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I fermented a sugar wash similar to ujsm and it seemed to come out fine, i did this in a plastic food safe bucket. I couldn't distill it right away so i racked it in to another bucket and sealed it. At this point the wash was a light amber color, almost looked like bud light lol. A week later i opened the bucket i had racked the wash into and it has dark purple color. The bucket was stored in the dark in a shed at ambient outdoor temp. Lately it has been hot here, we hit 104*F one day. Would this cause this? Is it safe? The wash smells like beer and doesn't seem to have an off smells. I have the original "mash" still, i added water to it. And it looks fine, no color change at all.

Hmm, never heard of that before. How strange. Is it a purple suspension or the actual fluid has become dyed purple? If it smells alright and tastes alright, distilling it should be no problem. You’ll know right away if it’s something you want to keep or not. Good luck though mate.

kstinson wrote:I fermented a sugar wash similar to ujsm and it seemed to come out fine, i did this in a plastic food safe bucket. I couldn't distill it right away so i racked it in to another bucket and sealed it. At this point the wash was a light amber color, almost looked like bud light lol. A week later i opened the bucket i had racked the wash into and it has dark purple color. The bucket was stored in the dark in a shed at ambient outdoor temp. Lately it has been hot here, we hit 104*F one day. Would this cause this? Is it safe? The wash smells like beer and doesn't seem to have an off smells. I have the original "mash" still, i added water to it. And it looks fine, no color change at all.

quoted from the parent site under fermentation

"In another experiment, I fermented a corn mash with a wine yeast and let it ferment for over four months. The mash actually formed a sherry flor on top and oxidized and darkened and took on a very unusual but pleasant smell. When I distilled it, it had a distinct fruity/sweet fragrance and flavour that could only be described as a delicious liqueur. I haven't had time to return to this line of experimentation, but when I do I'd like to explore this further. "

Maybe the heat caused you wash to oxidize ............the quote was contributed by Ian Smiley BTW

Well I decided that I might as well taste it. I originally did a finger test before I racked it and it tasted somewhat harse but no different from other sucessful washes I have tried. This wash actually seems much smoother despite the odd color change. I wonder if this will give me a finer quality distillate, I may be on to something here I will try to get some pictures up to show the color, its a brilliant dark purple when the light hits it. I made this using corn, barley, and sugar. The yeast was red star foodservice yeast, I ordered it from a food supplier $4 for 2 pounds.

Here it is in all its glory, if anyone is interested in seeing what happened.

my question is:
how would one replicate that result if it turns out to have a desirable outcome in the distillate?
let it ferment for a really long time?

StabbyJoe wrote:my question is:
how would one replicate that result if it turns out to have a desirable outcome in the distillate?
let it ferment for a really long time?

Well, I think moving to Arizona would be a good start.

Oaty wrote:

StabbyJoe wrote:my question is:
how would one replicate that result if it turns out to have a desirable outcome in the distillate?
let it ferment for a really long time?

Well, I think moving to Arizona would be a good start.

Now Oaty, that was funny!!!

It looks like it's been on oak for a month or two.

How strange?

I do not know what did it but could save some of the turb , but I'm more inclined to thank it was a chemical reaction.
If you wont more of the "yest bouquet" cool your wort as soon as it works off like they do beer

The primary ferment was about 7 days. Then I racked it, I suppose the beer guys would call it a secondary ferment. I suspect a lot of the reaction was cause by darkness and high ambient temperature. It has been racked for a few weeks.

minime wrote:

kstinson wrote:I fermented a sugar wash similar to ujsm and it seemed to come out fine, i did this in a plastic food safe bucket. I couldn't distill it right away so i racked it in to another bucket and sealed it. At this point the wash was a light amber color, almost looked like bud light lol. A week later i opened the bucket i had racked the wash into and it has dark purple color. The bucket was stored in the dark in a shed at ambient outdoor temp. Lately it has been hot here, we hit 104*F one day. Would this cause this? Is it safe? The wash smells like beer and doesn't seem to have an off smells. I have the original "mash" still, i added water to it. And it looks fine, no color change at all.

quoted from the parent site under fermentation

"In another experiment, I fermented a corn mash with a wine yeast and let it ferment for over four months. The mash actually formed a sherry flor on top and oxidized and darkened and took on a very unusual but pleasant smell. When I distilled it, it had a distinct fruity/sweet fragrance and flavour that could only be described as a delicious liqueur. I haven't had time to return to this line of experimentation, but when I do I'd like to explore this further. "

Maybe the heat caused you wash to oxidize ............the quote was contributed by Ian Smiley BTW

Good call Mini. What did you do memorize that book? With a memeory like that I'd bet you'd be a hell of a card counter. Ever been to Vegas? I'm going to start reading thisBeating Minime at 21; So, that I can keep up with you at the blackjack tables.