Fermax sugar wash

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m314
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Fermax sugar wash

Post by m314 »

I'm still fairly new at this. I've tried a few of the "tried and true" recipes with great success so far. Uncle Remus rice vodka, birdwatchers, deathwish wheat germ, a batch of rum I have going now.

A couple weeks ago I decided to try a 6 gallon wash with sugar and Fermax (yeast nutrient) along with bakers yeast. I noticed it smelled awful as soon as it started fermenting. I ran it through the pot still tonight. After the first distillation, it's concentrated awfulness. It might be the worst smelling and tasting liquor I've ever experienced. I'll run it through the reflux column at some point to try to remove the flavor.

Also, Uncle Remus rice vodka is awesome if you use white rice. I tried a 6 gallon batch with black rice from the Asian market. Bad idea. I have 6 quarts of low wines from the first distillation, only I'm afraid to open the jars to let the smell out. Black rice is evil in general and should not be fermented.
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Kegg_jam
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by Kegg_jam »

Well, how much fermax and what was the starting gravity? Any PH buffer?

Perhaps the yeasties took a nice ole poop in your drink.
m314
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by m314 »

I used 10 pounds of sugar, 5 teaspoons of fermax, 1 teaspoon of citric acid, and 5 teaspoons of baker's yeast with enough water to fill up a 6 gallon carboy. I didn't measure the starting gravity. I ran it at 0.990 after the bubbles had slowed down to maybe one every 10 minutes.

I was hoping this would be a cheap and easy way to make a good neutral. It worked; I mean it all fermented in a reasonable time. It just smells and tastes awful after the first distillation.

I don't know if it will help, but I've added a teaspoon of baking soda to each of the 6 quart jars of low wines. I'll let it sit for a few days, then I'll run it through the reflux column along with the black rice low wines.
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flyweed
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by flyweed »

think maybe you had an infection possibly? I've used fermax in various hard ciders, wine, and even a couple beers. Never had any issues with using it. I don't think it would cause any issues.
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m314
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by m314 »

It might have been an infection. I noticed a strong sulfur smell within an hour of pitching the yeast. All my other ferments have smelled good when they were first getting started. My kitchen smells like a bread bakery these days. I didn't sample this one through the whole process, but the wash tasted awful yesterday and the once run "vodka" smells and tastes awful.

I just opened the fermax bag to smell it. It seems nice. I don't know how something with a pleasant scent could produce something so bad, unless it was an infection.
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Kegg_jam
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by Kegg_jam »

I never had any problem with fermax but did have a ferment go all sulfur'y once with ec1118.
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by m314 »

Has anyone here tried a simple sugar wash with fermax as the only nutrient? I made this batch just like Birdwatchers but with fermax instead of tomato paste. I might have posted this in the wrong place if the result was from an infection and not the fermax.

I probably won't try it again. I was just curious to see if it would work. Right now I've got 3 buckets of Birdwatchers going plus 2 buckets of rum wash, 4 buckets of Deathwish wheat germ wash, and 2 carboys of apple cider. I might be overdoing it a little but it's fun.
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T-Pee
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by T-Pee »

m314 wrote:Right now I've got 3 buckets of Birdwatchers going plus 2 buckets of rum wash, 4 buckets of Deathwish wheat germ wash, and 2 carboys of apple cider. I might be overdoing it a little but it's fun.
You're kidding, right? Gotta build up stock to age, man. Get with it!

tp
m314
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by m314 »

Image

Two buckets of Birdwatchers in the back left, rum in the front left, and Deathwish wheat germ on the right. 8 gallons each. 64 gallons ought to be enough for anyone.

The 6 gallon bucket of Birdwatchers and the 2 6 gallon carboys of cider aren't in this pic.
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T-Pee
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by T-Pee »

m314 wrote:64 gallons ought to be enough for anyone.
You'll be surprised when you find out it really isn't. ;)

tp
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Euphoria
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by Euphoria »

Wow, I only have 4 eight gallon fermenters right now. It looks like I'm gonna have to stock up on about a half dozen more to keep up. :lol:
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by DAD300 »

64 gallons of ferment, say 10% = about 8 gallons of drink...always have a ferment going...
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m314
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by m314 »

T-Pee wrote:
m314 wrote:64 gallons ought to be enough for anyone.
You'll be surprised when you find out it really isn't. ;)

tp
I'm already planning on upgrading. :) I was thinking of getting a fleet of Rubbermaid brute trash cans, or some of those 30 or 40 gallon restaurant supply buckets. The thing is, I can only run 6 gallons at a time with my current setup. I'm also pretty much out of space in my apartment.

