Sugar wash stuck! Help!

rectifier · Post by **rectifier** » Fri May 06, 2005 10:57 pm

Contents:

1/2 packet EC-1118 cultured overnight (very active culture) before adding
2 tsp Andovin Super Nutrient
1 kg sugar
made up to 4L mixture with potential alcohol reading of 13.5% on my hydrometer

Put it all in a carboy, airlocked it, put it in a room that stays between 20 and 23 degrees. It bubbled quite happily for 2 days and on this third day action has practically stopped and the solution is starting to clear.

It's done, right? To my dismay, the hydrometer is reading the exact same thing it did at the start - nothing happened! I wonder what the yeast was doing during those 2 days of bubbling!

Since it's only a 4L wash I should probably just trash it rather than try to restart. Any suggestions for next time, molasses, raisins, DAP?

Yttrium · Post by **Yttrium** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:19 pm

Well, it is unlikely that there bubbles being formed if the wash wasn't fermenting. A simple way to test if you have made alcohol is to taste a milliliter of your wash. If it isn't sickeningly sweet, then fermentation has occured. If you can't taste any sweetness, then practiclly all the sugar has been fermented out.

Another thing that may have happened is that the first reading with the hydrometer was low. 1 kg of sugar in 4 L of solution should have a potential alcohol of around 15%ABV

(1kg*48%)/(0.8kg/L)/(4L)=15%

Bum Chops · Post by **Bum Chops** » Mon May 09, 2005 12:07 am

hmm that happened with the wash im making now, before the yeast was added it read 12% potential alcohol, after a day it read 13.5%

its bubbling fine now tho

rectifier · Post by **rectifier** » Mon May 09, 2005 11:44 am

My new wash is running a lot better, it's actually bubbling faster than i've ever seen a fermentation go before.
The main differences - molasses and "yeast energiser" (which is mainly DAP, it appears), and keeping the carboy in a 27 degree water bath. The first one was just in the bathroom at 21 degrees.

Pieterpost · Post by **Pieterpost** » Mon May 09, 2005 11:33 pm

rectifier, I believe it wasn't neccessary to add yeast energizer to a molasses wash. Molasses contain enough nutrients by itself.

When I do a molasses wash I only add citric acid, sugar and yeast, water to my molasses. Works like a charm !

rectifier · Post by **rectifier** » Mon May 09, 2005 11:47 pm

Molasses is really only a nutrient/flavor in my wash, it is still mainly sugar. I'm following this "light rum" recipie from the sugar wash page, scaled down to 4L as an experimental batch:

15 lbs (6.8 kg) white sugar
24 oz molasses
5 tbsp yeast nutrient
2 tsp yeast energizer
yeast culture

The sugar is added in stages so as not to strain the yeast. The originator of the recipie claims it has "never failed him, 15-18%, runs fully in 6-8 days" so i'm giving it a shot after my last ferment stuck, so I have something to distill and drink while I plan the next

Is your citric acid for pH adjustment or just to invert sugars? Also, I've heard molasses and molasses/sugar washes produce the least methanol and other heads/foreshots. Do you know if there's any truth in this?

Pieterpost · Post by **Pieterpost** » Tue May 10, 2005 1:43 am

the citric acid is indeed only for adjusting the pH, the yeast inverts the sugar by itself,no need to do that. However I have come across some packages (I think it was called dynamite) which instruct you to do that. I believe it helps the fermentation go quicker, but I am lazy and don't like that procedure.

From my knowledge I thought that sugar washes produce the least methanol. I don't think this is true for a molasses wash. With molasses I personally throw away 50 ml from a 18 liter wash before I start to think about collecting the head fraction. Als I use a lot more molasses (from the top of my head 2 kg (4-5 pound) and only 4,5 kg sugar (10 pounds) because I use baker yeast.

Personally I like a rum with a full body so I collect almost everything from the heads to the tails (up until 92/93 C, depending on taste). Age on oak, add vanilla essence and a smal stick of cinnamon ......lovely