unfermentables in molasses wash...?

[dropping_planets]

my first attempt at pints fast fermenting molasses wash stopped bubbling and sat still for a week... finally opened em up and sg in both fermenter's is 1.010... i know there's unfermentable sugar in molasses... i used grandmas fancy unsulfered... my starting sg was a bit higher than the 1.080 i was shooting for.. i couldn't dilute the wash any more in two fermenter's, should've started a third but didnt think at the time...i've only done sugar washes and a apple wash and everything has run completely dry (.990)... is my SG of 1.010 typical of a finished molasses wash... ?

_thought of re-aerating and pitching distillers yeast, i used bakers and my potential alchohol is a little higher than 10%
only recently grasped the concept of yeast tolerance vs. potential alchohol...
_also thought of adding beeno as i've read it works well with molasses...
_most likely gonna toss em in the boiler... it holds 8gl. my washe are 6... will the unfermented sugar in the wash cause it boil over into the column...?
_one run or two with an all molasses wash... i'm a bit confused whether double distilling is removing or concentrating flavors...?

any thoughts or critique's would be very much appreciated ..thnx

[trthskr4]

I would run it if it were me. There is alot of unfermentables in molasses which will keep the SG high. Just run one at the time as 2 gallons of head space in the still should be fine. If you're worried break it into 3 runs of 4 gallons. Each run will leave some of the congeners in the still so it removes the flavors and concentrates the alcohol, run it once and see if it's to your liking and if it's too heavy rerun it, if it's too light then mix one single and one double run together and see if you like it then. Always shoot for what you like as I've found we're often our own worse critic.

[brewmaker1]

DP, If I'm reading your post right, don't be putting beano in your boiler. Beano changes unfermentable sugars into fermentable sugars. If you were going to use it, you would crush it and sprinkle it in the wash, then give the top of the wash a light stir. Don't stir hard, you don't want to kick up the dead yeast. The wash would need another week if the Beano works.

I think you're better off running what you have. 10% is nothing to sneeze at.

[SuperDavid]

I think it's done!
I've only been using feed grade mollasess and mine have been finishing between 1.020 and 1.030.

[dropping_planets]

thanks for the fast response guys.... was considering putting the beeno in the fermenters and letting them work off some more... but i'm gonna take your advice and run it... good idea to split the 12 gl. of wash into 3 runs... just like diluting the wash to lower my starting SG, ...i didn't think of it

[smokerscully1]

I don't even bother with the hydrometer on mollasses wash anymore--I just taste it--when dry I rack and run when I have time.

[HookLine]

I don't even bother with the hydrometer on mollasses wash anymore--I just taste it--when dry I rack and run when I have time.

I don't bother with a hydrometer at all. Ever.

(Though I might use to test the grape juice I am about to use for an all grape juice ferment.)

[punkin]

I never get below 1030 with feed grade mollasses. If you got 1010 you've done very well. It's not sugars, just other unfermentable solids as i understand it.
I'm with hook, i find it too difficult to judge mollasses wash with only a hydrometer and just use experience with the wash to judge. If it's got that flat look and it's been fermenting and all slight bubbles and movement has stopped at the surface for a couplea days, and it's under 1040 it's right to go.

[dropping_planets]

I don't even bother with the hydrometer on mollasses wash anymore--I just taste it--when dry I rack and run when I have time.

I don't bother with a hydrometer at all. Ever. (Though I might use to test the grape juice I am about to use for an all grape juice ferment.)

an all grape juice ferment.....

sounds fun.. i curious.. may i have details please... btw, ran the molasses wash twice... been on pinapple's raisins and cloves for a week only.. diluted n tasted a bit last night... get immediate pinapple on the front of my palate (maybe put too much in the booze), which quickly deteriorates than i get hammered with heavy molasses on the back end.. very harsh. gonna cut some to 65% n put in a small barrel for some quick oak n see what happens...

[HookLine]

an all grape juice ferment.....

sounds fun.. i curious.. may i have details please...

Nothing fancy. Just going to use 48 litres of dark 99.9% grape juice ('Berri ' brand, preservative free, no added sugar) from the supermarket, some nutrients, yeast, maybe a bit of extra white sugar, and see what happens. Hoping to get something brandy-ish out of it.

[dropping_planets]

had been wanting to try apple juice, just wasn't to sure how to go about it.. my 3rd ferment was fresh apple's, fermented to a ridiculously high abv... sugar in the apple's i didn't think about i guess, i was excited... it came along great till i over oaked it (trying to figure out these little barrel's), now it's like an apple toothpick... i think it left splinters in my tongue it's got so much wood... gonna go look for preservative free apple juice tomorrow n try it out... fruit season is off the hook here n i'll have more apples, pears, appricot's, cherry's, n plums than i'll know what to do with... what i really want is choke cherry's, my grandfather used to make it into wine n all i got to taste was the jam...

[Mud]

As long as you're making more apple brandy just add some white to the overoaked. fix ya right up.

-Mud

[Tater]

I fermented some apple juice last year. A blend of 3 types that orchard used for cider ,Its about as simple as it gets.Easier then freezing and grinding them as I have been doing .Just add yeast to it after stirring air into it I used ec1118 yeast using about a gallon of wash to prestart yeast in .Total wash was 30 gallons .

[RumBull]

Make the same recipe a dozen times and then maybe don't use your hydrometer. I think telling someone not to use it when they are learning is not such a good idea. It is a tool and very useful for figuring out what is going on in your fermenter.

[punkin]

an all grape juice ferment.....

Generically known as...

Wine.

[HookLine]

I believe so, sir. And I am gonna be running it this weekend. Just racked it off for a second clearing.

You ever run fresh wine? Any tips?

[bronzdragon]

You might have run it already, but I'll just say what some of the other guys have said. If your specific gravity is down to 1.010, you're doing good...especially with molasses, which tends to vary greatly by batch. I wouldn't worry about extra sugar in there, if the sugar was there the yeast would have eaten it. It's just extra solids in the molasses.

The last pail of molasses I used up, usually came down to about 1.020.

Cheers

~bd~

[bronzdragon]

deleted, was a double post

[punkin]

I believe so, sir. And I am gonna be running it this weekend. Just racked it off for a second clearing.

You ever run fresh wine? Any tips?

Fresh wine, no.

Tips, yes.


Always leave a recompense for the Pizza Deivery boy.







Don'tThinkYouNeedTooMuchHelpPunkin.

[HookLine]

Always leave a recompense for the Pizza Deivery boy.

Offer him a role in a porn flick?