Fermentation of a Sugar wash ph question

[Delion]

Before I begin let me say I am quite certain people have asked this before I have tried searching it but to no avail for me.
I have a sugar wash currently fermenting I was getting bubbles through my s shaped airlock. However, my question pertains to the ph so let me give you my recipe, I did 10# sugar to 5 gallons of water yeast hulls as a nutrient, my beginning ph was adjusted to 5.3 and my sg was 1.090.
I checked on it today and my ph was 3.5 which really was not a shock as I had heard ph does a dive with sugar waves after a couple of days. I readjusted it back up to 5.3 with baking soda and my bubbler was just buzzing once I sealed the lid instead of bubbles every 3 to 5 seconds it was bubbling quite alot. So my question is do I need to keep it adjusted to 5.3 or just let it do its do?

Thank you for any help in this question

[shadylane]

With luck the pH will be Ok without additional adjustments.

Were yeast hulls the only nutrients added to the sugar wash?
Also, there's better things to adjust pH with other than baking soda.

[Sporacle]

What was your gravity when you readjusted your pH?

Don't rely on an airlock to gauge progress

Throw in a handful of shells or grit, or something similar at the start of the ferment.

Follow a tried and true

[Delion]

With luck the pH will be Ok without additional adjustments.

Were yeast hulls the only nutrients added to the sugar wash?
Also, there's better things to adjust pH with other than baking soda.

Yes hulls was all I had at the time.
I am curious about other things to adjust with?

[Delion]

What was your gravity when you readjusted your pH?

Don't rely on an airlock to gauge progress

Throw in a handful of shells or grit, or something similar at the start of the ferment.

Follow a tried and true

Before I readjusted it was 1.050 and was same after which is better than the 1.070 from yesterday
I don't rely on the airlock it is just kinda fun to watch lol I am easily amused I guess

[Saltbush Bill]

Was the airlock bubbling faster after adjustment because of the adjustment, or was the lid leaking pre being removed to make the adjustment, or possibly the edition of a fine powder to the wash de-stablised things and caused excess bubbling.
I've seen fermenters go berserk and empty half of their contents onto the floor after an addition half way through a ferment.

I am easily amused I guess

Watching an airlock can be entertaining , but as was stated above , its not always a good indication of what is truly happening inside of the fermenter.

[Delion]

Was the airlock bubbling faster after adjustment because of the adjustment, or was the lid leaking pre being removed to make the adjustment, or possibly the edition of a fine powder to the wash de-stablised things and caused excess bubbling.
I've seen fermenters go berserk and empty half of their contents onto the floor after an addition half way through a ferment.

I am easily amused I guess

Watching an airlock can be entertaining , but as was stated above , its not always a good indication of what is truly happening inside of the fermenter.

The airlock was bubbling every 3 to five seconds nice long bubbling
It got a bit busier after the adjustment and is doing a even longer bubbling now every two to three seconds.
I am aware the airlock is not the way to tell how things are going. It's why I check it every couple of days. And do a sg test when I do.
I just didn't know since it has dropped the ph to 3.5 twice if I was supposed to keep adjusting the ph or not.

[shadylane]

I just didn't know since it has dropped the ph to 3.5 twice if I was supposed to keep adjusting the ph or not.

No one can answer the question, other than to say it depends on your water.
Using my water and yeast hulls only for nutrients, the wash would never finish dry.
The biggest problem would be the yeast starving due to nothing but sugar to eat.

[Wildcats]

Have you seen the Tried and True? Shadys Sugar Shine makes a good drop. And no issues with pH if the recipe is followed.

[shadylane]

With luck the pH will be Ok without additional adjustments.

Were yeast hulls the only nutrients added to the sugar wash?
Also, there's better things to adjust pH with other than baking soda.

Yes hulls was all I had at the time.
I am curious about other things to adjust with?

Buffers such as “5.2 Stabilizer” will work or you can use calcium carbonate or calcium hydroxide.
Be careful with the calcium hydroxide. (pickling lime) a little can go a long way.
My preference is to use calcium carbonate in the form of crushed oyster shell.
Just put a hand full in a sock and throw it into the fermenter.
As the ferment tries to become acidic, the crushed shells will begin to dissolve and buffer the wash.

A "yeast bomb" from PUGIDOGS is a damn good DIY yeast nutrient. viewtopic.php?t=5994
Ya might want to substitute DAP for the fertilizer called for.

Fermaid K is a usable store-bought yeast nutrient.
It has dead yeast, DAP, magnesium sulphate and a couple other things.

[Demy]

My opinion: adjust the ph at the beginning as you did, then insert something that maintains the right ph: oyster shells, marble stone, egg shells etc... all substances that react with acids and help maintain ph at optimal levels ... check your ph from time to time during fermentation ... you may need to add something anyway. calcium hydroxide is excellent.

[Delion]

Okay thank you all I know the tried and true is the best place for recipes I am using what I have. When I say yeast hulls I mean yeast I killed off just for a nutrient of some kind. I will definitely give the ideas presented here a shot next fermentation of a sugar wash. I was about to start a corn mash as I do have alpha amylase

[Saltbush Bill]

“5.2 Stabilizer” will work

You might like to look into that stuff a little more Shady, Ive seen an awful lot around the net that says its another homebrew shop snake oil remedy.
A google search of the net " does 5.2 stabaliser work" brings up a LOT of reading.
I've never personally used the stuff, but it seems to be mostly sellers of the product that give it all the praise.
Anyway, read up and draw your own conclusions.

[shadylane]

When I say yeast hulls I mean yeast I killed off just for a nutrient of some kind. I will definitely give the ideas presented here a shot next fermentation of a sugar wash.

There're more nutrients in fresh yeast that's been murdered, than yeast hulls.
One of the best ways to control pH that's seldom talked about is to limit the sugar.
A wash that starts @ 1.060 - 1.070ish has less problems with pH crash than a wash with a more sugar.

[shadylane]

You might like to look into that stuff a little more Shady, Ive seen an awful lot around the net that says its another homebrew shop snake oil remedy.

Your right, especial when used for mashing.
But it's better than nothing for buffering a sugar wash.

[Delion]

When I say yeast hulls I mean yeast I killed off just for a nutrient of some kind. I will definitely give the ideas presented here a shot next fermentation of a sugar wash.

There're more nutrients in fresh yeast that's been murdered, than yeast hulls.
One of the best ways to control pH that's seldom talked about is to limit the sugar.
A wash that starts @ 1.060 - 1.070ish has less problems with pH crash than a wash with a more sugar.

Thank you and I appreciate all the advice

[Delion]

So it is finished it finished below 1.0 sg and is sour as the dickens so letting continue until Monday I will run it then. I want to thank everyone for their advice.

[shadylane]

Ain't success sweet.

[MooseMan]

So it is finished it finished below 1.0 sg and is sour as the dickens so letting continue until Monday I will run it then. I want to thank everyone for their advice.

Glad to hear it finished well for you Delion.

Next time put some form of calcium solids in the wash at the start, and totally forget about pH from that point on.
I was reticent to put sea shells in a ferment, after many years of obsessive sanitation in brewing, but it just works. I use limpet shells.

By the way the increased activity you saw in your airlock immediately after adding "Stuff" was due to nucleation of co2.