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Re: Gerber

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 12:35 pm
by huckdaddy
Finished preparing a wash about an hour and a half ago - this is my third time on this recipe, 4th run total. I am noticing a strong sulfur smell coming from the carboy. My recipe was as follows:

5 gallons h2o
18 cups sugar
3.5 cups gerber rice cereal
3 oz. fleischmans yeast
2 pinches epsom salt

Boiled a gallon of h2o with sugar for approximately 30 min. Poured 4 gallons cold h2o into carboy, then added 1/2 gal inverted sugar water. Added gerber to the other 1/2 gallon hot sugar water in pot, stirred in until not lumpy then added to carboy. Pitched yeast shortly thereafter. Everything was sterilized.

The only thing I did different this time from last was to use Gerber Rice flavor, before it was Gerber oatmeal flavor. That and adding the epsom salts. This is a new and WAY different smell than I had been getting on the last couple washes, just wanted to see if anyone had any input on whether or not my wash is jacked up somehow. Thanks for any comments.

-Peace-

Huck

Re: Gerber

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 12:54 pm
by The KYChemist
No input on the sulfer smell, but you need lemon juice, citric acid or something comparable to invert the sugar. I use 1oz lemon juice per pint/pound of water and sugar. You need that acid to break down the glucose chains, or so my research here has led me to believe. Ive used just about every type of Gerber out there, and never had a sulfer smell. Ive probablly done about 12 runs.

Re: Gerber

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 1:11 pm
by huckdaddy
Ok. I have seen many posts in this thread where people say they do not use the citric acid though. Could I add it in now? Also, another off-topic question. Are the yeast sensitive to all light, or just UV/sunlight?

Re: Gerber

Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 1:23 pm
by The KYChemist
huckdaddy wrote:Ok. I have seen many posts in this thread where people say they do not use the citric acid though. Could I add it in now? Also, another off-topic question. Are the yeast sensitive to all light, or just UV/sunlight?
As far as I know, it needs to be added during the simmering process. Wouldnt do you any good now. Light sensitivity... Couldn't say...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:27 am
by rad14701
huckdaddy wrote:Ok. I have seen many posts in this thread where people say they do not use the citric acid though. Could I add it in now? Also, another off-topic question. Are the yeast sensitive to all light, or just UV/sunlight?
Adding citric acid to the fermenting wash will only drop the pH, potentially to extremely low levels which could stall or kill the yeast colony... Not properly inverting the sugar isn't the source of the sulfur smell... Wait and see if the smell dissipates... If the wash is fermenting along nicely, just let it go...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:18 pm
by huckdaddy
Thanks for the information. The sulfur smell has all but gone away and the wash is bubbling right along and looking great - I will leave it alone. Next time I will add some citric acid during the sugar simmering stage and see how it goes.

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 6:33 am
by rad14701
huckdaddy wrote:Thanks for the information. The sulfur smell has all but gone away and the wash is bubbling right along and looking great - I will leave it alone. Next time I will add some citric acid during the sugar simmering stage and see how it goes.
Research how to invert sugar... I have posted various methods several times here in the forums... If you're gonna do it, do it right...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 12:38 pm
by huckdaddy
Will do. Thanks again.

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 1:11 pm
by huckdaddy
Rad as I was researching sugar inversion, I developed a couple more questions. I saw in some of your posts that you use the 20-20-20, but this would be unnecessary with the Gerber recipe because the Gerber itself is providing the nutrients, right? Also, just from an opinion standpoint, do you prefer lemon juice or white vinegar for inversion? Thanks.

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 1:23 pm
by rad14701
huckdaddy wrote:Rad as I was researching sugar inversion, I developed a couple more questions. I saw in some of your posts that you use the 20-20-20, but this would be unnecessary with the Gerber recipe because the Gerber itself is providing the nutrients, right? Also, just from an opinion standpoint, do you prefer lemon juice or white vinegar for inversion? Thanks.
For just about any recipe the 20-20-20, or 30-10-10 that I now use, would be optional... It's primary purpose is to give an added boost at the beginning of fermentation to help the yeast colony reach maximum density and switch from aerobic to anaerobic phases sooner... Fleischmanns dry active bakers yeast is one strain that can be coaxed into fermenting while still in the aerobic phase so it has less lag time... The added nitrogen and magnesium sulfate contribute to that aspect of the overall fermentation process... Leave the fertilizer out and your ferments could take a couple extra days, which isn't a problem considering it should ferment to dry in a week or less anyway... The fertilizer was simply included to show novices that you don't need a true turbo yeast to get fast ferments... I only use it about half the time these days...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 6:07 am
by steveangi
Has anyone tried a DADY with this recipe?

