howie wrote: ↑Sat Feb 27, 2021 7:00 am
a bit like the old pilots who insist on using a compass instead of a modern aviation GPS.
do you still get lost?
'only sometimes'
I will happily put my life in the hands of an old pilot using the old ways .....rather than someone who has to to rely on modern gadgetry to find their way from A to B.
i have got my pilots cross country endorsement where you train with compass, map/landmarks & stopwatch.
but the planning can all go to shit when the weather suddenly changes.
i know what i would rather use, avionics GPS>phone software as backup>then compass as a last resort.
Stop pissing, Yuri. Give me a stopwatch and a map, and I'll fly the Alps in a plane with no windows.
Name that movie! Anyone, anyone???
The Hunt for Red October - without Alps but in a Submarine.
howie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:05 pm
2) interesting that using old trub dropped the initial PH by 0.8 (everything else was the same)
Trub is definitely acidic.
I've tried using it as a source of nutrients.
Trub is better than nothing and it's free.
But fresh boiled yeast works better.
howie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 7:05 pm
2) interesting that using old trub dropped the initial PH by 0.8 (everything else was the same)
Trub is definitely acidic.
I've tried using it as a source of nutrients.
Trub is better than nothing and it's free.
But fresh boiled yeast works better.
yep, might leave the trub out in future.
the non-oyster wash with trub got very close to a PH of 4 on day 2, before recovering slightly.
one other interesting thing that happened in both runs is the fermentation rate.
the non-oyster washes both kicked off with the usual violent ferments, trying to blow the lid off the FV.
the oyster wash just got on with things quietly, hardly a bubble through the airlocks, yet achieved a lower FG.
I'm interested to hear if there is a taste difference between the two washes with the only difference being the ph going into the still. Do you bring the still up to temp and hold for any length of time? Since you can keep the ph a little higher with shells have you thought about adding more backset/dunder at the start.
It might be easy for old timer pilots to fly without gps but I am a novice and have don't have gps (ph meter). My 2nd gen rum seems to have stalled on 1.048. Been like it a few days. The ocasionaly bubble out of the air lock, no fizzing, taste sweet. Wondering if it is ph? I am using the lees from gen 1 and 10l dunder (25l ferment). Added more yeast but didn't help, added dap no help. Might try oyster shell.
10 litres of Dunder in a 25litre Rum wash is way to much .
It is normal to use closer to 10% Dunder and never exceed 20% .
Dunder is both acidic and has a high specific gravity as it contains the accumulated un fermentable material from previous strips .
Also , it is not that far off that a Rum wash will finish around 1.040 , my All Molasses Rum finishes around 1.060 .
Normally I would have said it was probably finished but if you think it still tastes sweet , then maybe yours isn’t .
The fact that you used such a high amount if Dunder makes me question the rest of your wash proportions .
Yummyrum wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 2:26 pm
10 litres of Dunder in a 25litre Rum wash is way to much .
It is normal to use closer to 10% Dunder and never exceed 20% .
Dunder is both acidic and has a high specific gravity as it contains the accumulated un fermentable material from previous strips .
Also , it is not that far off that a Rum wash will finish around 1.040 , my All Molasses Rum finishes around 1.060 .
Normally I would have said it was probably finished but if you think it still tastes sweet , then maybe yours isn’t .
The fact that you used such a high amount if Dunder makes me question the rest of your wash proportions .
Thanks. I got the recipe from Aussiedistiller McStill. Just checked and it says 10l of dunder for a 25 - 30 l wash.
wont use as much in 3rd gen.
Recipe:
3kg raw sugar
3l molasses (using feed grade blackstrap)
80 g bakers yeast
pinch epsom salts
it is sweet so should i just run it or leave few more days?
Royalwulf wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:32 pm
The ocasionaly bubble out of the air lock,
If thats the case leave it be a few more days, Bubbles must be coming from somewhere. You sure there is absolutely no activity on the surface of the wash?
Royalwulf wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 1:32 pm
The ocasionaly bubble out of the air lock,
If thats the case leave it be a few more days, Bubbles must be coming from somewhere. You sure there is absolutely no activity on the surface of the wash?
not visible but i put my ear close to the surface and yes can hear activity, will leave it
Seals can leak, so bubbles in a bubbler is not the best way of telling if a ferment is dead.
