"First" gerber questions

[PsychDoc]

So I threw together a gerber wash. Last time I did this I followed fairly close to the actual recipe. And all was good. This time the only real variation was 10lbs of sugar in 5 gal of water. And ec1118 yeast. So it has bee a week and a half and the ferment is real slow, real slow. Like one bubble in the airlock every 5-7 seconded, but steady. I'm accustomed to a surge at high Kroizen. This is still super sweet and around 1.065, I didn't take an sg reading
So this morning I added some basic redstart bread yeast to one of the two buckets... We shall see what happens.
Any thoughts, besides "hey dumbass why don't you just follow the recipe"

[jholmz]

what temp do you have it fermenting at

[PsychDoc]

Good question, thanks.

It's around 75f, ambient in the living room

When last checked It seemed the bakers yeast bucket has sped up slightly. I'd give hourly reports if I didn't have to go to work. Work seems to get in the way of other things I could be doing, like not working.

[T-Pee]

Work seems to get in the way of other things I could be doing, like not working.

tp

[PsychDoc]

Ok, this is ? 8 hours later?
I'm getting about one bulb/second, more of what I expected.

It will be fun to continue the experiment , I'm going to let the unsullied ec1118 continue until dry, and maybe run the other this weekend.

[jholmz]

ive never done a gerber or used ec1118 i use red star bakers yyeast on all my ferments and havnt had a problem with it. i keep my ferments around 80 deg F and they always finish dry. you said its around 1.065 now or at least 8 hrs ago, wait a couple of days and take another reading and see here its at then and go from there. some ferments just take longer than others even with exact recipes side by side you just never know. if theyre working (even slowly)leave them alone and let them do their job. you might be surprised if youve never done a slow ferment before, it seems the slower ferments are cleaner and have better flavors

[The KYChemist]

I'm curious, as to what temp the ec1118 was pitched at, and also the quantity. I know nothing about ec1118, but maybe it was pitched at too high of a temp, and maybe not enough. I did my first wash ever, a week ago, of The Gerber. I used regular baker's yeast. Used 8 tbs, per 5 gal bucket. By morning, it was going like gangbusters. My house is kept at an ambient temp of 68 dgrees. Wifey has control of the thermostat. Fermented out dry in 2.5 days. Only five ingredients in the whole thing... Water, sugar, lemon juice(suger inversion), Gerber, and yeast. You can read how I prepared it, on the last page of the Gerber thread.

[PsychDoc]

Ok, pitched at typical temp, 90ish, it's been two weeks and the gravity is slowly falling. It's odd since I've made dozens of brews, whine, mead, cider, never had a ferment go so slow. Oh well, I guess I have to be patient.
And for the record I love my job.

[PsychDoc]

So yesterday the gravity was 1.010 on bucket #1, so I said 'screw it' and ran it.
Seemed ok to me so I took a pint or so from mid run and put it on oak, I will likely just toss the rest in with a feints run or the other bucket of low wines . And though I am still clueless, I am learning
So I took 1.5gal of hot backset tossed in a box of cornflakes, 4lbs of sugar, topped up the bucket, and red star, bubbling away.

[PsychDoc]

And here is the product. First run 110 proof
This is a quart jar with one block from a JD smoking block bag. Each block is around 2"X2", and as you can see I split it into 4 sticks. This is day ? 48 hours from finish. One stick sank almost immediately, the others are now in various stages of saturation.
I have yet to find a good thread on the prep and addition of oak chips, or in this case blocks. I may show ? Weekly updates is there is any interest

[BIGBIRD123]

Just curious as to why you use such big pieces. I have a bag of tiny chips that when I need them, I just run my propane torch over a tablespoon of them and they work wonders. They make a very nice brown color and add just enough flavor...just a curious question...

[MitchyBourbon]

I can't answer for PsychDoc, but I also use larger/longer pieces of chard American white oak. It reduces the ratio of end grain. An oak barrel does not have any "end cut wood" exposed to the aging liquor. It is believed by some that the end grain might contribute a bitter flavor. I don't really know if it actually makes a real difference, but that is why I do it.

[T-Pee]

FWIW, I use the heart of valley oak from my backyard and make pieces 5" long and the size of your index finger. Toast at 400 degrees for 2 hours, char with a propane torch and they go in 2 to a quart at 55% and stashed on an unheated garage shelf for aging. Works quite nicely.

Lotsa ways to do it though and none really wrong.

tp

[BIGBIRD123]

FWIW, I use the heart of valley oak from my backyard and make pieces 5" long and the size of your index finger. Toast at 400 degrees for 2 hours, char with a propane torch and they go in 2 to a quart at 55% and stashed on an unheated garage shelf for aging. Works quite nicely.

Lotsa ways to do it though and none really wrong.

tp

My only reason for the question was for economy sake, I try to use the lease amount needed to do the job...like you said...no real wrong way to do it..guess I'm just cheap...

[Hound Dog]

And here is the product. First run 110 proof
This is a quart jar with one block from a JD smoking block bag. Each block is around 2"X2", and as you can see I split it into 4 sticks. This is day ? 48 hours from finish. One stick sank almost immediately, the others are now in various stages of saturation.
I have yet to find a good thread on the prep and addition of oak chips, or in this case blocks. I may show ? Weekly updates is there is any interest

If you are looking for info on the use of oak, wood aging and other stuff, try here.... http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=4
This is Mashes, Washes, Fermentation, Aging sub forum Flavoring and Aging. Loads of info there.

[PsychDoc]

Thanks for the link, this site is emended and not always easy to find what your looking for.
I tried the smaller chips but they seemed to impart too much burn flavor, char? Whatever it was it was harsh.
And I appreciate being, shall we say thrifty, I can risk the cost. I bought the bag of JD blocks on a trip to vegas last year at bass pro shop. Now when your wife let's you brew beep, distill spirits, and take a side trip to bass pro while in vegas, it's a good day

And I didn't modify the block other than to split it- I will take suggestions

Edited to remove chimp reference

"if you have any poo, fling it now"

[The KYChemist]

I tried the smaller chimps but they seemed to impart too much burn flavor, char?

[Hound Dog]

I use the blocks myself. I just split them into sticks and usually char with my torch. Good stuff.