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In a book -Possum Living p71- I came across a recipe involving only sugar and yeast. The writer says that she has been using it for years and it is a working recipe. I am trying the same thing since there is so little thing that I can screw up.

I have totsl of 400gr sugar fermenting for almost three days I can see bubbles both in the bottles and in the stoppers. Bottles sit in warm water bath set to 32C. I have used total of 42g baker's yeast in total.

My questions are;
Are my ambitions in vain or I am in right track?
Will adding 10ml of lemon juice help with speed?
Will adding 10gr of tomatoe paste help with speed?
How long should they ferment till they are ready? (In other words wash get clear and bubbles stop coming)


P.S I am still experimenting and this is my first time. It may take months for me to have the courage to ferment 20-40L of wash.

It can technically be done with only yeast water and sugar, but your probably going to have a stuck ferment, ( stuck ferment means stalling or stopping before it's finished). Furthermore it's going to be a terribly slow frustrating ferment.

Yes add a little tomato past or commercial nutrient. The lemon juice does two thing. 1 it helps with the sugar inversion, yeast can do this on there own but if you do it for them it will be a better tasting wash. 2 ph adjustment Yest work best at a ph of 4.5 to 5.5, well in my opinion any way.

Get a hydrometer that's how you know if your wash is fully fermented.

Also don't be afraid to jump right into this hobby and do a 5 gallon wash and distill it. Your going to make some mistakes but that ok, the sooner you start the sooner you will get good at it.

rubber duck wrote: Yes add a little tomato past or commercial nutrient. The lemon juice does two thing. 1 it helps with the sugar inversion, yeast can do this on there own but if you do it for them it will be a better tasting wash. 2 ph adjustment Yest work best at a ph of 4.5 to 5.5, well in my opinion any way.

Thank you for the advice Duck, I'll mix 5ml juice and 5ml tomatoe paste then try mixture on one bottle. I'll be able to gather some live data and post it here more over I can compare one bottle to another to see the increase in speed.

Are you actively working in a developing a recipe or just tinkering around, Cornellius...??? If you want to learn then why not just scale down a Tried and True recipe to suit your experimentation needs...??? You need to learn the "what", "why", and "how much", rather than just taking a stab in the dark... Playing with the Tried and True recipes is a good place to start... From there you can see what effect more or less of an ingredient does for performance or flavor... Take accurate notes so you can develop a base point from which to make additional modifications...

Good luck...

My first wash was nothing more than 8lbs brown sugar, 1/4 cup of honey (DO NOT RECCOMEND HONEY!!!!!!), and about 4 gallons of water. I added about 2oz yeast. my temperature NEVER went above 60F, except when i was boiling the water and pitching the yeast(which was done at about 88F). Heres what happened:

1. it took 2 weeks to stop bubbling
2. it was still sweet when it stopped
3. my yield of alcohol was very low

i do not reccomend duplicating my first batch whatsoever. since then i have changed the following:

1. use honey only for sandwiches, not wash
2. use a heating blanket/pad for heat on my carboys
3. got a hydrometer to check finishing SG
4. purchaced DAP (Di-AmmoniumPhosphate), a very cheap nutrient, but tomato paste will be replacing it when i run out.
5. take notes on every aspect of the operation...even if i get a phone call in the middle of prep, i note it.

Just a couple of things a fellow noob has done that greatly enhanced the production process. Do try the tried and true recipies. You wont be disappointed. remember, speed kills! do not be in a big hurry, things will all work out if you are patient. this is a constant learning experiance. Good luck and always listen to rad, hookline, etc...basically all the guys with blue and green names...great people.

Get a hydrometer that's how you know if your wash is fully fermented.

While they have their uses, I never use mine anymore.

If the bubbling has completely stopped, and there is no sweet taste to the wash, then it is done.

I don't use mine anymore either Hook, but as you say, they are handy until one has acquired the patience necessessary for this hobby.

blanik

Thank you for your patience and input. I've checked recipes and found Birdwatcher's Sugar Recipe, I did like it and tried it. Worked like a spell though I've made a miscalculation at distiller and found out double boiler is never a good idea. I am hoping to successfully ferment and distill in one day.

"""I am hoping to successfully ferment and distill in one day."""
Did I read this right??? or I'm I missing something. I don't thank that's going to happen.

Dnderhead wrote:"""I am hoping to successfully ferment and distill in one day."""
Did I read this right??? or I'm I missing something. I don't thank that's going to happen.

English is not my native so I might have made a grammatical mistake somewhere. I meant that "I hope, I will be able to distill the wash I've made."


P.S
84gr of baker's yeast
500gr sugar
5l water
100ml tomatoe paste
10ml lemon juice
Temperature: 32C

Toooooo much yeast