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 6:12 am
by rad14701
steveangi wrote:Has anyone tried a DADY with this recipe?
You can use whatever yeast you normally use, just as long as it isn't turbo yeast...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 11:09 am
by stony183
Rad,
I wanna say this recipe is awesome. I did some tweaking myself and i just did 2 7 gallons washes that finished in 36 hrs. After inverting sugars and Gerber formula i crushed a super complex B vit. And added 3/4 teaspoon of Peters 20-20-20 into fermenter. I then used a stone aerator and aerated for 1 min. I then pitched my yeast. This wash went NUTS definitely a winner in my book. I run a a 3 gallon reflux and always get 1 qt of 186 everytime. Very very smooth when cut down. Thanks for all your hard work and letting us know your secrets....

Re: Gerber

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 7:38 pm
by CPT_Slaptacular
Yo everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster!

Rad - You've been a sort of spirit (pun intended) animal of mine. I've followed this recipe many times with great success making neutral, and from that (and Odin's posts) great gins. I did that through your combo Apt still for the longest. Which brings me to me my inquiry...

I'm scaling up! Planning an electric keg (Jimbo's build) with a scale up of the combo still to 1.5" which means more wash. I have myself a 20G fermenter, but does anyone know the approximate yield of the 1G water base recipe? I don't want to make too much to not fit in the keg.

Thanks! Glad not to be in the digital shadow anymore!

-The_Captain

Re: Gerber

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:07 am
by rad14701
CPT_Slaptacular, glad to hear that you are having success with this recipe... Not quite sure I'm getting what you're asking though... Are you talking about total yield, just hearts, or something altogether different...???

If you are striving for neutral spirits than you can easily calculate how much alcohol is in a fully fermented wash... Let's say you have a 20 gallon Gerber wash that fermented to 10%... That would give you 2 gallons of alcohol in a perfect world... However, we never get all of the available alcohol out of the boiler and if your spirits come off at 95% you have 5% that is primarily water... How you run your still and make cuts will determine how much Foreshots, Heads, Hearts, and Tails you end up with... Kinda like asking "How long is a piece of string?"... Too many variables... I know fairly accurately how much of each I'll get by compiling historical data from previous runs and that is something you should start tracking yourself... A little statistical data goes a long ways in helping determine if adjustments to protocols needs to be tweaked and where...

Hope this helps... If not, we'll give it another go...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:26 pm
by The KYChemist
Haven't been around for awhile, but have popped in, every now and then. That's what happens with a new house(Lots of projects), and a now 17 mos old daughter. Well, I decided to try my hand at a second gen run of Gerber. Did everything about like how I normally do. Inverted sugar, etc. Buckets still had my nice yeast/Gerber bed in the bottom. They've been stored in the basement for about a month now. When I opened them, they still smelled as fresh as the day I put the lids on. Added enough water to that, so when I added my sugar syrup, I'd be right at the top. Once the sugar syrup was added, I stirred them gently for a couple of minutes. Skimmed off the floating Gerber from the top, and replaced with fresh Gerber plus a little more. I also added some aquarium heaters. What would've normally taken about 4 days, was taking 7 in the basement. Can't wait for summer, so I can move back to the garage. I'll give them a check before bed, and another in the morning. If they're not going, I'll add some yeast and see what happens. I'll keep this one updated, for everybody.

Re: Gerber

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 9:51 am
by The KYChemist
No activity last night, or this morning. Might be due to the fact I added my sugar syrup while it was still too hot. I'm guessing I killed the yeast colonies, if they werent dead to begin with. Pitched some more yeast this morning, before leaving work. We'll see what I have, when I get home. Using this mainly as a learning experience for multiples generations, when I eventually start using sweet feed. On a side note, the aquarium heaters were working nicely.

Re: Gerber

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:42 pm
by The KYChemist
Everything seems to be chugging along nicely, now. But, I noticed I have more bubbles around my aquarium heaters, compared to the rest if the bucket. Anyone else ever notice this?

