Question on aeration

[gonzoflick]

I making my first sugar mash and I don't have a air stone. This will be a 5 gallon mash and I was planning on shaking the hell outta my carboy after I pitch the yeast. I've do this with beer all the time and it works.

I know that high gravity mashes need a ton of oxygen so can i just aerate every day for a couple days or you think once would be enough.

The only problem I could foresee is the oxidation, which I know is a problem with beer wort but wasn't sure if it affected something that was going to be distilled.

Thanks in advance.

[Uncle Jesse]

rather than shake it I'd like to see you pour it from one container to another 3 or 4 times which should do the trick for you.

[junkyard dawg]

I usually just make a thick syrup with the sugar and spray the rest of the water through the sprayer on the kitchen sink. It'll get plenty of Oxygen that way. I've stuck a hose over the end of a cutting torch and used that for bubbling oxygen into mashes too. Both work fine for me. I'm too lazy for much heavy lifting and pouring...

[GilesCorey]

I use a long shaft stainless steel paint stirrer mounted in an electric drill.

Dump the sugar and 4 litres of boiling water into a 25 litre barrel, top it up with cold water then whizz it with the stirrer until its dissolved. This takes only a couple of minutes and the wash is fizzing like champagne by the time its done. Then pitch the hydrated yeast and I usually get the first bubbles in the airlock within the hour.

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

i like jesse would hate to see you drop a carboy. plus if your carboy is full of liquid, wheres the O2 comin from to get in your wash?

Theres a multitude of ways to get O2 into your wash. I use an aquarium pump with a piece of 3/16" copper bent into a cane so it will stay at the bottom and the air has to go thru the mash bottom to top. All of the ways mentioned will do the trick.

[Uncle Jesse]

Sanitize another carboy and pour it from carboy to carboy using a funnel 3 or 4 times, that'll do the trick nicely.

[birdwatcher]

*Note procedure and good luck with your wash. G


My Sugar Wash


Equipment:

My fermenter is a Rubbermaid 106 liter opaque white storage container with lid.
In Canada, available at Canadian Tire.

Four 23 liter wine carboys

Four air locks.

Hydrometer

2" bottomless styrofoam box, with cover, large enough to cover fermenter or 4 carboys.

Wallplug, lightbulb socket connected to electrical cord.

digital thermometer

Stir stick

Syphoning tube

********

My recipe for an 80 liter wash. Ingredients as follows:

3 cups tomato paste

Juice 3 lemons

Approx. 18 kg sugar

225 grams fresh regular bakers yeast. Buy in bulk at any good health food store.

water(I use spring well water)

Procedure:

Keep careful notes from start to finish for future reference.

Carefully mix paste, juice, say 14 kg sugar with 60 liters water at 30C. Measure SG.
(you are aiming for 1.09)

Carefully add water and sugar to bring mixture to 80 liter, WITH A SG 1.09.
Temperature of finished mixture should be 30C-35C to start.

You should now have 80 liters of mixed ingredients.

Carefully sprinkle 225 grams of yeast over surface, stirring in.
Place cover loosely, to let CO2 escape, keeping flying nasties out.
There is so much CO2 coming off; there is no need to worry about oxygen coming in contact.

Place bottomless styrofoam box over fermenter. Dangle lit lightbulb through small
hole in lid. Bulb must be strong enough to keep the mixture at a steady range of
30C-35C for entire fermentation. Size of bulb depends on room temperature. Stick
your digital thermometer through side of box to track inside temperature.

{A good idea would be to set up with water a day before you begin wash to determine
the size of light bulb to maintain water/wash in the 30-35C range.}



Check SG and temperature daily

Stir daily******

On day three, syphon contents evenly into four 23 liter airlocked carboys.
(This step may not be nessesary and I may at some future date simply take the wash from start
to finish in the unairlocked storage container)

Check SG and temperature daily




Shake carboys gently daily.******

After a total of 7-8 days SG should be .995. If not, wait until completion.


Note: After ten years of making 95% ethanol, and fine tuning my recipe after lots of
suggestions from people on this forum, this is what works for me. I'm always fine
tuning and welcome any comments or suggestions.

If any points above are not clear or you have questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers,

G

[gonzoflick]

sounds like a pain going from one big fermenter to four carboys. Why not just go straight to the carboys? Also it doesn't look like you boil your sugar/water at all. Doesn't this help the sugar dissolve into the water?

[Dog Meat]

This is the one to get.

http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.a ... umber=4666" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Use a good drill on low speed about a minute with just 1/4 full, and another 30 seconds when the melted sugar goes in.

If you boil/melt the sugar into the water, you can sprinkle the yeast very evenly across the top and come back in about a week. A good hot fresh yeast should bubble within 6hrs providing you mixed enough oxygen in and had the correct levels of nutrient etc. Dying yeast carries the process to the bottom just fine.

If you dump it from the bag you have to keep messing around with it, or whatever the recipie says.

Real difference is the first way is fast with no more messing around.

[dog1976]

I use 4 gallons of 105 degree tap water in the fermenter, than add the 18 lbs. of sugar.
I stir untill the sugar is disolved.
Then I add cold water till the 6.5 gallon mark and stir.
Next I pitch the turbo yeast and stir.
Put the lid on and after 5 days it is about 985

I do not aerate, and it completely ferments.
If you boil your water than you should aerate. Boiling your water will remove most of the oxygen.
You also should not aerate after the ferment has started.

[birdwatcher]

sounds like a pain going from one big fermenter to four carboys. Why not just go straight to the carboys? Also it doesn't look like you boil your sugar/water at all. Doesn't this help the sugar dissolve into the water?

Dog answered your question re boiling i.e. hot water will do the trick. As for the pain; I want a uniform wash to go into the four carboys.

As I pointed out, probably I could leave the whole wash in the container for the duration. Just have not tried it yet as my present procedure works like a damn.

Good luck with your wash and have a good day all.

G

[hornedrhodent]

I know that high gravity mashes need a ton of oxygen so can i just aerate every day for a couple days or you think once would be enough.

The only problem I could foresee is the oxidation,

Dont aerate every day - oxygen allows the yeast to multiply but not to make ethanol. One good aeration to allow the yeast to multiply and then run out of oxygen and start making ethanol, is the way to go!

[bourbonbob]

I pour in 10 litres of hot water, disolve 6 kilos of sugar, add 15 liters of cold water, add Turbo Gold yeast at 30c, give it a good stir with a large SS spoon, put the lid on and it's done in 4 days.... = 25 litres of 14% in 4 days..

[triggernum5]

The best way to start yeast for this would be a staged starter.. Take whatever comcepts from this idea you feel inclined to..

Oops, I forgot the air output in the pic.. Works best if similar to input.. And a warmer.. BTW, all the filtration is useless if you don't sterilize everything and work near an open flame..
The staged starter works like this for a 5g packet..
Mix up 200mL very weak version or wort with some nutes..
For x = 1 to num_stages
- Pitch into this stage
- Put into farm rig-up for ~24h+a bit more each stage..
- Mix 10*prev_stage_volume slightly stronger wort, approaching final wort SG
Next x
The presence of zinc promotes healthier replication btw..
If done well, the starter should end up containing ~250-300 million cells/mL, so add a litre or so of that to a 5gallon wash, and make sure you're set up to clean up any overflows..