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I have been using the Sweetfeed recipe with success but am now wanting to venture into neutral washes with my new Reflux Still. I have some Red Star Active Dry Yeast and have read about a few people using it but have scaled down from 225 g like the recipe calls for. I plan on making the full 80L recipe.

How much Red Star do I pitch?

Will it affect the taste?

McD816 wrote:I have been using the Sweetfeed recipe with success but am now wanting to venture into neutral washes with my new Reflux Still. I have some Red Star Active Dry Yeast and have read about a few people using it but have scaled down from 225 g like the recipe calls for. I plan on making the full 80L recipe.

How much Red Star do I pitch?
40gms would suffice, more if you want it to take off faster, less wont matter, it'll just be slower
Will it affect the taste?

Probably not. Although a slower cooler ferment generaly gives less taste than a hotter faster one

Just prepared my first BW Mash. Converted all the metric measurements and made the full batch that the recipe calls for. But instead of using "Fresh Bakers Yeast" I pitched roughly 60-70 grams of Red Star Dry Active Yeast. Started bubbling in an hour. I have it in a 30 gallon plastic tub with a compression clamp to keep it air tight. Installed an aquarium heater and an airlock. My starting SG 1.085 fermenting @ 84-92 degrees. I'm not going to transfer to 4 airlocked Carboy's.. Is this a mistake or will it be fine? Can I run this directly to my keg still or should I strain through a cheese cloth or rack it off?

I would not let the temp go much over 85 f or 30 c and i would decant the wash once it is finished before putting it into your still there is no need to strain it if you let it settle out properly, this is a very forgiving recipe but a few simple procedures such as fermenting temperatures and proper clearing can make a real difference.

Regards
Braemar

I'm always try to make new new thing and this one is very new recipe for me i will try this for sure..

Hey guys...long time no see.

Started a birdwatcher wash on the advice of others here after doing a couple of turbo wash batches and having fairly good results (though I was usually left with some unfermented sugar still in the wash when using 6kg sugar, and they took longer than they should). I don't have a hydrometer yet as I'm poor. The mash is 5 kgs of sugar, 250g tomato paste, one Orange Triad multivitamin pill crushed up, total volume 25-26L. Forgot to add epsom salts but there's Mg in the tomato paste and in the multivitamin so I figure it should be fine. I put my aquarium heater in the 30L fermentation bucket, it's keeping it at a nice 32 celsius (too cold here in kiwiland to do a wash without an aquarium heater or at the very least, turbo/lots of yeast).

It's day 3 of fermentation and everything is going nicely, but what I'm wondering about is this - I've seen pictures of some TPWs before and it looks like the foam bubbles up for a few inches on those washes, whereas in mine it only seems to froth for a few millimeters. Is my wash not as vigorous as normal, or could it be that there's not much foam because it's not completely air-locked? I had to cut a small 'flap' in the middle of the lid to insert the aquarium heater.

Phanatic wrote:It's day 3 of fermentation and everything is going nicely, but what I'm wondering about is this - I've seen pictures of some TPWs before and it looks like the foam bubbles up for a few inches on those washes, whereas in mine it only seems to froth for a few millimeters. Is my wash not as vigorous as normal, or could it be that there's not much foam because it's not completely air-locked? I had to cut a small 'flap' in the middle of the lid to insert the aquarium heater.

I suspect that since you are deviating from the recipe slightly, the surface tension of the liquid is slightly changed, hence not as many bubbles forming. As long as carbon dioxide is being created, you should be sweet. Keep us posted.

http://shuggo.com/birdwatchers/

Surface tension eh? Interesting. Yeah, it's still fermenting perfectly fine and I'm not worried about it at all, just wondering. I've had some washes not ferment dry in the past so I I'm just wondering about the vigor but I think it should be fine. I pre-treated the tapwater with some ascorbic acid so hopefully it's free of chlorine, chloramines and hypochlorite, and this time it has an aquarium heater to heat it - I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when my 6kg sugar washes only fermented to ~11% in winter with no heating or insulation.

Cheers.

Hi Phanatic,
You will find that if you keep the temp. under the 30 c your wash will be cleaner.
You don't really need the multivitamin pill.

6 kg sugar dissolved in around 12 litres hot water
166 g pure tomato paste no additives (1/3 of a 500g tin just makes it easy)
pinch epsom salts
top up to around 27 lt. total.
Juice of 1 lemon or 1 tsp ascorbic acid
90 g yeast (1/3 of a 380 g tin also makes it easy) sprinkled on top do not stir in.
Keep at around 26 c
Done this heaps of times never fails.

Regards
braemar

Interesting, I was mainly going by the birdwatcher calculator. Whoops, forgot to mention that I added the juice of a lemon.
That wash looks fine too, just curious - why you would sprinkle the yeast on top but not mix it in?
Cheers.

I just find it better to let it do its own thing others think it's better to stir it in at the end of the day it's all just so the yeast gets enough oxygen.
regard
braemar

Hi Phanitic,
Sorry about the vague response before, in the initial aerobic phase the yeasts need oxygen i guess it doesn't matter if it gets it from the air on top of the wash or from the wash itself if you stir it in, i just find it does well leaving it on top, the kraeusen forms quickly and within a couple of hours it has settled down and is going gangbusters.

Good luck
Braemar

I tends to just place the yeast on top. Within the hour it's all dissolved and disappeared under the surface.

