My first wash - why didn't it work?

[Billfro]

Hi,

I'm a new fool who thought he could make his own alcohol. I used to make beer, so I thought I knew at least the basics. I used 2 1/2 gallons of water, heated, dissolved 10 pounds of sugar into it. When dissolved poured that into the other 2 1/2 gallons of cold water. Waited for the temperature to get down to 70 degrees and pitched it with two tablespoons of Turbo yeast. Sealed up the bucket and added the airlock. I figured that it would take a few days for the bubbler to stop ringing, so I waited. (I have a pot still that I plan to use for the distillation.)

When it was done fermenting (about four days), I tested the alcohol content, and behold, it was less than zero! I tested the hydrometer in plain water and alcohol with a known alcohol content and the readings were correct.

OK, please help. What am I missing? What did I do wrong?

Any and all comments are welcomed (including: "You're an idiot!" or "Why don't you just go out and buy a bottle of Vodka."

Thanks, folks,

Billfro

[punkin]

It's spossed to read zero (or less) on your hydrometer. Same as when you used to brew beer.
The alchohol content is worked out by doing a reading with your hydrometer before pitching yeast and then one after.

Put it in your still and keep going.

[mbasketcase13]

a simple misunderstanding the hydrometer reads the sugar content if it reads .09 or less then all your sugar has turned to alc

[CoopsOz]

What did the wash taste like? Forget about the fancy schmancy hydrometer, your best tool is your tongue and it didn't cost you anything! The wash should taste like shitty white wine (sort of).

[hornedrhodent]

What sort of hydrometer are you using - an alcometer which read in A/V or a brewing hydrometer which measures the specific gravity / potential alcohol A/V or sugar content?

If you're using an alcometer on a wash - forget it - they're designed for use on distilled spirits and are accurate at the high end - not at all suitable for the low alcohol level of a wash.

If you're using a beermaking hydrometer it wont work for the high level of sugar you used ( my beer hydrometer stops at 1.040) ( a bit over 5%A/V potential ) My winemaking hydrometer indicates that your reading should have been around 1.100 ( 5kg / 20l) and give you a potential A/V of about 13%.

If you ferment all the sugar you'll end up with a SG about 1 which could be above or below zero A/V on an alcometer but certainly wont be accurate.
To work out the A/V of a wash you need to measure the Potential A/V before fermenting and subtract the potential A/V after fermenting. If you want a more accurate result measure the SG before and after fermenting and use the formulas on the parent site.

I'm hoping you fermented your batch successfully and will have a lot of fun distilling it. Remember it's a turbo so dont expect too much - You can always dilute it back to a wash percentage and use it to practice driving your new still.

[goose eye]

yup if you ben makein beer aint no diferent in the testers. if it 99 it worked off. sometimes you just gotta charge up the kettle an go from there.

so im tole

[HookLine]

To reckon the amount of alcohol in a straight sugar wash all you need to know is the amount of sugar and the final volume of the ferment. The metric version is:


•To calculate the % abv from a given amount of sugar and ferment volume (in litres):

kg sugar ÷ litres of ferment ÷ 0.017 = % abv

•To calculate the amount of sugar needed for a desired % of alcohol (by volume, abv), and a given ferment volume:

% abv x litres of ferment x 0.017 = kg sugar

(See the 'The Compleat Distiller', Page 23, 2nd edition, hardcopy version.)


I never use my hydrometer anymore, just do the above calcs, and taste the ferment to check it is finished. I still use my alcometer a lot.

[shadylane]

Taste it, if it is sour pour it in the still and run it. If it is sweet and a pint of wheat germ or a some fruit juice. Turbo sugar wash's still need something besides sugar for the yeast to live on. Next time use only enough fermentables to reach about 10% alcohol and make sure you have enough nutrients for the yeast. Welcome to the crowd that learns the hard way.

[hornedrhodent]

pitched it with two tablespoons of Turbo yeast.

When using turbos you're supposed to use the lot - a turbo is not just yeast - it contains everything else such as nutrients acids and buffering agents so the yeast can ferment the amount of sugar in the amount of water specified on the packet. Deviate from the instructions and you're in 'no mans land' - stick to them and you still have an inferior product.

Do your sugar wash at a lower potential A/V say 10% - use tomato paste and lemon juice for nutrients and whatever yeast you like - bakers yeast from the supermarket works fine at 10% A/V

[Billfro]

I appreciate all the kind comments and do feel welcomed to the club.

