Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash

[ThrownOlive]

Hey guys,
This is only my second batch, but I tried using brown sugar and followed the recipe except I didn't have any DAP(my dog shredded the package...) but I ran it anyway. It went gangbusters lastnight but when I got up this morning there were no bubbles at all. I aerated with a whisper air pump. Any ideas what happened or how to fix it?

[WalkingWolf]

Hey guys,
This is only my second batch, but I tried using brown sugar and followed the recipe except I didn't have any DAP(my dog shredded the package...) but I ran it anyway. It went gangbusters lastnight but when I got up this morning there were no bubbles at all. I aerated with a whisper air pump. Any ideas what happened or how to fix it?

take a deep breath -- it'z gonna be a'ight. If ya aint got no hydrometer then get one. Taste the wash -- if'n it taste like a dry wine (or a bit astringent/bitter) then it is probably finished. I know finishing this quick is QUICK but hey, who knows. If it doesn't taste sweet (at all) then run it. If it still has sweetness then you have stalled for some reason -- and we will have to ask more questions

[ThrownOlive]

I'm assuming the yeast hasn't finished in less than 24 hours? I'll try it later tonight.

Will not adding DAP this early on bother the yeast? I'd figured they would be happy for a day or so without it and I could add it in.

[WalkingWolf]

Did you taste it? You insinuated it took off like a bat-out-of-hell. I know it is unlikely that it is finished but just taste it and see. You might be surprised

[ThrownOlive]

It was bubbling up the airlock twice a second for about 6 hours until I went to bed and at somepoint in the next 6 hours it crapped out. I guess that may just be faster than my first batch?

[WalkingWolf]

did you friggin taste it or NOT

[ThrownOlive]

Hahahhaa. Easy there killer! I'm still at work. Hopefully I can get home soon and I will check it.

[ajp001]

Can anyone give me any more information on the distillers yeast used in this recipe?

I have asked at a number of home brew shops and the only thing that they have is turbo yeasts. I am being told that turbo yeasts are distillers yeasts. I am still new to this but have learned enough on this forum to know that I need a little help here.

Even a website of where I may be able to buy it from, or more specifically what I should be asking for.

Thanks in advance

[ThrownOlive]

My mash tastes a bit sweeter than a dessert wine but not far off. Grav started at 1070 and is now at 1035, gonna add in some dap tomorrow afternoon. Any ideas on the culprit of the stalling?

[blind drunk]

What's the ambient temperature?

[ThrownOlive]

It's sitting around 75. Gonna get a heat belt tomorrow as well I think. It needs to be around 90 right?

[Mangler20]

Can anyone give me any more information on the distillers yeast used in this recipe?

I have asked at a number of home brew shops and the only thing that they have is turbo yeasts. I am being told that turbo yeasts are distillers yeasts. I am still new to this but have learned enough on this forum to know that I need a little help here.

Even a website of where I may be able to buy it from, or more specifically what I should be asking for.

Thanks in advance

i have run a few of these and used Superstart Distillers Yeast... Below is a link to what I have used successfully...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/supersta ... -pack.html

[ajp001]

Can anyone give me any more information on the distillers yeast used in this recipe?

I have asked at a number of home brew shops and the only thing that they have is turbo yeasts. I am being told that turbo yeasts are distillers yeasts. I am still new to this but have learned enough on this forum to know that I need a little help here.

Even a website of where I may be able to buy it from, or more specifically what I should be asking for.

Thanks in advance

i have run a few of these and used Superstart Distillers Yeast... Below is a link to what I have used successfully...

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/supersta ... -pack.html

Thanks Mangler20

The only yeast I have been able to get locally that does not seem to be a "turbo yeast" is the Super6 Eltra Pure from essencia.co.nz Does anyone have any experience with this yeast and WPOSW? is this the type of thing that I should be looking at?

Any input appreciated

[ajp001]

Hey guys,
This is only my second batch, but I tried using brown sugar and followed the recipe except I didn't have any DAP(my dog shredded the package...) but I ran it anyway. It went gangbusters lastnight but when I got up this morning there were no bubbles at all. I aerated with a whisper air pump. Any ideas what happened or how to fix it?

I've been making home brew beer for a few years, this can happen if the seal on the fermenter is not quite tight. Usually it is not something you need to worry about as the fermentation creates positive air pressure in the fermenter. But the best advice would be to use a hydrometer and find out what reading you have. If it stays the same over a couple of days, it may have finished fermenting... depending on the SG reading. If the reading is too high the fermentation my have stalled. sometimes a good stir will get it going again, but, sometimes it may just be finishing slowly, are all of the seals (in the fermenter lid, and the airlock) good?