No worries man, thanks for the info. My BW/TPW is going well. Smelled kinda like a really nice vaguely tomato-ey white wine earlier (the mash itself smelled quite drinkable), but definitely smells quite dry now. I just bought a hydrometer today - didn't check it, and the thing only goes down to 1.000 - doh. I should be able to mark a couple more points on it for .990 and .980 though. It's at around .995 - not long to go now (Saturday night, started it last Monday in the afternoon). Thanks birdwatcher for your great wash recipe and everyone here who has given me advice. Very keen to see how it comes out the still.

Sounds like it's just about done, once my wash gets under 1.00 i check it by shining a torch into the wash to check visually for activity rather than go by sg. alone.
I noticed your ferment has only taken 5 days what temp. do you ferment at???? I have found that lowering the ferment temperature down to around 26 deg c and letting it take around 10 to 14 days to ferment seems to get a cleaner result. I also find that letting the wash clear for about 10 days then decant it into a clean container and let it clear a second time for around a week brings the wash up crystal clear with a hint of pink in it depending on the amount of tomato paste used, i think by doing these few things (ie. lower temp. longer ferment and better clearing) you get a better end result which is what we are all aiming for. Yes i know it takes time and patience but the world is made up of time and patience is a virtue.
Regards
braemar

Initially it was at about 32 degrees celsius with the blanket insulating it. I seem to remember folks here saying to do birdwatchers at 30-35 celsius. But on the advice I was given here here I took the blanket off, now it's just got the aquarium heater and it's at ~28 celsius. It's still going - as of now it's Sunday (day 6) and still has bubbles. It'll probably take at least 7 days to ferment out completely which seems about typical going by other posts here.

Sounds like it's spot on.
Regards
Braemar

Phanatic wrote:Initially it was at about 32 degrees celsius with the blanket insulating it. I seem to remember folks here saying to do birdwatchers at 30-35 celsius. But on the advice I was given here here I took the blanket off, now it's just got the aquarium heater and it's at ~28 celsius. It's still going - as of now it's Sunday (day 6) and still has bubbles. It'll probably take at least 7 days to ferment out completely which seems about typical going by other posts here.

Another thing to remember for next time, (apparently) yeast likes a consistent temperature, so try and get the wash up to temperature before pitching the yeast, then keep it there. It's up to you what the temperature is, as long as it stays the same.

I'll keep that in mind - should be easy with the aquarium heater.
Cheers.

wildernessmedic wrote:I've heard/ read regular bakers yeast is gross and shouldnt be used in brewing. Does this not apply to distilling? Or is there a noticeable difference in quality between it and brewers yeast?

Standard bakers yeast is fine, people here (myself included) have been using it for years. You just want to treat it real nice like.

http://shuggo.com/birdwatchers/

Undies wrote:

wildernessmedic wrote:I've heard/ read regular bakers yeast is gross and shouldnt be used in brewing. Does this not apply to distilling? Or is there a noticeable difference in quality between it and brewers yeast?

Standard bakers yeast is fine, people here (myself included) have been using it for years. You just want to treat it real nice like.

Yep I use it too with great success

Being a newbee I have a few questions before I try this recipe....

1st...when you do a stripping run with a potstill hard far down do you collect abv?

2nd...when you do a spirit run in a reflux from what was collected above...what should the highest abv be when added to the boiler?

3rd...can I use distillers yeast (DAP) with this recipe since I have lots...if yes, how much would I use for 25l ferments?

I too will not use turbo yeasts again...I am sorry if these questions have been answered a 100 times before...I just want to be sure before I waste a lot of product and time...thanks

Being a newbie myself so I am going to help you in a way that will point you in the right direction. The experienced users on this forum do not mind helping at all. To thank them for that they ask that we do our part.

1) 1st...when you do a stripping run with a potstill hard far down do you collect abv?
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 63&t=13261

2) 2nd...when you do a spirit run in a reflux from what was collected above...what should the highest abv be when added to the boiler
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=36624

3) can I use distillers yeast (DAP) with this recipe since I have lots...if yes, how much would I use for 25l ferments?
a) http://homedistiller.org/forum/search.p ... sf=msgonly
b) http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =3&t=40640

Like you I am learning, I hope this information helps as well and demonstrating how readily available the information is.

Great...I appreciate the info!!!!

Skeena wrote:3rd...can I use distillers yeast (DAP) with this recipe since I have lots...if yes, how much would I use for 25l ferments?

This might help... http://shuggo.com/birdwatchers/

OK...How about this cheat sheet?

Strip down to about 20% abv

Do your spirit run with no higher than 40% abv

Use bakers yeast...

That should handle it...all comments or recommendations welcome...

Undies...Great Post Thanks!!!

My very first wash is this recipe, I started it on Friday and about 10 minutes after I pitched the yeast it was foaming away fast and furious. Started as 1.086 and after 24 hours it was already down to 1.06. I then decided one wash wasn't going to be enough, so I transferred a beer I had in my primary bucket over to secondary a few days early and put a second sugar wash on. I paid a little more attention to exact amounts of tomato paste and lemon juice on the second wash, SG was 1.082 and after 24 hours down to 1.04!!!! with the first still hovering around 1.06.

Temp of the first wash is around 24 and the second wash is around 32, so I added a heating pad to the first one and added a bit of Amylase Enzyme to it that I use to dry out some of my light brews to make sure it restarted. I find it so weird to be trying to actually heat up my fermentation, I am so used to doing everything in my power to keep it cool. I think it is time to start building a temp control system, with winter coming and the fact that I will likely end up having 6-8 things on the go at once I might have to move some of my buckets to the garage.

All right, New guy here. I need help breaking this recipe down to a 10 gallon wash.

time2shine wrote:All right, New guy here. I need help breaking this recipe down to a 10 gallon wash.

This might help... http://shuggo.com/birdwatchers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow