Better Method if you absolutely HAVE to use Turbo Yeast

[Theo]

Thermal runoff is when a process gives off heat, that increases the process which increases heat output and on and on.

[Reflux_Attack]

Thanks for the post, Odin. Was referred to you by another member here.

I'm looking to use A48 while I learn how to do a grain mash.

[stillapothead]

Used the alcotec 24h divided in thirds
used 3rd of the bag with 4kg of sugar, in 7lt water
I think I left it in a place where it was a bit too hot for it (Australia)
i didn't have much of airlock activity so i thought that nothing will happen
its been about 20h after and my hydrometer is showing 1,150 sg approx 21% alcohol.
Is that even possible?

[rad14701]

Used the alcotec 24h divided in thirds
used 3rd of the bag with 4kg of sugar, in 7lt water
I think I left it in a place where it was a bit too hot for it (Australia)
i didn't have much of airlock activity so i thought that nothing will happen
its been about 20h after and my hydrometer is showing 1,150 sg approx 21% alcohol.
Is that even possible?

Sounds more like 33.6% ABV potential with an OG of 1.216 to me... More than double the high end recommended for potable spirits...

[Timeking]

Just ran a batch of turbo and got rid of 90% of the taste. I read
what was said about useing half a packet of 48 but instead I went
the other way. I usually use 7.5 lbs of sugar per 5gal this batch
I used 11 lbs sugar because that is what I had left. After 48 hours
it went to my shed where it is cold not cool but cold. It set for
two more days until I had a chance to run it. I ran it very slow
got 1 gal of 105 proof that taste rather well. Yes you can still
tell it was turbo but only because I know I used it.

[Prairiepiss]

A better solution is to go to the tried and true recipe section. And pick out a good recipe. And quit pushing the ABV limits so high. Keep it down at least below 14%. 10% would be better. And 8% is perfect in my book.

[kencoinc1]

When I break down and run the super turbos I have always split the pack into 2s, all their directions are good for if you follow them is to get you to buy their carbon and their clarafiers, made that mistake once or twice but learned the lesson, hell when ya split the pack into 2s I figure I pay for the first run and get better quality, with the second batch being free, ( well almost )

[TxRed]

I have been using the Alcotec 48 and have had great success with it, I am however using the (2) 3/8" airlocks and increased my sugar by 10# and use nutrients to help boost. I do not recommend adding the tails with the next wash, it will have an off flavor and smell, I have been able to remove the smell by adding copper pieces in the jar with the spirit and letting it sit for a week.

[rad14701]

I have been using the Alcotec 48 and have had great success with it, I am however using the (2) 3/8" airlocks and increased my sugar by 10# and use nutrients to help boost. I do not recommend adding the tails with the next wash, it will have an off flavor and smell, I have been able to remove the smell by adding copper pieces in the jar with the spirit and letting it sit for a week.

Seriously...??? Ever heard the term Quality over Quantity...??? You have much to learn...

[Prairiepiss]

I have been using the Alcotec 48 and have had great success with it, I am however using the (2) 3/8" airlocks and increased my sugar by 10# and use nutrients to help boost. I do not recommend adding the tails with the next wash, it will have an off flavor and smell, I have been able to remove the smell by adding copper pieces in the jar with the spirit and letting it sit for a week.

So you increased the amount of sugar. And added more nutrients. To An already over sugared and over nutrient recipe? And you like it?

Edited to add.

And you are going to open a legit micro distillery? Is this what you plan to use to make tour product with?

[TxRed]

No that's not what I'm using for my ingredients , just saying it worked for when I tried it that way. I have a good corn mix that I think I have just about perfected and that's what I'm planning on using for my bourbon and then aging. I wouldn't try distilling and selling a sugar spirit.

[woodshed]

Nor would you use a Turbo in a distillery unless you got it for free then you could use it for your sac run. And then follow that with another sac run with some good yeast.
I just made that mistake with Betty, a new still here at Woodshed. Swear I could taste that shit in my first keeper run through her. Followed that with 2 runs using the in house yeast and all was good.
The first one with good yeast was not far off but noticeable. Haven't decided what to do with it yet. Probably rerun and see if it cleans up. Or just use it for lamps on the deck.

[rpt124]

Question something I have t noticed after reading the many different discussions on turbo yeast is there anyway to save a mash that started with turbo? So if you pitch turbo and the next day u discover it might not be good is there anyway to save the mash? Could you pitch bakers on top of it to try to save it, or is there
Another way?

Or do you just have to go with it and run and see how r turns out?

[rad14701]

Question something I have t noticed after reading the many different discussions on turbo yeast is there anyway to save a mash that started with turbo? So if you pitch turbo and the next day u discover it might not be good is there anyway to save the mash? Could you pitch bakers on top of it to try to save it, or is there
Another way?

Or do you just have to go with it and run and see how r turns out?

The bakers yeast would use the fortified turbo yeast as nutrients and should perform just fine if temperature and pH are within range...

[rpt124]

OK that's what I did. I have 2 buckets going and one of them was capped up this morning like it was working the other was not. it almost looked like the cap already fell and it was done. I pitched bakers onto both of them and going to check them tomorrow morning. Thanks for the advice!

[MBF]

After reading this thread, it is apparent to me that 1) Turbos aren't for drinkin' spirits, and 2) I plan on spending a much larger percentage of my time working on the fermenting process than the distilling process.

[Prairiepiss]

After reading this thread, it is apparent to me that 1) Turbos aren't for drinkin' spirits, and 2) I plan on spending a much larger percentage of my time working on the fermenting process than the distilling process.

This is partially a good choice. Because you could wast a lot of time on fermenting. And not know if it was good or bad. If you don't know how to rub your still proper.

It's preached here over and over. Start with a good tried and true recipe. Use it to learn how to drive your still. Once you figure out how your still runs best. And how to get what you want out of it. Then work on you fermenting. Tried and true recipes are in that section for a reason. Most are hard to screw up. Which makes for a good learning tool.

[MBF]

After reading this thread, it is apparent to me that 1) Turbos aren't for drinkin' spirits, and 2) I plan on spending a much larger percentage of my time working on the fermenting process than the distilling process.

This is partially a good choice. Because you could wast a lot of time on fermenting. And not know if it was good or bad. If you don't know how to rub your still proper.

It's preached here over and over. Start with a good tried and true recipe. Use it to learn how to drive your still. Once you figure out how your still runs best. And how to get what you want out of it. Then work on you fermenting. Tried and true recipes are in that section for a reason. Most are hard to screw up. Which makes for a good learning tool.

Apologize. Absolutely understand. What I was thinking; in-artfully expressed. Try again. Overall, I expect to spend much more time perfecting fermentation than distillation technique. More time initially learning how to run still using a single tried and true recipe until I learn how to use my still's potential, and then use that as a base to expand on improving my fermentation skills.

Better?

[BGreene]

Crap. I was "gifted" 4 packets of Turbo Yeast for my new still. I suppose I could run one as the sacrificial lamb just to make sure it all works. Like others have said, it would at least prove the still is working ok, test for leaks and have fuel for the deck lamps.

[hawgwrench]

Just tried a comparison run with alcotec 48 and bakin yeast. The alcotec works like dose of salts....but stunk to high he11 and tasted worse. I'll not spend money on it again as I can wait another week for mash to get'er done. BTW the results was purdy much what I've read here. Suppose I was looking to re-invent the wheel .

[rad14701]

Just tried a comparison run with alcotec 48 and bakin yeast. The alcotec works like dose of salts....but stunk to high he11 and tasted worse. I'll not spend money on it again as I can wait another week for mash to get'er done. BTW the results was purdy much what I've read here. Suppose I was looking to re-invent the wheel .

Nice to see that you're no longer a Doubting Thomas, hawgwrench...!!!

Another convert...

[sungazer]

I started the hobby as a purist and bought all my supply's at winery supplies which are no more but the is a new Lavin distributor close by. I used to invert the sugar only use 5kg of sugar to 25 L of water use DAP, Cervit, Go Ferm Citric and Tartaric acid to invert sugars and ferment them in a glass demijong. I got great ethanol when the ferment went well it didn't always.

The last couple of times I have mixed up 29kg of sugar in a 100L plastic about half meter diameter and 1 meter tall in water capacity with the lid just resting on I add two packets of the Still Spirits classic or now Classic 8 and it ferments quickly but I let it sit sometimes for months other times I use it when its clear I might add some Benoite if I want to use it sooner rather than later. It always works it gets a bit hot during the first to second day and worries me but always works and gives distills out a great 95% ethanol. I only collect the ethanol over a very small temperature range.

When you look at the numbers the packet size is 240g and for a 50L batch you using tried and true recipes you would be adding at least 100g of yeast nutrient and 20g of yeast. The classic 8 even contains its own amount of Benoite.

Reading this forum I may have started off on the wrong foot with something that is so controversial. But as you get older you look for the simpler methods especially if you have tried all the other recipes as well. I will still make a batch here and there using the EC1118 or perhaps something similar when I finish this bag. But I have to say I like the 100L batch size much better than mucking around with the glass 25L containers and adding ingredients at 12 hour intervals.
The main reason is that you can simply rack off the required amount into the still when needed / wanted and the rest lies in waiting no need to plan and make multiple messes in the house fermenting.

[thecroweater]

Yeah I guess most of us know it's fast and simple but better results can be got from other yeasts, bread yeast is great for pretty much anything sugar as it is propagated on a strata of molasses, ale yeasts tend to make great whiskeys and wine yeasts are the shabang for fruit. I have an 18 gal boiler so 75 LTr fermenters suit me great and 220s suit when fruit season hits and alot has to go down fast, the two 25 liter ones are for the misuses beer, as always horses for coarses

[muscashine]

Reading this forum I may have started off on the wrong foot with something that is so controversial. But as you get older you look for the simpler methods especially if you have tried all the other recipes as well. I will still make a batch here and there using the EC1118 or perhaps something similar when I finish this bag. But I have to say I like the 100L batch size much better than mucking around with the glass 25L containers and adding ingredients at 12 hour intervals.
The main reason is that you can simply rack off the required amount into the still when needed / wanted and the rest lies in waiting no need to plan and make multiple messes in the house fermenting.

I love the lalvin yeast, EC1118 is good, but I usually use K1-V1116. Either seems to work fine, but from what I've read D47 is even better for fruits. I've never had an issue with any of them when making wines, and they're cheap.
I have to say I used the turbo yeast once just to see what it was like. It was scary fast, I had to keep knocking down the cap for fear it was going to spill over the bucket, but in three days I think, It was done. Had a bit of off-flavors, ran it a couple of times to make as much a neutral as I could for making flavored stuff (strawberry panty dropper and grape clothing remover), but never drank it straight. I think it was one of my first tries on my own still, from now on I'll stick to wine yeasts.

[sungazer]

Well maybe I should have prefaced my post by I am only interested in making pure ethanol that will be then watered down and flavored and then probably mixed with a mixer. So after doing all the "right" things for so long I can stand back and have a look at what is really going on and the percentages. I start with 100L of water with 480grams of yeast and yeast nutrients at least 80g of that is yeast if not more.(I did open a pack once and separate out the different components and have a best guess at what they were) anyway that is going to ferment and sit with a lot of the original ingredients being used up in the ferment and or sitting on the bottom of the fermenting barrel. I then take of the clear liquid and distill it I have if I am lucky now 15% of what I started with. To this I am going to add 6 parts to 1 water. Then I am going to add the flavor essence and age the spirit on charred oak so there is some carbon filtration also happening. I then am taking 30ml of this liquid and mixing it with 200ml of coke.

So If we have any mathematicians in the group what percentage of the "off" flavors do you think I really have now in the glass I am drinking from.

I have only just started doing it this way after slogging it out for 12 years of wine yeasts and wine nutrients and techniques only using sugar but always having to add that something whether it was fruit juice, fruit pieces, or Vegemite I have a book full of recipes that I have used and graded on successfulness of the ferment.

[thecroweater]

if you like turbo and having to carbon filter and al that jazz then essence to hide what's left power to you. Most will say there are better ways but you only got to please you

[bearriver]

you only got to please you

+1

Way I see it, the cowboys (and cowgirl) encourage it's herd to wander the property however it see's fit. If one of us cows want to go graze on weeds instead of grass and grain, well then that is up to the cow.