Patience is usually the virtue here as even if it is not bubbling it may still be fermenting. If it has finished and you have sealed everything properly, then no baddies can get in and in the time you are waiting your yeast will just settle to the bottom as the mix clears. The clearer it is the better it will be for later

[rad14701]

The only yeast I have been able to get locally that does not seem to be a "turbo yeast" is the Super6 Eltra Pure from essencia.co.nz Does anyone have any experience with this yeast and WPOSW? is this the type of thing that I should be looking at?

Any input appreciated

That's turbo yeast... Essentially, any yeast that comes prepackaged with nutrients is turbo yeast... When you see a 100 gram sachet capable of of fermenting 25 liters to 15% - 17%, or higher, without any additional nutrients, it's turbo... They just use a bit less nutrients than some other brands and have eliminated urea from the ingredients list...

[ajp001]

That's turbo yeast... Essentially, any yeast that comes prepackaged with nutrients is turbo yeast... When you see a 100 gram sachet capable of of fermenting 25 liters to 15% - 17%, or higher, without any additional nutrients, it's turbo... They just use a bit less nutrients than some other brands and have eliminated urea from the ingredients list...

OK thanks for the info. So.... I have a number of yeasts in store that I use for brewing different types beer (saflager, munton's gold etc) should I be looking at using those. It seems to me at the moment that "distillers yeast" is a mythical beast.

I understand the issue of not trying to get too much out of 25 litres, and that does not bother me as I thing good things are worth waiting for and spending the time on, I found this out experimenting with beer and using specialty yeasts, hops grains etc. Just not sure where to go with the WPOSW.

[rad14701]

That's turbo yeast... Essentially, any yeast that comes prepackaged with nutrients is turbo yeast... When you see a 100 gram sachet capable of of fermenting 25 liters to 15% - 17%, or higher, without any additional nutrients, it's turbo... They just use a bit less nutrients than some other brands and have eliminated urea from the ingredients list...

OK thanks for the info. So.... I have a number of yeasts in store that I use for brewing different types beer (saflager, munton's gold etc) should I be looking at using those. It seems to me at the moment that "distillers yeast" is a mythical beast.

I understand the issue of not trying to get too much out of 25 litres, and that does not bother me as I thing good things are worth waiting for and spending the time on, I found this out experimenting with beer and using specialty yeasts, hops grains etc. Just not sure where to go with the WPOSW.

I've never had issues with plain old Fleischmann's dry active bakers yeast... I've accidentally pushed it well beyond 14% but usually shoot for 12% - 14%...

[Bushman]

I've never had issues with plain old Fleischmann's dry active bakers yeast... I've accidentally pushed it well beyond 14% but usually shoot for 12% - 14%...

Neither have I and I aim for the same abv also have never had a problem with Red Star, I've used both active and pizza yeast without problems!

[Mr.Brown]

Have used fleischmanns & Red star both with this and been quite happy with the results. usually takes 8 days to 2 weeks for my wash to finnish. starting at 1.082 +/- .Makes a real nice clean nutural .

[bgrizzle]

I haven't made any hooch in a year or so because I have been so busy with work and raising two toddlers. I am helping a friend open a microdistillery, so he asked me to teach him how to make liquor.

I started with this wash because all there are basic chemicals (no grains, no natural nutrients, no carbs other than sugar). I wanted to teach him that it takes very basic ingredients to make ethanol. Once he has this concept down, we will move on to some more complicated washes.

We made a 55 gallon wash in a HDPE food barrel (wanted to do a large ferment like a microdistillery would do). I measured everything EXACLTY except I only used half the citric aci, but it just never really took off. I kept it warm and happy, there was no explosion like I expected. I added tomato paste thinking it was nutrients. I aerated again and pitched more yeast. After a day or so there was still really no change in the SG. The initial SG 1.077 and it was still only 1.06 after 10 days! Finally, I thought the only thing I had not checked was the pH. So I check the pH and its hovering a little over 2!!! I added sodium carbonate to the wash until the pH came up to 5. I then aerated like hell and pitched a little more yeast. I check it the next morning and this thing is going crazy!!!

So the reason I am posting this is to remind everybody to consider every variable when trying to figure out why a wash has stalled. AND this wash is difficult because Citric Acid so powerful. I think most of the time you probably dont need to add any citric acid. Also, tomato paste has citric acid in it as well. So, if your wash has stalled, check the pH!!!

Cheers.

[ThrownOlive]

That's a good point about the PH! It'll be an interesting thing to check out.

