Shady's Sugar Shine

[pipes+hose]

I use what looks like a similar bag for my shells. I also sprinkle some in (so they rest on the bottom) incase my bag is too fine. I don't know if it's necessary or me being overly cautious.

[PoolGuy]

Shady I selected this bag because although the mesh is fine enough to hold the oyster shells, it is much thinner and "breezier" than, say, a worn out sock.

That said, my pH is now down to 3.66 after only 16 hours since pitching. Bubblin' like a rabid dog.

I added a third cup of oyster shells, this time without the finer mesh bag. I just let the finer shell partials slip through as they please.

Too little too late? I now have 2X oyster shells compared to the original recipe.

in an attempt to keep the yeast happy, I tossed in 1/4 cup lime.

Ph appears to now be in the low 4's range.

[shadylane]

Shady I selected this bag because although the mesh is fine enough to hold the oyster shells, it is much thinner and "breezier" than, say, a worn out sock.

Looks can be deceiving, ever notice filters look fuzzy.

[PoolGuy]

After seven days I am down to 1.003. PH has stayed in the low 4's. I appear to finally have a batch that is finishing. Woot!

My guess is that I saved this batch with the addition of the pickling lime at 16 hours in.

But could it be the water? I used "creek water" for this batch rather than my usual "well water" Something that I have not considered is the affect alkalinity has on these PH crashes. Here is how my water tests out...

My well water appears to have a bit higher alkalinity. I would think higher alkalinity would be better at buffering PH changes. So my well water should be a better choice. No?

What about increasing the alkalinity up front by adding a little baking soda? Wouldn't this make for a better buffer?

[shadylane]

Instead of using baking soda, I'd use some gypsum and increase the amount of epsom salt and calcium carbonate.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/2017/11/1 ... cs-part-1/

[Yummyrum]

Had my best Shadyshine brew . Took three weeks to ferment out . Been a pretty constant 30°C .
Been throwing in a handful of shell grit every day .It fizzes up for a few minutes each time .
Brought home one of our good pH meters and it’s been at pH4.03 .

Emptied fermenter (200litres Olive barrel) and heck there is a lot of shell grit in there still . Really got to suspend it .

[Saltbush Bill]

I thought you might have been getting a bit heavy handed with the grit.

[Osse87]

Started 32 gallons of this 24 hours ago. Down from 1070 (or a little more maybe more, followed recipe at 0.18 kg sugar/liter but might have one or two liters less water) to around 1.032 in 24 hours. I had a severe pH crash within the first 5 hours, down from 5,3 to 3,1. I adjusted at around h5 with magnesium dioxide (it was magnesium oxide first but boiling it should convert it, my brother is a chemist and said it should be ok) to 3,9, and now it's risen to 4.4. I have 4 bags (very open structure) with crushed shells (not newly crushed, only washed since last wash) submerged just under surface level. Will probably remove two of the bags soon so the pH won't creep up much more. Will use more shells next time and submerge them close to the bottom instead of close to the surface and hopefully can avoid pH correction. I had an infection in a brew a while ago and since then I'm boiling my shells in the bags so it's gonna be a bit hard to use newly crushed shells if I want to boil them before without them sipping out of the coarse bags, or it's just an excuse of me being lazy not to crush them . I don't think I have to boil them if they've been used before but straight out of the new bag it feels better.

Chugging along nicely stable at 88F!

[SW_Shiner]

Use the water you boil them in to dissolve your sugar. Then you still get the benefit of the fine stuff, and its all sterile.

[Osse87]

Use the water you boil them in to dissolve your sugar. Then you still get the benefit of the fine stuff, and its all sterile.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will do something similar but not dissolve sugar in the same water, just drop some finely grinded shells into the hot water just when I turn off heat and sterilize it and drop the water into the wash. I dissolved sugar in the full volume 86°f water and it was fast enough.

Less than 100h in my wash is dry as a bone and is still now. I will wait a day or two then proceed with degassing and adding bentonite to see if I can get it a bit clearer before stripping it. Great recipe so far!

