Hydrometer and stacking

Distillation methods and improvements.

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PureEthanol
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Hydrometer and stacking

Post by PureEthanol »

I'm using a turbo + sugar solution to get a high yield, but I don't want the yeast to "burst". I started out with 5.5 gal of water + 13 lbs sugar, SG=1.080, fermented down to .990. (Abv=11.61%)

I then added another 2.0 lbs sugar, SG=1.001. Four days later, SG=.988. I just added another 3 lbs of sugar + 1 gallon of water for a total volume of ~8 gallons. If I keep stacking on sugar and it is fermenting down, how do I arrive at a final yield number?
Aidas
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Post by Aidas »

Add up how much water you used. Add up how much sugar you used. Determine what the potential alcohol of such a solution would be. If you ferment dry, that's what your yield is.

Aidas
theholymackerel
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Post by theholymackerel »

PureEthanol, I hope ya have good structured packin' and a tall column 'cause the method yer usin' will be sure to produce some "hot" and nasty flavors/smells.

I make saki and often like to brew it strong. When I take it up to the 18 - 22 abv% range I have to make small rice additions every few days like yer doin' with sugar. But this comes with risks... if the yeast becomes even a little stressed it will start producin' LOTS more higher and lower alcohols and nastys. It's very important to keep high abv % ferments on the cool end of the spectrum. Some of my high abv saki fermentations don't end up as tasty as the lower alcohol ones, and I end up havin' to distill them into soju.



The main point I'm tryin' to make here is that high abv % fermentations are of a lower quality then low abv ones and require more work to clean 'em up.
PureEthanol
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Post by PureEthanol »

The yield calc on the main page for 8.16kg into 30.3 L should give me 15.8%. I've heard some bad stuff about the turbos, but I'm hoping staying away from 18-20% and just using one package for a larger volume. Can only distill 5 gallons at one time, recipe yields about 7 gallons. I figure 2 4-gallon runs will get me the best bang for buck without the yeast going south on me.

I'm also curious how far the nutrients in the turbo I'm using (Mile-Hi 48-hour turbo) will take a fermentation. Recipe says 6.5 gallons, but I want more, more, more!
triggernum5
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Post by triggernum5 »

I've never used Turbos sorry, but one suggestion I'd make is to add something to dumb down the likely mediciny flavor.. A top off of brown sugar or mollasses instead of white, will obviously aid with the nutes, and I'm pretty sure the tannins help the drinkability factor because I recently pulled a few similar stunts (dumbed down using household yeast nutes and regular baker's yeast) and I find that strong tea actually makes it semi-enjoyable if you like off tasting gin mixed with cough syrup..:) Mixed with anything else, and unwanted cogeners own the dancefloor.. Oh, and whatever you do, make sure you settle the HECK out of it before stillin' it.. Can't speak on bursting during the ferment, but in my short experience white sugar washes are far less forgiving to yeast in the still than with molasses/demararra etc
Keep the temp lower as your abv in your wash nears the safety threashold and keep close watch on your pH..
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