Home Distiller

i made a batch of sugar wash today and i just checked on it and there was absolutely no activity, here is a list of what i did:

boiled 3 gallons of water
once the water was in the carobouy, i mixed in 5 pounds of sugar and stirred the sugar until it was dissolved
then i waited a few hours for the water to cool to room temp
once the water was cooled i put in about 3/4 of a table (roughly 12-16 grams?) of brewers yeast


now that was 8 hours ago and i havent seen any activity so far...what could be going on? and is it time to dump it out and start over?

What neutrients did you put in for the yeast?


OD

nothing, the recipe didnt call for any nutrients

is your yeast fresh, ???

did you sanitise your fermenter ???

do you have an airlock ???

is your fermenter sealed correctly ???

Add about 100 grams of tomato paste and watch it go

Austin Nichols wrote:Add about 100 grams of tomato paste and watch it go

Plus the juice of a lemon.


OD

gretschem wrote:is your yeast fresh, ???

did you sanitise your fermenter ???

do you have an airlock ???

is your fermenter sealed correctly ???

just opened the container today

ya cleaned the fermenter, and its the first batch to be ran through it

not air lock exactly, but i put a ballon over it and poked a couple holes

try an airlock !!! half full of vodka

olddog wrote:

Austin Nichols wrote:Add about 100 grams of tomato paste and watch it go

Plus the juice of a lemon.


OD

Yep! I reckon that's all that can be wrong, as you said.... nutrients

alright sounds good luckily i had both sitting around int he fridge just tossed em in, well see how it works out

thanks for all the help guys, and thanks on the quick responses

Take a look at the Birdwatchers recipe in the tried and true section of these forums, that's basically what you have now, and in my opinion one of the best yet cheapest recipes for neutral you can get.

Cheers.

ive got the mash sitting at about 70-72 degree F (21-22 C) could the cooler temps be having an effect ont he yeast and just causing it to work alot slower?

I see three problems with your wash. First is the lack of nutrients which has been discussed. The second is a near complete lack of oxygen.

When you boiled the water you depleted it of oxygen that the yeast needs in the initial growth phase. They won't multiply in an oxygen starved environment. You need to get some air in it then probably pitch some more yeast.

Third, your fermenting temp could be too low. Those little beasties generally like 78-81F. Some yeast will work OK in a lower range (champaign yeasts). I just don't know what the ideal temp might be for your particular strain of brewers yeast but I suspect it will be happier a little warmer than you have it.

thanks for the reply,

could i maybe take the top off and shake the carabouy up a bit to get some oxygen in there?

and also ill try to get a space heater set up in my closet to get it a bit warmer

Sounds like your on the right track I agree your temps might be a bit low however should work between 20-35C. My temp control is set at 27.5C + or minus 2.5C so it kicks on at 25 and goes off at 30. That way I am not getting it too hot or too cold. Remember the fermentation depending on size will be warmer than room temp.

dryst wrote:could i maybe take the top off and shake the carabouy up a bit to get some oxygen in there?

That would probably work. Easier, if you have another container, would be to pour it vigorously from your carboy to the bucket and back. If you pour it from some height you'll introduce oxygen.

dryst, you're getting good advice here...

Where did you get that "recipe"...???

See the Tried and True Recipe forum if you want to try several foolproof recipes...