Home Distiller

pictures of my brown sugar gerber mash


gerber by bassplayinsweets, on Flickr


Gerber Mash by bassplayinsweets, on Flickr

cannonman wrote:I have a question: How long can I keep the batch before it goes bad?? I can not run it till this week end and It was done running this past Sat. It will be a week between finish and run time. I have Included two pics. One with a flash and one with-out. There is floaties on top. I am guessing that this is the gerber baby food floating??? Or the yeast??? Any Ideas?

still 009.jpg

still 010.jpg

I can attest to the fact that at least sometimes you can go a LONG time before running a batch. I had 2 6 gallon batches of all grain that I'd fermented and filtered out and kept in 2 6 gallon better bottles (large water cooler type PET carboys mainly used for wine making). I didn't get a chance to run them before it go to warm for me to distill in the garage so I left them in the better bottles all summer long. Temps hit 90°F+ in the garage. I just ran them this past week and they turned out great. No off odors in the washes before distilling and nothing out of the ordinary once distilled.

So I think if properly stored a wash will keep a very long time before going bad.

Hope my 2¢ helps.

athiril wrote:Can anyone post the nutrients listing from the Gerber's box so I can find something similar? We dont have Gerber's here.

Hi Athiril

Did you find an alternative? I was all set to make my first batch a few months ago, but due to an unexpected bout of ill health I never got round to it. All well now, went round the supermarkets and none sell Gerbers :-(

It cannot be purchased in the UK so has anyone over here found a suitable aternative?

Thanks
GWGW45

Further to my previous post, I re-read the thread and noticed that Gerber and Nestle had merged. Some so digging revealed this:

http://www.nestlebaby.com/sg/baby_nutri ... =293&pci=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Is this the same as Gerber?

Thanks
G.

Hi all
Sorry if it looks like I am spamming Been out hunting today for viable alternatives to Gerbers and found some Cow and Gate Baby cereal. The ingredients are listed below and I wondered if the more knowledgable of you would mind taking a look and offer a view if you think it will do as a replacement?

Thanks
G.

Ingredients
•Baby-Grade Milled Cereals (Rice, Corn),
•Demineralised Whey Powder,
•Skimmed Milk Powder*,
•Vegetable Fat (contains Emulsifier Soy Lecithin),
•Calcium,
•Spices (Vanilla*, Cinnamon),
•Vitamin,
•Iron,
•Zinc,
•Contains: Milk, Soya,
•Vitamins: Vitamin C, Niacin, Vitamin E, Pantothenic Acid, Thiamin (B1), Vitamins B6, Vitamin A, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin D3,
•*Prepared with 55g fortified milk, 33g cereals and 0.1g vanilla

Nutrition
Per 100g Per 25g cereal*
Energy (kJ/kcal) 1818/432 454/108
Protein (g) 13.5 3.4
Carbohydrate (g) 64.9 16.2
of which sugars (g) 38.9 9.7
Fat (g) 13.1 3.3
of which saturates (g) 5.5 1.4
Fibre (g) 3.2 0.8
Sodium (g) 0.1 0.03
Vitamin A (g RE) 260 65
Vitamin D (g) 11.1 2.8
Vitamin E (mg a-TE) 3.9 1.0
Vitamin C (mg) 39 10
Thiamin (B1) (mg) 0.55 0.14
Riboflavin (B2) (mg) 0.58 0.15
Niacin (mg NE) 8.8 2.2
Vitamin B6 (mg) 0.55 0.14
Folic acid (g) 46 12
Biotin (mg) 0.01 0.002
Pantothenic acid (mg) 2.1 0.5
Calcium (mg) 690 173
Iron (mg) 5.7 1.4
Zinc (mg)

I am also from the uk and have never done this recipe (iv just started using wheat malt as a nutrient with good results!). its my understanding that the cereal is just used as nutrient in this recipe. And the more flavorless the cereal the better (I assume you are trying to make netral/vodka)
As a uk supermarket alternative I would use a supermarket own brand of shredded wheat, corn flakes, porridge oats or anything labelled "whole grain".
I would be a bit wary of anything containing milk powder or vanilla and cinnamon like the cereal you found.

most of these cereal washes are more about the added nutrients.
most cereals are processed until not much nutrition is left .this is how they git the flavor and crunchy,then nutrition are added or replaced.in the case with baby cereal,babies
cant/should not have whole grains so all the "goodies" are taking out ,then vitamins/minerals
are replaced.The only cereals that I can thank of that is not processed this way is oat meal
and corn/meal and posably some like "wheatena".
somthing to check out is cream of rice/cream of wheat.

