sugar receipe

Sugar, and all about sugar washes. Where the primary ingredient is sugar, and other things are just used as nutrients.

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allen42
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sugar receipe

Post by allen42 »

what is the best , cheapest plain jane sugar mash receipe ? i have made wine & now i am fixing to try my hand at making something stronger , any ideas on the simplest wash to use with a reflux
LeftLaneCruiser
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Post by LeftLaneCruiser »

The best will probably be to buy a package of Turbo-yeast and follow the instructions on that.

The cheapest would be 5 kg sugar, 20 ltrs of water, bakers yeast, can of tomatoe paste. Dissolve sugar in warm water, add cold water to a total of about 20 ltrs, add tomatopaste, add yeast. Stirr well. Let ferment till finished.

Good luck.

KJH
allen42
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Post by allen42 »

Thanks alot left lane ! I will check with the wine shop tomorrow & see if they have the turbo yeast ,,

anyone else have a good simple sugar wash receipe ?
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Post by Grayson_Stewart »

I don't think you will find anything more simple than the directions on a turbo pack.
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Post by knuklehead »

You got that right Grayson. With turbo's there is no need for nutrient or acid. So it basically sugar water and dump in a pack of yeast. That's almost not even a recipe its so simple, lol :lol:
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Post by Grayson_Stewart »

Now that I think about it, there may be more wording in the directions on a box of Jell-o than on a turbo pack.
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Post by AkCoyote »

What everyone else said. Just my 2 cents worth :wink:

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Post by knuklehead »

@allen, What we are all basically saying is that making a sugar wash is not really a recipe at all. If you are using a turbo yeast then it is even less a recipe. All you have to do is make sure your initial gravity is something your yeast can handle and then pitch in your yeast, close the fermenter and attach your airlock. That's it. When you have decided what yeast you want to use or what yeast you have available to you then let us know and we will all do are best to give you helpful advise. If you are using turbo yeast the instructions are on the packet. If you want to use a wine yeast let us know what kind. If you want to use bakers yeast post that as well and someone will let you know how to proceed in making your wash.
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Post by allen42 »

turbo yeast it will be then ! that is , if the wine shop has it , they are closed on mondays , so i will check with her today !

my still is all but complete YIPPIEEEEEEEEEE,, we got the copper part ALL but finished sunday night , & my boiler is away getting the top cut out & stainless bolts welded on so i can attach the bowl , i should be able to pick it up this week though


with the turbo yeast , does it have to be airlocked ? or could i use my food grade plastic buckets & cover with plastic wrap ?

thanks for all the imput !!
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Post by nzbourbonhead »

allen42 wrote:turbo yeast it will be then ! that is , if the wine shop has it , they are closed on mondays , so i will check with her today !

my still is all but complete YIPPIEEEEEEEEEE,, we got the copper part ALL but finished sunday night , & my boiler is away getting the top cut out & stainless bolts welded on so i can attach the bowl , i should be able to pick it up this week though


with the turbo yeast , does it have to be airlocked ? or could i use my food grade plastic buckets & cover with plastic wrap ?

thanks for all the imput !!
with the fastest turbos pays to just have a a lid lightly fitted lid as it generates a lot of gas in the first 12 to 24 hours
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allen42
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Post by allen42 »

ok got the turbo yeast , its called *still spirits* turbo yeast , says it completes in 3-4 days ,, just need to put it all together & get it clean !!

thanks so much yall !
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Post by Grayson_Stewart »

