My first sugar wash!

[NZPete]

Hey fellas. Got a pic uploaded here but it's pretty boring got it set up at my business so I can monitor

Here's what I did..

9kg sugar
48L water
35g of Fermaid AT, split in half.
33g GoFerm Protect
26g yeast (ec1118)

Dissolve sugar and half the Fermaid AT in fermenter with 47l water.

Dissolve 33g of Go-Ferm Protect in 650 mL boiling water.

Waited til water got to 40C and poured in my yeast. Let that cool down to 35C and pitched it in my 30C sugar water.

When SG hits 1.04 Ill pitch the second half of the Fermaid AT.

Didn't quite go 100% according to plan but hopefully I'll be alright!

I still haven't got my boiler from my fabricator, but hoping by the time this clears I'll have it and be able to run it. Being run through a VM to make neutral for gin, licquers etc

[still_stirrin]

9kg sugar into 48 liters of water should get you O.G.=1.065, roughly 9.9%ABV potential. And your fermenter will have roughly 53 to 54 liters of “syrup” in it.

Hopefully your added nutrients will help the yeast drive to the end. Did you add any pH buffer to prevent a hard crash? Pure sugar washes have a tendency to crash due to the acid production during the fermentation.
ss

[NZPete]

Hey ss thanks for the input. SG 1.065 and 10% was where I wanted to end up for 50L but I ended up absent-mindedly tipping the whole 9kg of sugar in instead of 8.3 - so I had to add more water

I threw a handful of oyster shells in to (hopefully) stop a pH crash

[shadylane]

Sounds like you're on the right track.
Bakers might be faster than ec1118 but the champagne yeast will ferment cleaner and settle better.

[NZPete]

Hey shady

Lots of debate on using ec1118 or similar vs bakers yeast for a low abv sugar wash but I thought I'd go with ec1118 for that exact reason - maybe just a little more forgiving for the first time fermenter!!

[shadylane]

Ya caught me editting

[shadylane]

Hey shady

Lots of debate on using ec1118 or similar vs bakers yeast for a low abv sugar wash but I thought I'd go with ec1118 for that exact reason - maybe just a little more forgiving for the first time fermenter!!

Sounds logical to me.
The only reason I use bakers instead of ec1118 for a sugar wash is the cost.
That and I use boiled bakers for nutrients, so the wash is already bread flavored.
So, there's less need for a cleaner fermenting yeast.

[NZPete]

Checked the SG just now, after approx 19 hours of fermentation.. seemed like the SG was about 1.061 which I thought seemed quite high after reading about lots of 3 day washes etc

Temp sitting at 25c and there does seem to be lots of gas/bubbles in the liquid.

Will be back to check on it tomorrow!

[NZChris]

When you boil water, you knock the oxygen out of it, oxygen that the yeast needs when you rehydrate it.

[NZPete]

I see the instructions said the hotter the better so I ran with it... but that does make sense. Hopefully it comes good..

[shadylane]

Checked the SG just now, after approx 19 hours of fermentation.. seemed like the SG was about 1.061 which I thought seemed quite high after reading about lots of 3 day washes etc

Was the SG measured with a refractometer or a hydrometer?

[NZChris]

I see the instructions said the hotter the better so I ran with it... but that does make sense. Hopefully it comes good..

Sterilizing the water makes sense if you are propagating a cheese starter. You're making likker. You want the yeast going nuts before you pitch it, so use well oxygenated water to activate the yeast.

[NZPete]

Checked it this morning at around 42 hours. SG down to 1.49, I'm unlikely to be able to get there tomorrow so I threw in the extra Fermaid AT a bit early - hopefully it's all good!

[NZPete]

Checked the SG just now, after approx 19 hours of fermentation.. seemed like the SG was about 1.061 which I thought seemed quite high after reading about lots of 3 day washes etc

Was the SG measured with a refractometer or a hydrometer?

A hydrometer, is there likely to be a difference?

[Yummyrum]

Yes ,
Hydrometers are still accurate as the wash ferments and alcohol builds ip in it whereas refractometer readings are skewed as the alcohol builds up .

