Birdwatchers sugar wash recipe

[Paul1453]

Haven't we had conversations about sitting on your hands rather than meddling...

I'd say the wash is about done, especially if it tastes dry instead of sweet... A hydrometer reading would tell the tale...

So your busting my balls again, huh rad?

From Tater's 1st post on this thread: 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.

It tastes dry not sweet, hydrometer is currently in storage. I'll stop with the heating pad now.
If we are lucky, we'll get to move into our place this week and I'll get the rest of my gear back from storage.
My new 8 Gal rig from Milehidistilling has not been delivered yet. The Post Office is supposed to be tracing it. I hope it shows up soon as I now have at least 24 Gals ready to go and 3 runs of 8 Gs sounds much better to me than 8 runs of 3 Gs. Did you see my insert mod for these CM stills to center the reflux, rad? If so what do you think?

[Tater]

Haven't we had conversations about sitting on your hands rather than meddling...

I'd say the wash is about done, especially if it tastes dry instead of sweet... A hydrometer reading would tell the tale...

So your busting my balls again, huh rad?

From Tater's 1st post on this thread: 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.

It tastes dry not sweet, hydrometer is currently in storage. I'll stop with the heating pad now.
If we are lucky, we'll get to move into our place this week and I'll get the rest of my gear back from storage.
My new 8 Gal rig from Milehidistilling has not been delivered yet. The Post Office is supposed to be tracing it. I hope it shows up soon as I now have at least 24 Gals ready to go and 3 runs of 8 Gs sounds much better to me than 8 runs of 3 Gs. Did you see my insert mod for these CM stills to center the reflux, rad? If so what do you think?

Tater doesnt have a first post .This is birdwatchers recipe

[Paul1453]

Tater doesnt have a first post .This is birdwatchers recipe

Page 1 of 23 top of the page. Who is 1st? Tater

I know this is Birdwatcher's recipe, but you are the first post on this thread.
Probably happened when it made the ranks of "Tried and True".

[razbarb]

I racked my first BW wash after it fermented to SG 0.996.
I checked it while checking my second wash and it is now down to 0.990 and definitely much drier to taste.
At 0.996 it was 7%, so i'll have to check the alcohol content next inspection.

[maheel]

whats all your thoughts on subbing the "juice of one lemon" with a teaspoon (or 2) of citric acid in a BW wash ?

that would be for me

5kg sugaz
1 -2 tsp citirc
1/4 cup of dry bakers yeast
i small can tomato paste
pinch of epsom salts
23 litres of water


i made a batch today but only had one lemon, i wanted to get two going but needed another lemon.... thought citric might do the job?

[rad14701]

According to Wikipedia lemon juice contains only approximately 5% - 6% citric acid, so go from there on how much of one or the other to use... As a general rule, a little citric acid goes a long way... One average sized lemon should be about the same as ~1 teaspoon of citric acid...

[maheel]

thanks Rad

might give a half batch a run and see with a bit of citric rather then lemon. i was just thinking it "might" be easier than having a fresh lemon

made a edit to my post as i only use 1/4 cup of yeast...
yesterday i made the starter in a clean soft drink bottle, poured in some water, little sugaz and then the dry yeast. let it sit while i sorted the tub then poured it in.
worked a treat

[8-ball]

just wondering if getting 97% from a bw wash is ok to water down and drink or does that mean i did a good job, ( straight in a reflux still no stripping run just nice and slowly run)

ps thanks for a good simple recipe for a person new to distilling

[shaynem]

whats all your thoughts on subbing the "juice of one lemon" with a teaspoon (or 2) of citric acid in a BW wash ?

that would be for me

5kg sugaz
1 -2 tsp citirc
1/4 cup of dry bakers yeast
i small can tomato paste
pinch of epsom salts
23 litres of water


i made a batch today but only had one lemon, i wanted to get two going but needed another lemon.... thought citric might do the job?

So How did it go?
Sound like a good mod on the original and all ingredients available from Cole or Woolworths here in Oz.
Interested to see how it went.....

