Ted's Fast Fermenting Vodka

[olddog newtricks]

Hi all apologies new to this site and the community. have a very basic Air Still, read lots of good things about this sugar wash and many say its best for vodka?

Couple of questions about the ingredients as I am UK based some of this stuff is not cheap and not available in supermarkets etc

Ingredients ( for a 23l wash)
4kg Sugar - no issue granulated (table sugar) OK for this?
250g wheat bran - Is there an alternative for this as I can't get this locally and works out expensive
1 Multivitamin tablet - no issue
Pinch Epsom salts - no issue
½ tsp DAP - no issue have yeast nutrient with DAP in it
Citric acid - I have mixed acid for wine making or can get some
50g bakers yeast - no issue getting cheap bakers yeast

I see there is an update to add 100g of Kibbled Rye and reduce the bran to 200g.

Is there an easy alternative for Kibbled Rye?

Many thanks all

[NZChris]

250g wheat bran - Is there an alternative for this as I can't get this locally and works out expensive

TFFV is a wheat flavored vodka.

Vodka is not a flavorless neutral.

What do you really want to make? If you want a wheat flavored vodka, you don't have many options other than a sugar wash using wheat bran, or doing All Grain wheat.

[olddog newtricks]

Yes looking for a good vodka I used the birdwatcher tomato paste wash for a flavourless neutral, as that is all components available locally.

Will see whats to hand to try this

thanks

[Yummyrum]

Look at bran cereal . Kellogg's all bran even .
Find it hard to believe that all bran is hard to find in the UK .

[TwoSheds]

I've used regular wheat leftover from all-grain recipes in this with fine results. For that matter whole wheat flour would probably do the job but I like Yummyrum's idea of all-bran cereal better.

Ingredients:
Wheat Bran, Sugar, Malt Flavor, Contains 2% Or Less Of Salt. Vitamins And Minerals: Niacinamide, Reduced Iron, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.

I don't see any red flags on that list but others might. The B vitamins can only help!

[howie]

kellogs all-bran has 86% wheat bran according to Asda.
Ingredients
Wheat Bran (86%), Sugar, Barley Malt Extract, Salt, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin, Thiamin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12.
anyone see anything wrong with the ingredients?

[olddog newtricks]

All Bran easy to find that what I was asking as health food shops over charge for Wheat Bran and Rye flakes

[theotherstu]

Righty righty, something's very odd.

I've done this a dozen times before. Always hit FG in about 2-3 days. Normally leave it until I can be bothered to throw it through the still.
But this time, it's different. It did its usual "go nuts" trick, but it's continued to throw a wobbler through the airlock on day 6.

Any ideas?

As always and I've said many times through this thread, follow the instructions to the letter, and it works perfectly. I've done that and it's not

[Saltbush Bill]

Take the lid off and look to see what's going on in there.

[theotherstu]

Take the lid off and look to see what's going on in there.

That's the weird thing. It looks absolutely fine.

Come to think of it, the FV I'm using, I recently made it entirely air-tight whereas the other ones I have, well, they leak (I think it was you mentioned this in either this thread or your rum one that most plastic buckets leak).

I dunno, I'll take a reading tomorrow. If it's fine, I'll leave it a couple of days and throw it through the still next week.

[Saltbush Bill]

If you see or hear it fizzing on top it's not ready yet.....that simple.

[Garouda]

Hi all apologies new to this site and the community. have a very basic Air Still, read lots of good things about this sugar wash and many say its best for vodka?

Couple of questions about the ingredients as I am UK based some of this stuff is not cheap and not available in supermarkets etc

Citric acid - I have mixed acid for wine making or can get some
50g bakers yeast - no issue getting cheap bakers yeast

I see there is an update to add 100g of Kibbled Rye and reduce the bran to 200g.

Is there an easy alternative for Kibbled Rye?

Many thanks all

By the way, the name of that recipe is Ted's fast fermenting vodka TFFV.
I live abroad and can find locally most of the things I need. When it's not the case, a friend of mine from Glasgow who regularly comes down here brings what I ordered on websites in the UK, there are many on-line shops in your country selling products for fruit wine or beer brewing. Search the internet.
Kibbled Rye... Do not fool around with those magic ideas adding this or that, why not tomato paste (just kidding), stick to the recipe, except if you aim at making an aquavit like grain flavoured stuff, for an Aquavit you even need to add spices like cumin, but that's another story . If you live in the country you may have a neighbour who has a pony, they often add bran in pony or horse food, I have bran for free and put 330g- in fact 1kg for the basic recipe x3.
Acid blend for wine are often tartaric and malic acids, they will do the job but are for sure more expensive than basic food grade citric acid.
You even do not need food grade as it goes through your still.