Re: Gerber

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 6:24 am
by rad14701
Sounds good, The KYChemist... I have always noticed more CO2 activity near heat sources but have never had any adverse effects because of this... Keep us posted on your progress...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 2:14 pm
by The KYChemist
rad14701 wrote:... Keep us posted on your progress...
Well, things seems to be moving along nicely. I checked my SG yesterday afternoon, and its just about fermented out. Haven't had a chance to check today, but I'm betting my buckets will be done. Next step will be turning off and cleaning the heaters, and letting the buckets cool and settle. Give that a day or two and ill be able to clear the wash proper. The hardest part of doing multiple gens will be finding the time to let the inverted sugar cool. Normally, I only have a 2-3 hour window at night to prepare a wash, clear a wash, etc., when the wife and kiddo are asleep. She's not a big fan of me doing my hobby while "on the clock".

Re: Gerber

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:41 pm
by Sarah916
What's the highest proof you guys have been getting on this recipe? I'm about 20 gallons and 3 runs in and the highest I've been able to get is 124, with an ending of
10-13% wash on average. Is that pretty typical for this wash? I've also done some cornmeal mashes and the highest I've gotten was 134 proof on that. How can I get a higher proof to start?

Re: Gerber

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:55 pm
by Sarah916
Also what are your favorite ways to drink this stuff, keep it clear, oak it, fruit infusions? Would love to hear some suggestions.

I made an 2, 4 gallon batches using the banana oatmeal gerber cereal and it turned a really dark gray color, I'm assuming that's what happens after you cook up the bananas. Has anyone else tried that kind?

Re: Gerber

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 4:50 am
by rad14701
I have used barley, rice, and mixed grain flavors of Gerber and Beech Nut... Those have been pot stilled and refluxed depending on intended use... The colors do vary between the flavors...

Are you pot stilling or refluxing...??? I hit 95% when refluxing and around 79% in hybrid pot still mode as I recall...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 5:25 pm
by Sarah916
I just started last night a second generation of a multi grain cereal batch, heated up a couple gallons of water, 8lbs of sugar, about 6 oz of new cereal and 1 tsp of citric acid. Let it cool to about 100° then added some cool water and dumped it all back in the bucket then filled up to the top. In about 30 mins it was bubbling like crazy. Starting OG was 1.082 which is higher than I usually do. Seems to be going strong we'll see how long it takes to finish out this time around. I just hate throwing anything out that I can use again. Thanks rad for the great recipe seems to work very well, and easy to do!!

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:18 pm
by Poppyvon
I made this yesterday. I used Gerber multi grain as I can't find Barley in any store. Pitched the yeast and aerated. The airlock started bubbling away within 20 minutes. 24 hours later it's stopped bubbling. Should I be worried?

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Re: Gerber

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:27 pm
by rad14701
Poppyvon wrote:I made this yesterday. I used Gerber multi grain as I can't find Barley in any store. Pitched the yeast and aerated. The airlock started bubbling away within 20 minutes. 24 hours later it's stopped bubbling. Should I be worried?
What was your recipe, exactly...??? Did you take a SG reading...???

Gerber no longer offers the Barley flavor... It was discontinued several years ago... Mixed Grain works fine... I've also used Rice flavored...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 4:41 pm
by Poppyvon
rad14701 wrote:
Poppyvon wrote:I made this yesterday. I used Gerber multi grain as I can't find Barley in any store. Pitched the yeast and aerated. The airlock started bubbling away within 20 minutes. 24 hours later it's stopped bubbling. Should I be worried?
What was your recipe, exactly...??? Did you take a SG reading...???

Gerber no longer offers the Barley flavor... It was discontinued several years ago... Mixed Grain works fine... I've also used Rice flavored...
For 2 gallons, 7 cups of sugar, 1 and a half cups of cereal, 4 tbsp. Fleischmann's yeast. Pitched at 94°. SG was 1.069

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Re: Gerber

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 6:54 am
by rad14701
Poppyvon wrote:
rad14701 wrote:
Poppyvon wrote:I made this yesterday. I used Gerber multi grain as I can't find Barley in any store. Pitched the yeast and aerated. The airlock started bubbling away within 20 minutes. 24 hours later it's stopped bubbling. Should I be worried?
What was your recipe, exactly...??? Did you take a SG reading...???

Gerber no longer offers the Barley flavor... It was discontinued several years ago... Mixed Grain works fine... I've also used Rice flavored...
For 2 gallons, 7 cups of sugar, 1 and a half cups of cereal, 4 tbsp. Fleischmann's yeast. Pitched at 94°. SG was 1.069
What is the current SG...??? I have had Gerber ferment to dry and clear in under 36 hours...

Re: Gerber

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 8:08 am
by Poppyvon
No worries. I don't know what happened but it's bubbling away again

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Re: Gerber

Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2016 9:22 am
by newbie1982
Hey rad if I'm going to do a 50 gallon batch do you think I need to scale everything up evenly?