[razbarb]

Did a stripping run tonight with the cm still w/out any packing.
Thermometer held steady at 86C for 2 hours and we were getting 75%, temp climbed as high as 95C where we were getting 55%.
Shut it down at that and will chew on the result, we were expecting lower %'s for a little more volume.
Haven't yet checked what remains of 16.5 l of wash in the boiler, but we have 2 l at about 70%.

[Bushman]

OK, I did the original Birdwatchers recipe scaled down and it turned out great but it took a month to finish fermenting. I see that it looks a lot more active with the pinch of epson salt. I will try this next time but can anyone tell me what is in the epson salt that makes it more active Is it the magnesium, oxygen and sulphur found in the epson salt rather than the magnesium, oxygen and carbon found in the carbon salts! Knowledge is powerful some say if it works don't fix it but I would like to understand the process in my mind a little more clearly

[rad14701]

OK, I did the original Birdwatchers recipe scaled down and it turned out great but it took a month to finish fermenting. I see that it looks a lot more active with the pinch of epson salt. I will try this next time but can anyone tell me what is in the epson salt that makes it more active Is it the magnesium, oxygen and sulphur found in the epson salt rather than the magnesium, oxygen and carbon found in the carbon salts! Knowledge is powerful some say if it works don't fix it but I would like to understand the process in my mind a little more clearly

Epsom salt provides the magnesium sulfate that yeast require as a nutrient... Any rapid fizzing when added is merely a combination of a chemical reaction as well as nucleation points on the salt itself... This recipe is not intended to be super fast in fermenting but small tweaks can reduce fermentation times slightly...

[Bushman]

Thanks Rad, I really liked the way it came out and don't mind the long fermentation. Since I do it in the downstairs shower I am not worried if it spills over slightly. I might make two 5-1/4 gal batches next run in my 6 gal buckets and do one with epson salt and one without just as a controlled test

[FlyboyTR]

Hi Everyone! It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted. It is time for me to get busy before the swimming pool water heats up…plus my stock is now “bone dry!” I wanted to try the BW recipe…plus needed to use up two packages of Turbo. After ciphering all the different ratios of ingredients…this was what I came up with for my 25 litre wash.

6 fluid ounces of tomato paste
11 pounds of sugar (keep specific gravity below 1.080)
3 fluid ounces of yeast (Fleischmann’s Dry)
1 tsp (slightly less) of Epsom’s salt
1 tsp citric acid

I mixed two batches of the BW yesterday. Specific gravity was 1.075 & 1.080 at 27 degrees c. They were very slow to start. I thought it was possibly because the temp was a little low. This morning the temps are 26-27c and the airlock is reasonably busy. I added a heating pad to raise the temp a couple of degrees.

Looking forward to the results!

[Bushman]

Hi Everyone! It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted. It is time for me to get busy before the swimming pool water heats up…plus my stock is now “bone dry!” I wanted to try the BW recipe…plus needed to use up two packages of Turbo. After ciphering all the different ratios of ingredients…this was what I came up with for my 25 litre wash.

6 fluid ounces of tomato paste
11 pounds of sugar (keep specific gravity below 1.080)
3 fluid ounces of yeast (Fleischmann’s Dry)
1 tsp (slightly less) of Epsom’s salt
1 tsp citric acid

I mixed two batches of the BW yesterday. Specific gravity was 1.075 & 1.080 at 27 degrees c. They were very slow to start. I thought it was possibly because the temp was a little low. This morning the temps are 26-27c and the airlock is reasonably busy. I added a heating pad to raise the temp a couple of degrees.

Looking forward to the results!

I don't understand what you mean by fluid oz and dry yeast It sounds like if your using 3 oz of dry yeast and 11 pounds of sugar it is a bit much, if you quarter the original recipe and use a conversion chart for dry yeast you will get approx 10 lbs of sugar with 1 oz of dry yeast or 4 packets.