[Garouda]

For that matter, whole wheat flour would probably do the job, but I like Yummyrum's idea of all-bran cereal better.
I don't see any red flags on that list, but others might. The B vitamins can only help!

All bran cereals are just an x-fold more expensive without any additional benefit.
Here are the nutrients for 100g bran :
23.6 grams carbohydrates
15.4 grams proteins
4.35 grams fat
42 grams not soluble fibres
14.65 grams other

Minerals
Calcium - Ca 73.9 mg
Magnesium - Mg 546 mg
Phosphorus - P 1030 mg
Potassium - K 1260 mg
Sodium - Na 13.3 mg
Oligo-elements
Copper - Cu 1.05 mg
Iron - Fe 14.8 mg
Iodine - I 2.4 µg
Manganese - Mn 13.3 mg
Selenium - Se 6.8 µg
Zinc - Zn 7.49 mg

Water-soluble vitamins
Vitamin B1 - thiamin 0.71 mg
Vitamin B2 - riboflavin 0.47 mg
Vitamin B3 - niacin 21.6 mg
Vitamin B5 - pantothenic acid 2.29 mg
Vitamin B6 - pyridoxine 1.34 mg
Vitamin B9 - folic acid 110 µg
Fat-soluble vitamins
Vitamin A 0,5 µg
Beta-carotene 6 µg
Vitamin E - tocopherols 1.55 mg
Vitamin K 42,5 µg
Vitamin K1 - hydroquinone,42,5 µg

[olddog newtricks]

Update on this I manged to get some wheat bran from a health food shop Holland and Barrett.

I could not get Rye, it was on back order so I took a rush of blood to the head and used Ryvita crispbread mashed up

I made up 24lt

250g Wheat Bran
100g Ryvita
4 kg Sugar
50g Allison's Bread Yeast
2 tsp DAP
1 tsp Citric Acid
1/2 tsp Epsom Salts
1 Multi Vitamin

PH 5
yeast pitched @ 27c

By the morning thick crust on top and bubbling away fast, so far so good

[theotherstu]

Has anyone run an all feints run?
I've a litre left over from a stripping run that needs to be put through a spirit run plus around 3 litres of heads from previous runs.

I always put the foreshots from a spirit run into jars for using for cleaning, so not talking about that.

Worth putting it through?

[Yummyrum]

Has anyone run an all feints run?
I've a litre left over from a stripping run that needs to be put through a spirit run plus around 3 litres of heads from previous runs.

I always put the foreshots from a spirit run into jars for using for cleaning, so not talking about that.

Worth putting it through?

If it’s feints from a Reflux still … read Boka , CCVM etc , then no, there will be nothing worth keeping .
If they are Pot still feints , then definitely worth re-running.

[theotherstu]

Has anyone run an all feints run?
I've a litre left over from a stripping run that needs to be put through a spirit run plus around 3 litres of heads from previous runs.

I always put the foreshots from a spirit run into jars for using for cleaning, so not talking about that.

Worth putting it through?

If it’s feints from a Reflux still … read Boka , CCVM etc , then no, there will be nothing worth keeping .
If they are Pot still feints , then definitely worth re-running.

Yup, pot still.

I'll go for it then.

[olddog newtricks]

Update on this I manged to get some wheat bran from a health food shop Holland and Barrett.

I could not get Rye, it was on back order so I took a rush of blood to the head and used Ryvita crispbread mashed up

I made up 24lt

250g Wheat Bran
100g Ryvita
4 kg Sugar
50g Allison's Bread Yeast
2 tsp DAP
1 tsp Citric Acid
1/2 tsp Epsom Salts
1 Multi Vitamin

PH 5
yeast pitched @ 27c

By the morning thick crust on top and bubbling away fast, so far so good

Well this has been going for a week now started great guns first few days then peaked out at 1.050 checked it next day still same gave it a stir tsp of DAP and raised the temperature up to 30c way hotter than I normally go but generally only things to restart a stuck fermentation is more temperature, more sugar more yeast more nutrients. So pitched some beer yeast had laying about sprinkled in some sugar not sure what else can do.