Thank you both for the replies. I will take the baby food back. In the meantime I have given the All Bran a try (see comment in that thread) It was the neutrality of the Gerbers recipe that appealed to me as I am a vodka freak, and it was this that really drove me to try and find a substitute. So if any of you UK based members have found an alternative for the clear taste free wash that Gerbers provided please let me know?

Thanks
G.

1 box of Gerber's Barley
10 pound bag of sugar
1 lemon
4 tablespoons Crosby and Baker Yeast Nutrient
1/8 teaspoonful epsom salts
5 Tablespoonfuls DADY

I boiled about 20 cups of water with about 5 pounds of sugar and the juice of a lemon for 30min. Used the biggest pot I had...
Dumped this into my fermenter and mixed in the box of cereal, 5 pounds of sugar, epsom salts and yeast nutrient. Mixed well and topped up to 20 liters with cold water. Waited till temperature dropped to 86 degrees F, and whisked in 5 tablespoonsful of DADY.

Started bubbling immediatley, no crazy foam, but man this is one stanky ferment.

I guess what I'm sayin is, I used what I had. My pot was too small, didn't have enough lemons...but this one works like a champ. Can't wait to see what the final product is.

well, just wanted to say thanks for the recipe
This is my first time making any wash, and its so easy and simple and fool proof!

For any canadians, and anywhere else with a wallmart store, you can find the NESTLE gerber cerals at wallmart!
(I actualy got mine at a "Real canadian superstore" here in town.)

it was awesome to be able to go down to the local store and pick everything up! (Although I went next door to get the yeast itself just because.) even tho the store clerks are all highschool students that wouldnt have a clue..

at any rate, i mixed up a 1L batch in a pop bottle just to see what it would do n all.. its SO kewl! hehe

heres a pic:



and heres a vid,
about 13 hrs later, still goin.. (Has a bit of other stuff in the vid as well, the bigger fermentor i made and will be using.)

http://youtu.be/wyOUzrbARxM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

anywyas, just wanted to say thanks for the awesome "gerber sugar wash!" and add in my vote!

have fun!!

~L~

well, i just woke up, and the 1L mix has stopped...

wether it finished, or died/stalled, i have no way to know... is there? lol
Im too knew to this.
in my mind, i thinkin it finished, just the way it slowed down n all last night.
but if so, then that means it finished in under 36hrs.. it was about 33hrs ago when i mixed it up, and it quit while i was asleep.. is that even plausible??

I dont want to crack it open yet, as i need to keep it sealed till i can run it, which wont be for a few days yet.. lol
(Gotta go to the city this friday, so if i play my cards right, i can maybe get the rest of the things I need for that..)

I also mixed up a 15L batch last night...

calculated for a 15L batch in my 19.5L pail.. (In reality, i calculated for 15L of water!)

15L water
15 cups sugar
3.75 cups cereal
7.5 tablespoons yeast


after tossing in the sugar, and the bb food, it looked like it took up alot of volume.. did sum more icky math..

calculated that with water, total volume would be 19-20L = no good!!

so i scooped out 2 cups of sugar and re-scaled to a 13L batch, basicaly, 13L water, and 13 cups of sugar.

I put in 13 cups of water which after using a 2L pop bottle to transfer nearly steaming hot tap water, twice, and measuring out, it worked out to 9 cups a bottle..

so just a hair over 2L each time.. i prolly ended up with an extra liter after adding 6 bottles.

I then looked at the remaining space, dumped in another 2L, and 2 more cups of sugar to take it back up to a 15L mix, and still have plenty of head room..

dont know how or why..

stirred the heck outta it, added in a few squirts of "REAL Lemon juice"
I dont have any means of checking the ph at teh moment, but should be well enough, could probably use more...

as for the sugar quantities, im certain i could probably add another cup or two and be safe, however, im not doin it!

i will get more effecient and better measuring tools soon..

had to wait for the mix to cool back down to the 85 ish degrees farenhieght to toss in the little workers..

it should call for about 7.5 table spoons, but i think im gona toss in 8 or 9 and see how it goes!

as it is, I went heavy with everything, a bit light on the sugar, and easy on the lemon juice.

i didnt invert the sugar since i have the time (Be another two weeks before i get the still parts *Sighs*) and also the sugar content should be a hair on the lower spectrum..
*********
3:26am pitched in 8.5 tblspns of yeast, stirred up/arated good..