Expect it to take about 7 to 9 days to stop off gassing, and a few more to clear. Will clear faster if you place it in a cool area after it has finished fermenting.
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Post by knuklehead »

allen42 wrote: with the turbo yeast , does it have to be airlocked ? or could i use my food grade plastic buckets & cover with plastic wrap ?
Some turbo's will say on the packet if they recommend or don't recommend an airlock. I have always used and airlock on all my turbo washes. It just makes me feel a little more comfortable knowing that no wild airborne bacteria has a chance to infect my wash. When the turbo's are rapidly fermenting and throwing off gas like crazy the chance of anything getting in is not likely. after the ferment has slowed down and it sits around for a while then there is more chance for infection. After I have mixed up my turbo wash I put on the lid and the airlock. Then I take out a roll of packing tape and tape the lid on wrapping the packing tape around several times to make sure that it is on secure. I have never had a lid blow off on me but I have read on this forum that some turbo washes have been known to blow the lid off the fermenter.
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Post by Grayson_Stewart »

I have two turbos going at the present moment and only place a garbage bag over the fermenter (7 gallon bucket) and seal with a rubber band then put a single hole in the top with a toothpick. I've used carboys with locks before and they work fine, I just don't want to have to use a funnel to get all the dissolved sugar in a carboy. I've never had a problem with the garbage bags yet. The CO2 the wash puts off is heavier than air and settles in the fermenter to prevent infection from outside sources.
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damn

Post by Uncle Jesse »

am i the only one who has never done a sugar wash or neutral spirits run? am i missing out?
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Re: damn

Post by nzbourbonhead »

Uncle Jesse wrote:am i the only one who has never done a sugar wash or neutral spirits run? am i missing out?

I think its something everyone should at least try. Especialy seems you have a still that will knock out spirits at 92% Should make a mighty fine tasting vodka. Plus some of the flavourings on the market today can make some mighty fine tasting whiskeys etc. The big advantage is no one that has drunk my flavoured neutral spirit has suffered a hangover yet and most of them have been pretty sloshed on it :)
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Post by Fourway »

I think heavy column still work on sugar washes is very worthwhile persuit. For me its all about the clear spirt for stuff like vodka and for ouzo, gin, absinthe and other re-distilled libations.
I'm ok with the flavorings for making goofy stuff like green banana liqueur but I'm a complete snob about the ones that are supposed to taste like whiskey or rum or tequila.
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Post by Grayson_Stewart »

Uncle Jesse,

I've never done a true all grain, and I feel I'm missing out. Each has it's own benefits. With that said, I think the benefits of a sugar wash are that from a 13 gallon wash, I can get 3/4 of a gallon of sweet tasting heads at 95% to make liquers with..... and still get a little over a full gallon of the cleanest, smoothest alcohol at 95% for vodkas.

Thats over four gallons of 80 proof beverage from a 13 gallon wash. A very good deal for 34 lbs. of sugar and a couple of turbo packs which all together costs me $21.55.

Another plus is that you can make several completly different flavors from a single distillation, whereas it's a little difficult the other way.
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Re: damn

Post by knuklehead »

Uncle Jesse wrote:am i the only one who has never done a sugar wash or neutral spirits run? am i missing out?
Uncle Jesse, what do you do with your NS-Reflux if you have never done neutral? 192 proof sound pretty neutral to me. Are you missing out, well I guess that would depend on the variety you like to drink. I like doing sugar for neutral because you can bring the SG of the wash up really high, strip of all taste and get a huge yield even out of a small wash. I make a little vodka and a lot of liqueurs. Coffee liqueur, Amaretto, Irish Cream and so on. Even if I do a 12 liter wash I can usually end up with 9 750ml bottles of product.
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allen42
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Post by allen42 »

i have done ANY wash ( supprise supprise eh ? ) lol BUT the plain jane suga wash seemed the best way for this rookie .. BUT in making my reflux , i am gonna tig a 2" SS coupling to the bowl that attaches to the boiler & attach my relux with a male adapter , that way , when i get ready for a pot still , just add a male adapter to the pot still & WAAA LAAA ( i hope )
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Post by Josesillo »

LeftLaneCruiser wrote: Stirr well. Let ferment till finished.
how can you tell if the yeast has finished doing it's job?
i have a 20 liter sugar and bakers yeast mash that has been fermenting for about a week now, at the beginning it was bubbling like crazy but it slowed down a few days ago, is it ready now or do i have to wait till it stops at all
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Post by Grayson_Stewart »

Slow is a relative term. As long as a fermentation is off gassing, then it is creating alcohol. There is a certain ratio of alcohol to CO2 that is produces in a fermentation. Someone with a photographic memory will have to supply that number.

