My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

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miket
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My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

It still blup's a big gob of CO2 every 5 seconds and has from the start. Im guessing I should just let it run a full 10 days and run it? Is there anything to gain after 10 days or is it diminishing returns?

This is my recipe I went with and threw together for a mixture of recipes.
5 gallons of water
1 pound corn sugar
8 pounds sugar
1/2 pound malted barley
1 pound 4 oz cornmeal
1 pound raisins
1 pack yeast
2.5 tbs yeast nutrient

I may have went overboard on the amount of sugar but I honestly don't know.

I have a philosophy that if something is going good don't mess with it. I have not opened the fermenter, tested anything with a meter.
I LITFA.

I must say the smell from the air lock smells really good.

Looking for any advice or point out any potential screw up by this greenhorn.
All criticism and advice welcome.

Thanks.
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NZChris
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by NZChris »

It's not any recipe I've ever seen, so good luck.

While it is still bubbling, leave it alone, there is nothing to gain by fiddling with it. If it stops bubbling it might be finished or you might have a leak. Use your hydrometer to check.
Pikey
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by Pikey »

Some interesting traces of flavours there :)

Not too much sugars for a decent yeast, but about as high as you'll want to go really.

What's to gain after 10 days ? - Only flavour and alcohol really .

Leave it be until it's finished 8)
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

The wife is looking at making her first batch rum. Even if I knew how to make rum I would shut up and not tell her anything.
IM no dummy. LOL

My lady is smart, like a doctor or a scientist, we are very nerdy people, Im confident she will do very well.
She has made kombucha, mead and some other concoction. She does pickling and canning.
She makes a beer like mash with corn to feed our chickens.Makes and bakes bread.
Anything she makes will probably be as natural and have as few processed things as possible.

Things like this become a friendly competition between us. Oil painting ,glass blowing, wood carving,wood turning,gardening we try like hell to top each other.

I have no doubt her first batch will be yummy.
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Still Life
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by Still Life »

miket wrote:The wife is looking at making her first batch rum. Even if I knew how to make rum I would shut up and not tell her anything.
Go to Tried & True Recipes.
Some good rums hiding out there. Got a real easy one in my signature too.
miket
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

Thanks, ill show her the recipe.

I found a couple mistakes I have done, Baking yeast might be one but not sure. Used one package maybe why its taking so long.
Dipped a spoon in to taste the wort, OH my, it smells great and taste wonderful. Its got alcohol 5% by my vinometer and the SP guage, not too sure of that.

I wish I had taken a hydrometer reading.when I cooled it off getting it ready for the yeast. Right now after 9 days its at 1.039 and bubbling, going to wait it out.
At least I have that data point now.

I have no idea what its going to be like but its making that area of the house smell very good.

I think if I tweak the recipe ill go with more corn and use Distillers Active Dry Yeast.
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Yummyrum
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by Yummyrum »

If its been Bubbling for a few days then the yeast colony is big enough . Most of us use a lot of Bakers yeast at first but its mainly because its cheap and gets things cracking faster . Its OK to use less .( Picture those little sachets that you sprinkle into a 23 liter Home brew beer kit ) ....it just takes longer to get cracking .

I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry with this wash . Let it do its time . My only suggestion is don't let it get cold .That's when folk seem to have issues and start panicking .

Maybe point your Wifey at this Rum method ....I do it almost the same sometimes with and sometimes without the pressure cleaner .It makes the best Rum I've tasted .http://ww.homedistiller.org/forum/viewt ... =3&t=62258" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

well the SG is down to 1.020 and it bubbles pretty regular after 11 days, dont plan on rushing it.

The wife started her first batch of rum, its thick and bubbling slow but all looks good. SG was 1.130 with the gallon of molasses and the very dark brown sugar.
Turbo rum yeast.

I stared two more 6 gallon ferments of a sugar wash with 17.5 bounds of sugar in 5 gallons, one with dady one with turbo 8 yeast.
Going to have them as a side by side comparison, not going to use them for drink but more as a solvent/fuel.

We also fired up 3 gallons of apricot wine.

So all together we have 23 gallons a brewing, the house smells nice to me, I like the flavors in the air.

The wife is loving this,she is doing research like mad, she is super smart so its a good challenge. So much to learn. Its summer and hot as the devil outside. this is a fun thing to do.

This is one of those things I am kicking myself "Why did I not start this 20 years ago?" Ahhggghhhh...

:D
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Yummyrum
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by Yummyrum »

Sounds like you and the Mrs are having a ball :thumbup:

Summer is a great time to make Rum . Nice hot temps over 30 degC will make some very nice Rum ....just keep it under 40 degC :thumbup:
My All mollases Rum washes start around 1.120-1.130 so I am supprised that a sugar / mollasses wash is that high especially without any Dunder .
Still , be interesting to see how it ends up . Never bothered to use Turbo Rum washes ....I normally just use Bread yeast which is perfect for Rum .Have tried EDV46 Rum yeast but didn't see any real magic compared to the Bread yeast.

