StillSmart

Ok so I've had a go at lentil wash's with good results but today I couldn't be bothered soaking them for a couple of hours so I just thought?

Why not just use youngs yeast nutrient at 1 teaspoon per gallon as per instructions and make a wash with 6kg sugar and half a tub of Alinsons bread yeast!

I have literally just made this up

I used 6kg of sugar dissolved in 3.5 litres of boiling water and topped up to 26 litres with cold

Half way through adding the cold water I added 40 grams of youngs yeast nutrient, you can buy 500 gram bags for £5.49 here http://www.home-brew-online.com/ingredi ... -500g-p526

Enough to make 12.5 wash's, if it works. Then add half a tub of Allinsons

Just checked the ph and its a very neutral 7, I'm just going to leave it for now

See how it goes over the next week or so I guess!

"To ensure rapid and complete fermentation of wine."
The stated amount will likely be too little for a sugar wash. The point of the lentil, kale, tomato paste etc etc etc washes is to avoid needing to purchase a specific yeast nutrient.

Yeah, I figured I would need more than the stated amount so instead of using a level teaspoon per gallon I used a heaped ones, six of them came to 38 grams so I just rounded it up to 40 grams.

Exactly how much more I need is unknown but having just done two back to back vodkastar washes, it struck me how little there is in a vodkastar pack compared to some other turbos

i bet its fine

how much is half a tub of yeast?

62.5g

I have no doubt that this will ferment out fine,(maybe not as quick or low as you may wish;that's just my expectations),the big question is what the distillate will taste like.
I await your results with interest.
Robert.

12 hours later and it's bubbling away nicely, fingers crossed.

It should work ok i've used the one on HD site a few times wineos plain ol sugar wash never had any problems
alan

Just checked this tonight and it's slowed right down and the ph has dropped to 3! two teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda brought it back to almost 6 but I'm not sure it's going to fully ferment out on its own, seems like only using nutrient and having no real substance in there allows rapid ph swings which can't be good for the yeast, I'm tempted to add a few soaked lentils tomorrow, after all it was originally supposed to be a lentil wash until I got lazy!!

A problem that I have always faced with stalled washes,is where they have stalled in the yeastie cycle.
At the start of a ferment we give them oxygen and sugar and they use it to multiply; when the oxygen is used up they turn sugar to ethanol.
Trying to help them work after a slow down is always a challenge.
My next stall will be treated as a new wash,whole new yeast and oxygenation,Should that stall happen,I hope this will be the correct fix.
But what do I know?
Robert.

It's still going, I didn't add anything extra in the end, it's now down to 1.020SG, I'll check the PH again tonight, maybe adjust if it's really low, say lower than 4, otherwise I'll leave it to finish.

It's now 1.000 SG, the other day I measured the PH and it was about 3.5 and the SG was 1.018, but because it was almost finished I decided to leave it be, with any luck it'll get lower, maybe down to 0.996SG.

Looks like it's worked at least, just needed a bit of bicarbonate of soda adding after two days as the PH initially plummeted.

@Anavrin: As EasyD said a week or so ago, adding nutrition and or making major changes to the wash after the wash has passed through the aerobic phase is pointless. Note what is happening, but save the changes for the next wash.

May I ask what it is you intend to finish up with?