Birdwatchers sugar wash recipe

[Fastill]

I can't really tell you on an airstill but if you dilute your spirits to below 40% and rerun, lots of the nasties will stay in the diluteing water in the boiler, this is one way reruning your spirits helps clean it up. The more times you dilute and rerun, the cleaner the spirit will get.
Now if you notice the smell of heads and tails each time you run, make your cuts, and you do not include these in your next rerun, then yes, you will lose volume as more runs are done, but what you are left with will be the best possible hearts you can make with your perticular wash and setup.

[Ben Dripn]

Hi Guys, this will be the 1st run through my VM still and wanted share this. This is my quarter split of Birdwatchers sugar wash:

5- gallons of Artesian well water
1- 6 oz can of organic tomato paste
10- lbs of sugar
1- Tsp of citric acid
48- grams of yeast

Poured 2.5 gallons of water into a 6 gallon carboy,
Used about 2 gallons of water to heat and dislove 10lbs of sugar, 6 oz of tomato paste, and citric acid.
used the remaining .5 gallons of water to get my SG right at 1.07
I then added 4 packet of Red Star Pasteur Champagne Yeast (5 grams ea.)
Added 1 pack of Red Star Quick Rise Instant Dry Yeast (7 grams)
Added 3 packs of Fleischmans RapidRise Highly Active Yeast (7 grams ea.)

If you quarter the original recipe, for yeast (225 grams) it equals 2 oz of yeast or 56.25 grams, as you can see im only using 48 grams, had to mix and match yeasts to get to 48 grams and thats all i had at the house.

This mix startd to bubble in the 1st five minutes, I now have the over flow tube set in a glass jar because the foam reached the top within 1 hour.
This recipe seems like alot of yeast to me, but we'll see. I will keep you posted!

[disgustedtaxpayer]

Hi Guys,

I ran birdwatchers after playing with turbo's for about 1 1/2 years. Just found this site. I want to thank everyone for the recipe. My first batch is better than anything we have on the shelf of the 12 brands we compared it to. Seems a little better if it sits for a couple of weeks after proofing. Also the longer it clears the better.

Anyway for those of us who just like clear stuff and a neutral spirit this stuff is great. I normally don't like any Vodka much at room temperature but this stuff is even good warm. I did add about 1/4 teaspoon of glycerin per 1/5th. Any thoughts on filtering this stuff or are we just wasting our time?

Gotta get the bigger still built. My 2" reflux works fine but large batches just take forever.

Cheers

[coltrane]

I started a 75 liter wash of Birdwatchers recipe last night, everything looks and smells great. I have been checking the temps and I am worried that they are a bit high. 88F/31C. I tried the wet towel last night, and it did not seem to have an effect. The SG today was 1.048...so it is dropping and bubbling very nicely. What do I have to watch from here on out? Hoping that the temp drops tonight, as I live in the Caribbean.was trying to find a place where I would not have to move them around all day, which ended up being the surfboard room, but I think that they may benefit from the outside air circulation. They are air locked could this be a reason for higher temps? How sensitive is this wash? Will it be highly effected if the temp moves all over the place?

[rad14701]

coltrane, don't worry about the temperature unless it gets above the mid-90's... Any initial spike in temperature should subside as the ferment progresses... High gravity along with high oxygenation, high yeast pitch rate, and high nutrient fortification, will drive up the temperature at the start, especially for large volume washes...

[Goose]

I always try to get recipes to perform well up to 14% and have done so with this one with only minor tweaking... In fact, I've gone even higher by accident and it still fermented cleanly to dry and produced clean neutral spirits... I have two separate ~14% batches going right now with tweaks in an effort to get a clean 7 day or less ferment... One batch was started on the 28th and the other on the 30th so we'll see what the beginning of the week brings...

You know I pjust lowed trough all 37 pages of this thread, I too am targetting 14% ABV in 7 days to finish a wash. The one I have on have just put on is 1 can tomato paste, 6 kg sugar, 1/2 tsp citric acid, 1 tsp wyeast nutrient (overkill?) and 3 x 55g dried bakers yeast made up to 25 litres. I'll see how that goes, but you mentioned "tweaks", any chance you can share these please ?

Thanks

[coltrane]

Thanks rad. I can't wait to run this and see how it comes out. I am sure that I will have more questions as I get closer.