I stirred it lots while waiting for it to cool down.. when i put the yeast in, i gave it a good stir.. a few minutes later i stirred again, and it was already active.

within 5-10 mins i had that wierd foamy concoction an inch or 2 deep on top, and i airated once or twice more and sealed that sucker up!

had to re-adjust my hose type air lock.. when i first put water in her, it just got all blown back out! hehe
I have some video to upload of the mixture, a few short shots every few mins..
I'll edit this post to include the link once i get it uploaded

anyways, thats where I sit atm..

hope this isnt considered some kinda spam or something since the thread hadnt been posted in for 3-4 mnths!

~L~

Heres the vid of the Gerber sugar wash beggining its life..

http://youtu.be/1YWyH-i6cqU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

realy cool!!! hehe.. its like having my first kid all over again.. it realy is THAT exciting!!

enjoy!

I was wondering about the yeast quantity. It seems high. Is this because of a lack of nutrients or because you will have a lot of yeast die off due to high abv or lack of nutrients. Although with the vitamins and cereal should there be enough nutrients to able to put like 1 tbls? Or is this because of the bread yeast so if you used distillers yeast you could drop the quanity.

F0xtr0t wrote:I was wondering about the yeast quantity. It seems high. Is this because of a lack of nutrients or because you will have a lot of yeast die off due to high abv or lack of nutrients. Although with the vitamins and cereal should there be enough nutrients to able to put like 1 tbls? Or is this because of the bread yeast so if you used distillers yeast you could drop the quanity.

You can use whatever amount of yeast you like... The reason behind the amount of yeast specified is to reduce the lag time between pitching and the anaerobic fermentation phase which in turn reduces overall fermentation time... The yeast colony is going to grow to a specific cell density within the wash anyway, as I have recently explained elsewhere in these forums... This recipe was originally intended to help ween novices off turbo yeast washes and keeping pace with the fermentation process was one of the aspects that was considered... Plus I always over-pitch because bakers yeast is cheap when purchased in bulk... If you're happy with a 5g - 7g packet of yeast then it's perfectly alright to go that route... If you want to pitch up to 2 tablespoons per gallon, that's fine too... I wouldn't go any higher than that, however...

I've been doing some reading on Gerber and thought of giving it a go for my neutral vodka and as a base for my gin. Now Gerber is not around here in the Netherlands. I looked into baby cereals and found something pretty familiar to the Dutch market: Bambix fine graines. Its primary constituent is wheat (88%). It also has oats, rice, corn, rye and vitamines A, C, D, E and K. And the whole range of B vitamines as well as iron perofosfate and potasiumjodine. I will give it a try next week!

Odin.

Just starting up my first Gerber now. Do I interpret correctly when I say "for every 4 liters you need a cup of Gerber". And "a cup" being 250 ml or - otherwise put - a quarter of a liter? Please don't tell me a cup of gerber means actually not 250 ml but 250 grams, because than I am short. One liter weights about 250 grams. Ehm ... ... you know, just please let me know if I am on the right track. So, yes!, please dó tell me!

Also put 1 gram of wyeast nutrients in on 20 liters total.

Odin.

Odin wrote:Just starting up my first Gerber now. Do I interpret correctly when I say "for every 4 liters you need a cup of Gerber". And "a cup" being 250 ml or - otherwise put - a quarter of a liter? Please don't tell me a cup of gerber means actually not 250 ml but 250 grams, because than I am short. One liter weights about 250 grams. Ehm ... ... you know, just please let me know if I am on the right track. So, yes!, please dó tell me!

Also put 1 gram of wyeast nutrients in on 20 liters total.

Odin.

You interpreted correctly... All measurements are by volume... That keeps things simple whether US or metric measurement standards... 250ml of Gerber per 4 liters of wash...

Thanx Rad! Went ahead like that and will pitch the yeast soon! Keep you informed about my results!

Odin.

A bit off topic but I found the name of this brew particularly apt on another level. One of the widely credited inventors of the pot still was Jabir ibn Hayyan. Usually westernized to Geber

Hey yall, gonna get my feet wet starting this weekend, here is the plan, please feel free to QC me oh masters of the still...