[PoolGuy]

I continue to struggle with my SSS ferments. They just refuse to finish out below maybe 1.010. The current batch is stuck at 1.028! I have tried this, that, and the other thing based on lots of research and advise. I am coming to the conclusion that I have a nasty LAB problem. My current batch is quite cloudy and tastes distinctively sour.

My question is this. Will a LAB contamination cause these high SG stalls?

After reflux distillation, my end product tastes just fine (to me). But I am loosing so much potential alcohol. Unacceptable.

I ordered a 60L stainless fermentation vessel to replace my 15gal plastic fermentation barrel. Ordered some PBW and will exercise my StarSan skills to try and clean everything up.

Any other advice? Am I on the right track here?

[Osse87]

I continue to struggle with my SSS ferments. They just refuse to finish out below maybe 1.010. The current batch is stuck at 1.028! I have tried this, that, and the other thing based on lots of research and advise. I am coming to the conclusion that I have a nasty LAB problem. My current batch is quite cloudy and tastes distinctively sour.

My question is this. Will a LAB contamination cause these high SG stalls?

After reflux distillation, my end product tastes just fine (to me). But I am loosing so much potential alcohol. Unacceptable.

I ordered a 60L stainless fermentation vessel to replace my 15gal plastic fermentation barrel. Ordered some PBW and will exercise my StarSan skills to try and clean everything up.

Any other advice? Am I on the right track here?

Sanitation doesn't seem to be very high on the list of priorities when it comes to fermenting for distillation purposes, much lower priority than when making beer for example. Im just washing my plastic drum with cold water from the tap and a brush and then spray with starsan on the inner surface. Some people doesn't seem to use starsan either. I don't need to boil my water just a portion of it to get to 86f, just filling my drum with cold water, following recipe by the letter, aerate wash and it takes off and doesn't stop. Do you use fresh or dry yeast? When I first started I made the mistake of using the same volume specified for dry yeast for fresh yeast but fresh yeast (cubes) need like 4 times the amount. It did not result in a stall like yours but took off very slow.

My wash at .990 has a little sweet taste to begin with, then it's going over to bitter taste the longer until it vanishes. Nothing sour tasting in my wash I would say. It's not a very pleasant taste but it's definitely not "omg this is horseshit" either.

[PoolGuy]

After months of stalled SSS ferments, I finally completed a successful batch, finishing up at 0.999 after 10 days. Success after replacing my plastic fermentation barrel with a 60L stainless steel fermenter, doubling down on sanitation, and keeping things under airlock.

So to answer my own original question... YES, Lactic Acid Bacteria infections can be the cause of high SG stalls. I continue to learn, sometimes the hard way!

Thank you to all who have helped me along this journey of discovery, and beware cloudy and sour ferments.

[Pure Old Possum Piss]

After months of stalled SSS ferments, I finally completed a successful batch, finishing up at 0.999 after 10 days. Success after replacing my plastic fermentation barrel with a 60L stainless steel fermenter, doubling down on sanitation, and keeping things under airlock.

So to answer my own original question... YES, Lactic Acid Bacteria infections can be the cause of high SG stalls. I continue to learn, sometimes the hard way!

Thank you to all who have helped me along this journey of discovery, and beware cloudy and sour ferments.

Lactos doesn't cause stalls. Starting off with too high a gravity is the Number 1 cause of stalls followed by ph crash. Especially I'd you're using a shit ton of sugar. Low temps will cause yeast to go dormant, but a Lactos consumes very little sugar compare to yeast. And since Lactos consumes sugar it would make your gravity lower.

[shadylane]

Lactos doesn't cause stalls. Starting off with too high a gravity is the Number 1 cause of stalls followed by ph crash. Especially I'd you're using a shit ton of sugar. Low temps will cause yeast to go dormant, but a Lactos consumes very little sugar compare to yeast. And since Lactos consumes sugar it would make your gravity lower.

Lacto can definitely cause a stall due to pH and vinegar has a higher SG than water.