Gerber

[garry90]

@ Odin yea i was pretty much asking for the summary because there is tons of info in this one post

[rad14701]

also does the epsom salt and 20-20-20 trick work for all mashes as in to speed them up?

Yes, I have used it successfully with just about every sugar wash I have tried... The only word of warning, which you may or may not read in this topic is "Do Not Drink The Fermented Wash" unless you like diarrhea... A taste is fine but a glass could get you running... Both the 20-20-20 and the Epsom salt contain Magnesium Sulfate which acts as a diuretic...

[garry90]

haha yea i know epsom salt is one hell of a laxative. have to keep a glass around for when you cant go lol

[garry90]

Well, just to update folks, I finally used my 5 gallon (20 liter) plastic water cooler carbouy to make another Gerber wash... I tweaked a 12 liter recipe just a bit... I pitched the yeast almost exactly 48 hours ago and, believe it or not, the wash was finished when I checked it 2 hours ago... I thought there may have been a problem with the wash last night at midnight but it must have been pretty much finished then...

So, what were the tweaks aside from the larger wash than usual...??? I used 2.5 gallons (10 liters) of water, 7 cups (3.5 pounds) of sugar, 5 tbsp of bakers yeast, 1/4 tsp of Epsom Salt, 1/2 tsp of 20-20-20, 1.5 cups of Gerber Barley Cereal, and 1/2 cup of Wheat Germ... Seems I was running low on the Gerber so I brought the volume up with the Wheat Germ I had on hand...

The wash fermented out to just under 10% in under 48 hours, and probably under 36... But I wasn't satisfied with that so I had to tinker some more... Using a small sample I added a bit more sugar and it fired right back up... Considering the success with the sample I added another pound (2 cups) of sugar and the wash is right back in business with a layer of cereal back on top... If all goes well it should finish at around 12% or so, perhaps by tomorrow morning...

All tweaking aside, this is turning out to be a very reliable cereal & sugar wash that's pretty darned hard to mess up - unless you manage to get an infection... And it handles modifications fairly well, so far...

Edited to correct measurements.

okay after a hour or so of searching this post Rad14701 said that this one and the original recipe at the beginning was the ones that worked out the best for him. so if any one else was wondering what recipes worked the best, there you go. as for me im printing this out and gona put it in my little black binder of recipes to try.

[rad14701]

Well, just to update folks, I finally used my 5 gallon (20 liter) plastic water cooler carbouy to make another Gerber wash... I tweaked a 12 liter recipe just a bit... I pitched the yeast almost exactly 48 hours ago and, believe it or not, the wash was finished when I checked it 2 hours ago... I thought there may have been a problem with the wash last night at midnight but it must have been pretty much finished then...

So, what were the tweaks aside from the larger wash than usual...??? I used 2.5 gallons (10 liters) of water, 7 cups (3.5 pounds) of sugar, 5 tbsp of bakers yeast, 1/4 tsp of Epsom Salt, 1/2 tsp of 20-20-20, 1.5 cups of Gerber Barley Cereal, and 1/2 cup of Wheat Germ... Seems I was running low on the Gerber so I brought the volume up with the Wheat Germ I had on hand...

The wash fermented out to just under 10% in under 48 hours, and probably under 36... But I wasn't satisfied with that so I had to tinker some more... Using a small sample I added a bit more sugar and it fired right back up... Considering the success with the sample I added another pound (2 cups) of sugar and the wash is right back in business with a layer of cereal back on top... If all goes well it should finish at around 12% or so, perhaps by tomorrow morning...

All tweaking aside, this is turning out to be a very reliable cereal & sugar wash that's pretty darned hard to mess up - unless you manage to get an infection... And it handles modifications fairly well, so far...

Edited to correct measurements.

okay after a hour or so of searching this post Rad14701 said that this one and the original recipe at the beginning was the ones that worked out the best for him. so if any one else was wondering what recipes worked the best, there you go. as for me im printing this out and gona put it in my little black binder of recipes to try.

To clarify...

