Home Distiller

Second time around for this, and virtually same result. Started with -

25kg blackstrap
30kg sugar
50 g ec118
40 gal water
2 cans of tomato paste

Initial reading on Hdrometer was 1.092 - Oct 18th - temp 25c. Today 0 Dec 22nd - 1.020 - Ph 4.37 - No activity to speak of.

What am i doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for some help

mgh

First I'd test the hydrometer
And on the next sugar wash I'd use a yeast bomb for nutrients
Blackstrap molasses has a lot of unfermentable sugars, the wash might be done

montyg wrote:Second time around for this, and virtually same result...(OG) 1.092...Today (FG) 1.020...No activity to speak of. What am i doing wrong?

shadylane wrote:...molasses has a lot of unfermentable sugars, the wash might be done

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Montyg, if your hydrometer reads 1.020 and you've got no activity (after starting at 1.092 )...you're DONE.

Rack it to clear and strip it. You're ready.
ss

still_stirrin wrote:

montyg wrote:Second time around for this, and virtually same result...(OG) 1.092...Today (FG) 1.020...No activity to speak of. What am i doing wrong?

shadylane wrote:...molasses has a lot of unfermentable sugars, the wash might be done

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Montyg, if your hydrometer reads 1.020 and you've got no activity (after starting at 1.092 )...you're DONE.

Rack it to clear and strip it. You're ready.
ss

If, the ferment isn't done, getting it to restart would be almost impossible
Personally, I've had bad luck restarting stuck ferments
Even if I got it going again, it didn't taste right.
Edited
As SS said "Rack it to clear and strip it"
And watch out for the wash wanting to puke

Thanks Very much folks. When this happened last time our end quantity was down by about a 1/4. I must admit that there was a warning re the thickness of the mollasses that it would be hard to read with the hydometer. I have not experienced any sludge at the bottom at all but the liquid was fairly thick, like floating molasses in very small drops amount.

Going along with unused sugars, should I have started with a greater amount of refined sugar? Thanks admit for the help.

mgh

montyg wrote:...should I have started with a greater amount of refined sugar?

What's your goal here...a higher OG, a higher %ABV of the wash, or less molasses flavor?

I've never racked and cleared rum and don't know of any reason to unless it is for a continuous still that needs to run 24/7.

The more sugar you add, the more you dilute the molasses flavor so, with that in mind, adjust your recipe to suit your taste.

It all depends on what you want.

If your going to drink the Rum, young and white
Use more sugar, less molasses and let the wash clear before distilling.

If your going to age it.
Get crude, heavy on the molasses, ferment hot, fast and distill the wash as soon as it's done.

There's also a BIG difference on the cuts