Oops - what happened to my sugar wash? (Pics)

[Chug]

Uh, never had this happen before. 15 gal wash (Shady’s), left it unattended for a few weeks with an immersion heater. Went back today, my stilling shed smells sour and all this thick off-white goop was on the top. Read 1.04, so clearly not fermenting anymore. I dumped it, but what happened with this batch? Pic attached.

[Ben]

Sour like vinegar, or sour like sourdough?

[Chug]

Unpleasant sour. Like vinegar. Definitely not the pleasant sour of yeast.

[Archee72]

Maybe you pitched the yeast into too hot a wash? Around the 35*C is best I’ve read? As Shady says.. “don’t stress the yeast”

[NZChris]

Vinegar requires oxygen.

How and why did you let oxygen get to it while it was fermenting?

[SDEngr1]

Any mash or wash is extremely susceptible to infection from wild molds, yeasts, etc. even if things are initially well sterilized. Idle time will allow them to propagate.

[Stonecutter]

Chug do you have a picture of your immersion heater?

[shadylane]

Vinegar requires oxygen.

How and why did you let oxygen get to it while it was fermenting?

Fermenting in a wooden barrel and let it set for few weeks after it was done.
Probably left the shell grit in also, that caused the pH to rise enough to make bacteria happy.

[Chug]

Chug do you have a picture of your immersion heater?

Yep. Much like this one. I think it’s the Top Fin 200W model.

[Stonecutter]

Those finns on the end are suspect for bacterial growth. If possible I would ditch that heater for an external one of some sort.

[Chug]

Those finns on the end are suspect for bacterial growth. If possible I would ditch that heater for an external one of some sort.

I do have a square pad heater below it, but in the Great White North I need a bit more to compensate for heat loss. I gave the whole immersion heater a good dousing in some old 25% rum tails I had bottled in the shed so we’ll see.

[Chug]

Vinegar requires oxygen.

How and why did you let oxygen get to it while it was fermenting?

Chris, that’s a good question. I honestly ignored this batch for the most part, but I did notice that the ferment stalled early on (day 1) so I gave it a bit of a stir and tossed in another handful of yeast to try and kick start it. That may have been my undoing.

Also, because the temps have dipped in this area lately, I wonder if the temp dropped enough to kill the yeast and then it warmed back up. I was out of the country for a few days and it’s possible the GFCI triggered while I was away, because when I returned the Christmas lights were out so I reset the GFCI, which is also what the stilling shed runs on. Didn’t think about that until now.

[Stonecutter]

it’s possible the GFCI triggered while I was away, because when I returned the Christmas lights were out so I reset the GFCI, which is also what the stilling shed runs on. Didn’t think about that until now.

[Stonecutter]

I do have a square pad heater below it, but in the Great White North I need a bit more to compensate for heat loss. I gave the whole immersion heater a good dousing in some old 25% rum tails I had bottled in the shed so we’ll see.

If there are plastic pieces on your heater I would try to use Starsan instead of dousing in alcohol.

[NZChris]

Those heaters only heat above the element, so it’s possible that the yeast bed wasn’t getting heated.

[shadylane]

Since the GFI tripped, there's a possibility the heater was electrocuting the yeast.

[cob]

because the temps have dipped in this area lately, I wonder if the temp dropped enough to kill the yeast and then it warmed back up.

Freezing will not kill yeast. The colder it gets the slower it works. Freezing is an accepted long term storage method.

[NZChris]

I suspect that the yeast would have survived possible electrocution, but would have been cold when the power went back on. Because the wash has already been dumped, we can never know for sure if the yeast bed was at a lower temperature than the wash above the element, but it is highly likely.

To diagnose something, (and to fix something), you need to have all of the facts available. Pouring a cockup down the drain is the worst thing to do when you want answers for how not to repeat the mistake.

[Saltbush Bill]

Freezing will not kill yeast. The colder it gets the slower it works

Very true Cob ,bread yeast will work away happily at very low temps.....just much much slower.

Fermenting in a wooden barrel and let it set for few weeks after it was done.

Gotta be close to the perfect way to get a result like that.

[shadylane]

Here's my tricks to success.
Apply controlled heat to the bottom of the fermenter and have a drain down low on the side.
That way the finished wash can be removed and the trub left behind.

[NZChris]

I'd like to know how many things were done wrong. I suspect that the list is quite long and includes advice gleaned from forums and Youtube.

[Yummyrum]

….. I suspect that the list is quite long and includes advice gleaned from forums and Youtube.

Chris I have seen you say this more than a few times .
What forums do you mean or refer to ? …. is this one of them ?

[Chug]

I'd like to know how many things were done wrong. I suspect that the list is quite long and includes advice gleaned from forums and Youtube.

So there’s probably a list (but not from forums or YT, I use HD as my only source of truth)
- Most likely too hot. I suspect the shed space heater was on most of the time I was away without my knowledge and it gets up to 95°F in there, so that’s one.
- Most likely left it too long after it was done. I don’t use an airlock on my large fermenter so there’s a great possibility oxygen came to join the after party.
- A possible temperature crash when the power was off for a day or more
- Temperature differential - probably not too likely, as I have a constant 82°F heating pad underneath to ward off cold floors and the top of the wash is just an inch over the top of the immersion heater.
- pH - I wanted to check the pH when I saw the mess but my meter had died somehow (argh!)
- Probably should have diagnosed things the first time it stalled instead of just chucking more yeast on top.

In any case, when there are enough uncontrolled variables in any situation, sometimes I feel it’s best to say “Those things? Don’t do them again” instead of trying to tease out all of the possible variants and repercussions, and just start over.

[Dancing4dan]

Those finns on the end are suspect for bacterial growth. If possible I would ditch that heater for an external one of some sort.

I do have a square pad heater below it, but in the Great White North I need a bit more to compensate for heat loss. I gave the whole immersion heater a good dousing in some old 25% rum tails I had bottled in the shed so we’ll see.

Hey Chug, 25% ABC isn’t high enough to sanitize with. Use 80% ABV after physically cleaning to remove all residue. StarSan is a better choice. Again the item must be physically scrubbed clean first.

[squigglefunk]

I think a white cat fell in and dissolved

[NZChris]

….. I suspect that the list is quite long and includes advice gleaned from forums and Youtube.

Chris I have seen you say this more than a few times .
What forums do you mean or refer to ? …. is this one of them ?

Like most forums, less than stellar info sometimes gets posted and AFAIK, never gets deleted. If the reader is lucky, someone will have posted a better solution, and then they have to choose what to do.

Misuse of aquarium heaters in fermenters is common advice even though people report failures. viewtopic.php?f=89&t=84932