jumping to conclusions????

[Mr.Spooky]

hi.
so i started my first uj's sour mash the other day and the next day, i could here it workin but my airlocks wasent bubblin i wasent really worried about that because my lids on the fermenters wasent sealed tight. soon after, i sealed the lids as a do on my ffmw and hours later,, nothing on the air locks. where i keep my fermenters its about 80* / 83* f . i dont here nothing now, and the airlocks ar not bubblin.. when should i be concerned? or am i just jumping to conclusions? oh BTW when i walk into the room where the fermentors are, it smells sweet, just as it does with the ffmw. so i know that somethings going on i just dont know what.

[Fastill]

Is it "frying" or boiling?? If it is don't worry about the airlock. I have a couple of beer fermentors that don't bubble the airlock when they slow down but as long as it is "working" I don't care. Just let it finish out.

[Mr.Spooky]

it aint doing eigther now, i dont here nothin and it has been put together about 32hours now.

[kiwistiller]

can you measure the SG?

[Mr.Spooky]

yea, i can, iv just been reluctant to because iv read that the less that you interduce to your ferment, the less chance of contamination. though i did just go and remove the air lock and put my ear to the hole and it sounded like a carbonated drink,,,,,, kinda fizzin... is this good?
thanks
spooky

[Fastill]

Low starting SG and warm weather, it could be almost finished.
Is this your first generation?? I have killed ferments by using too much backset.
Too much sugar or to high of a starting SG might be hard on the yeast also, I never did that, always keep my start at around 10% potential ABV( 1.070-1.080 sg.)Si I don't know on that one, Just a guess.

[kiwistiller]

fizzing sounds like its working. I'd personally just open it up and see what the sg is, then check it again tomorrow. I'm personally not very concerned about contamination, just wash the hydro first if it is dirty.

[Mr.Spooky]

yes this is the first gen. i followed the recipit to a T except i used 2x the amount of yeast. can this recipit finish out in less than 48 hrs?

[Mr.Spooky]

fizzing sounds like its working. I'd personally just open it up and see what the sg is, then check it again tomorrow. I'm personally not very concerned about contamination, just wash the hydro first if it is dirty.

iv never really used the hydro before,,, but i got one . let me check

[Fastill]

I open ferment UJSM and have never had infections in it. I just covered up with a cloth and was never afraid to stir or check out how it was going. As long as it is fermenting I don't think anything else can get ahold of it. That is an old recepe and I don't think that it would have survived the test of time if it was easily contaminated. We are way clleaner that they were in the early days.

[Mr.Spooky]

ok,, heres what it looks like..... it has a real sweet taste.

[Fastill]

How does it smell?

[Mr.Spooky]

How does it smell?

it smells sweet. hate to sound stoopid but am i lookig at the right side of the hydro? does it look normal?

[Fastill]

Can't read the numbers in the pic but the hydro will sink as the sugar is used up, looks like you are on track. Just cover her back up and let her run. My washes at 10% pot. take 7-9 days to finnish at 70 deg. temp.. As long as it is bubbling and smells ok you are doing good!!

[Mr.Spooky]

the number is between .100 and 90, iv never used this because iv never learned how. so are you saying that as it gets closer to done, the hydro will sink deeper?

[Fastill]

the number is between .100 and 90, iv never used this because iv never learned how. so are you saying that as it gets closer to done, the hydro will sink deeper?

Your hydro is reading 1.100-1.090 which is 13-14% abv potenial. Be patient, check it every couple of days and watch for the floating stuff to disappear, that is when you know it is close to done. It will finnish at 0.095-1.000 on the hydro when done. It will slow down towards the end with that SG but it will finnish. As long as there is floaties and it is bubbling you are OK.

[blanikdog]

If it were me I'd take some of the liquid out and check the sg on that. All those solids (the cap) indicates that it's still fermenting. It will sink when the ferment is finished.
Having said that, I seldom - if ever - use a hydro and I go by taste. If it tastes sweet it still has sugar (obviously) if it tastes dry there's no sugar left.

blanik

[atticpc]

As another comment. If it is at 13 or 14% potential I figure that this is too high for a UJSM. I would normally aim for about 10%. Normally ferments out in 4 or 5 days when going well. I used to do neutral washes at up to 13 or 14% but it really worked out much quicker to do two washes with aiming for 10%. If you aim too high with UJSM you will loose out on flavour as well.

Good luck

[Mr.Spooky]

i probabally aint gonna mess with this one (because its my first) but on the next attempts that would be interesting to see... how would you lower the % in a situation like this?
thanks
spooky

[kiwistiller]

pour some water into it.

[Mr.Spooky]

simple enough.

[Tater]

Like blainkdog said doubt if you was getting a true %reading unless ya took sample from some filtered wash

[Mr.Spooky]

If it were me I'd take some of the liquid out and check the sg on that. All those solids (the cap) indicates that it's still fermenting. It will sink when the ferment is finished.
Having said that, I seldom - if ever - use a hydro and I go by taste. If it tastes sweet it still has sugar (obviously) if it tastes dry there's no sugar left.

blanik

hey blanik, well,, it looks like im gonna have to take some of the liquid out to measure the SG. i droped my hydro in the fermenter tonight and noticed something funny,,,, it hit the bottom. it still taste sweet, and its still bubblin, so i guess thats its still working, but my question is, after i take some out to measure it,, can i pour it back in or would it be best to disguard it?
i appriciate yall helping me out.
mr. spooky

[Tater]

Ive always poured mine back .I keep my testing equipment clean so there's no worry.But I also go by taste most times .

[Mr.Spooky]

Ive always poured mine back .I keep my testing equipment clean so there's no worry.But I also go by taste most times .

thanks! it is too easy to keep your stuff clean! that is something that i dont take shortcuts on. since it still tastes sweet tonight, i think that ill just wait til tomarrow before i open them up again (just to minimise chances of contamination). but i will say that when i opened them up tonight i was very pleased at the way they looked!!! i could see action.
thanks again!
spooky

[Dnderhead]

the wash has to be at 20c/68f or what ever yours is set for,otherwise you will git a false reading unless it is corrected.
and if it sunk to the bottom I say your pushing 20%.(check your calculations) you mite have added sugar for x amount of water
and used x amount total wash. with a wash like UJSM. you have less water than wash, because of the room the grain is taking up.
so you mite only have 5gal or less of water in a 6 gal mash.

take some out cool to proper temps. and see what it says

[Mr.Spooky]

the wash has to be at 20c/68f or what ever yours is set for,otherwise you will git a false reading unless it is corrected.
and if it sunk to the bottom I say your pushing 20%.(check your calculations) you mite have added sugar for x amount of water
and used x amount total wash. with a wash like UJSM. you have less water than wash, because of the room the grain is taking up.
so you mite only have 5gal or less of water in a 6 gal mash.

take some out cool to proper temps. and see what it says

mabe i dident say that right. the hydro dident "sink to the bottom" but bottomed out in the grain. but yes, i can agree that it seemes like my grain is taking up about 1/3 (or mabe a little less) of the fermenter. but tomarrow, ill do as you say and take some out cool to proper temps. and see what it says. then ill get back and give a proper up to date description.
thanks
spooky