If all you are after is speed then, yes, this is the way to go... That was the reason for dropping down to a ~10% ABV potential... I am not condoning step addition of sugar here, however... I start all of my washes with a potential ABV of 12% - 14% and just let them take however much time they take... With larger volume washes and boilers a lower potential ABV might be nice but when running a small rig the extra couple %ABV makes a difference... And with the yeast I use, Fleischmann's, I have never had a wash not ferment to dry or produce any amount of off taste or smell either in the wash or the distilled spirits... I've only ever had one wash take on a sulfur smell and that was due to over-zealous experimentation...

[Stilly]

I just did a wash of this but used only 2 cups gerber for a 4.25 gallon wash. Finished in less than 3 days. Very clean. I will let it sit for a bit and run it.

cheers
stilly

[theroyal]

just ran this last night. i am still very very "green" to this hobby. heres a quick story/rundown:

ive been very intrigued for the past 2 years or so. i was a troll for awhile on here, reading and learning. i wanted to ask what felt like millions of questions, but for the majority, everyone says READ, READ, READ first. most want you to take a lot in by yourself. Very hard and frustrating for me. i had my still, done a decent amount of reading and made this wash about 1yr ago. When it got to running this wash, i didnt feel i knew enough, and actually ending never finishing it. i actually put my still away and lost a little interest in it. i just didnt feel comfortable enough i guess with it. It would have been better if i knew someone personally on here and learned by example watching them.

so my buddy knew about this and finally talked me into giving it a go one more time. so i tried this wash again last week. took off like crazy and settled after 4-5 days. we didnt get to running it till last night, making 6.5 day mark.

all said and done, i feel pretty good. pretty proud actually that i had done it and got some product. i feel like i am going to learn more and more, the more i do it. ran into some hiccups throughout. learned every step of the way. i had to leave a little early and i let him finish it up when we got pretty much to the tails. still need to filter and cut it back a little. tried it, and surprisingly, very delicious.

all in all, i think a good experience. glad he talked me into it. and glad i gave it another try. thanks HD

[rad14701]

Welcome back, theroyal...

There's absolutely nothing wrong with feeling that you may not have been ready... At least you are willing to admit that you had reservations about moving forward... It sounds as though you are now on your way after the lapse in time... Keep at it and you'll become more and more comfortable...

Good luck and hope you enjoy the Gerber...

[itchy]

i have tried the birdwatchers and winos wash,, i just started a 6 gallon ferment of gerber about 2 hours ago,,, out of the three i tried this one really kicked off fast,, its bubblin like crazy already... very easy to prepare and should finish around 12% or slightly under... i used fleishmans baking yeast and it is looking great...

[rad14701]

i have tried the birdwatchers and winos wash,, i just started a 6 gallon ferment of gerber about 2 hours ago,,, out of the three i tried this one really kicked off fast,, its bubblin like crazy already... very easy to prepare and should finish around 12% or slightly under... i used fleishmans baking yeast and it is looking great...

Surprise...!!!

Keep us posted on your progress with the Gerber wash... I'm overdue for making up another one of these washes...

[itchy]

@ rad,,,, dude this is a truly great recipie,,, its now near 16 hours and its bubbling like crazy,,,5-6 bubbles per second? it's so fast i cannot count them,,, i'm expecting the airlock to blow off soon,,,, i bet its finished in another 24-36 hours or so... hopefully i can run it this weekend.... thanks man

[Lynx_Gen]

well, i dont know what i did wrong, but my last 2 batches are on there 3rd week.. ugh.. I had my still ready 3 weeks ago thinkin they'd be done..

the 6 gal carboy, I ran outta gerber oat type cereal, so i topped it up with a rice cereal, I prolly over did it on the sugar, but shouldnt be by too much, but thats because i had a spare pack of Ec 1119 and figured id use it instead, to get a lil higher percent, and because i need to do a scrap wash cleaning run yet. as it is, its almost hitting the four week mark, still bubblin away.. but seems like its finaly starting to slow up some...

the other batch is in a 5 gal pail, and i followed the recipe to the "T"

I get a beer makin kit for x-mas, so while i was sanitizing everything, i sanitized all the stuff for the gerber wash/pail etc.

