sugar wash fermentation ??

gonzoflick · Post by **gonzoflick** » Mon May 21, 2007 9:09 am

At this very moment I have two 20l batches of sugar wash fermenting. The ingredients I used in each one are as follows:

10lb cane sugar
3 tbs lemon juice
5 tsp Fermax (yeast nutrient)
8g distiller yeast.

The O.G. was 1.09
Now its been almost a week and the gravity has only dropped to 1.05

Is there something wrong or is this normal. I've read on the parent site that most sugar fermentations are over with in under a weeks time. Now Im not using a turbo yeast just regular distillers yeast so maybe this is the reason. on average how long do your sugar washes take when not using turbo?
P.S. I am getting bubbles in my airlock about every 8 seconds now.

gonzoflick · Post by **gonzoflick** » Mon May 21, 2007 10:28 am

it also might be important to note that we keep it rather cool in my house.. low 70's so that might be affecting it? The only thing i could suggest would be to move my carboys to the garage but its almost summer in florida and that thing gets well into the 90's during the day.

new_moonshiner · Post by **new_moonshiner** » Mon May 21, 2007 12:03 pm

keep it around average 75 or this depends on the yeast but for the most part mid 70 will keep most yeast happy , also dont do anything to it untill all bubbles stop then if you want you can rack it off and let it sit for a few days to clear and during this time it most likely will finish the process, I wouldnt be in a big hurry , my last one took 16 days but it was well worth the wait .. as long as its working the I would leave it be.. But someone elase might give you some better advice ..90F is too hot also..

wineo · Post by **wineo** » Mon May 21, 2007 1:47 pm

Sounds like good advice.I would just leave it alone,and let it do its thing.
It will take a while to finish,but it will be worth it.Next time invert the sugar.That will help the yeast process it better.
wineo