Fastest Ferment I ever had..

[MrBee]

Good evening and Merry Christmas to all,

This is my first sugar wash, I have been making Rum for a few years now and decided to do a few neutrals just for mixing and macerating.

i have done some reading but dont recall anyone saying they had ferments finish this fast, maybe I just missed it.

* 20 lb sugar
* 2 tsp citric acid
* 2 tsp DAP
* 2 tsp Gypsum
* 1 cup bakers yeast

I inverted 10lb sugar in about 1.5 gallon of water that was almost boiling, Did this twice for the 20lb.
Topped up my 15 gallon Poly drum with hot/warm water to a total of 14 gallons. ( I wanted 15 gallons but didn't think I would have enough head space. Since I have never done a sugar wash I was not sure how much of a head it would get.

Got an S.G. reading of 1.073 ( after letting the sample cool to 65 f.
Stirred vigorously with a paint stirrer on my Drill.
Pitched 3/4 of the cup of yeast then Stirred that in good.
Once the water stopped circling I pitched the rest of the cup of yeast on top and let it float.
Temperature of the wash was 95 f when i pitched the yeast and I set my Waterbed heater to 90 f

Did all this on 12/21/16 sometime in the afternoon.
12/24/16 in the afternoon the F.G. is 0.992.
I turned the heater off and plan to let it settle till I have time to run it. Probably this week sometime. I have a spirit run and 2 stripping runs to do of Rum.
I use a 7 gallon pot still with thumper and plan to do the sugar wash in 3 stripping runs then a final spirit run.

I do recall reading that some of you want to be able to finish a ferment quickly but don't remember it happening this quick.

I'm gonna guess that part of the reason for the fast ferment is the Temp that I kept the wash at ?

Being new to sugar washes is this going to cause a problem with the final spirit ? as in an off flavor or something ?

Thanks
MrBee

[bilgriss]

You put a lot of yeast and nutrients in there; it's going to finish fast. Look up "yeast bomb".

[still_stirrin]

MrBee, I agree with bilgriss, you loaded it up with yeast & nutrients. Inverting the sugar helped too.

But it shouldn't cause a problem for your sugar wash. I've had sugar ferments go fast and some go slow. The slow were mostly results from cooler temperatures and crashing pH. So, maintaining a warm environment with a pH buffer helps tremendously.

One thing, if your bakers yeast is dehydrated, it is always a good idea to rehydrate it before you pitch, especially into a wash with a gravity as high as this one. Dry yeast cells are fragile until they're hydrated and throwing them into a sugar solution can fracture the cell walls due to the osmotic pressure on them.
ss

[FullySilenced]

But throwing a cup in...even if a million of em ruptured they would just feed the ones that survived

happy stillin,

FS

[MrBee]

Thanks for the reply's,

Yes that did seem like a lot of yeast,
I use about a 3rd of that amount in my 10 gallon Rum washes.

I'll be running this thru my pot still with thumper in 3 stripping runs then a spirit run .
It should be pretty neutral by the finish.

MrBee

[rgreen2002]

90 degrees F didn't hurt you for speed either MrBee...

[MrBee]

Yes rgreen,

I used to ferment my rum wash at regular room temp but finally got a heater and now try to maintain the same temps that would be in the tropics. I just dont want to push ferments so fast that it effects flavor.

Lookin for quality .

MrBee

[Shine0n]

High temp, lots of yeast, nutes. It should take off running like a sprinter. Lol