Now it is winter here, and prolly a lil bit cooler than ideal, deffinately not our summer weather wich was the last time I made up some batches...

I had made a couple 2L test bottles of it, and then a 5 gal pail full... those all finished on average of about 6 days, one was done in about 4, and one took 8...

Now as for the tempature, I cant see it being that much of a differance to go from a week to 4 weeks.. !!!

so i dunno what to say, I botched something, but they are still bubbling along..

what i was wondering, is if the overall amount of crausian build up etc, aeration period affects this... I mean they're gona multiply to an extent anyways right?

i dunno, just wanted to let ya know.

I have a box of all bran to try out next.. lol

but now im gona have 11 gals to run through my lil stil, so it may be a while before i brew another batch.. with my luck it'll finish in a week, n then i wont have any bottles etc to store it in!!! lmao

happy hobbying!

~L~

[danehowser]

Last weekend I put together a 6 gallon wash and it finished off in about 4 days. It bubbled like crazy the first day and you could smell it all over the house! By day 2 you could only smell it if you got close by. By day 4 there were no more bubbles and I shook up the carboy a few times to try and force any stuck bubbles out. I let it sit for another 4 days and then racked it off into another carboy since there was quite a bit of sediment in the fermentation carboy. Looks like I transferred some over this time too so I may rack a 2nd time.

I have to say this is a great recipe. My WPOSW went okay but took about 2 weeks to finish off and ended around .994. This one went down to .990 easy as pie. It'll probably be about another week or two before I distill it off, will update those results later.

Thanks for a great recipe!

[spungmike]

Great recipe!!! I truly do like this recipe. Just made a 5 gallon batch, turned out great. I did have a few changes, I added some barley malt wort, about a gallon (only did it, cause I have it, and don't want it to go bad). Also, tried some Fleishmans bakers yeast, but it did not take, I think I pitched it a little to soon, the water was probably still a little to hot. So I then pitched a couple of tablespoons of my distillers yeast, and it took off like crazy, for about a week. Cooked it in my little 3 gallon copper still, and got me 5 pints of 118 proof, after proofing all the samples together. By far my best batch yet..

The funny thing is, I have a brother in law who has been at this hobby for a few years. I gave him a bottle, and of course he said it was not 118 proof, prolly not even a 100 proof. I do have a alchometer. He did have some of his, and have me take a drink of his, was okay, just an all sugar wash. He said his was 180 proof, through his still one time. He has an old beer keg with no thumper. LOL, Then the next day he called me up and said he could not even light mine. Well of course I go to everyone of the other bottles, and the did flame. I figure his wife got into it, and then put water back in the place of what she drank that day LOL.

Tried telling him the recipe, and he said I made things to complicated, that folks that made real moonshine only used water, sugar, and yeast????? He also said mine would kill you, cause it had to much of the water out of the mash, and if it came through that was some of the most dangerous stuff a person could drink????? LOL what a character, he is on my wifes side of the family...

[spungmike]

When I take me a sip of this moonshine, it makes me hot and sweaty....

[rad14701]

When I take me a sip of this moonshine, it makes me hot and sweaty....

You don't have an allergy, do you...??? Perhaps the proof is higher than you are guesstimating...

[spungmike]

No allergies, usually does not affect me. Did use my alchometer, and it says 120, so I am confused, but I like the taste.

[Shiner]

Hey Rad. I've read through the entire thread and am anxious to try out the Gerber. Sounds great! I've got one question though. I will be using the 20-20-20 and I haven't noticed if it was liquid or granules, or does it matter? There's lots of good reading and I might have missed it.

[rad14701]

Hey Rad. I've read through the entire thread and am anxious to try out the Gerber. Sounds great! I've got one question though. I will be using the 20-20-20 and I haven't noticed if it was liquid or granules, or does it matter? There's lots of good reading and I might have missed it.

Granules/powder...

[Shiner]

Thank you!!

[Fly By Night]

I got a batch going the other night, is it suppose to smell like bread dough, changing to a more musty bread dough odor? This is my first ferment.

[Bob421]

Yes mine always smells like that.