I'm moving to a bigger place in a few months so I'll have more room for booze and my plants. I'll upgrade to a keg boiler to run bigger batches once I have more space.
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by rad14701 »

I'm not confident that Fermex is balanced enough in nutrients to be the only source for sugar, water, and yeast... Enough to put the yeast into hyper-mode but not enough to keep the colony healthy for the long haul...
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Re: Fermax sugar wash

Post by Fills Jars Slowly »

I went at distilling backward from the way lots of people do when starting out. Since I am an all grain beer brewer, I started with all grain mashes for distilling, of which I now have many of all kinds under my belt. Recently, I decided to modify my 4 inch modular plated column (flute) to attempt to make neutral for the first time. I started experimenting with feints from various all grain distillations, and made some pretty good stuff at 95% abv. To continue experimenting, I wanted to do a very easy sugar wash that I could whip up in a few minutes rather than spending hours mashing grain.

Long story short, I found that a very simple recipe of sugar and Fermax works just fine, so I think the OP's experience with a nasty Fermax wash had little to do with the Fermax and was the result of an infection. I think the OP decided the same thing.

My result: Original Gravity = 1.077, Final Gravity = .990, for an ABV of about 11.5%. I let the fermentation go for 10 days, just because I was out of town for a few days toward the end and could not check it. It was cleared after 10 days, and likely was completely fermented by about 7-8 days. Not the fastest fermentation possible, but very acceptable to me. The flavor of the wash is dry and neutral, very good for my purposes.

My totally unoriginal recipe (can post in the recipe section if anybody thinks its a good idea):
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Super Easy Fermax Sugar Wash

Makes a 6 gallon wash. I make two of these at a time (2 buckets worth) to make up a 12 gallon boiler charge.
All the ingredients are available either at the grocery store or from Amazon or from your local home brew supply.

---- Ingredients ----
- 7.8 gallon beer/wine fermentor bucket with lid and airlock
- Star-San sanitizer in a spray bottle
- Drill driven paint stirrer for mixing
- 5.5 gallons or so of tap water
- 10 lb. bag of granulated white sugar
- 1/4 Campden tablet, crushed (removes chloramines from tap water)
- 2 Tablespoons Fermax
- 1/4 cup DADY (dry active distiller's yeast)

---- Procedure ----
1. Sanitize a fermenter bucket and lid by spraying them thoroughly with Star-San.
2. Add the sugar and Fermax and Campden tablet to the bucket and fill with water from the tap to 6 gallons while vigorously stirring to dissolve sugar and aerate wash.
3. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of distiller's yeast across the top of each bucket and cover.
4. Ferment at 75F-80F until complete. Optionally, refrigerate the finished wash for a day or two to help settle and clear the wash.
5. Decant clear wash off of sediment into boiler and distill with reflux for neutral spirit.

---- Notes ----
This recipe gives a starting gravity of 1.077 and finishes about 0.990 for an ABV of 11.5%. It should ferment dry within a week or so.

Fermax yeast nutrient contains DAP, MgSO4, yeast hulls, B vitamins, and calcium salts. The BSG website adds that it is a balanced blend of minerals, proteins, amino acids, and vitamins. This is supposed to cover all the nutrients necessary for fermentation, and my results indicate this is true.

This wash takes about 10 minutes to put together from start to finish and requires no heating, cooling, or precision measuring. Sugar comes standard in 10 lb bags. Aside from that you need a tablespoon measure and a 1/4 cup measure. You don't have to use the paint stirrer, but it makes dissolving the sugar and aerating at the same time a breeze. Note the lack of pH adjustment (and my tap water has a pH of about 8.4), lack of inverting the sugar, or any other steps that might enhance the recipe. This method is optimized for simplicity and ease.

Per 6 gallons of wash:
Cost: Sugar = $5, Yeast = $0.82, Fermax and Campden tablet = $0.75 per 6 gallon batch. Total = $6.57
Yield: Approximately five 750ml bottles at 80 proof, for a total cost of about $1.31 per bottle.

If you use baker's yeast from the grocery store in place of the DADY the cost for yeast drops to about 16 cents per batch. I use DADY as it tends to floculate better for a clearer wash post fermentation, and I think it is more neutral than baker's. Many people use nothing but baker's yeast with zero complaints.
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