[still stoopid]

Uh oh , did I stress the yeast?

I just put on a BD 4 days ago and followed the exact recipe. The SG was 1.08 and I pitched the yeast at 95F. It blew off like a rocket which was nice! I had a heating pad wrapped on it and I didnt have the chance to check it until 30 hours later. I left 3 or 4 inches at the top of the fermenter with the lid on but It was bubbling over the top and sitting at 104F. Naturally I turned it down and just checked the SG today (4 days later) and its at about .995 and still some lite action! Thats good I guess but did I stress the yeast? I read lots about off flavours after distilling from stressing of the yeast. I was hoping to let it finish and go straight to a reflux run but was wondering if I should take some extra time to rack and clear? Any thoughts! Will I just have to be more careful with my cuts if I run it without racking ?

Cheers,

[maheel]

#1 I should take some extra time to rack and clear? Any thoughts!


#2 Will I just have to be more careful with my cuts if I run it without racking ?

Cheers,

1. yes you should let it clear a while, let it sit another week if you can. IMO it makes it better to run when clear

2. better to see 1^^ and make good cuts anyway....

always get the ingredients ready for the next ferment ready so as soon as it's empty your fermenting again

[still stoopid]

#1 I should take some extra time to rack and clear? Any thoughts!


#2 Will I just have to be more careful with my cuts if I run it without racking ?

Cheers,

1. yes you should let it clear a while, let it sit another week if you can. IMO it makes it better to run when clear

2. better to see 1^^ and make good cuts anyway....

always get the ingredients ready for the next ferment ready so as soon as it's empty your fermenting again

Yeah I just racked it over . Timings not the best for me but I'll let it sit until I can get back to it ! It will clear much nicer for sure! I might even let it sit until another batch is ready then I can strip run them before I reflux it !

Thanks Maheel !
Cheers,

[coltrane]

Ok, I just checked my SG and @ 6 days reading .990 ( I was away for a few days, so may have finished yesterday or the day before.) All of the sediment is at the bottom of the bucket and the wash is a translucent whitish/yellowish color. Based on SG I believe the wash is is 10% ABW 12.5% ABV, (it is my first, so I hope I am correct)

1.) Is it OK for the wash to sit in the fermenting buckets with the sediment in the bottom for a few days if it is air-locked, while I get the still prepared?
2.) Should I rack this off?
3.) Does it need to clear more?

Just want to make sure I am taking going through the proper procedures, until the still is ready to roll in the next couple of days.

Thanks for any input....once I finish this I may have a bit more confidence, things seem to be going swimmingly, but that is usually when things get messed up!

Thanks,

Coltrane

is this considered clear?

BW Wash 6 days

[frozenthunderbolt]

If you can, chill the wash to cold shock it - cold (6 celcius) night or fridge for 24 hours, then rack it into another container.
COuld repeat the cold shock before you rack it into your boiler to run it, but isn't realy necessary.

The clearer, more yeast free and C02 free your wash the cleaner your still will run and the better the neutral alcohol you will produce.

[Bushman]

Should be fine, I set mine in the cold for a day or two before racking into the boiler. Looks like your drains may be a bit low but it might just be the angle!

[maheel]

you can leave it for weeks or even months just sitting there and it will go nearly as clear as water

well i would put it in the shed / dark, i would not say that is clear. but thats my 2c

[coltrane]

Thank you very much for the input. I will rack it today and start a few more, so I can start doing stripping runs.

-C

[Skozzy]

Done my second lot now, used a heater this time, took 8 days to reach 990, have de gassed it and racked it, going to leave it now for 7 days, do I still use the heater, or leave it cold ?

[Dnderhead]

It will clear faster if cold

[Skozzy]

It will clear faster if cold

Thanks for the feedback
Steve

[Goose]

I must say this is an amazing forum, I wish one day some kind and knowledgeable chap would filter the crud and set up the good stuff in something like wiki format to save the grind through endless pages... ok I digress.

Still trying to get to a wash I can trust, and recently just put down 3 washes yesterday of precisely the following recipe for a 25 litre wash. My objective, a 14 % wash in 7 days using where possible, ingredients that come packaged in unit quantities required. For example, I hate keeping over a 1/2 a tin of unused tomato paste...