[Elroy303030]

I started a 5 gal carboy yesterday, and boy does it smell good. The wife isn't happy that I have it behind the couch in the living room. It bubbling away. I can't wait.

[Bootleggers Son]

Rad,

I have never had a wash start working this Fast!!! Within 45 minutes and this was working like Crazy!! Thank you so much for the Ideas you come up with!!
I changed a few Things in the Recipe, Hope you don't mind.... Will let everyone know how this works out!!! Oh yea, the S.G. was 1.095

Thanks Again,

BS




RECIPE

4.5 gallons water
18 cups (9 lbs.) white sugar
1 Box of Gerber Barley cereal
1 tsp boiled yeast
2 Tbsp. of "Fermax"
2 Tbsp. of Dap
6 tbsp dry active yeast ( For Pitching)
1 tbsp. of Lemon Juice


PREP:

Inverted the 18 cups (9 lbs) white sugar with 18 cups water With Lemon Juice for 25 minutes.
Brought 8 cups water, cereal, Fermax, Dap,yeast , to a simmer for 15 minutes.
Let heated components cool for 30 minutes then mixed with cool water to 4.5 gallons.
Pitched 6 tbsp dry active yeast on top and Mixed in Briskly between 90-95F.
Aerated every 10 minutes for 30 minutes
Put Saran Wrap over top, put a rubber band around the Bucket top and punched 12 pin holes with Safety Pin ....

[Bootleggers Son]

Ran the above and after proofing to 100 proof, ended up with around 2 quarts of "OUTSTANDING PRODUCT"!!! YEEEEEEE.....HAAAAWWWW!!

Almost has a Vanilla Taste....

BS

[Lynx_Gen]

is it possible for a wash to go backwards kinda thing??

last sunday I ran off a batch, and then went to the store and got some supplies and started 3 more batches of gerber, (It was on sale, 2 boxes for 6$ lol)

as it is, i used my original pail, and 2 new "Carboys" which are 19.8L water jugs, with distilled water in em.

in the 2, they are identicle, (maybe off by one cup of sugar between the two of em.) but about 17-18 cups of sucrose (Aprox 1 cup per liter)

anyways, to make a long storey short, they both took off very nicely. and after several hours were bubbling away quite contentedly.

i think the next day or two i looked, and one is still going normal, but the other one, seems to be sucking into itself, like pulling air/water into it.

i checked for leaks in the container, found nothing, double checked the seal around the airlock etc, wrapped it in tape, and im certain 110% its sealed.
I've never had this happen before, so im just curious on your guys take on what is goin on...

(Also, had a bb girl at 2pm this afternoon!!! WOOT!)

~L~

[fullhouse]

Congrats on the baby! not sure whats going on with the gerber as i am new to it also..someone will chime in shortly im sure

[Lynx_Gen]

well, i dont know what was up.. maybe there was an air leak around the airlock, or maybe cuz i shook the heck outta it yesterday, but shes back to burping away like any other normal wash!

~L~

[fullhouse]

not sure what went wrong...this is my 2nd batch of Gerber...this time i did this

1 box beechnut oat baby food
13 cups of sugar
3 Tbs flieshmans yeast
4 gals of water

inverted sugar for 30 mins with equal amout of water
poured from BOP to clean 5 gal bucket
added cool water to bring down temp some not sure exactly where
then added oat cereal mixed till was a mush
then brought water level up to level bringing water temp down to 90*ish F
pitched yeast and stired gently to mix yeasties in
placed sealed with 1/2 clear hose into a whiskey bottle
set into my warm spot room 70*-75*
no activity noticed for the next 30 mins but left it alone as i thought it would be fine
checked 2day and no activity

i will add that the yeast was stored in the fridge but i set it out for at least 30 mins b4 pitching

any ideas on what gives?

[rad14701]

fullhouse, what does the wash smell like...??? Can you detect any smell or activity related to fermentation...???

I have some Fleischmann's dry active yeast here now that won't activate unless the water is closer to 105F - 110F... I've taken to starting it at 115F and my ferments have taken off far better... This strain of yeast can take a fairly high temperature before dying off...

I'd mix up another starter using some of the wash heated to ~110F if there are no signs of activity...