Fermentation

[DamianRyan]

Looks like I realy blew it this time.I prepared my wash,tested for the balling poured the sugar and water into the tank,mixed it all up did the yeast,tested the SG and got a reading of 1.o1 on the SG.
Now this may be the problem.I had to freeze the carrots for a couple of months as it was too cold to prepare the wash.Can anyone advise me did the freezing wreck the veg for fermenting? What a plonker Damian

[Dnderhead]

I whould not thank freezing whould hurt vegetables , Id look for other problems, lack of sugar?,,not mixed good?

[DamianRyan]

Thanks Dunderhead,is it possible to check the Balling again once the yeast is in the wash?

[Dnderhead]

why not? if you need more sugar make a syrup. then add as dry sugar does not like to mix.

[DamianRyan]

why not? if you need more sugar make a syrup. then add as dry sugar does not like to mix.

Thanks again Dunderhead,just checked the SG and it's 1.044,this is after 2 day's with the yeast in,I don't know why the reading was so low yesterday.Should I add more sugar? or leave it alone.The guy who started this still,in his recipe reckons too much sugar will turn the wash into vinegar.
Depending on what the final SG is I wont get much alcohol but rather that than messing it up with too much sugar.
Thanks Damian

[Dnderhead]

something wrong. you said 1.01 now it is 1.04? check it agin in a day or so. if it goes down you know it is working, by the way what is the temperature?
went back over your post started at 1.05? if so it is working just slow? much below 24c (75f) will slow everything down.

and to much sugar wont turn to vinegar, it will stall the wash.

[kiwistiller]

Did you dissolve that sugar first before you put it in? otherwise I expect it wouldn't have dissolved when you first checked, but has now, raising the s. gravity.

[DamianRyan]

Did you dissolve that sugar first before you put it in? otherwise I expect it wouldn't have dissolved when you first checked, but has now, raising the s. gravity.

I did! What I do is fill a drum with water,add the sugar,then stir it up until it dissolves,then I pump it with a worm pump to the yeast tanks that are up in the air don't ask me how I got that first reading,but there you go.
Is 1.044 a bit low on the SG? Just wonderd
once again thanks for all the help Damian

[Dnderhead]

if you started 50KG. sugar topped to 275L that gives you OG of 1.07 or potential of10.7 percent alcohol.
now it has a sg of 1.04 ..if so it is working and it has a difference of .03 and right now you have about 3% alcohol right now.
it just has a long way to go. at 10% it mite take a week or two to work off maybe more depending on the temperature/nutrients etc..

just keep checking the SG each day or so as long as it is going down it is working. when it does not go down any more it is either finished or stuck.


double the sugar----triple the time

[DamianRyan]

OK,the quantities were 116kg of carrots, 128kg sugar 700L of water.
Something I was told by the supplier of the yeast,was that I could use "Food Grade Liquid Amonia" to feed the yeast.She said 25% I'll have to get back to her about the 25% of what as I must have missed what she said the 25% was of.
thanks Damian

[Dnderhead]

that is still 10.8% it is going to take time to ferment, carrots have most everything for the yeast. what is the temperature?

[DamianRyan]

Dunderhead,the temp was 25dg C at 0700 this morning and get this,this morning I checked the SG again and it's at 1.053.First reading was 1.0 od next day it was 1.044 this morning it's 1.053.I must say the wash is crackeling like crazy and the co2 is running strong.
The way I started the wash was 270L water, 116Kg carrots, 50Kg sugar.Mixed the yeast put it into the wash and stirred it.24 hours later dissolved 75Kg sugar into 470L of water pumped it into the wash and stirred it,so here's hoping. Thanks Damian

[DamianRyan]

Well! Things are looking good for me this time arround,yesterday morning the SG was 1.005 that's in just short of 2 weeks wine/wash has a very pleasent taste to it,it doesn't have that yeasty taste that I have experienced in the past,I'm using this hybrid yeast sent to me by the Anchor Yeast co.
Maybe some one can enlighten me to something the original owner reffered to when waiting for yeast to complete it's run.He talked about the fruit/vegetable's "sinking" and when that takes place the wash is ready to be distilled.
thanks for the help Damian

[blind drunk]

I've read that before and I think it means when the cap falls, fermentation is complete. Although from personal experience, I don't find that to be true every time. I also like my washes to clear and they're never clear enough just after the fall. Cheers, bd.

[rad14701]

Having the cap fall is not an accurate indicator of a completed ferment when working with sugar washes, regardless of what other nutrients and adjuncts are used... Almost none of my sugar washes with cereal or grain have had the cap remain in place for more than 24 hours... This could partly be due to the relatively low amount of solids in my washes, however, because I only use the minimum amount required for full fermentation... Even wheat germ heads straight to the bottom within hours, with just a few sparse flakes catching a ride to the surface with the CO2... I must admit that if I use an over-abundance of solids I can get a good rolling ferment but even then a constant cap is unusual...

Mixed grains are another story... Some of my sweet feed mashes I made years ago would attempt to form rock hard land masses on top that I would sometimes break up with an old broom handle... When it's hard and crusty it isn't serving much purpose as far as helping the ferment... There are two ways of looking at it... First, the yeast will eventually eat their way up through the stationary cap... Second, if all of the grain is submersed then it is being used for nutrients continuously rather than waiting for its turn... At least that's how I view things...