Issues with my Mash

[hotmaildotcom1]

Hello everyone! This is my first post, and Im wondering what to put in it. Honestly I found this forum because of issues I was having making my mash. I would never expect anyone to help, but if you see fit to do so I would forever be in your debt. Below is the post that I have been trying to post to the "Mash and Wash" board but I cannot seem to. I assumed it was because I had not yet posted here first.

If anyone could help me I would be extremely excited. I apologize if I leave out any details but this is only my second post and for some reason my first one disappeared after submission. It contained a ton of detail and was very long and I dont exactly have the heart to write it again lol.

My last two mashes (my only two mashes) have yet to bubble. One is five days old and the other three days old. Both are 4.5 gallons in a five gallon container.

Mash One:

3 lbs of potatoes
3 cups of sugar
3 spoonfuls of brewers yeast

The potatoes were cut into small pieces and then boiled until they became a mashed potato-like mixture. This was then put into the fermenter, diluted with water water, sugar was added, stirred, yeast added, stirred and then let sit. After two days of zero activity in the bubbler I added more yeast thinking the heat might have killed it. Still nothing here on day 5 almost 6.


Mash Two:

1 large box of corn meal
4 lbs of sugar
1/2 cup brewers yeast

Mixed the sugar and corn meal into a pot. Heated until they seemed to become what the net referred to as "gelatin-like." I then added the mixture to the fermenter, diluted with water water, and added the yeast. Having seen no bubbling after a day I added more yeast. Still nothing though.

If anyone could point out to me what I am doing wrong I would be forever in your debt lol. I'm sure that it is sticking out like a sore thumb to anyone with experience, as experienced relatives of mine are asking me how I could not make alcohol having taken these steps. Thanks everyone!

[thatguy1313]

Not enough sugar. No malt or enzymes to convert potato's or corn meal starches. No nutrients.
Get a recipe from tried and true. UJSSM or sweet feed are good to start with. Follow it to the letter. Ignore the airlock.
However, first you should halt everything and hit that link in my signature. Read everything there until you understand it. Then ask questions if you need to and only then try to ferment and distill something. Lots to understand before you take the plunge. Good luck!

[Kegg_jam]

Yeah, what ThatGuy said.

Starches would have needed converted. The yeast could have finished off that little bit of sugar before you knew it.

[MichiganCornhusker]

If anyone could point out to me what I am doing wrong I would be forever in your debt

The only thing to ferment in your first "mash" was 3 cups of sugar, they yeast probably tore through that for breakfast, but you wouldn't know in 4.4 gallons of water. Oh, and trust me, keep the potatoes for dinner.
Second batch should have done something more, unless you added the yeast at to high a temp. Bubbler doesn't necessarily mean much. You could taste the wash and see if it tastes mildly alcoholic, like beer. Although if you gelatinized that corn meal, maybe the poor little yeasties can't even move in there!

Also, I'm not sure, but I don't know if "brewers yeast" is actually active yeast.

Now that you are forever in my debt, all I ask is that you take some time to read the info in the link thatguy1313 provided for you, Important Information for New Distillers. There is a lot of learning ahead for you, and the best place to find it is right here in these forums.
The fact that you don't have fundamental understanding of recipes suggests that you are likely not ready to be running a still yet. What type of still do you have? Can you post a pic? These guys here will help you if you want it.
I know the internet is a wild and wooley place, but good fortune has brought you here! Welcome, learn, take the advice given you here, be safe, and enjoy the adventure.

[hotmaildotcom1]

Not enough sugar. No malt or enzymes to convert potato's or corn meal starches. No nutrients.
Get a recipe from tried and true. UJSSM or sweet feed are good to start with. Follow it to the letter. Ignore the airlock.
However, first you should halt everything and hit that link in my signature. Read everything there until you understand it. Then ask questions if you need to and only then try to ferment and distill something. Lots to understand before you take the plunge. Good luck!

Thank you for the reference but the girth of this material was read before I considered posting and being nailed with the newb tag. The things that weren't read were general forum rules and chit chat about fancy recipes that I don't have a fraction of the skill to tackle at this point. Trust me I never dreamed of posting porn.

