Started 1st sugar wash last night. Boiled +/-4 liters water, added to fermenting bucket. Mixed in sugar til dissolved...added water to approx 25 liter, allowed to cool to 27deg C +/-
Dropped Yeast (Alcotec Super Yeast in ....when floating on the surface it started bubbling, then I began stirring as recommended by so many, the bubbling reduced once stirred in, snapped top on and placed airlock
Temp remains around 20-25 deg C and there seems to be very little activity ? small (less than 1/2") skim coat of bubbles on top, and no violent bubbling as everyone says you should see...
Any ideas ? Im less than 24hrs in I feel like it isnt working ?? Should I add more yeast ? Is there anything I can do, or should do? Thanks in advance.
Do you see small bubbles popping at the top constantly? If so I think you're good. I've made several sugar washes and used turbo and I have never had a huge krausen head or violent ferment--always been lots of little bubbles at the top and has been fine. Another way to check--stick your nose in as far as possible and take a good whiff; if you get a good CO2 burn in the nose, you know it's working.
I agree with ya tater, thats 17.639 lbs of sugar in 6.604 gallons of wash.
runforthehills: Ya should only use bout 2 lb of sugar per gallon..and ya didnt mention any thing bout a nutrient.unless this kind of yeast has in in there all ready.
Thanks for the reply...The Alcotec turbo yeast packaging says for use with 8kg sugar....and Ive seen other recipes online recommending 6-8 kg sugar.
As to the bubbles...I do see small bubbles on the sides of the clear fermenting bucket, and it does appear that small bubbles are surfacing across the top....there is a skim coat of stuff and bubbles across the top
I had just heard so much about "violent" "aggresive" bubbling with turbo yeasts, that I assumed it would be very noticeable...perhaps not...
I will check sg...it was slightly higher than 1.10 when checked initially...
I'd say don't get anxious. You've really got to be trying hard to get a turbo to fail! The only thing I would say, for future batches, check again the pitching temp that Alcotec recommends. The recommended temp for Still Spirits turbo is 35 deg C. This sounds high but it is correct for SS turbos. Alcotec may be different, of course.
Well I think it is working. Upon closer inspection I see hundreds (maybe thousands) of tiny bubbles breaking on the surface.
I also stuck my nose down in there and breathed..it burned bad so it must be putting off CO2 pretty good.
I think all is well, just that I had no prior experience to compare to, and some of the reports I have read on here in the past talked about massive bubbling, almost gurgling..
Im gonna let it go 5 days, then move it to a cooler area, and let it settle a day or so, then move to the next phase some cool evening soon !
Thanks for the advice guys..As they say...Patience ! No matter how much you read, there is no substitute for actual experience.
I use Prestige Turbo's and I pitch at 40C. A "violent ferment" is really a just matter of oppinion. If you put an airlock on a turbo wash the inner cup rises to the top of the airlock and doesn't move. You couldn't could the bubbles per minute if you tried because there is so much gas coming off. The airlock is going nuts and water is splashing out the pin holes in the cap. This to me is a violent ferment but like I said, its just a matter of oppinion so don't read to much into it runforthehills. Another test if you want to know if its working (and you don't have a clear fermentor or an airlock) is to put your ear up against the side of the fermenter. You will hear the fizzing loud and clear.
@MyDBear, yes turbo's have the nutrients in the pack along with the yeast.
... I say God bless you, I don't say bless you ... I am not the Lord, I can't do that ... Dane Cook
All seems well now...Its been going since Fri night....and upon inspection I see lots ( I mean a liot !) of tiny bubbles sort of fizzing all across the top of the liquid, I can hear them fizzing, the sniff test produced a strong burn in the nose...and there is an odd, almost sweet smell flling the room where my wash is working....temp is staying between 68-70 deg F in the room, but the clear bucket seems warmer to the touch...
I feel much better now, everything seems to be going as it should...
It was my lack of experience that caused my uncertainty...
runforthehills wrote:
It was my lack of experience that caused my uncertainty...
Thats all it is and you will get some experience very shortly, in fact, now you already have a bit I remember my first batch, I had no idea of what to expect and I felt just like you did. Now all you have to do is let it finish, dump it in the still and get some experience with that. Good luck
... I say God bless you, I don't say bless you ... I am not the Lord, I can't do that ... Dane Cook
Ok guys....Im now at 6 days tonight on my sugar wash...this am it had almost stopped bubbling, smelled of alcohol stronger...I moved to a much cooler spot this am, and plan to distill here in the next day or so.
Will use a propane turkey cooker/burner, with a ss 15.5 gal keg, and stainless reflux column packed with copper wool packing....(Brehaus/Mile Hi type)
Plan to run a water distill first to get a feel for the heat, temperature, etc.....and to clean the new still head and boiler, before I cook my wash...
Once wash clears a little (it now appears to be the color of skim milk, a sort of thin watery milk color) I plan to rack/siphon off the top and move to the boiler.
I know it varies a great deal, but given the setup Ive described above, about how long should I expect it to take to distill my first (25 liter) sugar wash batch ?? Trying to allocate a sufficient block of time ...am I looking at the range of 4-5 hours ? or less ??
If it is your first distillation you should set aside more like 8-10 hours. First there is heat up and later there is clean up which all requires time. If you have a 25 liter wash with 20% alcohol in it then you have 5 liters of 100% alcohol. If you are going for neutral then you will collect at around 10-15 ml/minute. If you where to collect at 15 ml/minute then your run time would be about 5 1/2 hours alone,and at 10 ml/minute it would be just over 8 hours, then warm up and clean up time on top of that (very rough calculations I know). Don't rush your first run, take your time, make notes and get a feel for your still and the distillant it is producing. Good luck.