[FlyboyTR]

Hi Everyone! It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted. It is time for me to get busy before the swimming pool water heats up…plus my stock is now “bone dry!” I wanted to try the BW recipe…plus needed to use up two packages of Turbo. After ciphering all the different ratios of ingredients…this was what I came up with for my 25 litre wash.

6 fluid ounces of tomato paste
11 pounds of sugar (keep specific gravity below 1.080)
3 fluid ounces of yeast (Fleischmann’s Dry)
1 tsp (slightly less) of Epsom’s salt
1 tsp citric acid

I mixed two batches of the BW yesterday. Specific gravity was 1.075 & 1.080 at 27 degrees c. They were very slow to start. I thought it was possibly because the temp was a little low. This morning the temps are 26-27c and the airlock is reasonably busy. I added a heating pad to raise the temp a couple of degrees.

Looking forward to the results!

I don't understand what you mean by fluid oz and dry yeast It sounds like if your using 3 oz of dry yeast and 11 pounds of sugar it is a bit much, if you quarter the original recipe and use a conversion chart for dry yeast you will get approx 10 lbs of sugar with 1 oz of dry yeast or 4 packets.

Well...It's possible I messed this up! Somewhere along the way I converted from a weight measurement to a volume measurement! The original 80L wash used 225 grams of yeast. I converted that to ounces, divided by 80 to get the quantity of yeast per liter, then multiplied by 25L's. Which gave me 2.478 oz (by weight). At this point I decided to just round it up to 3............and then accidently changed it to 3 ounces by volume (fluid ounces)...rather than by weight.

Thanks for the insight! I've been out of town since yesterday...just got home. I need to figure out just how much I messed up! Geeeeee......................

[FlyboyTR]

Hi Everyone! It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted. It is time for me to get busy before the swimming pool water heats up…plus my stock is now “bone dry!” I wanted to try the BW recipe…plus needed to use up two packages of Turbo. After ciphering all the different ratios of ingredients…this was what I came up with for my 25 litre wash.

6 fluid ounces of tomato paste
11 pounds of sugar (keep specific gravity below 1.080)
3 fluid ounces of yeast (Fleischmann’s Dry)
1 tsp (slightly less) of Epsom’s salt
1 tsp citric acid

I mixed two batches of the BW yesterday. Specific gravity was 1.075 & 1.080 at 27 degrees c. They were very slow to start. I thought it was possibly because the temp was a little low. This morning the temps are 26-27c and the airlock is reasonably busy. I added a heating pad to raise the temp a couple of degrees.

Looking forward to the results!

I don't understand what you mean by fluid oz and dry yeast It sounds like if your using 3 oz of dry yeast and 11 pounds of sugar it is a bit much, if you quarter the original recipe and use a conversion chart for dry yeast you will get approx 10 lbs of sugar with 1 oz of dry yeast or 4 packets.

Well...It's possible I messed this up! Somewhere along the way I converted from a weight measurement to a volume measurement! The original 80L wash used 225 grams of yeast. I converted that to ounces, divided by 80 to get the quantity of yeast per liter, then multiplied by 25L's. Which gave me 2.478 oz (by weight). At this point I decided to just round it up to 3............and then accidently changed it to 3 ounces by volume (fluid ounces)...rather than by weight.

Thanks for the insight! I've been out of town since yesterday...just got home. I need to figure out just how much I messed up! Geeeeee......................

OK...I'm having a problem with this yeast conversion. I am not able to find a conversion chart that is appropriate. The original post called for 225gms of fresh regular bakers yeast. I am using Fleschmann's Dry Yeast. What is the conversion? What did I miss? Thanks

[maheel]

if your using 11p or 5kg sugar i would just throw in about 4 tablespoons of yeast (about 1/2 cup?)

dont stress just toss some in, yeast will multiply then get down to work

i prefer to "start" the yeast, that is in 1L bottle throw in some tepid water, teaspoon of sugar and then the yeast.

then mix up the sugar/water/TP/EP/lemon to the right temp

the yeast is then foaming up so pour it in rinse the 1l bottle and tip it in too

away she goes.....

return in two weeks to distill

[Bushman]

