Home Distiller

Hi, yesterday i did a single malt mash, i took 4 kg of barley malt (did at home) and 18 l of water, when i finished to cook the mash and cool it, i pitched the yeast (Saccharomyces bayanus, wine yeast, 8 gr), i put the cap and the airlock, but after one day nothing happened, so i decided to add other 2 gr of bayanus yeast, and after 4-5 hours i pitched another packet (25 gr) of fresh baker yeast (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae). I decided to leave the cap loosely on but after a couple of hours i can't see any change in the liquid and any creation of foam on the surface.
I areated the mash every time i pitched the yeast,verified the SG (1.050) and the conversion of the starches with iodine tincture.
Is it possible that PH is too low (i didn't use gypsum to rise the PH) or the deposit on the bottom of the fermenter is too much that create problem with the grawth of the yeast (because i pressed a lot the grains)?

Thanks for the future answears

more details needed.
what temp did you mash at, what temp are you fermenting at?

I have lots of brews that take longer than 24 hours to start (rare with all grain)

I mash at 65°C, but sometimes the temperature went lower and i turned on the fire and stopped when arrived at 65°C, after 3 hours i did the sparging and rose the temperature to 73°-75°C. I put the mash in the fermenter and cooled with water, when the mash riched 20°C i pitched the yeast and know the temperature is 20°C.
Sorry for my bad english

Did you take a gravity reading after the mashing?

english is fine.
as long as your home malting was good it should start up no problem. Give some more time, if no start by tomorrow I'd make a large starter. For all grain it is odd not to have started quickly but not unheard of.
PH of an all barley malt should be fine on its own. Could be a bit high but not high enough to cause no ferment.

20C/68F is lower than most yeasts like... Get that temperature up to between 24C/75F - 30C/85F and you'll probably have better luck... I would highly doubt that a fresh mash would have pH problems...

Rivver wrote:Did you take a gravity reading after the mashing?

the SG after the mash was 1.048 so i added a bit of sugar to arrive at 1.050.

I think that i have to wait and raise the temperature of the fermenter. Thanks a lot

your original yeast is the same as EC 1118. It is a known slow starter and fermenter but should ferment well. It has a wide temperature range and your 20 degrees is right in the middle.
I would advise using a yeast that is intended for grain worts instead of wine yeasts for all grain, they do better with fruits.

If the fermentation doesn't start, i could put other yeast or i have to put all in the WC?

bellybuster wrote:your original yeast is the same as EC 1118. It is a known slow starter and fermenter but should ferment well. It has a wide temperature range and your 20 degrees is right in the middle.
I would advise using a yeast that is intended for grain worts instead of wine yeasts for all grain, they do better with fruits.

For my first mash i used 3 packets of fresh bakers yeast (75 gr) but the mash wasn't an all single malt, but the first day it bubble a lot and has a big foam on the surface.

Finally the yeast start to create the foam!



This is the Bayanus yeast (The guilty!!!)



I'm very happy, someone has some advices for the next batch? because i have to finish this packet of yeast! XD

glad to see it started, time is the hardest part to give.

bellybuster wrote:glad to see it started, time is the hardest part to give.

Yes i hate the waiting. But i kill the time with another mash! XD

next one try an ale yeast or even bread yeast and see the difference

I have a packet of this yeast could be good or ale yeast is best?
[img]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/19/tu2unuhu.jpg[/img]

From a couple of hours the fermentation seems to be stopped. How is it possible?! Starts 2 days ago! The temperature is 22°C

i verified 5 minutes ago with hydrometer and the SG is 1.01, in line with the instruction of this post.

Simple Whisky:

Heat 4 kg cracked or crushed malt with 18 L of water to 63-65 °C, and hold there for 1-1.5 hours. Heat to 73-75 °C, then strain off and keep liquid, using 250 mL of hot water to rinse the grains. Cool to below 32 °C (should have an initial specific gravity of 1.050). Add hydrated yeast & leave to ferment (maintain at 26 °C) until airlock stops bubbling and final SG of around 1.010. Let settle for a day, then syphon carefully into still.