Gerber Wash & Distillers Yeast Qustions

[WERAT]

I started a wash using a modified recipe from rad14701, the GERBER WASH. I used 8 bs sugar, 1 - 8oz box of multi grain cereal, splash of lemon juice, 1- TBL spoon 20-20-20, and 2 TBL spoons of Crosby & Baker Distillers Yeast (not super start).

Brought 2 gallons water to a boil, stirred in sugar and cereal and simmered for 1 hour. Added this and 2 more gallons of water into my carboy. Took 1/2 gallon off to make my yeast starter. @90 degrees I added my yeast, shook well and left for 2 hours. My carboy was at 90 degrees (cooled with external cold water) when I added the starter. All started and is working fine, now for my 2 questions.

1) The first 24-36 hours the air lock produced large amounts of sulfur. This was so bad I had to put it in the bathroom and turn on the fart fan to keep the whole house from smelling. The air lock now has a very sweet smell coming from it like a blueberry/yeast smell. Is this normal for this type of yeast, or was it something I may have done?

2) Most people talk about a cap on their ferment. I have never had one. Is this because I have my wash under an air lock or does it only happen with certain washes?

[MountainWilliam Bill]

#1) Sulfur?! That don't sound right. Is there a high concentration of sulfur in your source water? I'm looking at the Gerber and see nothing that would produce sulfur, even with your mods. The 20-20-20 you're using is nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, right?

#2) Never cap a ferment, especially if in a glass carboy. CO2 pressure can build and crack or explode your vessel. Yeast converts sugar to lots of CO2 and alcohol and that CO2 needs to escape, hence the airlock. Capping that much CO2 will retard the fermentation process, resulting in low-yield wash.

[Dnderhead]

Rotten egg odors (hydrogen sulfide) can have two common causes: the yeast strain and bacteria.
should go away,,if not then its infected.

[MountainWilliam Bill]

Rotten egg odors (hydrogen sulfide) can have two common causes: the yeast strain and bacteria.
should go away,,if not then its infected.

Isn't H2S produced when bacteria is present in an anaerobic environment? In all the times I've brewed beer or stilled, I've never had any H2S smell or indication of its presence. Have you, Dnder?

[rad14701]

Not sure what the cause of the sulfur smell could have been but it sounds like you went a bit heavy on the 20-20-20... Perhaps 1 Teaspoon, but not 1 Tablespoon... That may have contributed to the smell, but can't be sure...

Also, watch the "splash of lemon juice" because it lowers pH and is best left out unless you are using it to invert your sugar during the boiling process... The acidity of the lemon juice gets neutralized during the invert sugar process so it is no longer an issue with pH...

[Dnderhead]

yes but some yeast also produce H2S. this will go away with airing.
generally buy the time the ferment finishes.
but with bacteria it mite not.

[WERAT]

The wash turned out fine. The smell only lasted for 24 hours, and man it was bad. It was so bad I had to put it in the bathroom and turn on the fart fan. After 24 hours the smell returned to a nice aroma as expected. This was the first time I had used this yeast. I have since had it in 2 other ferments and didn't have this smell. The other 2 ferments were different recipes. It must have been something I added to it that created it. I will keep an eye on what I use and re-post if I have the sulpher smell again.

[WERAT]

The other 2 ferments as mentioned above has taken 2 weeks to ferment out. They were both made from Rad's Gerber wash except using Crosby and Baker distillers yeast. Both were kept inside the house at 68 degrees, (temp in my house) Is this to cold for a ferment? Future plans are to make a temp controlled water bath for my carboys.

[Cornfed50]

its not too cold but it would like 77 degrees better. I have been doing all my winter mashes at 64-70 degrees and it takes a little longer but it turns out fine. Every yeast strain has its temp. range for a strong and complete ferment, The ale yeasts will go good down to about 50. I experiment with different strains almost every week. I like the cooler temps, I get less fusel alcohols and less of the nasty smells,not sure where yours was coming from. What is your water source? If your using city water sometimes their clorine levels are too high and it will reek havoc on your mash.

[WERAT]

I always use distilled water for my washes. I did buy a container that will hold 3 of my fermenting carboys. I filled it up with water and I am using a aquarium heater to keep the water at 78f. I am curious to see if they ferment out any faster than they do in my house at 68f. I guess we will see in the next few days.

[oliver90owner]

Not sure what the 20-20-20 is made up from but likely contains sulphates. A high temperature ferment may well produce some sulphur gases in an anaerobic situation (yeast fermenting sugars to alcohol), especially. The initial couple days of the ferment can be vigorous and actually produce a fair amount of heat, raising the temperature further.

As an aside you only cap beers ciders and largers during the scondary fermentation for carbonation. That can be in a pressure vesel or in a suitable bottle.

RAB

[MountainWilliam Bill]

...As an aside you only cap beers ciders and largers during the scondary fermentation for carbonation. That can be in a pressure vesel or in a suitable bottle.

RAB

As one advances in home beer brewing techniques, one will eventually find that force-carbonating in a corney keg is the best (and safest) way to get a uniform carbonation. Also, you don't need to wait longer for the added sugar to ferment and create carbonation in the bottle (i.e. bottle conditioning). I know it costs a little more for equipment, but the time and effort saved is well worth it.

[Cornfed50]

Hey to agree Mountain bill,never thow it out I'll run it burn. Or use to clean with!!! Cornfed