As a fermentation reaches it's maximum alcohol percentage that the yeast can handle it will become slower and slower. At some point it's just not worth the wait any longer as production of alcohol has slowed until it is negligible.
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Post by Josesillo »

ok i know some of that, my mash began gassing at a ratio of a buuble every 10 secs and now it gives a bubble every 20 (i measured it with a stopwatch). then do you think it is no longer producing enough alcohol to be worth waiting.
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Post by Grayson_Stewart »

At it's fastest pace it was producing only a bubble every ten seconds? What size bubble? What type vapor lock are you using? Thats a hard question to answer. If your wash is producing a bubble the size of a basketball every 20 seconds let it keep working. :D

What type yeast and wash is it?
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Post by allen42 »

this morning just to see what the hydrometer would show the SG , i checked it , it showed the wash is about the same as water .99 i think , anyway , the bad part is i never checked it before it started , so i dont knwo what it was ,, is it finished ? its only been 2 days & its still bubbling & warm , so i would say NO it aint finished DUH , BUT why is the hydrometer going all the way down ?
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Re: damn

Post by pothead »

Uncle Jesse wrote:am i the only one who has never done a sugar wash or neutral spirits run? am i missing out?
I have tried it, but, with a small potstill, it took 4 times through to get a kinda flavourless spirit. I can't say if you are missing out, untill I try it with a reflux someday.
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Josesillo

Post by Pieterpost »

the higher the alcohol percentage in the wash the more yeast cells will die/stop fermenting. So towards the end of the fermantation it will go slower and slower until it stops or until you decide it's time to distill.

I usually look at the bottom of my barrel. If the layer becomes thicker and thicker (yeast cells) then I know the fermentation is nearing it's end. If you're going for neutral spirits and have a reflux still I have read about people who don't even bother to remove the yeast cell for distilling. Personally I like to wait until most of the yeast cells have settled on the bottom before I distill the wash. Less volatiles, ect.
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Post by FLICK »

I've got a sugar wash on the go ATM... 8kg sugar/20L water/Alcotec 8 yeast.

The Alcotec 8 yeast says on the pack it's a "5 day super yeast" ... I checked the SG after 5 days and it was at 1.... at 7 days it's down to 0.982, (it started at 1.125).. so from the calculations it's at about 18.4% alc... and it hasn't started to clear at all yet, and smells like bananas (is that normal?).

Is it normal for it to take longer than Alcotec claim?

Also... I went to my local brew shop to buy some Alcotec Turbo Klar as recommended here, but the girl there said I wouldn't need it, and they have never sold any of it.... she realy didn't want to sell it to me.... I didn't want to question her to much about it as there were a few other people in the shop :P.

Can anyone take a guess how long I will have to wait for the fermenting to end... and how long it will take to clear on it's own?

I finished my still yesterday and did a test run on water, which all went well... so I'm getting eager to move on :p
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Post by knuklehead »

You can usually count on double what the turbo packets say as a completion time. Once the airlock bubbles have slowed to 1 per minute put it in a cool place. I don't know where you are but I put mine in may garage where it is around 10 C and on the concrete it is even cooler. It will settle out for the most part in a day or two. You don't really need it to settle out completely just make sure you pass it through a coffee filter on the way into the boiler and you will be fine.
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Post by Jaxom »

Grayson, would you mind posting your recipie? I was thinking of using the one posted on the website, I'd end up using 13.xxx lbs of sugar and chamagne yeast. Yours sounds much better.

tia,

Jaxx
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