Corn mash smells like vomit ?

[Evillemon]

Hello everyone,

I think i have a problem. I currently have 25 litres of corn mash which has been fermenting for a week however it now has a smell of vomit.

A week ago i started mashing on the saturday and ran out of time to squeeze it all through a mesh and get it into the fermenter, so left it covered in the cooking pots overnight to cool. The next day i notcied that it didnt smell like my normal corn mash, and had a very very strong smell of corn (with a touch of vomit) .. i was a bit conerned but as it was a such a large batch (for me anyways) i decided to proceed with fermenting it anyway. The O.G of the beer at that point was 1.110

After a week of fermeneting i thought things were actaully ok, the sick smell seemed to have subsided and it was bubbling away until this morning. When i checked it this morning it was no longer bubbling (maybe once a minute only) and the smell of vomit was back. THe S.G is now 1.020

I have read that Vomit smells usually mean a bacterial infection, and im obviously worrying now that this whole batch will have to be poured down the toilet. I have seived off a layer of fine corn particles which was sitting on the top and the mash itself looks fine, there is no fungas or mold that i can see.. but there is defo a sicky smell

What can i do ? can this mash be distilled still or will be it horrible tasting or poisonous ?
is there anythign i can do to save it ? i was thinking about adding crushed campden tablets and then racking it off into fresh steralised containers and cold crashing it ?

or am i screwed ! ????

[NZChris]

Campden has no place in distilling. Leave it in your winemaking kit.

The vomit smell will subside and you should get a very nice product from it.

Stillin quality likker ain't a game for the impatient.

[Evillemon]

Hi NZChris !

Really ??? thats awesome news thanks should i wait for a few more days for the smell to subside before i run it through the still ??

I was sure i was screwed !

[NZChris]

I tossed mine in the compost 30 years ago, not knowing to wait. Hours of blood sweat and tears went into that mash. Just wait. If you're always in a hurry, you need a different hobby

[Evillemon]

Im not in a hurry honest, as it goes as im waiting for a new reflux coloumn which i really wanted to run this mash through, however its going to take another 7-10 days to arrive so waiting is good for me. I just might have to move it to an outhouse before the mrs complains about the whole house smelling like sick lol

[thatguy1313]

Make sure you do all your cleaning and sac runs through that new column before putting your mash through. Hate for you to waste that nice mash and end up with an undrinkable mess after working so hard on it!

[shadylane]

Evillemon
A SG of 1.110 must be a mistake.
A hydrometer is difficult to use on a thick, all grain mash.
Adding campden tablets probably is a bad idea.
I'd let the mash ferment until it begins to clear on top, then cold crash and rack.

Your going to need a sacrificial wash for your new rig.
I'd save the sludge from the bottom of the fermenter,
add water and sugar to get a SG 1.02 or 03, this should ferment real fast.
Use this for your sacrificial run, while your corn mash is clearing in the cold.

[Evillemon]

Great idea i hadnt thought of using that to make a sugar wash for a first run. I was just gonna run it with viniger and then water?

I was sceptical about the O.G reading as my previous washes all turned out around 1.075, however put it down to the extra time that the mash was left with the malt left in ? ..

Luckily the temp here is really dropping now for winter so i will wait till it clears on top and then put it outside for a few days to settle and then rack it off into a new sterile container with an airlock . Then keep it outside until the new still is ready to roll, hopefully in a week or two.

thanks again for all the help and advice

[T-Pee]

Great idea i hadnt thought of using that to make a sugar wash for a first run. I was just gonna run it with viniger and then water?

The vinegar run comes before the sac run. Vinegar is an acid and will strip the copper clean of construction residues. The sac alky run finishes what he vinegar run misses and begins the patina process on the interior surfaces. Do both...possibly multiple times if necessary.

tp

[MitchyBourbon]

Mr. Evil,

Vomit smell in your wash/mash would tend to indicate the presence of butyric acid - small amounts are normal. It is a product of anaerobic bacterial fermentation. The fact that you can smell it means you have more than average. It can be caused by less than sanitary conditions ie an infection, it can also be caused by low dissolved oxygen levels in your wash/mash during the yeast respiration phase of fermentation. The good news is that organic acids in the presence an alcohol react to produce esters. For example methanol reacts with butyric acid, which smells like vomit, to produce methyl butyrate, which smells like apples or pineapples. Not saying it's gonna taste fruity, but there's a chance. Don't ya just love chemistry?

good luck.

[Durhommer]

I love reading the old threads when I have an issue sorted out why my corn likker stinks

[Durhommer]

So my vomit bucket as I call it is at 1.000 but still smells I'm under the impression I am to leave it till it smells fruity?

[Shine0n]

Id say its a bust if its still stinking

Hopefully Im wrong but ifn it were me....nahhhh

My muck pit looks like the devil puked but smells so good but to look good and still smell bad I'd pass

[Expat]

So my vomit bucket as I call it is at 1.000 but still smells I'm under the impression I am to leave it till it smells fruity?

If you're interested, have a read on esterification.

Vomit smell is usually a butyric infection, which smells awful and will distill over into a final product. The fruity smell (sometimes described as pineapple) is an ester created by a reaction of the butyric acid with alcohol.

Because the mash is acidic, leaving in it can do the job. Depends on how acidic, it's alcohol content and temperature.

I my own experience it didn't work so I distilled it (gah ) and added an inorganic acid (sulphuric acid) and gently heated it, which worked fine. Neutralization required afterwards. This method is not recommend or endorsed if you're not comfortable and confident working with such materials..