If you are converting from Cake (fresh) yeast to dry yeast use the following conversion chart, it worked for me:
http://www.redstaryeast.com/lessons/yea ... ion_table/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Morgana-rose]

Hi there, i do not have a pot still just a ss supper reflux cm still what do i do once this has fermented, Ive not made one yet but hope to tonight, i only have a 25ltr barrel so if anyone has detailed measurements for a 25 ltr would be great, i have homebrand tomatoe paste and active dry bakers yeast the brand name is tasti does it make a diffrence on brand names?, Also id like to try the cornflakes wash, but i am still trying to get my head around what all these words mean( eg racking, and what is double distilling and how, and corn mash never heard of it, thanks all for the help

[maheel]

Hi there, i do not have a pot still just a ss supper reflux cm still what do i do once this has fermented, Ive not made one yet but hope to tonight, i only have a 25ltr barrel so if anyone has detailed measurements for a 25 ltr would be great, i have homebrand tomatoe paste and active dry bakers yeast the brand name is tasti does it make a diffrence on brand names?, Also id like to try the cornflakes wash, but i am still trying to get my head around what all these words mean( eg racking, and what is double distilling and how, and corn mash never heard of it, thanks all for the help

i would use (brands make little or no diff) just make sure your not getting and preservative or high salt Tpaste
5kg sugar
1 lemon juiced
1 small tin of tpaste
1tsp epsom salts
4 good table spoons of yeast

method =
melt sugar in 5 L of hot water i use a large stock pot and only use as much heat as i need
add lemon, TP, EPS to hot water and stir up to disolve

tip into barrel and add cold water to 25L to make it to about 25' - 28' Celsius
add yeats on top sprinkle in and maybe stir if feel like it. (i also now make the yeast into a "starter")

racking = once nearly fermented (or compl;etly fermented) draing the wash of the yeast cake into another barrel to allow it to clear faster.

double distilling is making two runs on the still. run it once, water it down to less than 40% and running it again. this can help in making neutral with no tatse depending on your still.

read some more of the recipes about "mash" it's the more traditional method of making wash (like making beer etc) with whole grain

[Saltbush Bill]

G'day folks
Newbie here but been doing a lot of reading over the last week. Kicked off my first Birdwatchers tonight and it started bubbling away within minutes of pitching the yeast. ....Gotta be happy with that
I kicked it off at 28C with an SG of 1075 using Lowans Bakers Yeast.
I did some calculations on the original 80L wash to convert it to a 25L even though its been done in this thread before....just to check as I like to stick to recipes exactly.
Ive seen 3 or 4 other 25L conversions in this thread,,,,none have over 5kg of sugar...........I come up with 5.625 Kg sugar, ..........have I stuffed up?? At this stage Ive only put 5 Kg in .....was going to add the rest tomorrow if my calculations are right.
SBB

[maheel]

@ 5.6 kg you should be right... add a bit of extra water if you can (assuming it will all fit in the still)

i like 5k as it's one 2kg bag plus one 3kg bag, no scales needed i trust the packer

[Saltbush Bill]

Ok my first Birdwatchers has fermented out in 7 days and finished at SG 990. It smells and looks good at this stage. Its been racked off to clear for a few days and I look forward to running it through the still. My latest Birdwatchers is bubbling away happily The air temp at 4.15 in the afternoon is 26c the wash is 24c. My question is this, the days and nights will soon be getting cooler, it wont be cold by many standards, How far can I push the boundries regarding the minimum temp for Birdwatchers wash without using some sort of heating?? I've read in this thread of it being successful at 20c.....has anyone done them successfully at lower temps than that???.
SBB
Thanks to Birdwatcher for a great easy recipe for newbies

[maheel]

if your doing 25 -> 30L batches grab a large removal carton and put that over the top. Yeast activity will keep it slightly warm but if temps drop off to below 20 you might want to introduce some heat.

