I recently invested in a digital ph meter and have a few questions.
I have been doing very well with wineos sugar wash but untill now i was using pool strips to get the ph around where it needed to be as they only go to 5ph and that low its almost impossible to read the colour change.
I started 4 washes got all to around 4.8 5ph (with my digital meter) to start with, after 24hrs tested them again they were down to 3 and even one was 2.8ph!!!
I used ph up to raise it again and they seem to be doing far better as I have never done this before raised the ph again after a ferment started. I just want some input because I have not read anything about this on the site
Is it normal to have to raise the ph again? why would my wash become so acidic?
Also people say not to add soda ash (ph up) to a non stripped run. But I also read that it is fine to buffer the ph of a wash as long as the wash is not alkaline when distilled which would create ammonia?
Yes the PH will go down , so I never adjust to start. adding something to raise the ph is fine if
when it is finished it is not alkaline.as alkaline (hi PH) washes can make ammonia and that will cause blue
distillate.
Hi guys, thanks for the replies I am aiming for a faster ferment and cleaner product (even though its pretty damn clean already) as apparently under high acidic conditions yeast is more likely let off unwanted nasties into the wash?
Anyone had any experience with this or raise ph themself during a ferment?
rubber duck apparently anything purchased from pool store etc is ok as long as it has no other aditives. etc is 100 percent sodium bicarbonate
yeast will work under a wide range of PH from 8-3.5? but best about 5.5 the further from 5.5 the more stressed
the yeast gits and can produce off flavors. so if your wash starts out at 6? and ends at 4? that's good.or even
starts at 7or8 and ends at 4.it is still good. with the higher PH washes you just be careful of infections.
Dnderhead wrote:yeast will work under a wide range of PH from 8-3.5? but best about 5.5 the further from 5.5 the more stressed
the yeast gits and can produce off flavors. so if your wash starts out at 6? and ends at 4? that's good.or even
starts at 7or8 and ends at 4.it is still good. with the higher PH washes you just be careful of infections.
Hi dnderhead, nice info. What is with all the talk of starting off washes acidic then? when it is not really needed? is this to prevent infection only? Or does the yeast need this to begin working.
From what I can tell my wash was too acidic even after a day. 2.8ph from 4.8-5 (What people say to start it at on here :S )
So I guess I have 2 choices, start with a nutural ph 7 what my water is see how that goes or start at 4.8 - 5 and check ph after a day. Any recommendations?
I dont mind mucking around with my washes a bit I have never had one contaminated and steralize everything I test/mix with each time. I am just aiming for fast clean ferments.
I don't bother adjusting PH. I don't even check them. I whould thank each wash/mash is different.
and I'm not the most "sterile" type, more like mashing out in the woods, most mash/wash. takes
such a short time that infections are rare.and even if they did git infected I whould run it any way.
make sure the yeast has a good start.run as soon as it is finished, you will have no problems
at least I don't. the biggest "infecttor" is flies,,,them @#@%$### the little #&*#@*!
Dnderhead wrote:I don't bother adjusting PH. I don't even check them. I whould thank each wash/mash is different.
and I'm not the most "sterile" type, more like mashing out in the woods, most mash/wash. takes
such a short time that infections are rare.and even if they did git infected I whould run it any way.
make sure the yeast has a good start.run as soon as it is finished, you will have no problems
at least I don't. the biggest "infecttor" is flies,,,them @#@%$### the little #&*#@*!
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz ahahahah, yeah for me here it is ants. them f@%$n lil buggers tryin get in my fermenter no matter how clean i whipe it down!
My ferments do finnish fine without checking ph But it cant hurt doing some trial and error like I am to make it easier on the yeast and hopefully a better and faster outcome. I guess I'll update and say how it goes anymore input is welcome. Thanks!
I guess something was done right, I am at .990 sg after just 72hrs. still a little airlock activity but hardly any. I will be leaving them for another day before my first rack as I always do this. The best I had before this was 6-7 days under same ambient temp and recepie conditions with wineos wash.
I am wondering if the wash became so acidic because of the water I am using, it is nutural ph water that has been filtered ionised, oxygenated with a water ioniser/alkalizer and would have a very very low aditive concentration to be at this nutural ph since all are removed (the machine actually regulates ph of water via Polarization/electrolosis). Compared to say a public water supply that has both acidic and alkaline aditives in it to create a fairly strong/stable nutural ph.
I may try starting my next wash at 7ph and see where it goes from there. When I run these I'll update how they come out
Dnderhead wrote:I don't bother adjusting PH. I don't even check them. I whould thank each wash/mash is different.
and I'm not the most "sterile" type, more like mashing out in the woods, most mash/wash. takes
such a short time that infections are rare.and even if they did git infected I whould run it any way.
make sure the yeast has a good start.run as soon as it is finished, you will have no problems
at least I don't. the biggest "infecttor" is flies,,,them @#@%$### the little #&*#@*!
A man after my ownheart, dunder. All this scientifis stuff goes right over my head. Too much stuffing about and I can't remember losing a mash/wash. Mind you, at our age memory is unimportant and unreliable anyway.
I will admit that the flies can be a nuiscence, but I can see them
blanik
Simple potstiller. Slow, single run.
(50 litre, propane heated pot still. Coil in bucket condenser - No thermometer, No carbon) The Reading Lounge AND the Rules We Live By should be compulsory reading
Dnderhead wrote:I don't bother adjusting PH. I don't even check them. I whould thank each wash/mash is different.
and I'm not the most "sterile" type, more like mashing out in the woods, most mash/wash. takes
such a short time that infections are rare.and even if they did git infected I whould run it any way.
make sure the yeast has a good start.run as soon as it is finished, you will have no problems
at least I don't. the biggest "infecttor" is flies,,,them @#@%$### the little #&*#@*!
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz ahahahah, yeah for me here it is ants. them f@%$n lil buggers tryin get in my fermenter no matter how clean i whipe it down!
My ferments do finnish fine without checking ph But it cant hurt doing some trial and error like I am to make it easier on the yeast and hopefully a better and faster outcome. I guess I'll update and say how it goes anymore input is welcome. Thanks!
I had trouble with ants but I have been using 'ant sand' (can't remember its name, let me know if you want me to check) (it is a commercial product and it is just like fine sand).
You just pour a very light amount of this stuff around the fermenter and no more ants. At least that is what I found.
olddog wrote:A mixture of borax, and icing sugar will get rid of ants, they take it back to their nest and DIE
Funny you should bring that up, I only tried it just recently and worked like a charm although i think there must be about 20 or so seperate nests around my place, I have so far taken out the main ones
if you got a shack your brewing in put a streak of lime around it, the little critters don't like it as it burns their feet.
bentonite is also supposed to work as it sharp and sticks to them like cockle burs.
I used ph up to raise it again and they seem to be doing far better as I have never done this before raised the ph again after a ferment started. I just want some input because I have not read anything about this on the site
ahahahah, yeah for me here it is ants. them f@%$n lil buggers tryin get in my fermenter no matter how clean i whipe it down! 