[rgarry]

I have been playing around with several of the tried and true recipes and this one takes the cake. I pitch l- 1118 and let it ferment and sit for 4 wks and it's a great neutral.

[ThrownOlive]

Just racked out my white sugar wash and my brown sugar wash. The brown is at about 11% abv and the white is about 6%. The white just smells kinda funky, but not awful.

I'm working on a new worm and should be able to run both batches this week. Pretty stoked.

[mtblackdog]

I got an analysis of our local city water before I started this recipe. So here are my results. pH 7.6, Alkalinity 175 mg/l, Hardness 192 mg/l, Chloride 13 mg/l, Sodium 18 mg/l, and some others I dont believe are relevant. Based on these numbers is there any thing I should change about this recipe or for that matter anything to look out for in recipes down the road?

[HellBentForLeather]

1.075 - 0.993 in under 3 days, wow. only cost about $1/gallon of wash, per 8 gallons i used 12# sugar, 8 multi-vitamins, 8tsp DAP & 2/3 cup bakers yeast. tastes very clean too, i can't wait to run it once it's cleared!

[baron4406]

My water in my house here is very hard, I have a refrigerator with the most expensive filter Sears puts into their refrigerators. Just asking because the recipe calls for gypsum and Dap for soft water will I need to use them?

[WU Moonshine]

This might sound like a stupid question but I am new to this art. I made the mash yesterday and followed the directions perfectly. My starting SG was 1.064. Is that a little low? My SG today is 1.052. Should I add more sugar? Also, when you calculate the alcohol content of the wash, how is an 18% wash going to create liquor that is anywhere from 50%-80% abv after distilling? Thanks for answering my amateur questions!

[rad14701]

This might sound like a stupid question but I am new to this art. I made the mash yesterday and followed the directions perfectly. My starting SG was 1.064. Is that a little low? My SG today is 1.052. Should I add more sugar? Also, when you calculate the alcohol content of the wash, how is an 18% wash going to create liquor that is anywhere from 50%-80% abv after distilling? Thanks for answering my amateur questions!

With a OG of 1.064 you would end up at 8% - 10% when finished, depending on the FG... That is a good range for a sugar wash... You can achieve 95% ABV from that wash if it is run through a reflux column but substantially lower if pot stilled...

You don't want to add more sugar because pushing the potential %ABV of the wash will potentially contribute to off smells and tastes carrying over into the distilled spirits...

There is plenty of information to explain this if you were to take some time to do ample research... Keep at it and it'll all start to make sense...

[Mr B]

Hi There

I'm new to the site (hello) and only six months into this brewing game, I started with the air still and within a few months I purchased a T500. I first used the turbo yeasts and liquid carbons (with the T500 I don't think the results are as bad as some people make out) but recently I started the birdwatcher which seems to be going slow but looking good and now I'd like to make the WPOSW.

I read this whole thread last night and I think I've learned a some of things and probably got more confused about other things

This recipe seems straight foward but some people have mentioned some little changes and theories of their own, so without reading the whole lot again I'll lay out my interpretation of the recipe based on my water situation, please feel to educate me if I've got some things wrong.

1/ 6 gallon water
2/ 8 pound raw sugar cane (SG from 1070 to 1080) I heard it's better to use raw cane
3/ citric acid (to bring PH from 7.5 to 5)
4/ multi vitamin b
5/ Dap
6/ 1/4 cup Distillers yeast
7/ all set to go at 30%c (will remain at 30% degrees throughout)


I've purchased Gypsum and Epsom salts but I don't feel I need to add them as my water is hard already with Calcium @ 65 and magnesium @ 18.4, PH is 7.5, am I correct with this approach?

I did initially plan to use the "5star 5.2ph stabilizer" to keep the PH at 5.2 but I read elsewhere it hovers around 5.9 so wouldn't really be affective so I'll give it a wide bearth and instead manually test the PH levels daily and alter them appropriately.

That brings me to my next question, what should I use to raise the PH level of the wash, I read you can use...
Bicarb of soda, Sodium bicarbonate (maybe same thing), baking soda or Calcium Carbonate, which is most suitable for this brew as I hear on some sites that you should use none of them, fancy that.

Cheers
Mr.B

[frozenthunderbolt]

That brings me to my next question, what should I use to raise the PH level of the wash, I read you can use...
Bicarb of soda, Sodium bicarbonate (maybe same thing), baking soda or Calcium Carbonate, which is most suitable for this brew as I hear on some sites that you should use none of them, fancy that.

Use Calcium Carbonate.

The others add sodium to the mix (yeast dislike) where as a bit of calcium is quite helpfull.