For reference, living in Southern Africa, at 1500m ASL - day time temps are hot - so you ferment with what you got. Day time temps in the medium 30°C's (normally around 32 - 36) - indoor temps regularly in the high 20°s - but it gets cool at night - down to around 16 - 20°C
i also struggle to get the malt to work properly - very poor conversion rates - and i suspect that some of this is a result of the malts not being the freshest.
I have reverted to using 2 stage liquid enzymes regardless
And, sometimes you can read too much into what others are doing. adding this, that, the kitchen sink etc.
So i went back to my own personal tried and trusted recipe without any PH up, down, hardner, softner, DAP, Gypsum, etc.
This recipe is a result of the kit i have - pot sizes, fermenter sizes and boiler size. - it was tailored for my setup - hence the slightly unorthodox use of some dextrose in a mostly AG mash.
I normally do 3 of these in a row - starting a mash each day - this gives me 3 x boiler charges for stripping runs from the primary and 4 x boiler charges from the sugarheads - so yes, you need to clear your schedule for a week or so of mashing, fermenting, stripping, fermenting again, stripping again and then doing the spirit runs!
This process takes almost a full day. I typically start around noon, and pitch the yeast the next day around noon. Not particularly labour intensive, but it does take time to do it right.
The grain bill
* 6 KG pale malt
* 1 KG Caramel Malt
* 1 KG Oatmeal (jungle oats, quaker oats, etc.)
Other stuff
* 2 KG dextrose (can use sugar, but dextrose is flavourless)
* 1 TBSP Distillers yeast (tolerance of 17 - 19% ABV)
* then for the sugar heads
* 7.5 KG sugar
The kit
* 1 x blender
* 1 x 30 L pot
* 1 x 8 - 10 L pot
* 1 x 50L Fermenter
* 1 x Paint stir stick and drill
The yield
* 28 liters (give or take) of wash at around 9.2% ABV on primary fermentation
* 30 - 35 litres on sugarheads
The process
- grind your grain into a rough flour - i use this method - viewtopic.php?f=34&t=85667
- Bring 21 liters of water up to strike temp (use a calculator)
- while waiting for the water to come up to temp, bring 4 L of water to almost boil and put in the oats - stir a lot and when it is a thick gloopy consistency, put the lid on and turn off the heat
- when you are at strike temp, slowly add the grains while stirring vigorously - break up the dough balls.
- add in the oatmeal - stir in well.
- add the enzymes (i use recommended dose x 2)
- you should now have a 30L pot filled to the brim (about 1cm shy)
- put the lid on Cover it with blankets and leave it for 2 - 3 hours - the instructions say 30 minutes - ignore it - leave it longer.
- after 2 - 3 hours - remove blankets and start stirring mash often until temp is down to target for next enzyme dosage. Again, i use recommended dose x 2
- wrap with blankets, and leave it overnight.
- in the morning open it up, take an SG reading - should be around the 1.08 mark - this is too high, and there isn't enough liquid yet.
- move it over to a 50 Liter Fermenter
- fully dissolve 2 KG dextrose (or sugar if you don't mind it) into 5 L of water and add to fermenter.
- top up the fermenter to the 42 - 45 L mark - leave about 7 - 10 cm head space
- as it cools to yeast temp, it will settle giving you opportunity to take final OG reading which should now be around 1.064
- prepare the yeast - and pitch it when in the right temp range
- mix the blazes out of it with the paint stick
- put the lid on and wait - Each time i do this - it comes out at 0.994 FG - in about 3 - 4 days depending on temp
- when finished, rack off the liquid, squeeze the grains - and put the liquids straight into the boiler. (I use propane, so burning not an issue for me)
- FOR THE SUGAR HEADS
- take the squeezed grains, and put them BACK into the same fermenter (do not clean it!!!!!)
- dissolve the 7.5 KGs sugar fully, and when cooled to yeast temp, add to fermenter. IMPORTANT TO COOL TO YEAST TEMP - we are not adding anymore yeast - there is enough left in the grains you put back.
- add water to 42 - 45L mark
- OG will be abound 1.060 - 1.070
- no need to add yeast - it will take off in 2 - 3 hours and be done in about 3 - 4 days
then of course - the fun - you have to start playing with the still - and this method with 3 mashes, gives me 7 days of stripping fun and 2 days of spirit fun and nets me a lot of booze
about 9 Litres of primary at 62% ABV
and
about 10 - 11 litres of secondary at 62% ABV
i take some of it and quick age with chips, but take the rest and add oak staves etc.
Enjoy!
