in your wash is determined only by how much sugar is fermented. The yeast will continue to consume sugar and produce alcohol as long as conditions permit and sugar is available. When the sugar is gone, alcohol production stops. So the trick is to make sure the yeast have favorable conditions (temperature, pH, nutrients) until they consume all the sugar.

This is how we know that 1.072 SG gives you the possibility of 9.4% ABV maximum. That is what you will get if the yeast eat all the sugar.

Get some litmus paper and test your pH.

[rad14701]

chris173, it's the nutrients that allow some yeasts to ferment to extremely high gravity/%ABV... Even bakers yeast can go quite high... I've pushed Fleischmann's to over 19% on more than one occasion using a witches brew of nutrients... Turbo yeast is just a lot of yeast with massive proportions of nutrients... But just because you "can" doesn't mean you "should"...

[chris173]

Okay so heres what ive done. I got a good starter again made with yeast nutrients i just purchased as well as standard bakers yeast. Then i diluted the entire wash down to 1.052. I had another 1 gallon carboy. Ill let yall know if i get an improvement.

[chris173]

I also bought a PH test strip set. I know they aren't the most reliable. The set only goes up to a PH of 5, and it says it's a 5 or higher. So that would mean it's probably very close to a PH of 7 like water. Being that it has wine yeast in it... I don't think that should be an issue.

[MtnView]

Somehow the math isnt working for me. 7 bottles of agave in 3 gallon wash = 1.072?

[chris173]

Theyre small bottles.. two were 12 oz and the rest were 16 ounces i believe.

[Pesty]

You woke up your yeast with warm water and sugar.. Sugar is pure Sucrose.

Read that again and then know that yeast take 7 generations to work with a new sugar.

You pitched that yeast starter with a hunger for sucrose into a wash made from Fructose..

Your agave syrup is "high fructose syrup"

[chris173]

Just wanted you to see the initial hydrometer reading. Anyways. Since I repitched with some DADY yeast I activated with agave and warm water, the stuff has been going great. Still going which is a little surprising. But i'm sure it will be done in a day or two. I am very pleased with the assistance I got. Thank you everyone.

[skow69]

Well right on Pesty! Good job. I love it when I get to learn something new.

[MtnView]

Well right on Pesty! Good job. I love it when I get to learn something new.

+1 skow

chris

[midnightmaraude]

I realize this thread is kind of done but I have to say I have made a mescal similar to the OP. Instead, my sg is 1.085 and I use regular active yeast. I mix my agave syrup (about a gallon) sugar, tomato paste and water to 100 degrees. I pitch 6 packets of yeast on the top and let it sit til it foams up then mix in.

It always go to 1.00 or lower and comes out tasting great.

[midnightmaraude]

So I just purchased a 5 gallon 55lb drum of premium dark amber blue agave extract. Going to make a 100% tequila.
Did some reading. Not all agave is processed by cooking in wood. Much of it is done in autoclaves (pressure cookers).

[Stonesryan]

OP: Curious what your final gravity was after implementing the changes?