Sugar: 6kg (can buy in 2 kg bags)
Tomato paste: 2 x 6oz tins
Lemon: x 1, juiced
MgSO4: 1/2 teaspoon
Yeast: 100g Instant Bakers yeast (bought bulk in 500g vaccuum sealed, guess this one I just have to keep in the fridge, enough for 5 batches).

These washes took off within minutes of sprinkling yeast on top. Extremely violent fermentation, continuing 24 hours so far. Ambient 27 degrees C, but carboys feel alot warmer.

Reason for the post is that I am also aware that tomato paste lacks B complex and Nitrogen as well as Mg (if I may quote Rad), though the MgSO4 I added at least provides the Magnesium:

At the very least you should augment the recipe with a source of B complex vitamins as well as a nitrogen source and magnesium which can be sourced via epsom salt...

So if i may ask, the "tweaks" people refer to, is this a multivitamin tab ? Or does adding sufficient yeast (as I have) sufficient ?. I will no doubt find out in 7 days or so if I have been successful

[rad14701]

The tweaks I am currently testing per gallon (4 liters) are:

1/2 tsp epsom salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Peters 20-20-20

I have not scaled these experiments up beyond 5 gallons yet... They have not used multivitamins either...

I have had several Birdwatchers washes finish in under 5 days... Of course, the higher the potential %ABV the longer the ferment will take... I have played with 11.5% - 14.1%... Your mileage may vary...

[forrestgump]

My turn to have a go at the birdwatchers.

6Kg Sugar
1 can (170gm) Tomato paste
1 teaspoon Epsom Salts
juice 1 lemon
70gm bakers yeast.

I had planned this to be a 25l wash but it ended up being 30l all up as I kept adding water to try to pull the SG down.

I ended up with 30l total, SG 1.082 @ 26C

That gives a nice conservative potential ABV of close to 12%

Comments welcome.

[rad14701]

Comments welcome.

Stand back and let it run its course...

[forrestgump]

Comments welcome.

Stand back and let it run its course...

Exactly what I wanted to hear.

[Goose]

Thanks for that rad.. have seen these fertilzers in plant nurseries, 20/20/20 + te... P, N, K + trace elements, sounds great for a yeast food so I can see where you are coming from.

Just an update on these washes, its been 48 hours and my SG is down from 1.09 down to 1.01 already... scary did I create my own turbo , I hope not. Taste is fine but of course the wash is not clear by any stretch of the imagination.

I know i am targetting 14% and therefore perhaps a bit over zealous this but compensated on paste quantity and instant yeast quantity versus Birdwatcher standard. However am aware that instant yeast comes with its own set of pre packged nutrients so maybe that is the key here. Its not expensive so I dont mind adding what it takes (within reason).

Maybe I just got lucky with the brand of yeast I am using, this one is "Bruggeman" and is manufactured in Belgium (hmm... Trappist springs to mind ). I also have tried another brand called "Red Man" (Malaysian origin) which I tried in a similar but not quite the same recipe with very poor results (finished at 1.020 after two weeks).

This is the stuff, if anybody is interested:



I'll report back in another 5 days or so with the SG and clarity.

[Pooyan]

That's the same yeast i'm always using, never lets me down.

[waylyn]

Don't know if this is a stupid question, but does anyone use any of the backset in the new fermntation for this recipe, or is there no point

[Odin]

I work with the Bruggeman as well. Dutch, living 100 clicks from Belgium ...

Backset can help add taste, lower PH, give yeast nutrients. For reasons 2 and 3, you can sour mash, not for getting over more taste like UJSSM or SF.

Odin.

[waylyn]

Cheers Odin, I was only asking because I am looking for a neutral and was worried it would increase the flavour, so happy days' i'll use ariund 30-40% and see how it goes

[Goose]

I did recall somebody got a slight tomato smell/flavour hint in their low wines from a stripping run from this recipe. Has anybody experienced the same ?

While I am very happy with the screaming performance of these washes I did use 2 x tins of paste so the wash still has a very pinkish tinge. I do concern I may carry over some tomato flavour in my stripping run. Time will tell. For the next washes I will try just 1 tin and see if I get the same performance.

[waylyn]

I had a slight smell and taste of tomato, I followed the recipe to the letter but it wasn't a bad thing quite liked it