adding sugar

[drdale]

I made a batch with rye, barley, dry malt extract, yeast, 3 gallons water, 2 cups sugar, and a couple tbs of distillers yeast. Started off OK but wound down in a couple days. I added a cup of sugar and it started going again for a day but wound down again. Added another cup of sugar and kept going for another day. Any problem with adding sugar like this? I figure it will stop when the alcohol gets to 10% anyway.

[Deerhunter]

Stick with the tried and true recipes. You'll know what your going to end up with.

[Truckinbutch]

Don't expect a lot of response here when you have obviously not done your homework .

[shadylane]

Started off OK but wound down in a couple days. I added a cup of sugar and it started going again for a day but wound down again. Added another cup of sugar and kept going for another day. Any problem with adding sugar like this? I figure it will stop when the alcohol gets to 10% anyway.

Feeding the ferment, sugar a little at a time is usually done on high gravity washes

[rad14701]

This is a classic example of a novice joining and thinking they can just hit the ground running without doing ample research... So, here you are... What's your next move...??? The correct answer is to stop what you are doing and start doing what we consider mandatory research... Just think of what these forums would be like if every new member started out like you... They would be even more of a shambles than they are right now... Be patient and get up to speed with the theories and fundamentals... There's no need in further repeating the same mistakes as others have already endured... You're smarter than that, right...??? Please don't prove us wrong on that...

[Kareltje]

It is not clear what you started with. A bash with some grains, Yeah, great!
But as long as your added cups of sugar are fermented, you can go on fermenting.
When they stop being fermented, you could distill and see what you get.

But as you have heard: you are on your own. If you do not follow the rules (almost) nobody will advise you.

Read and follow the rules, do not experiment. Do not try and learn.

[nerdybrewer]

You started off with good ingredients, sounds like it would have been a nice whiskey.
Adding sugar increases the alcohol content however it also increases some things that will not provide you with the same flavor as your pure malt whiskey.
Sugar washes tend to have more of a sharp flavor and take longer to age out to smooth.
Distill it and see what you get, but I'm also in the "you need to read more" camp.
It's good to learn but experimentation should come on top of learning and not so much before learning.
I learn lots from experimenting, but I have practiced a lot.

[drdale]

Thanks for the advice.
I have been doing lots of research, much of it conflicting, and it gets very confusing. People use a variety of words for the same thing and it is difficult to tell the "tried and true" recipes from the vast number of "give it a try" versions. I am sorry, but the confusion gets greater and greater while trying to read and sort through the hundreds of thousands (literally) of posts on many of the subjects. I guess I was hoping for some "distilled" interpretations.

[Kareltje]

Sorry, I was pestering you when I advised you to walk only the trodden paths.

The feeding of ferment by gradually adding sugar is done by winemakers to get a strong wine. I used to feed my elderberrywine to get a portlike, strong wine.
But then you make a wine and drink it with all the flavours still in the glass. When you add sugar to a ferment yuo want to distill, you in fact dilute the taste. It is almost the same as diluting a cognac or whisky with a neutral.

According to der wo though, adding a bit of sugar might give a better taste.

[Pikey]

Hi drdale, In the old days we learned that 2 1/4 lb of sugar in a gallon would make a dry wine (2 1/2 lb would make meium - ie some unfermented sugar, which we don't want). However our gallons are 160 fl oz and US gallons are more logically 128 fl oz ! and yeasts have got stronger since then, so something like a Lalvin EC 1118, can eat a lot more sugar than that if properly nutriented.

Nowadays for our purposes I use the rule of thumb that I'm wanting 1 kg to 5 Litres fluid so that all the sugar gets fermented in a reasonable time. Now whether that sugar comes out of a packet, or by converting starch or from fruit or molasses etc my aim is to get around about that 1 kg per 5 Litres in my wash. As I undrestand it that should give somewhere around the 10% you are looking for.

At those concentrations it is not necessary to add the sugar in increments. Hope that helps.

[Radek]

ehhhh sugar from the corn, etc + normal sugar should have 30 blg - in this way You will get 15-16%.

How to make something strong - 21 L of water + 8kg of sugar + Vodka, whiskey, rum etc yeast = 16-18 %

Hydrometer - here
Alcohol yeast - here
alcohol meter - here
How to use hydrometer - here