OG for a rum wash isn't important until you have a problem. The drop in SG can be used to calculate if all of the available fermentables have been converted into alcohol.
PH in a rum wash isn't important until you have a problem. I put a couple of whole shells in at the start, turn my brain off and let them buffer the pH. Once pH has got out of hand, shells are not a good option for raising pH and it's not a great idea to try to adjust pH unless you know what it is. I've never tried using pH strips for rum, but they are cheap and if that's all you've got, use them. If you haven't got any, get some, they will be useful for other products.
pH test strips are more reliable than your $20 electronic device. If you are worried about the dark colour of the wash making it hard to read the test strip, you can always dilute a sample of wash with water and then test that.
--
50L Beer keg boiler, 2200W element Modular 2" Pot Still
opinions are free and everybody has them, experience costs you time
Royalwulf wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 8:39 pm
not visible but i put my ear close to the surface and yes can hear activity, will leave it
Excellent , you can often hear what you wont see or is hard to see
I'm sure some newbs think I'm joking when I tell them to put an ear close to the surface and listen
As Chris pointed out , watching an airlock is a sure fire way to get sucked into thinking a wash is dead, they and lid seals are notorious for leaking.
NZChris wrote: ↑Mon Dec 27, 2021 10:00 pm
Once pH has got out of hand, shells are not a good option for raising pH and it's not a great idea to try to adjust pH unless you know what it is.
[/quote]
Thanks. I got the recipe from Aussiedistiller McStill. Just checked and it says 10l of dunder for a 25 - 30 l wash.
wont use as much in 3rd gen.
Recipe:
3kg raw sugar
3l molasses (using feed grade blackstrap)
80 g bakers yeast
pinch epsom salts
it is sweet so should i just run it or leave few more days?
[/quote]
that's exactly what happened to me, following that that same recipe.
it does say 10L, which as pointed out, is too much.
i usually use about 5L in a 25-30L wash now (+oyster) without problems.
What is the base water chemistry for the washes used? If you had very soft water it could be part of your gains are due to the added calcium in the mash, a small amount is required for yeast to perform well.
Royalwulf wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:29 pm
Question on shells. Is there anything special about oyster shell or will any sea shell work? I can go to the beach and pick up shells for free.
Nothing special. Just need to be calcium based. Can be egg shells, coral, or ?.
Royalwulf wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:29 pm
Question on shells. Is there anything special about oyster shell or will any sea shell work? I can go to the beach and pick up shells for free.
Oyster shells are what are commercially available to us disadvantaged landlocked folks .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
Royalwulf wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:29 pm
Question on shells. Is there anything special about oyster shell or will any sea shell work? I can go to the beach and pick up shells for free.
Oyster shells are what are commercially available to us disadvantaged landlocked folks .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
Royalwulf wrote: ↑Fri Dec 31, 2021 6:29 pm
Question on shells. Is there anything special about oyster shell or will any sea shell work? I can go to the beach and pick up shells for free.
That's what I do, but if I was landlocked I would visit my local monumental mason looking for off cuts. I put two large clam shells in a sugar wash today, recording the weight and pH for future reference. Any form of calcium carbonate that you can find locally can be used to simulate a buffer unless it is finely ground
I don't recall ever using an actual oyster shell, but if I ever did, it was whole.
I am lucky our breach at our condo on the canal is almost all oysters. You cant walk on it barefoot and we even sell part of the beach oysters to a commercial company to cover some of our HOA expenses.
I have to use eggshells or oyster shells every time. My pH crashes and ferment stops if I don’t. What’s crazy is that I have fairly alkaline water locally; I guess it’s the trubs I leave in the bottom.
last time I made a very strong barley wine (circa 16%) i used some washed and boiled oyster grit in the ferment, just 2 tablespoons in a 25l vol to keep a pH floor so the yeast could max out, but the product had a definite oyster / seawater taste. I am aware that some "oyster stout" brewers use shells in the process to deliberately get the flavor in, so I could get away with it in the beer but it is definitely not a taste nor smell I'd want in my gin.
perhaps it was just the combination of ingredients in the barley wine because I can find no complaints or comments about oyster smell/taste in washes ?