I hope your Mrs is doing her research on Forums like this and not on You-tube and the likes as there is a lot of miss-leading bullshit on there .
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

As far as youtube we do like George from barleyandhopsbrewing.com . he makes pretty good educational videos.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCatCie ... eKXzBomVMQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by Pikey »

He seems to have flogged the site to a guy called "Ray" now.
miket
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

This batch is now at 1.009 SG, not too sure when to run it but I'm sure wanting to start a new batch.

Eh.. no rush, its going to be 100+ for the next week so i will have to do it in the evening if i do run it.
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by NZChris »

If you are in a hurry to get another ferment down, get another fermenter.
miket
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

I went and got 2 more going, the wife has a 5 gallon and a 3 gallon going. I do think getting even more buckets going or barrels.
I stared two more 6 gallon ferments of a sugar wash with 17.5 bounds of sugar in 5 gallons, one with dady one with turbo 8 yeast.
Going to have them as a side by side comparison, not going to use them for drink but more as a solvent/fuel.
I do want to run the still,got my burner, propane and water pump, jugs of ice in the freezer, we are ready to roll when the batch is done.

I will turn that fermenter around right away and get it on new load. Stick to that fermener to flavors like whiskey. the other two for fuel.

I calculated the first run has gained 4% alcohol since my first reading at day 9, six days later. Its pretty much done. That bread yeast has to get drunk someday.
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

Ran it in my still tonight tossed the forshots on the ground, Got about 8 ounces of heads, 3 pints of hearts (152 proof) and about 8 ounces of tails.

Super impressed , a very tasty Whiskey. :) AT the end the still just stopped making anything after about 3.5 hours so I shut it down.

It was educational and fun. Did not even burn much propane. Cornmeal makes a mess in the fermenter but it was tasty.
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Still Life
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by Still Life »

Congratulations!

I suggest a Tried & True Recipe for your next.
Flying solo is great. But if you hit a snag, a Tried & True is easier to troubleshoot.

Glad this came out well. Enjoy!
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by NZChris »

Foreshots are great for cleaning, just label them properly so that nobody mistakes them for drinking liquor.
miket
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

NZChris wrote:Foreshots are great for cleaning, just label them properly so that nobody mistakes them for drinking liquor.
Good idea, it did have a bit of an odor though. might be fine for outdoor cleaning.
Still Life wrote:Congratulations!

I suggest a Tried & True Recipe for your next.
Flying solo is great. But if you hit a snag, a Tried & True is easier to troubleshoot.

Glad this came out well. Enjoy!
Yes I like the whiskey and I think my raisins gave it a tiny bit of wine taste, the cornmeal made straining the mash a headache even though the flavor was great.
I want to do a rich flavored whiskey .

I used a thumper. I think it make things take a few minutes longer to get rolling. It had a couple shots in it I put in with the heads/tail jar. to be rerun later or to spike the thumper.

My burner made a bit more carbon then I would like, its a cheap cast iron Cajun injector turkey fryer burner. I had the air wide open trying to get a better oxidizing flame chemistry but I think the burner is just a cheapo. I will get a better burner and also make an orifice for natural gas as I can pull a natural gas hose from the glass blowing studio.

I probably could have been greedy and ran longer but I felt the product coming out was poop compared to what it was making. I should have run it a bit longer for some low wines.

I guess in the quest for quality you have to accept some loss/waste and just keep the good stuff. :)
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by Still Life »

miket wrote:..I guess in the quest for quality you have to accept some loss/waste and just keep the good stuff. :)
Absolutely. Leave greed for the commercial distillers.
You want the best of the best.
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by still_stirrin »

Still Life wrote:
miket wrote:..I guess in the quest for quality you have to accept some loss/waste and just keep the good stuff. :)
Absolutely. Leave greed for the commercial distillers.
You want the best of the best.
:clap: :thumbup:
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

I started 2 6 gallon buckets a week ago plain sugar wash.same everything but the yeast

#1 turbo yeast SG 1.132 17.5 pounds of sugar. Crazy but it chugged like mad and is at 1.002 shooting for a fuel/solvent grade.
Thrilled with this bucket. I did what the turbo yeast directions said.


#2 DADY SG 1.132 2-1/2 TBS yeast, 2-1/2 TBS nutrient 17.5 pounds of sugar. is at 1.130 a week later.

Any advice for fermenter #2? I screwed this up.

I just gave it a yeast boost and more nutrient an hour ago.

Add some calcium carbonate?

Split it into two and water it down?

Start an ant colony in the driveway?

Is this the right forum for I screwed this up? :D
miket
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by miket »

OK I found the dummy guide. The answers are here somewhere.

SG of 1.130 is too much , I need to get down to 1.090.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 5#p7271807
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Re: My first wash is a week old and bubbling

Post by cranky »

miket wrote:Any advice for fermenter #2? I screwed this up.
I say split it, water it down and hope for the best, if it fails, dump it, do another one but follow the birdwatchers or all bran recipe and keep the SG reasonably low. High SG stresses yeast and causes off flavors.
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