Not sure what went wrong only time had this happen normally no issues

[Garouda]

Not sure what went wrong only time had this happen normally no issues

According to your ingredients, it should be OK. Ryvita is not necessary, though...
Epsom salt is not necessary either, because there's enough Mg in your bran, but adding some cannot harm.
Can you add a picture of your fermenter, so we could see if there is something wrong at the surface?
You wrote pH 5 what is the current pH?
How does it smell?
You made several additions that may have caused some contamination. Next time, prepare a starter with some DAP, sugar, B vitamin, water or your wash and yeast, in this case Lalvin EC-1118 is a good choice, it's a champagne yeast that has good properties to restart a stalled fermentation.
Aerate well with a whisk, leave it for some minutes until it starts foaming, then poor your starter into your fermenter.
I've never had any problem with TFFV, what I am explaining here is what I did when I got a problem with another sugar wash recipe.

[NZChris]

Well this has been going for a week now started great guns first few days then peaked out at 1.050

What was your OG?
I always measure and record in case I had a problem with my scales/calculations/whatever.

Check your hydrometer.

Are you using a hydrometer?
We are getting queries lately from newbies mistakenly thinking they can use refractometers as hydrometers.

[Garouda]

We are getting queries lately from newbies mistakenly thinking they can use refractometers as hydrometers.

Indeed, it's a good remark ! Is your gravity reading accurate?
It's possible to use a refractometer, though, providing you kept your OG and you apply a formula (there are calculators on the WEB) to take the alcohol present in your fermenting wash into account.

[NZChris]

I have played with those calculators, but I don't trust them. Use the correct tool for the job when it really matters.

[quadra]

I have played with those calculators, but I don't trust them. Use the correct tool for the job when it really matters.

Same experience, and if you only own one hydrometer you have one too few... I am also curious about your pH..

[Garouda]

I have played with those calculators, but I don't trust them. Use the correct tool for the job when it really matters.

Same experience, and if you only own one hydrometer you have one too few... I am also curious about your pH..

Fully agree it was for information purposes only. I use my refractometer once for a quick check, then trust only my Stevenson and Reeves S1011 Triple Scale Hydrometer.

[olddog newtricks]

I only have hydrometers OG was 1.066

just checked it has dropped to 1.040 and PH of 4

Its going just VERY slowly the only deviation was the Ryvita.

Surface has no foam on top now and off white semi clear, no odd smells and just tastes sweet

I have some EC1118 so might make a starter as suggested


Thanks never had a problem with stalled fermentation either might be the yeast as just generic Allison;s bakers yeast

[NZChris]

Do you have the optimum temperature for your yeast?

[olddog newtricks]

No idea as it bakers yeast but seems 30 will work but likes faster i struggle to get above 30c so might need to look at another yeast

[NZChris]

Insulate it. I use so much insulation that sometimes I have to loosen it and point a fan at the fermenter.

[Garouda]

No idea as it bakers yeast but seems 30 will work but likes faster i struggle to get above 30c so might need to look at another yeast

I live in a tropical environment, and sometimes we have 35°C even in the cold season, I'm using Bruggeman instant baker's yeast for my TFFV, no problem at 35°C.
I don't see why you want to go above 30°C, 25°C is just fine, high fermentation T° can stress the yeast and cause some unwanted congeners...
If you want high T°, there's a yeast that can handle higher T°, the Kveik yeast, in fact Kveik means yeast in Norwegian, there are various strains. I recently used some LalBrew® Voss Kveik Ale Dry Yeast for my Bourbon because I was a bit late in the season, in April, we got 43.8°C, but fortunately my fermentation and stripping runs were done before those extreme T°, now with the rainy season, we are back in the 30-35° range, sometimes 25°C when it rains. This is the ideal time to transform my TFF vodka into gin or other liqueurs.

[olddog newtricks]

I normally do 20c for most brews never had an issue, this one stalled so basic steps are ad some heat sugar yeast and nutrients.

Added EC1118 and bumped it to 30 is bubbling away again

Ran birdwatcher no issues before so not sure why this was