I think I am in good shape now, from what I read from your responses. I will distill what I have and see what happens. I do now realize that the hydrometer is designed for distilled spirits, which is why it worked when I tested it with my bottle of Vodka. I also now realize that the wash needs more than sugar to work on. I will be making my next batch with additional ingredients.

Now, on to the pot still! Let's see what happens!?!

All the best,

Billfro

[Tater]

Hi,

I'm a new fool who thought he could make his own alcohol. I used to make beer, so I thought I knew at least the basics. I used 2 1/2 gallons of water, heated, dissolved 10 pounds of sugar into it. When dissolved poured that into the other 2 1/2 gallons of cold water. Waited for the temperature to get down to 70 degrees and pitched it with two tablespoons of Turbo yeast. Sealed up the bucket and added the airlock. I figured that it would take a few days for the bubbler to stop ringing, so I waited. (I have a pot still that I plan to use for the distillation.)

When it was done fermenting (about four days), I tested the alcohol content, and behold, it was less than zero! I tested the hydrometer in plain water and alcohol with a known alcohol content and the readings were correct.

OK, please help. What am I missing? What did I do wrong?

Any and all comments are welcomed (including: "You're an idiot!" or "Why don't you just go out and buy a bottle of Vodka."

Thanks, folks,

Billfro

sounds like a lot of sugar for the water amount

[BW Redneck]

Just worked out the % you are shooting for. 23.5% Is a bit high. Either halve the sugar next time, or double the water. Regular yeasts just can't stand that amount.

[Uncle Jesse]

23.5% is an insanely high ABV to shoot for. Commercial distilleries have a tough time hitting ABV that high in a wash.

Cut down the sugar to something your yeast can easily and reasonably handle. I'm sure the problem is that it still tastes sweet from unfermented sugar even though it has an alcohol content from what it did manage to ferment.

[goose eye]

is 2 to 1 23.5 .
never noed that

[Old_Blue]

Billfor wrote:

I used 2 1/2 gallons of water, heated, dissolved 10 pounds of sugar into it. When dissolved poured that into the other 2 1/2 gallons of cold water.

That's 10 pound sugar in 5 gal water. That shouldn't be too high SG. Something else must be wrong.

[Uncle Jesse]

Old Blue is right, that's not too much sugar if that's what was actually added.

What kind of water did you use? Was it distilled or heavily filtered?

[Billfro]

I used 5 gallons of tap water half of which was boiled to dissolve the sugar (yes, 10 lbs of sugar). I then added the brew to the other 2 1/2 gallons of cold tap water. Waited for the temperature of the whole to get down to 70 before pitching it. Is there a problem using tap water?

Billfro

[HookLine]

Is there a problem using tap water?

Billfro

Yup, the chlorine in it can retard or even kill yeast. To get rid of the chlorine you can

1. boil the water, or

2. let it sit for a day or two in a container with a wide open top, and stir it occasionally, or

3. run it through a carbon filter, or

4. add a very small pinch of ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate to your ferment water, that neutralises chlorine instantly, and won't harm your ferment or you.

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If you use methods 1 or 2 then make sure you re-aerate the water before pitching the yeast.

If your water supply uses chloramine instead of chlorine, then method 1 will not remove it. Don't know about methods 2 & 3, but method 4 will remove it.

I use sodium ascorbate and have not had any problems.

[CoopsOz]

I don't bother, perhaps thats why my ferments take longer. Doesn't matter though, I've got plenty of time. I dilute with store bought "spring" water however.

[goose eye]

best i can see it. thank you need to run it an gather you up one of them memories.

so im tole

[HookLine]

Once again, Goose, you got just the right way of putting it.

[Mopar Redneck]

Just a note for yall: I keep seeing folks saying that tap water has chlorine in it. That is only accurate some of the time. Tap water has chlorine IF you live in the city. Country folks who have thier own wells do not typically have that. It is an additive in public wells, not private wells except in a very rare occasion. If you have a private well that is chlorinated you will know it because you have to add the chlorine. Private wells do offer other issues, which have been noted elsewhere, such as iron. Especially of you have a sandpoint (once again if you have one you know it) you will usually have very high, comparatively, iron content, high or low ph is also a concern with any water regardless of whether it is private or public. Ultimately the advice to use distilled water is good to follow.

[Usge]

boiling water tends to concentrate whatever bad stuff is in it. Better to use bottled or filtered water or a combo of both. (my city water is heavy but tastes great. I filter it and then mix it with bottled water).