what sort of hot water system do you have ? if it's electric and indoors can you put it beside that, it will keep it warm a bit
a old school 20 watt light bulb inside a terracotta plant pot gets nice and warm and the whole thing inside a box
put the whole thing inside a old fridge and use on of these on a heater is one of the best ways
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Mini-thermostat- ... 33664c3d2a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
or use a fridge that works and have both cooling and heating if needed

Google "temp controlled fridge" and look at home brew beer forums it's what i have and use for my all grain beer ferments

[epaz]

For my first wash, I decided to follow the recipe, but only make 1/10 of the total. So I used 8 liters water, juice of 1/3 lemon and 1/3 cup of tomatoe paste and one cube of Fleishmans fresh active yeast. I mixed everything as per the directions and put it in a sanitized fermenting bucket with an airlock. Fermentation and bubbling started slowly and after two days it had stopped. I checked the SG and it was 1.052. I kept the temperature at 32C On the 5th day I added three packets of Red Star dry bakers yeast. It is now day 6 and nothing is happening. My plan is to simply dump it out and start over. I'm just curious as to what might have gone wrong. Thanks for your help.
myerfire

Same issue, but without air leak. Been over two weeks. PH was at 4, recipe followed perfectly, temp is constant 77 degrees, and simply stopped after 4 days. Starting SG was 1.08, stuck at 1.04 and hasnt moved in days- Suggestions?

[maheel]

epaz whats the temp of the wash right now? what size wash you doing?
yeast prefer constant stable temps if you can manage it
check the SG after another day, just because it's not bubbling does not mean it's not working
i prefer to cover the tops of mine with cling wrap no bubbler so i can look in and see whats going on
the hydro tells me when it's done..

take a sample and taste it, is i just sweet with a bit of "fermented wine" sort of taste? not nice but not bad either...
if it tastes real bad might be an issue

i never stir but some do, might be an option. i woudl not stir in any oxy just swirl it a bit without spalashing
at worst tip it out sterilise and start again...

[epaz]

6 gal batch. Have brew belts on it (2) and wrapped in a thick blanket. Temp is at a constant 77 degree's. It is sweet like sugar water, SG last night is at 1.04 and this is day 23. Still bubbles, just barely. Swirl it around and the bubbles go again like crazy for about 5min, then stops to one burp a minute or so. Plan on letting it rest until this coming weekend, and running it regardless what the SG is. Never know, might get something usable to mix with another batch

[maheel]

77 is a little low but should still be working but slow

if you could get up to 87 it might kick off again but day 23 is way to long....

those crazy bubbles are probably mostly co2 coming out when you stir.

[FlyboyTR]

Hi Everyone! It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted. It is time for me to get busy before the swimming pool water heats up…plus my stock is now “bone dry!” I wanted to try the BW recipe…plus needed to use up two packages of Turbo. After ciphering all the different ratios of ingredients…this was what I came up with for my 25 litre wash.

6 fluid ounces of tomato paste
11 pounds of sugar (keep specific gravity below 1.080)
3 fluid ounces of yeast (Fleischmann’s Dry)
1 tsp (slightly less) of Epsom’s salt
1 tsp citric acid

I mixed two batches of the BW yesterday. Specific gravity was 1.075 & 1.080 at 27 degrees c. They were very slow to start. I thought it was possibly because the temp was a little low. This morning the temps are 26-27c and the airlock is reasonably busy. I added a heating pad to raise the temp a couple of degrees.

Looking forward to the results!

I don't understand what you mean by fluid oz and dry yeast It sounds like if your using 3 oz of dry yeast and 11 pounds of sugar it is a bit much, if you quarter the original recipe and use a conversion chart for dry yeast you will get approx 10 lbs of sugar with 1 oz of dry yeast or 4 packets.

Update... OK, the first 13 gallon batch (with the excess yeast) and the second 13 gallon batch both finished at 0.990. The "extra yeast" batch was much harder to clear. However, everything has been degassed and racked 3 times. That plus another 13 gallons of turbo wash are now waiting for me to do a stripping run. I am looking forward to see how the BW turns out. The dry wash has a pleasant taste to it...so I'm hoping that is a good sign. Thanks again to everyone for the help with my yeast conversion problem.