I will continue to try and sift through the forums to see if I can find anything in the links provided. Thank you guys

[T-Pee]

(Rad enters in 3..2..1..)

tp (plugging his ears)

[corene1]

(Rad enters in 3..2..1..)

tp (plugging his ears)

Just about snorted on that one!

[hotmaildotcom1]

If anyone could point out to me what I am doing wrong I would be forever in your debt

The only thing to ferment in your first "mash" was 3 cups of sugar, they yeast probably tore through that for breakfast, but you wouldn't know in 4.4 gallons of water. Oh, and trust me, keep the potatoes for dinner.
Second batch should have done something more, unless you added the yeast at to high a temp. Bubbler doesn't necessarily mean much. You could taste the wash and see if it tastes mildly alcoholic, like beer. Although if you gelatinized that corn meal, maybe the poor little yeasties can't even move in there!

Also, I'm not sure, but I don't know if "brewers yeast" is actually active yeast.

Now that you are forever in my debt, all I ask is that you take some time to read the info in the link thatguy1313 provided for you, Important Information for New Distillers. There is a lot of learning ahead for you, and the best place to find it is right here in these forums.
The fact that you don't have fundamental understanding of recipes suggests that you are likely not ready to be running a still yet. What type of still do you have? Can you post a pic? These guys here will help you if you want it.
I know the internet is a wild and wooley place, but good fortune has brought you here! Welcome, learn, take the advice given you here, be safe, and enjoy the adventure.

On your advice I added some store bought active yeast to ensure that its not the issue. If it is I will feel like a moron. Both batches of liquid taste alcoholic which I feel is a good thing. When I opened the corn one up there was pressure that released from the jug. Strange as it had a bubbler on it, so I exchanged the bubbler was on it for a store bought bubbler that one of my buddies hooked me up with. It also smells a mixture of wonderfully correct with a putrid smell in there too. Im not sure as to be overjoyed or bummed at this point. The pressure wasnt enormous so Im thinking it could just be temperature changes and such.

Regardless I'm still reading. I will stop when they bleed as was instructed lol Thanks again for your guys' help. Anymore advice will be taken and executed as completely as possible.

[MichiganCornhusker]

nailed with the newb tag.

Sorry, but if the tag fits....
Seriously, give us something to make us think otherwise. Anything.
Check out the Uncle Jesse's Simple Sugar Mash recipe. It is a basic wash and there is a lot of information in that thread that will show you the way.
I've already pointed out several of the things that might be wrong with your current recipes, the stuff on this site is reliable. Good luck.

[corene1]

There are a lot of things wrong with what you have done. Brewers yeast is a nutritional supplement not an active yeast . It can be used for nutrients in your wash but you will need to use an active yeast for fermentation. Fermentation temps are very unforgiving , depending on the type of yeast used, what temps were you trying to ferment at? Again, as stated before go to the tried and true section and follow one of the simple recipes to the letter and learn from that.

[corene1]

If anyone could point out to me what I am doing wrong I would be forever in your debt

The only thing to ferment in your first "mash" was 3 cups of sugar, they yeast probably tore through that for breakfast, but you wouldn't know in 4.4 gallons of water. Oh, and trust me, keep the potatoes for dinner.
Second batch should have done something more, unless you added the yeast at to high a temp. Bubbler doesn't necessarily mean much. You could taste the wash and see if it tastes mildly alcoholic, like beer. Although if you gelatinized that corn meal, maybe the poor little yeasties can't even move in there!

Also, I'm not sure, but I don't know if "brewers yeast" is actually active yeast.

Now that you are forever in my debt, all I ask is that you take some time to read the info in the link thatguy1313 provided for you, Important Information for New Distillers. There is a lot of learning ahead for you, and the best place to find it is right here in these forums.
The fact that you don't have fundamental understanding of recipes suggests that you are likely not ready to be running a still yet. What type of still do you have? Can you post a pic? These guys here will help you if you want it.
I know the internet is a wild and wooley place, but good fortune has brought you here! Welcome, learn, take the advice given you here, be safe, and enjoy the adventure.

