Home Distiller

Prairiepiss wrote:What temp?

Its around 20'c in the house

Is that not warm enough for red star to work?

How long should it take to fully ferment using red star?

What happens if I use too much yeast?

East Coast wrote:What happens if I use too much yeast?

What do you consider too much...??? You can't really over-pitch... I've used up to 2 tablespoons per gallon in the past and the resulting spirits were just fine...

I tried 3 tablespoons for 21L of total mash,(water & sugar)

Under pitching adversely affects flavor more than over pitching, over pitching affects yeast health more over generations. Both can produce higher levels of diacetal, acetaldehyde and ferments that do not finish dry. Pitching to high can also result in low or unexpected ester production. Pitching too low can result in slower fermentation and longer lag time which in turn increases the risk of infection. I would rather over pitch than under pitch. I would think it harder to over pitch to the extent that it was noticeable.

While I would say that 3 table spoons is over pitching, I don't think you would ever notice any ill effects.

MitchyBourbon wrote:Under pitching adversely affects flavor more than over pitching, over pitching affects yeast health more over generations. Both can produce higher levels of diacetal, acetaldehyde and ferments that do not finish dry. Pitching to high can also result in low or unexpected ester production. Pitching too low can result in slower fermentation and longer lag time which in turn increases the risk of infection. I would rather over pitch than under pitch. I would think it harder to over pitch to the extent that it was noticeable.

While I would say that 3 table spoons is over pitching, I don't think you would ever notice any ill effects.

Should I have only used 2 tablespoons ? or 2.5?

I have one bucket going on 3 weeks now and still not done fermenting.

wow - nothing like aging it before distilling

Picked up a heat belt and it seems to be doing better now

I have had one bottle blow up on me. What would make this happen?

Yeast produce likker and CO2
if you closed them in, you made a pressure bomb out of sugar and yeast

Doogie wrote:Yeast produce likker and CO2
if you closed them in, you made a pressure bomb out of sugar and yeast

this happened a few days after it was distilled and cut with water to bring it to 40%

hmmm ... temperature change? Where I am it is about -30'C ... maybe that stressed your container?
maybe this plus a defective container?

I was hoping that it was just a weak bottle, but the funny part is it stayed in there for a few days with out breaking. It scared the crap out of me when it blew up, it made a good dang glass went everywhere and so did the shine lol

I am finding that the red star bread yeast is taking over 3 weeks to ferment.

Am I not using enough nutrient?

I got a small bag of nutrient from the brew store and added a tablespoon of it to the wash.

I am not getting the same amount of volume with the red star as I can with super yeast x-press.

How can I get the volume of alcohol up by using red star?

East Coast wrote:I am finding that the red star bread yeast is taking over 3 weeks to ferment.

Am I not using enough nutrient?

I got a small bag of nutrient from the brew store and added a tablespoon of it to the wash.

What recipe did you use?

East Coast wrote:I am not getting the same amount of volume with the red star as I can with super yeast x-press.

How can I get the volume of alcohol up by using red star?

Volume?

From the sounds of it. You are trying to push it like a turbo yeast. It's not a turbo yeast. It's baking yeast.

Are you trying to make a bunch. Or a good product?

It took 4 weeks or so and only got a 8% wash before boiling and only got 3L out of my t500

East Coast wrote:I was hoping that it was just a weak bottle, but the funny part is it stayed in there for a few days with out breaking. It scared the crap out of me when it blew up, it made a good dang glass went everywhere and so did the shine lol

If it was a Carlo Rossi bottle, they have known "issues". If not, ensure you have plenty of headroom in the bottle.
Air can compress. Liquids do not. If there isn't enough headroom temperature expansion can cause a bottle to KB.

tp

First, regarding the "volume", what was the exact recipe...??? Yeast doesn't determine the volume of potential spirits, fermentable sugar does...

As for the burst bottle, did you dilute to bottle proof and cap...??? If you did then some exothermic reaction could have taken place which would increase internal pressure... Then just about any environmental change could cause the bottle to reach its terminal pressure and burst...