Newbie: Sugar wash has no alcohol

[PIDnerd]

To break in my newly built 2" Bokabob still, I made up a wash using table sugar following a recipe posted by wineo. Followed it exactly except for the substitution of potassium metabisulphite for DAP (the store didn't sell it).
8 # sugar, 6 gal water, 1 tsp citric acid, 1/4 tsp gypsum, 1 tsp potassium metabisulphate. At 90 degrees, spread 1/4 cup of distiller's yeast, closed up the fermentation bucket & filled the airlock. Left the bucket in my guest bathroom tub for 2 weeks. It bubbled strongly for the first week, then tapered off. After 2 weeks, took off the lid & put in the hygrometer - it said 0% alcohol. To test the device, put it in some commercial hootch; read 90 proof as labeled. The wash does smell like it did at the Jack Daniels brewery I toured last month.
This morning, put it in the boiler & set the temp for 183 degrees. The boiler hit that in 50 minutes, but after 2 hours, the upper column is room temperature. I'm assuming that's because there's no alcohol vapor to rise. My plan is to let it run for another 2 hours. surely a proper wash would be producing by then.
So my question is: why didn't the wash ferment? Was the subsitution a mistake? Should the wash be kept at 80 or 90 degrees? Does table sugar not ferment? (MY questions about operating the still will be posted elsewhere).
Thanks in advance.

[der wo]

Are you testing the proof of your wash with the same instrument as the proof of spirits?
Do you try controlling with the temperature in your pot?

Either it is my bad english or you need tons of more reading.

[Kegg_jam]

Wrong hydrometer. A wine and beer hydrometer will measure potential alc. If you took a measurement at the beginning of the fermentation and at the end. A proof and tralle will measure proof of distilled spirits.

[sambedded]

According to your notes you should have around 10% of alcohol in your wash. So don't worry, just run it through still.

[LBHD]

you need 2 hydrometers -

1 is for wash and 1 is for distilled spirits

[still_stirrin]

...my newly built 2" Bokabob still...& set the temp for 183 degrees...
The boiler hit that in 50 minutes, but after 2 hours, the upper column is room temperature. <I'm assuming that's because there's no alcohol vapor to rise.>

So my question is: why didn't the wash ferment?

It did...you're using the wrong tool to measure the terminal gravity. As others have said, you're using a Proof & Traille hydrometer to measure specific gravity. You should be using a ferment hydrometer...like you get at your local home-brew store.

Was the subsitution a mistake?
Should the wash be kept at 80 or 90 degrees?
Does table sugar not ferment?

Hey PID nerd....set the PID to manual and turn up the heat to 100% to bring the temperature to boil. Then turn it down to 50-65% and reflux for 30 minutes, or so.

You NEED to read a LOT before proceeding. You're doing it wrong...just like a newbie. I suggest reading the link in my signature, "spoon feed" and learn, learn, learn before proceeding.
ss

[shadylane]

The first mistake was trying to substitution of potassium metabisulphite for DAP

[LBHD]

The first mistake was trying to substitution of potassium metabisulphite for DAP

Didn't even catch that. That is a stabilizer that prevents yeasts from multiplying and fermenting!

[der wo]

But "It bubbled strongly for the first week".
So I think the fermenting was not a complete fail.

[Kegg_jam]

Taste it.

[raketemensch]

Taste it.

^ this.

Is it sweet and sugary, or does it taste like a dry white wine?

[PIDnerd]

Thanks to all who took the time to set me straight. I'd read several books and many newbie posts, but never remember seeing that different measuring tools were needed. Surely it was stated - I didn't pay close attention. That's the trouble with new things: you don't know what you don't know. So I'll read all the suggested links, get the right tools & chemicals, and try again. Hopefully I can find out how long it should take for my 2" 1500W 7 gallon still to reach operating temperature so I'll know whether my design is faulty or other problems exist.

[der wo]

1500W is little for 7gal. Insulate the pot and the column and use the 1500W the whole time.

[still_stirrin]

1500W is little for 7gal. Insulate the pot and the column and use the 1500W the whole time.

+1.

Insulation will improve heat retention (reduce heat loss, actually). The boiler insulation will help you get to temperature quicker.

And insulate your column up to 2" (one pipe diameter) below your liquid takeoff. Or, at least as high as your packing inside the column. This will help with reflux (rise and fall) in the column too.

I don't run a boka, but I do have a concentric LM head. 1.5 kW would be plenty for takeoff on it. Often, I feather the heat back to 900W/1000W when using the liquid outlet. I run full power until it starts to produce, then shut the LM valve and reduce heat to let it reflux for 20-30 minutes. Then, open the LM valve a little and take the fores and heads.

My reflux head also has a VM outlet which will allow a higher heat input/product throughput than the LM head. So I use the LM to compress heads before opening the VM valve (and close the LM valve). The VM is great at compressing the tails...it almost shuts down when I reach the "backuns".
ss

[rad14701]

That's the trouble with new things: you don't know what you don't know.

Hence my repetitive comment that "You need to know what you need to know before you need to know it!" as it relates to doing what we consider mandatory research... Doing so provides answers to questions you don't even know you have yet... You'll get up to speed if you read everything...

Call me crazy but I've read virtually every post ever posted here in these forums... Ok, scrap the calling me crazy bit...

[Truckinbutch]

Not crazy : DEDICATED .

[greggn]

>This morning, put it in the boiler & set the temp for 183 degrees. 

Chances are, at 183F, your wash never reached its boling point so you never saw any vapor to condense.

Try running your heat at full power until you see the temp hit the 170's at the top of your column ... then back it off and let the column reach equilibrium for an hour or so. Then you can begin taking off product.

[greggn]

>Hopefully I can find out how long it should take for my 2" 1500W 7 gallon still to reach operating temperature

90 minutes ... give or take a few.

[PIDnerd]

Got another fermentation bucket & airlock. Mixed up another batch w/8# sugar and 1/3 cup turbo yeast. Thing is bubbling away like a TV witches' cauldron after only a few hours. Didn't read the instructions for my new hygrometer so didn't take a BEFORE reading. Then I see on the first For Newbies sticky that turbo yeast is not fit for drinking alcohol. No problem for me, as my intent was always to produce fuel for engines, lamps, stoves, etc - but in the future, who knows? So I'll look into this contention. This will be my last non-question post - I'm keeping a journal offline.