On your advice I added some store bought active yeast to ensure that its not the issue. If it is I will feel like a moron. Both batches of liquid taste alcoholic which I feel is a good thing. When I opened the corn one up there was pressure that released from the jug. Strange as it had a bubbler on it, so I exchanged the bubbler was on it for a store bought bubbler that one of my buddies hooked me up with. It also smells a mixture of wonderfully correct with a putrid smell in there too. Im not sure as to be overjoyed or bummed at this point. The pressure wasnt enormous so Im thinking it could just be temperature changes and such.

Regardless I'm still reading. I will stop when they bleed as was instructed lol Thanks again for your guys' help. Anymore advice will be taken and executed as completely as possible.

After 3 and 5 days respectively for the mashes I can only guess as to what may be growing in there. You may have gotten some type of wild yeast to start the fermentation process, but I would be hesitant at best to even consider running what you have in the bucket.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Regardless I'm still reading. I will stop when they bleed as was instructed lol Thanks again for your guys' help. Anymore advice will be taken and executed as completely as possible.

Holy Moodswings, Batman.
Bottom line is any fool can make and distill alcohol. Literally. But, if you want to make something good, something you will really enjoy and be proud of, stick around here, read up, and accept advice graciously, you will be amazed what you can produce.

[hotmaildotcom1]

Lol not so much moodswings as just a busy couple days. I'm a grad student and I've got a couple labs that keep me busy with research and stuff, just in a hurry quite a bit. Sorry to anyone involved if I have sounded any less than grateful and very happy for the input. I am indeed thankful and obviously in need of any critique I can get. I guess I didn't see how poorly I was coming off up there. I apologize.

It does sound like I have messed these batches up quite a bit. I will be starting over from scratch using the recipe suggested instead of trying to salvage what I've got lol. Thank you gentlemen again.

[hotmaildotcom1]

Could feed corn be used for a good mash using the Uncle Jesse's recipe? I'm looking for anything to grab at Big R without breaking the bank too much

[MichiganCornhusker]

Thank you gentlemen..

... and Corene.
Yes, field corn works fine. You should be able to get a bag of cracked corn pretty cheap.
Oh, and what you are doing is a "wash" not a "mash". A mash requires gelatinizing grains and then adding enzymes to convert starches to fermentable sugars. Because you are not working with enzymes, you definitely do not want to gelatinize any grains with high temps. That would only make your wash unnecessarily thick and more prone to scorch.

[MoonBreath]

I'm not seein no temperatures, weights, or ph numbers ...May want to read up on those ..
I would try a tnt recipe and tweek it to your liking ..Maintaining the required tolerances.
Oh, I almost forgot ..Welcome to HD! ...I hope I helped ..Good luck and let us know!

[hotmaildotcom1]

Thank you gentlemen..

... and Corene.
Yes, field corn works fine. You should be able to get a bag of cracked corn pretty cheap.
Oh, and what you are doing is a "wash" not a "mash". A mash requires gelatinizing grains and then adding enzymes to convert starches to fermentable sugars. Because you are not working with enzymes, you definitely do not want to gelatinize any grains with high temps. That would only make your wash unnecessarily thick and more prone to scorch.

And this is exactly why I knew I was in the right place when I found this forum. Those might seem like simple distinctions to you guys but the rest of the internet I have seen up to this point has given me zero of that vocab information. I was genatinizing my solutions but I had never once read anything about adding enzymes.

My new batch will be a cold mixture. I just feel that it is a waste to add corn for "flavor" as was stated in USSSM recipe, if there are sugars to be utilized in the corn. That being said I recognize that I know very little and that is what will be done. On my way to the store now. Thanks again everyone!

[hotmaildotcom1]

Thank you gentlemen..

... and Corene.
Yes, field corn works fine. You should be able to get a bag of cracked corn pretty cheap.
Oh, and what you are doing is a "wash" not a "mash". A mash requires gelatinizing grains and then adding enzymes to convert starches to fermentable sugars. Because you are not working with enzymes, you definitely do not want to gelatinize any grains with high temps. That would only make your wash unnecessarily thick and more prone to scorch.

Also I apologize for not recognizing the female help. I wasnt trying to be sexist at all lol. Thank you very very much Corene!

