StillSmart

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-23T19:21:49+00:00

I did say add it slowly, sorry shouldn't laugh but it happened to me too except I didn't have that much headroom and it went everywhere. Did you ever see an eejit try to prevent exploding foam from getting out of a bucket just glad there were no cameras about

See how it goes. In the normal course of fermentation the pH drops as more ethanol is produced so it will drop again. I suspect you may need to make another addition but see if the ferment gets going again first. Don't forget to add a little more dry yeast, give it a good stir and keep everything crossed for a resurrection.

AM

Statistics: Posted by Almanac — Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:21 pm

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-23T11:49:53+00:00

Ok so I got some bicarbonate of soda £1.25 for a 200g tub from Morrison's

I mixed 3 teaspoons with half a pint of pre boiled water and poured it in!!!!!!

I thought it was going to explode! I have 38lt of wash in a 60lt bucket and I thought the foam was going to over flow out the top, impressive to watch but it didn't last long.

I took some nice pics but my phone won't upload them since I upgraded to IOS8

Anyway the ph of the half pint was 8, and when added to 38lt of wash at a ph of 3, it now reads 4, that'll do for now I think, unless anyone thinks I should add more?

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:49 am

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-23T07:21:59+00:00

Baking Powder also contains an acidic component, often Cream of Tartar, and other bits you really don't need. Pure is best

AM

Statistics: Posted by Almanac — Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:21 am

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T20:56:46+00:00

Cheers for that, I thought they were the same thing but a quick google suggests not.

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:56 pm

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T20:12:14+00:00

Baking SODA.

Statistics: Posted by chill — Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:12 pm

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T19:52:34+00:00

Cheers AM

It's still going but maybe not as fast as I would expect, I'll get some baking powder tomorrow and add some like you suggest.

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:52 pm

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T18:55:09+00:00

At 3 most of the yeast cells are dormant or almost asleep

You could add some Sodium Bicarb and the pH will definitely rise. Dissolve 2 teaspoons in a cup of warm water before adding to the wash and add it slowly. It will fizz up quite a lot but should get the pH back up. Depending or how much it adjusts the balance you may have to do a second addition.

I always found it worked best if I added more dry yeast after the pH has been corrected.

Generally I don't like using Sodium Bicarb but when a wash stalls due to low pH there's not much other choice.

AM

Statistics: Posted by Almanac — Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:55 pm

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T15:14:58+00:00

Just tested the PH after 24hours fermentation, it's low around 3 but I didn't check it before I pitched so I'm not sure if this is normal or not.

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:14 pm

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T10:50:21+00:00

I suppose I should start checking these things, especially when experimenting with a new wash, I could check it today but I'm not sure how much the ph changes in the first 24hrs.

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:50 am

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T10:03:35+00:00

The reason I asked about the Citric Acid is that if the wash is too acidic the yeast cells will go asleep and the ferment will appear stalled. Two teaspoons of Citric is a lot to use even if your water is very soft and it may have dropped the pH too low for the yeast to work

AM

Statistics: Posted by Almanac — Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:03 am

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T09:02:59+00:00

Hi aidanmac

The gravity is 1.093 after correction, I just couldn't be bothered to work it out at the time, that's why I put the temp, I knew it would be higher so wasn't bothered too much.

The citric acid was belt and braces I guess, I never even measured the PH, same with the Pilsner ensyme, I had it so I just chucked it in!

I try not to over complicate things, I didn't really want to add the malt but after hours cooking rice and mashing I had little choice, needed something to add before the temperature dropped too much for a conversion.

Might have ruined the hole point of using rice, I'll find out in a few weeks I guess!

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:02 am

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-22T08:00:36+00:00

Anavrin wrote:
..... the final SG reading was 1.090 @ 32°c Before I added the yeast I dropped in two teaspoons of citric acid ...

An SG taken at 32C will give a false read but that's not really a problem, as such.

Why did you add Citric Acid? You provide a lot of detail about your process but nothing to indicate that an acid addition was needed, just curious

AM

Statistics: Posted by Almanac — Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:00 am

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-21T15:26:53+00:00

Ok so here's the method to the madness

To make 38 litres I used

4 kg rice
6 kg sugar
3 kg Pilsner malt
Allinsons yeast

I cooked the rice, 1 kg at a time in my rice cooker, then put all the rice in my MT, topped up with 25 litres of water and added a full pack of ritches amylase, the temp was 65°c after a good stir, I left it for 90 mins.

I then went back to check on it and it didn't appear to have done anything, there was no sign of any sugar, no sweetness to taste so I poured in a 3kg bag of crushed Pilsner malt, give it a good stir and left it overnight.

Today I took the liquid off the mash, 19 litres at 1.060SG

I then added this to 6kg of sugar that I had dissolved in 3 litres of boiling water to make a volume of 25 litres.

To this I added 13 litres of cold water to bring the volume up to 38 litres, the final SG reading was 1.090 @ 32°c
Before I added the yeast I dropped in a pack of Pilsner ensyme, two teaspoons of citric acid and two teaspoons of yeast nutrient (dap)

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Sun Sep 21, 2014 3:26 pm

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-21T10:45:31+00:00

It wasn't late in the day, I was in bed before 9pm!

SWMBO says I'm never to cook rice again, it was all over the kitchen and all up the stairs!

Now I just have to decide how to continue, Cant decide if I should pitch yeast on it as it is on the grain or strain it off first, it's still at 45°c in a mash tun.

Statistics: Posted by Anavrin — Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:45 am

Re: Drunked Rice Vodka

2014-09-21T10:22:07+00:00

I think any of us that brew/distill late in the day might be able to own up to a similar episode.
I certainly can.
wishing you well with your ricey malt!
Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:22 am