Mash slowing down?

[Walshie]

The facts: My first ever mash; Now is hour 60 since DADY added to a 18 lb each cracked and milled corn and sugar 13 gall water mash. The mix seems to be slowing down in its CO2 production but the smell is good. Temp is dropping from 88 yesterday to 80 right now. I was giving it a stir once in a while but have stopped. Mash is in a 20 gallon plastic garbage can (NSF2). I do not know the SG or ABV as my brix hasn't arrived yet.
Question - do I need to add sugar or a little more yeast? I'd like to distill at day 6.

[still_stirrin]

“Patience is the hardest thing to put into the bottle”.

Wait for it to finish. Don’t add more sugar, let the yeast finish what they’ve got.
ss

[Tabucowboy]

Is your SG still going down? If so I would just leave it and let it ferment out.
As long as your SG is dropping you are still producing alcohol.

It may be slowing down also cause of the temperature. DADY produces fastest at 90 degrees , but I believe you do not want to get it much higher than 100.
I have also read it produces more ABV at lower temps but takes longer.

[zed255]

Walshie, unfortunately you don't really get to dictate when a mash / wash is ready to distill, it will finish when it finishes and not before. I'd suggest NOT adding anything else, especially more sugar. This does not appear to be a T&T recipe, so the results of 'seat of the pants' washes / mashes can be unpredictable.

You are about 2-1/2 days onto fermentation on a wash that should have started around a very reasonable SG of 1.064. It may well be attenuating normally and when it does the activity slows down. When I do a sugar wash it starts at about an SG of 1.075 and takes about 5 days for it to become largely still. I give the wash about a week, rack off the trub and allow another week to settle, though kept under cover it will keep much longer. You also did not mention adding any other nutrients and adding some yeast nutrient / energizer is beneficial.

Your corn will add flavour only, since you did not gelatinize it and did not mash with any enzymes.

No need to stir or continually poke a fermentation, it can actual be detrimental. I give a good stir when it is time to degas but not until then.

My best advice is let this finish out as-is since you don't yet have any tools. Give a small sample a taste, it should not have much if any sweetness and feel quite dry in the mouth when it is done. I like to allow a wash to settle out quite a bit, last one sat for a month due to life getting in the way and it was water clear when it came time to distill. Made some of the cleanest neutral to date. Patience is rewarded.

[Walshie]

I found the recipe here: https://moonshinerecipe.org/corn-mash-moonshine Its 7 lbs cracked corn, 7 lbs sugar, 5 gallons water and 10 grams DADY.

I used a cracked corn I bought at TSC, and put that through a grain mill to make it a little finer and get some flour out of it.

In reviewing what I copied, it says let it sit for 14 days.

So if its still bubbling its still fermenting and Let It Ride (BTO)

[zed255]

Check out a Uncle Jesse's Simple Sour Mash recipe here in the Tried and True recipe section.

I followed your link and the site hurt my head and I left before really finding the recipe. There is lots of crap out there on the Wild Wild Web, try a few well regarded recipes here and you will be a better judge of when something is less than optimal.

And yes, just let this one ride.

[Walshie]

BTW, thanks all for advice

[jonnys_spirit]

I stir mine and punch down the cap a couple three times daily to keep the grains mixed in the wort and extracting flavor. Sorta like making tea. Rack off and squeeze the liquid as it approaches 1.000 SG and let it finish, clear, and degas in carboys then rack off sediment and strip it.

Good luck! Love the smell of a good ferment in the morning!

Cheers,
jonny

[HomerD]

Get you a specific gravity hydrometer and a proof & trall alcohol hydrometer. You will need both hydrometers.

Homer

[Walshie]

Get you a specific gravity hydrometer and a proof & trall alcohol hydrometer. You will need both hydrometers.

Homer

I have a proof and tralles; this arrives tomorrow.

[zed255]

I suggest a beer / wine hydrometer as well. The refractometer is useless without an accurate OG reading and a conversion calculation after fermentation is started. The old school hydrometer will more easily tell you where a ferment is at once started.

[StillerBoy]

You are doing a sugar wash, even thorough you have added some corn.. the corn will only provide some flavor and a bit of nutrients for the yeast..

I would be very suspect that the Ph is way off.. have you checked the Ph of the wash.. sugar wash, even with some grains added, are known for a acid drop..

Mars

[Walshie]

You are doing a sugar wash, even thorough you have added some corn.. the corn will only provide some flavor and a bit of nutrients for the yeast..

I would be very suspect that the Ph is way off.. have you checked the Ph of the wash.. sugar wash, even with some grains added, are known for a acid drop..