Experiment 1 – The turbo yeast and Gerber recipe comparison

Gerber Recipe Obtained from Homedistiller.org and modified for use

5 gal water, half distilled half out of the tap
10 lbs sugar – wally world
4 cups gerber mixed grain cereal
5 tbsp fleishmans active dry yeast


Turbo recipe

5 gal water, half distilled half out of the tap
10 lbs sugar
4 cups gerber mixed grain cereal
48 hour turbo yeast from milehi

Will boil 2.5 gallons water for 30 minutes to invert sugar
Then add cereal
The add to fermenter with other 2.5 gallons
Wait and see what happens

Will run still with turbo recipe first, cleaning run and see what comes out
Will run gerber run second to try and refine operation and max the hearts.
Make some yum yum white lightening.

TG

small correction, I am gonna go halvsies on the pack of yeast, i think it might slow things down a bit and lead to a better wash. any thoughts?

also, a really dumb noob question...when you are taking your initial samples for SG, how do you do this? You stick a turkey baster or something in there and suck out a sample? put it in the tube and float the hydrometer? just curious if there is a "best practice" for this.

tomgndallas wrote:small correction, I am gonna go halvsies on the pack of yeast, i think it might slow things down a bit and lead to a better wash. any thoughts?

also, a really dumb noob question...when you are taking your initial samples for SG, how do you do this? You stick a turkey baster or something in there and suck out a sample? put it in the tube and float the hydrometer? just curious if there is a "best practice" for this.

Your gona half the turbo yeast?

And I take the initial SG reading just before I pitch the yeasties. You can take as many as you want before then. To check if you need to adjust it up or down. But you will get the most accurate initial reading just before the pitch. In my opinion. And I use a turkey baster. You need to make sure its clean and sterilized good just like the hydrometer and test tube. They make wine thiefs for this purpose that you just stick down in the wash and put your thumb over the hole at the top. If you want to go that route. If you get a glass one it would be useful to use for testing your distilled spirits also. But fragile and prone to break.

tomgndallas, as I mentioned in your other topic, you won't get an accurate comparison because even with a half a sachet of turbo yeast you'd have more than enough nutrients for the ~14.1% wash you are considering... You'd be better off comparing a stock Gerber wash against a stock half strength turbo wash with half as much turbo yeast... Then you would be comparing apples to apples and would be trying to see which ferments better and produces better spirits without the additional steps of clearing agents or activated carbon filtering of the spirits... Gerber would wind out...

I had also mentioned that you need to add an acid to truly invert the sugar...

Keep us posted...

And that is why i already love this forum...thanks very much for lookin' out for this fella just coming up.

Rad, got yer other message on my post. I will go ahead and purchase some lemons or juice for the citric acid. Sure it is posted somewheres but figured I would ask. How much is good and what do you base it on? For instance, teaspoon per gallon or what?

Also, loud and clear on the turbo, I will forgo puttin' the gerber in with it. Better saved for the next run anyhow...man i am really looking forward to distilling in about a week. This hobby is very seductive.

As far as half was considered, I was readin' on another post that the guy used have the recommendations on the turbo yeast and managed to run a slower and better quality wash overall..just thinking down those lines. Let me search for it and post it as a reply.

Thanks again for all of you who are schoolin' me as I go. Hope to make ya proud!

TG

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=10541

this was my thoughts on the havsies for the yeast. figured, less yeast, longer time to culture and eat all the sweet bits, longer fermentation, lower ABV, better wash, no matchlite needed for filtering

Hahah, now that is just funny to me....

doing some research on conversion...yes I am an engineer so I am all about the details...

fresh lemon juice (10 millilitres per kilogram) may also be used.

The mixture is boiled for 20 minutes, and will convert enough of the sucrose to effectively prevent crystallization, without giving a noticeably sour taste. Invert sugar syrup may also be produced without the use of acids or enzymes by thermal means alone: two parts granulated sucrose and one part water simmered for five to seven minutes will convert a modest portion to invert sugar.

10 pounds = 4.5359237 kilograms

which by the above recommendation would mean around 45 mL of fresh squeezed juice for my recipe. in tbsp this is around 3 tbsp, accordin' to the net.

For invert sugar, watch for the liquid to start turning a light straw color - usually 30 - 45 minutes at a low simmer...

I just pit one of this together on a 20l,
I'm really surprised how fast fermentation started.
I've got it in a glass carboy and it looks like a old lava lamp, the Gerber is flipping over it's self.

rad14701 wrote:For invert sugar, watch for the liquid to start turning a light straw color - usually 30 - 45 minutes at a low simmer...

Hey Rad I have read this many times. But all the batches I have made turned this color before I could even get it to simmer. Matter of fact its been turning that color as soon as I add the sugar and mix it in. But I have been still going through the process just to be safe. So why is like this? I assumed it was the sugar I was using?