Which yeast and how much?

[Jaxom]

Getting down to the wire here building my converted keg. Now I wanna start thinking about which types of yeast to use. Note, I have two projects going here. The first is my pot still, will use mainly for rum making. Most of the recipies on the website mention using Lavin-EC-1118. Unless someone recommends something better for rum, I'll stick with that.

Now for a sugar wash, I was going to use the same yeast, but I hear sooo much about turbo's I thought maybe you all could give me a recomendation on those. Mind you, to do the wash for my keg I have to split it in half because I'm using two fermentator buckets. Each with 25L of wash.

I'm also a bit confused about the amount of sugar and yeast to use. I think maybe I might be getting confused on all this, but I understand that you can double the amount of yeast (100 grams for 25L) about a week after fermentation begins, you can add more yeast, therefore increasing the alcohol amount.

Jaxx

[knuklehead]

Lavlin EC-1118 is awesome. I use it for Rum and I use turbo's for sugar. I think turbo's are all hype (and I am still buying them ). The nicest thing about turbo's is that there is nothing to it. They contain the nutrients, ph balance and yeast and the pack tells you how much sugar to add. Other then that, you can achieve the same speed of ferment with any yeast you just have to treat them right and add the nutrient and balance the ph for them. Adding more yeast a week into the ferment will not give you any more alcohol. The yeast turns the sugar to alcohol so adding more yeast into a wash that is almost fermented out does nothing for. I think what you must have read was about adding wash in stages to the fermenter in turn adding more sugar which will give you more alcohol. 100 grams of yeast, wow that sounds like a lot. What kind of yeast are you talking about? I ferment 20 liters of molasses wash with 2-5 gram packets of EC-1118 yeast cultured then pitched and it usually finishes for the most part in 3 days.

[Jaxom]

Knukle,

You're just a fountain of information! Thanks soooo much for being patient with this newbie.

I really ment adding more sugar. I can't see any benifit of adding more yeast, it's breeding on it's own anyways.

The reason I'm intersted in turbo's, is I understand they can achieve a higher alcohol level once fermentation is done. That extra 2% would take the packed column size I'm planning over that 95% pure threshold. Or atleast that's what I'm shooting for.

So, let's say it's a week or two down the road, keg is done, pot is done, and I wanna place an order over at brewhaus.com. Which turbo would you recommend? I'll do as you say and follow the instructions on the packets. Untill I get some experience under my belt, then I'll play with adding more sugar at different stages of fermentation. I'll probly buy a bulk amount, so I wanna make sure I'm getting the good stuff.

tia,

Jaxx

[nzbourbonhead]

I use and recomend turbo express 24 hour.. stillspirits I make a 25litre mash with 25kg of sugar and its finnished fermenting in three days at 26deg c I just have a loose lid on the fermenter no airlock. run an aquariaum heater inside it to keep it to temp

[Jaxom]

Mackerel,

What kind of rum are you making? Just curious. I was thinking making serveral different kinds. e.g. clear, spiced, coconut, 151, ect. Just located a whole sale supplyer where I can get molasses by the gallon! Yeah!!!

Jax

[FLICK]

I'm a noob also.... I just went to my local brew shop, they recommended Alcotec 8 (8kg turbo, 5 day super yeast) ... all seems good except it took 10 days to get to 18.8% alcohol and finish fermenting, rather than the 5 they claim....

[Yttrium]

I use Lalvin wine yeast, its been so long since I first pitched it that I forgot exactly what type it is. I've reused the same yeast about 10 times so far making a variety of washes(sugar, barley, corn/barley, sugar/pumkin, etc). I keep my wash fairly cold so it takes a while to ferment(sugar wash gets to ~8% in a week, 12% in three weeks).

Anyway, I'm a believer in spending money on more fermenters instead of yeast that work really fast.

[moonshaker]

25kg of sugar i use 6kgs then may add 1-2 kgs in increments based on yeasts to achieve around 15-20% wash if its a typo, wouldn't 2.5kgs not be enough?

I use and recomend turbo express 24 hour.. stillspirits I make a 25litre mash with 25kg of sugar and its finnished fermenting in three days at 26deg c I just have a loose lid on the fermenter no airlock. run an aquariaum heater inside it to keep it to temp

[Salt Must Flow]

Now for a sugar wash, I was going to use the same yeast, but I hear sooo much about turbo's I thought maybe you all could give me a recomendation on those. Mind you, to do the wash for my keg I have to split it in half because I'm using two fermentator buckets. Each with 25L of wash.

I'm also a bit confused about the amount of sugar and yeast to use. I think maybe I might be getting confused on all this, but I understand that you can double the amount of yeast (100 grams for 25L) about a week after fermentation begins, you can add more yeast, therefore increasing the alcohol amount.

Jaxx

For a reliable sugar wash, check out the Tried and True Recipes. Of all the sugar washes, I would recommend Shady's Sugar Shine. It uses sugar, DAP, Vitamin B, Epsom Salt and boiled yeast for nutrients. I adjust the starting ph to 5.2 - 5.6 using Citric Acid then incorporate a good amount of a source of Calcium Carbonate which automatically buffers the ph as it ferments. I used to use Crushed Oyster Shell, but now I prefer Marble Rock/Chips suspended in a net bag. If you don't add a source of Calcium Carbonate the ph will crash very quickly and likely stall the fermentation before it is completed.

As far as what yeast to use, I have always just used Fleischmann's Yeast. It's just plain ol baking yeast. It's cheap, readily available and reliable. The recipe recommends how much yeast to use. I prefer to hydrate the yeast in 100F-110F water for approx 30 min before pitching into the sugar wash.

For a sugar wash, you really don't need to add sugar in steps. You can, but it's just unnecessary work and I doubt you would notice any difference by dong so.

[Bee]

I like Rad's Gerber Shine. viewtopic.php?t=9879

You can use cheap, generic Rice Chex instead of Gerber cereal. Bread yeast works fine.

I don't depend on turbo yeast to manage my nutrient or water profile. I'd rather start with a known water and build it to what it needs to be rather than try to match a pre-packaged mystery mix that has a reputation for throwing off-flavors.

[Saltbush Bill]

Why is everyone getting so excited about answering questions in a 20 year old post ?.

[greggn]

Why is everyone getting so excited about answering questions in a 20 year old post ?.

They're hipsters. They like that vintage stuff.

[shadylane]

Why is everyone getting so excited about answering questions in a 20 year old post ?.

The answers are probably better now, than when the question was originally asked 20 years ago.

[Biker24a69]

The variety of yeasts now available is blowing me away to be honest been doing tons of reading on all of em cant wait to experiment