... I say God bless you, I don't say bless you ... I am not the Lord, I can't do that ... Dane Cook
Thanks Knucklehead...thats what Im looking for......Sounds like I need more time than I realized !
Ive got a large screened porch on the back of the house (concrete floors) that will be perfect......Think I will smoke a nice cigar, listen to some tunes and make an evening of it...
Just hope the nosy neighbors dont peak over the hedges !
Hi from Kiwiland. In my short experience of brewing, the Alcotec Turbo is not one of the better Yeasts on the market. I find, if you can get it, is to use Code 6 Hyper Yeast. I have had no problems to date with it compared to the Alcotec. Code 6 has a greater tolerence to Temperate changes, and you can use between 6-8kg of sugar in the wash. It starts bubbling through the airlock within 4 hours and brews out in about a week during the warmer months. I usually get about 4 litres @ 80-85% from a 25 litre wash using my Reflux Still with 8kg of sugar.
OK...I finally ran my first batch last night. I got late start an therefore a late finish. I tried my best to "equilibrize" as suggested, but not sure if I succeeded...Took forever for everything to get up to temp (it was cold and windy on the screened in porch) and once it did...temp climbed quickly to about 75c as indicated on dig therm at top of column...backed it down, but it would drop dramatically and rise dramatically with even slight adjustment to heat (propane burner) adjusted water down to a slow run and that seemed to help..(garden hose in, garden hose out to yard)
Once up to about 77.2c it remained pretty steady...with a steady trickle of product coming out in a thin stream ...set aside 1st 100 ml.....Collected about 1liter next and set aside....then over next few hours very slowly collected what I think to be about 3 liters of the heart of the run...seemed like it would trickle...temp would vary, then it would stop, turn up heat some, temp rise and trickle start again, seemed to cycle like this between 77c and 78-79c off and on...but needed constant manipulation of heat and water flow it seems.....I had a hard time keeping temp steady and continuous...not sure if it was the cold outside (about 40F and windy) or what...
Ive tested the % of the 3 liters and the show about 92%, 90% and 85% respectively...collected about 700-800 ml of what I think were "heads"; collected about a liter, maybe less at tail end, as temp started moving up above 88c or so up to about 90c+...at this point....it was so late and I was beat so I basically forced the temp up to finish the tails and move on..taste on finger tip revealed this to be much weaker, although I have not tested yet...
Any thoughts on why the temp cycled so much...Ive read so many posts indicating temp rock steady at 74.8c or something to that effect....and my experience was quite different
With this being my 1st run, is there anyway I can roughly verify that what I have in my middle is not poison !! Im sure it isnt, but I guess there is a little fear/wonder/concern in taking that 1st sip ! It does not have much odor, but does seem to have the slightest sweet flavor....
I plan to cut with some sort of bottled water to about 90proof/45%...
I have read that heads can be safely diluted and flavored to make acceptable liqueurs ie- Kaluha type, etc....wondering if that will work here....
Thank in advance...Although it feels good to have the 1st one under my belt....I was really bummed out by how hard it was to maintain constant temp and the constant supervision and manipulations required....I think I started about 8pm and ended about 2 am, and spent the entire time on my feet and stretching my neck to read the therm !!
What kind of still head do you use?
Do you have your column insulated? If not the wind blowing over the copper or ss column is radiating the heat (with every gust of wind). If you can keep a steady temp your abv% should go up.
Congrats on your fist venture, sounds like a success
Salus populi suprema est lex. [L.] The safety of the people is the highest law.
With all the effort in the world you can't adequately reach equilibrium if the column is not insulated. Purchase the foam pipe wrap from a local hardware store and use zip ties to hold it in place. That should help heat disipation and problems with the wind.
While your at it, insulate the boiler as well, it shouldn't need quite as much heat input once that is completed.
Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
While you're a few steps ahead of me, I do suggest getting a digi thermometer! I used one on my pot still at a suggestion by others here and I simply love it! While the one I bought doesn't have multiple settings, I can reset it for the next level on the fly. FYI mines made by Taylor corp. Can find them at better stores, or like I did, a local resturaunt supply that's also open to the public.
About insulation, I'm curious, does everyone use insulation? How thick should one look for? I've looked at Home Depot, and Lowes, and cannot find that foam type that fits on pipes for 2" copper. I do see that other kind that comes in rolls, should I wrap that around instead? And would a cut down water heater jacket work for my boiler?
The insulation I'm speaking of will not be a problem on a hot column or it wouldn't have been suggested. Look for Thermwell pipe insulation at your local hardware store, Walmart, or through an internet search. This insulation is about a half inch thick.
If your local hardware store does not carry 2" copper (which most don't) then they likely won't carry insulation for that particular pipe. You will likely need to purchase a combination of sizes in order to wrap a 2" copper column. I used 3/4" combined with 1" diameter to reach around a 2" column and used zip ties to hold in place. These foam insulation tubes have a split down the side. Open the split and place each of the different sizes against the column and lock in place with the zip ties.
As for your keg, I'd suggest you find something that insulates and wouldn't cause an itch because you will be removing it from time to time to clean the keg.
Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
in ....when floating on the surface it started bubbling, then I began stirring as recommended by so many, the bubbling reduced once stirred in, snapped top on and placed airlock
I remember my first batch, I had no idea of what to expect and I felt just like you did. Now all you have to do is let it finish, dump it in the still and get some experience with that. Good luck