sg 1.000 - OK to "GO"

[Cornbread]

It has been 6 days and yesterday my air lock quit jumping. It was a little cold the night before. I am making "whiskey" with liquid malt. 2 1/2 gallons water & 2 1/2 pounds sugar...1/2 can malt..yeast. Starting sg was 1.050. Today it is 1.000. Should I "GO" with it or try to revive it? All my instincts say go with it & not bother you folks with this question. since I have supposedly 6 1/2 % abv?

[plonker]

When the SG does not change over a couple of days, generally you are done.
But with starting of 1.050 and finishing with 1.000 with your wash.. I think you definitely done..

I like to always taste my wash before doing anything, should taste dry and not sweet.... you can learn an awful lot about fermenting that way.. like tasting beer or wine..

Good luck

[Cornbread]

I forgot to mention that...sorry.....I did taste it and couldn't describe the taste. It was like halfway between sweet and halfway between dry wine. I think I will warm the bucket a little today and see if I can get it "air locking" (new verb) for a lttle while. Thanks so much plonker

But with starting of 1.050 and finishing with 1.000 with your wash.. I think you definitely done.. What does that mean? that that difference is OK?

[plonker]

I always try to push up the temp to about 30C a day or two before I want to run, I will usually clean up any left over sugar.

But with starting of 1.050 and finishing with 1.000 with your wash.. I think you definitely done.. What does that mean? that that difference is OK?


With that amount of sugar and wash, you should get about 9% ABV which is a bit low, which means it will ferment quickly... Check the calculators on the parent site..

The higher the potential ABV the slower it will go..

Hope this helps..

[Cornbread]

2.5 lb sugar made up to 2.7 US gal total volume
should have an SG 1.043 and only require 2.52 US gal of water
and should produce a wash of 6.5 % alcohol


OK that is what I did and what I got, but I should have added more sugar? Am I missing the boat here? (as usual)
Maw said too much sugar will rot ya teeth out!

[rad14701]

How high of a starting specific gravity, or potential %ABV, becomes a personal preference... You just want to stay within the limits of your yeast so your ferments don't stall or drag out for extended periods of time... Happy healthy yeast make fast work of sugar when the wash is within proper temperature range... A wash too hot, too cold, too high or low pH, too high of a %ABV, or not enough nutrients, will slow or stall the ferment...

It's a balancing act... You don't want too little alcohol in the fermented wash or you'll end up with low returns in comparison to your efforts... And you don't want to shoot for too much alcohol in the wash or you can create any of a number of problems for yourself, including stalling or off smells and/or flavors... You should be able to shoot for ~10% when using sugar without running into problems... All grain mashes will generally finish below 10%...

[Cornbread]

That helps...thanks a lot --- I never thought about "staying in the limits of your yeast" (are you making pumpkin pies?) you will get it later...............................

[blanikdog]

I wouldn't take a lot of notice about what your Maw says. It's obvoiusly crap!!

blanik

[Cornbread]

How high of a starting specific gravity, or potential %ABV, becomes a personal preference... You just want to stay within the limits of your yeast so your ferments don't stall or drag out for extended periods of time... Happy healthy yeast make fast work of sugar when the wash is within proper temperature range... A wash too hot, too cold, too high or low pH, too high of a %ABV, or not enough nutrients, will slow or stall the ferment...

It's a balancing act... You don't want too little alcohol in the fermented wash or you'll end up with low returns in comparison to your efforts... And you don't want to shoot for too much alcohol in the wash or you can create any of a number of problems for yourself, including stalling or off smells and/or flavors... You should be able to shoot for ~10% when using sugar without running into problems... All grain mashes will generally finish below 10%...

Well, I keep coming out with a 6.9-7% alcohol wash. I guess since I used grocery story bought yeast that "That is staying within the limits of my yeast". My question is: If I start using a higher alcohol limit yeast, will these figures rise? OR I need to do something different in fermentation...more sugar, more boogers, or something.........(yes, I know it is in the HD site somewhere, but I am still drunk from wet cardboard.)...just answer it or I will tell your wife about that redhead from New York! P.S.--Yes I smell dry wine

[rad14701]

The only way to get more alcohol with a sugar wash is by using more sugar... 50% more sugar will yield 50% more alcohol and should still be within the capability of your yeast... If you aren't going by specific gravity, here is a good ballpark method of potential alcohol content when preparing a wash... In US measurements 3 cups per gallon = 10.6%, 3.5 cups per gallon = 12.3%, and 4 cups per gallon = 14.1%... These are not exact, but close enough for government work...

[Cornbread]

That is a kewl way of putting it..thanks........I just follow the recipes..now I will start "thinking" about the recipes (Thinking? Gawd, that hurt)

[Cornbread]

It has been 6 days and yesterday my air lock quit jumping. It was a little cold the night before. I am making "whiskey" with liquid malt. 2 1/2 gallons water & 2 1/2 pounds sugar...1/2 can malt..yeast. Starting sg was 1.050. Today it is 1.000. Should I "GO" with it or try to revive it? All my instincts say go with it & not bother you folks with this question. since I have supposedly 6 1/2 % abv?

FOLLOW UP.........damn good, but improves daily. 114 proof (which I love) I added a charred white oak stick to each little 4 ounce jar. Let it breathe every day or so for a few seconds. I am so excited (Happy Happy Joy Joy). Just been a week, but is actually good. (And to think I only had to ask 137 questions to get this far)! Brillance,,,simply pure brillance.