Refractometers should only be used to check the start gravity to estimate what the % abv will be .The only advantage I see with them is when you have a pulpy fruit wash that has a lot of suspended solids , a hydrometer reading will be way out , whereas a single drop of liquid free of pulp can be used to test on a Refractometer.

Hydrometers can be used to check throughout fermentation and % abv can be determined from SG and FG

[NZPete]

Update:

Checked this morning at just under 4 days of fermentation. Currently sitting at 1.03 - so just under halfway? Lots of bubbles and gas. I remember seeing a post somewhere from StillerBoy about degassing partway through but I can't find the post now so I've left it at this stage.

Had a sniff, I don't have the best sense of smell but to me it just smells a bit boozey and a bit yeasty with very few off smells. I suppose that's to be expected at this early stage though

[shadylane]

Degassing at this point would be a bad idea

[NZPete]

Sitting at just under 8 days currently and SG 1.004 - is that weirdly slow or about right?

[shadylane]

Sounds about right for 1118 yeast and 25c temps

[NZChris]

If it's for a sacrificial cleaning run, it doesn't have to be perfect because it should be discarded afterwards.

[NZPete]

If it's for a sacrificial cleaning run, it doesn't have to be perfect because it should be discarded afterwards.

Thought I'd dump a couple of goon sacks in for the sac run and try to make some neutral with the wash!

[Johnny_Mac]

*following*

[NZPete]

Well lads, there was some concern about stalling but after a couple of days it finally got from 0.994 to 0.990. It's currently in the drinks fridge at work, which I've turned down to 0C to really cold crash it!

[NZPete]

I racked my wash off today, came off nice and clean and there was a pretty thick yeast cake at the bottom. Looking to smash a vinegar run tomorrow so hopefully I'm not far away!

[NZPete]

Still waiting for my thermo gland so I can run this stuff. The upshot of that is that this wash has had a long time in the fridge to clear.

Looks pretty clear in a glass but in the fermenter it has a yellowy brown look. Is this pretty standard?

[Salt Must Flow]

Yeah it's fine. I wouldn't expect it to be really clear. I've never let my sugar washes clear, but it can't hurt. After stripping, it makes a huge difference when you dilute your low wines for your spirit run. For instance a 15% ABV boiler charge will come out MUCH smoother than a 40% ABV boiler charge. After letting the boiler cool to 60F, you'll find that the ABV of the spent wash is less than 1% so there's no worries about losing ethanol when seriously diluting your low wines. It only takes longer to bring the boiler up to temp, but this is the biggest tip I can offer.

[subbrew]

Lack of oxygen at the start has been mentioned. Yeast need O2 to propagate (divide and make more yeast). So to get off to a fast start you need O2 so the yeast numbers multiply. Then, when the O2 is gone, the yeast go into anaerobic metabolism which is where they make alcohol.

The very best way to oxygenate your wash is an O2 tank and an oxygen stone. In a 5 gal batch, 20 seconds of good flow will saturate the solution. I personally use an aquarium pump with a stone. Many people worry about pushing bacteria laden air into the wash. I do wrap my pump in a starsan soaked cloth that takes part of that fear away. You can also get inline hepa filters. Anyhow, in my 50 gal fermenter I leave it run for 20 minutes or so. if doing something high gravity such as a mead I will even give it a second shot 3 or 4 hours later. Seems to really help to prevent stalled fermentations.

[Sporacle]

For instance a 15% ABV boiler charge will come out MUCH smoother than a 40% ABV boiler charge

Is this through a reflux for a spirit run?

[Salt Must Flow]

For instance a 15% ABV boiler charge will come out MUCH smoother than a 40% ABV boiler charge

Is this through a reflux for a spirit run?

Yes, the spirit run I edited it for clarification.

[Sporacle]

Sorry framed the quote a bit wrong, can you notice a difference between a high abv low wine and low abv low wine stripped product on a reflux run?
I usually run my CCVM between 25 or 30 abv low wine, you're saying I'll get a better product if I dilute to 15 abv?