[shadylane]

hotmaildotcom1
Don't worry about apologies. Just follow the advice and read the info supplied.
And you will succeed.

[MichiganCornhusker]

the rest of the internet I have seen up to this point has given me zero of that vocab information.

The rest of the internet isn't even pre-school compared to the depth of information and experience you have access to here in this forum.
If you aren't after a corn flavored spirit, check out some of the others in the Tried & True section. There are some other recipes that will produce a more neutral tasting spirit.
Keep in mind there are two big distinctions in recipes, the ones that require mashing grains, and the ones that don't.
Do a little digging, you will be amazed. Welcome.

[brick]

hotmaildotcom1,
I'm no expert, but I would check your yeast. "Brewer's yeast" you used may be intended as a food supplement, and not be active. I could be full of crap, but try some plain old baker's yeast like you'd use for bread. I'll bet your wash starts bubbling then.

[brick]

My sincere apologies for my last post..... should have read other responses more thoroughly. It was already pointed out that brewer's yeast was inactive. I will get back in my box.

[Bigbob]

Hotmaildotcom1, please do as requested and read the new distillers reading lounge or at the very least tried and true, these are not exotic recipes they are for the most very simple recipes that are designed for beginners. This is not a hobby for the I want it now crowd. It takes time and effort. Maybe you should Finnish your schooling and do the reading here before making anything. Welcome!

[hotmaildotcom1]

As of this morning I have two functional batches fermenting thanks to those who helped!

[rad14701]

(Rad enters in 3..2..1..)

tp (plugging his ears)

Sorry to disappoint you but I'm still playing catch up... The brewers yeast issue jumped right out at me as I already had an inkling that it was yeast related - either no yeast or brewers yeast... It appears that everything has been sorted... But that doesn't mean the OP shouldn't dive in an get up to speed before proceeding further...

Late to the dance again...!!!

[HDNB]

Hi, Welocme!.

musta missed your intro last week. looks like you got some answers to get you going in the right direction.

Hope you enjoy the forums. don't forget to post some pictures of your rig and make sure you clean using the 3 step protocol at a very bare minimum!

cheers.

[hotmaildotcom1]

Ill try to remember to post them as soon as I get it completely assembled. Thanks again for all of your help everyone. Should I post the pics here or in one of the nicely organized categories?

[MoonBreath]

If its your first still, run, or just about any first, I'd go to 'My First ' .

[hotmaildotcom1]

Alright everyone. Thank you so much for the help up to this point. I just got my still up and running and was asked to post some pictures. I will be posting them under the correct category as well as here, but I wanted to post em' here to just to bring the post from the beginning to the end of the newbie first run process lol.

The wash that is in the still currently is the junk one that used the corn meal. I added some of the successfully fermenting batch to the dead batch when the former of the two first started bubbling. The latter then started fermenting too, but as it was way off a good recipe and had already been sitting stagnant for a while I figured it would be a good batch to go through first just to figure out what I was doing. It was good I did because I'm certainly still learning. The batch made from the recipe recommended up top, is in the blue water jug with the store bought bubbler.

The trashcan beside the still contains a column of water and a pond pump that circulates through the condenser. That was my creation and I think its working pretty damn well. I dont have a huge budget and the initial design had it taking water from the tap. I figured a closed system would cut down on water bills significantly. I ice it in intervals.

This still was given to me by a relative and it closely matched fractional distillation set-ups that I have used many-a-time in my labs (Im a senior in a university chemistry program). I thought it was bad to the bone, but a couple days after receiving it and some questions, I found it was purchased on eBay. I say this here because I don't want to take credit for anyone else's craftsmanship (good or bad). I will be building my own in the future, as this small success has me hooked.

Here is the link to my pics, as they were too large and I do not want to go through hoops to shrink them right now.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bhw0am8gpk3u ... Su4aa?dl=0

Thanks everyone again!

[Bigbob]

You really don't want distillate going into plastic milk jugs. That's straight out of 'Moonshiners' and a huge no no. You still seem to be in a big hurry and that doesn't work in this hobby. Ssssslllooowwww down.