Those people you see on horses are just here to keep the fences up so we don't go stampeding off a cliff for no reason.

[BaxtersDad]

When I bought my stuff from MH, I got a Turbo Yeast packet with the milkcan, which I purchased first, and another packet with the still head I purchased later. These were "freebies" that MH just tossed in. I used it on twelve gallons of sugar wash at 1.090 (2 lbs per gallon) split into 4 3-gallon batches fermented in 5 gallon ex-Glosan buckets covered with a new tall white plastic garbage bag held in place with an elastic band (this is how I ferment everything). One half of each of my two packets went into each of the four buckets of sugar must. I pitched it on September 7, and it fermented to 0.990 by September 11. The smell and taste were clean. I did two stipping runs, a spirit run and finally a gin run, so my first Odin's Easy Gin was made with Turbo Yeast. For the record, the gin tastes very good.

I have not purchased any more Turbo Yeast opting instead for Safale US-05 (on the sweetfeed) or DADY (on the Booner's Casual All Corn and the sugar wash I just stripped). But I think a lot of people just heard the Turbo Yeast is "crap" and just repeat that without any first hand knowledge. I don't see any advantage to using Turbo Yeast due its cost, but if you have it, I would not be afraid to use it despite what everyone says about it.

[Monkeyman88]

When I bought my stuff from MH, I got a Turbo Yeast packet with the milkcan, which I purchased first, and another packet with the still head I purchased later. These were "freebies" that MH just tossed in. I used it on twelve gallons of sugar wash at 1.090 (2 lbs per gallon) split into 4 3-gallon batches fermented in 5 gallon ex-Glosan buckets covered with a new tall white plastic garbage bag held in place with an elastic band (this is how I ferment everything). One half of each of my two packets went into each of the four buckets of sugar must. I pitched it on September 7, and it fermented to 0.990 by September 11. The smell and taste were clean. I did two stipping runs, a spirit run and finally a gin run, so my first Odin's Easy Gin was made with Turbo Yeast. For the record, the gin tastes very good.

I have not purchased any more Turbo Yeast opting instead for Safale US-05 (on the sweetfeed) or DADY (on the Booner's Casual All Corn and the sugar wash I just stripped). But I think a lot of people just heard the Turbo Yeast is "crap" and just repeat that without any first hand knowledge. I don't see any advantage to using Turbo Yeast due its cost, but if you have it, I would not be afraid to use it despite what everyone says about it.

+1
Makes me wonder how many of the neigh-sayers have actually used it and how many are just blindly repeating what other "more experienced" people are saying about it.

[cranky]

When I bought my stuff from MH, I got a Turbo Yeast packet with the milkcan, which I purchased first, and another packet with the still head I purchased later. These were "freebies" that MH just tossed in. I used it on twelve gallons of sugar wash at 1.090 (2 lbs per gallon) split into 4 3-gallon batches fermented in 5 gallon ex-Glosan buckets covered with a new tall white plastic garbage bag held in place with an elastic band (this is how I ferment everything). One half of each of my two packets went into each of the four buckets of sugar must. I pitched it on September 7, and it fermented to 0.990 by September 11. The smell and taste were clean. I did two stipping runs, a spirit run and finally a gin run, so my first Odin's Easy Gin was made with Turbo Yeast. For the record, the gin tastes very good.

I have not purchased any more Turbo Yeast opting instead for Safale US-05 (on the sweetfeed) or DADY (on the Booner's Casual All Corn and the sugar wash I just stripped). But I think a lot of people just heard the Turbo Yeast is "crap" and just repeat that without any first hand knowledge. I don't see any advantage to using Turbo Yeast due its cost, but if you have it, I would not be afraid to use it despite what everyone says about it.

+1
Makes me wonder how many of the neigh-sayers have actually used it and how many are just blindly repeating what other "more experienced" people are saying about it.

As a naysayer who has chosen never to use it I will tell you the best reason not to ever use it. Blue Distillate. 99% of the time someone comes on here asking why their distillate is blue it is the direct result of turbo yeast. For this reason alone I will continue to advise people against using it. There are better yeasts for what we do.