Mars

Sorry StillerBoy no pH meter in the house. Another tool from Amazon is now on order (my wife is killing me); Brix comes today sometime.

An update - mash has stopped gassing, slightly sour taste (so pH is dropping); temp dropped to 77. So the 14 days from the recipe to distilling nowhere near accurate.

When Amazon arrives I'll update the ABV/SG.

[Walshie]

Check out a Uncle Jesse's Simple Sour Mash recipe here in the Tried and True recipe section.

I followed your link and the site hurt my head and I left before really finding the recipe. There is lots of crap out there on the Wild Wild Web, try a few well regarded recipes here and you will be a better judge of when something is less than optimal.

And yes, just let this one ride.

The recipe I used is same as UJ; just bigger proportions. I'm going to follow his method for second/third etc ferment and distillation scaled up to 8 gallon wash which is the size of my pot.

[StillerBoy]

slightly sour taste (so pH is dropping);

SG is dropping, the sugars are being used up, not about acidity (Ph), which is something completely different..

temp dropped to 77.

It is best to ferment at a stable temperature.. by allowing the temp to drop, it will prolong the fermentation duration.. yeast like it best when temp are stable, for baker's yeast 85*F is best..

So the 14 days from the recipe to distilling nowhere near accurate.

That's just to cover their butt..

Mars

[jonnys_spirit]

Dissolved CO2 in the wort/wash also forms carbonic acid until it degasses which can give off a slightly acidic bite taste on the tongue - like carbonated soda.

Cheers!
-jonny

[Walshie]

From my new Brix refractometer that just arrived SG is 1.02 ABV 5.0. I was expecting more alcohol.

I don't know original SG.

[zed255]

I mentioned in a prior post that a refractometer will not read correctly on a fermenting / fermented wash, this is why a regular hydrometer is useful. Unless you knew your exact starting gravity with the refractometer you can not now determine the final gravity with it. Calculations are required to correct your reading now.

I suggest a beer / wine hydrometer as well. The refractometer is useless without an accurate OG reading and a conversion calculation after fermentation is started. The old school hydrometer will more easily tell you where a ferment is at once started.

Check out an online calculator:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/

Based on the info you have given and the assumption your wash fermented dry, you are closer to 9% ABV.

[Walshie]

I mentioned in a prior post that a refractometer will not read correctly on a fermenting / fermented wash, this is why a regular hydrometer is useful. Unless you knew your exact starting gravity with the refractometer you can not now determine the final gravity with it. Calculations are required to correct your reading now.

I suggest a beer / wine hydrometer as well. The refractometer is useless without an accurate OG reading and a conversion calculation after fermentation is started. The old school hydrometer will more easily tell you where a ferment is at once started.

Check out an online calculator:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/

Based on the info you have given and the assumption your wash fermented dry, you are closer to 9% ABV.

Yes upon doing a little research the brix doesn't work right now. Imma run down to my local brew house for a test.

[zed255]

I'd just run it once allowed to clear some.

You did not have the tools to take an OG reading so knowing the FG will only tell you if it fermented dry or stopped early, which your tongue can tell you. Doesn't taste sweet means it's done. Hopefully your HBS is near by so you aren't wasting a drive.

[StillerBoy]

From my new Brix refractometer that just arrived SG is 1.02 ABV 5.0. I was expecting more alcohol.

That 5% is about right.. 18 lbs sugar in 13 gal of water give a 1.38 lbs per gal which I estimate to give about the 5 you are getting as the corn provide nothing sugar wise..

To get a high abv sugar wash, it requires about 1.5 lbs per gal for an 8 - 9% abv..

Mars

[Walshie]

From my new Brix refractometer that just arrived SG is 1.02 ABV 5.0. I was expecting more alcohol.

That 5% is about right.. 18 lbs sugar in 13 gal of water give a 1.38 lbs per gal which I estimate to give about the 5 you are getting as the corn provide nothing sugar wise..

To get a high abv sugar wash, it requires about 1.5 lbs per gal for an 8 - 9% abv..

Mars

noted thanks

[mannye]

All of this speculation can be avoided by getting a cheap hydrometer and a plastic flask to measure your progress. Trust me.

I didn't have one for the first couple of months when I first started making beer way back in the 80's and it made a world of difference. Mine doesn't even require any use of math. It has the gravity reading on one side and the potential alcohol percent on the other. As long as the wash/must/wort is at 60F it reads spot-on. A little higher temps reduces the accuracy, but for home use, who cares?

When it reads 0%, you're done.

Also, as the fermentable sugars are eaten up, the ferment is always going to slow down. Just let it be. Measure every other day. Once you don't see a change for a few days, I usually use a week as me time period, you're done.