SS triple distilled My findings

[foRUM warrior]

ok well i am writing this as more of a blog type thingy for anyone out there who wants to read it.
ok well recently i pumped for the air still starter kit from wineworks (cheapest with delivery buckets and loads of other kit etc £185)
first i gave everyting a good dose of milton (diluted to the bottles instructions), a good rinse, assembled where required etc
filled the bucket with warm/cold water till i had 21L @ 30 degrees (the thermometer came with the kit )

added 6 kilo's of sugar (2 bags were £1.50 from asda, total £4.50, will sort other supplier soon™), gave it a good stir (mixing spoon in the kit)

measured the SG = 1090 (hydrometer was also in the kit)

added carbon, added yeast, then gave it another good stir

noted the amout of liquid was up to 25L now
put the lid on, and sat back and watched the airlock ..... got bored went off to watch TV lol
2 hours later it was bubbling away(+/-1 bubble a sec)

6 hours later and it was really going for it! (+/- 5 bubbles a sec, i have some video will upload at some point) at this point it was getting alittle cold (the door between my kitchen and conservetry is missing, long story, so it can get cold, and very hot) so i wrapped a towel round the bucket and went to bed.
next morning there was a hell of a smell of tomatoes, quite powerful too. it was still bubbling away but even faster! i had to go out so i left it at that.
later in the evening (approx 24hours since start) it was bubbling soo fast it the water in the air lock was almost coming out! (i have a short video clip of this too) i have never seen anything like it .
well today (some 48hours since the start) i came home from work wondering how my bucket was doing, bear in mind it has been a very hot day and my conservatory acts like a inferno at the slightest bit of sun , but i had left the towel round the bucket (DOH!) ..... i may have killed it , its still bubbling but its some 2-5 bubbles a sec.
so i decided to take the lid off and check the SG (very quickly mind) well how shocked was i ..... it is down to 1000 in some 48 hours! that 12% if my calculations are correct .... WOW! bear in mind from what i have read it may go as low as 990 to 980.

bear in mind quick check of the packet suggested 7 days fermentation time..... still time to get lower

note at this time there was approx 24L of liquid in the bucket now
on the whole very very pleased so far

(sorry if this is abit long)

[Phantom]

Don\'t leave it in the conservatory as the yeast can die at about 30 to 35 C!
Leave it for the minimum 7 days
An airlock is fine but you probably don\'t need one for the first 48 to 72 hours, I just bung a bit of cotton wool in the grommet, it keeps any flies out...... then airlock it.......
If possible, leave it somewhere in the 18 to 22 degree\'s C area as it\'s less likely to develop any off flavours.
Oh and Richards instructions usually work a treat......
regards
P!
p.s. Oh and normally the 21 litres with the 6kg of sugar make up to about 25 or 26 litres - the markings on the buckets aren\'t always that accurate - I tend to use a plastic jug to measure the water out - I don\'t bother with the 30 C temp, just measure it out, cover the fermenter and then add the carbon and yeast packs the next day......

[foRUM warrior]

Don\'t leave it in the conservatory as the yeast can die at about 30 to 35 C!

its in my kitchen, but the door between my kitchen and conservatory is missing (it was there when i veiwed the house, gone when i bought it)

Leave it for the minimum 7 days

am doing
good point about the airlock, but on the flip side there is a high chance i may forget to put the airlock in after the time

[marc83]

I found the triple distilled was a bit better in the lower temps(as we are getting into them now).The first 24-48 hrs were no worries as it provided its own heat,but after that i kept it at 20 degrees as much as i can,this turbo worked best in 18-24 degree temps(note this is wash temp).so i just wrapped my fermenter in an ordinary bath towel,merely to protect it from the surrounding temp change,not to warm it.Instructions said it may stick above 24 degrees,so made sure it stayed below,which was a change from other turbos.

I found this turbo was a fave and produced the cleanest product for me.A decent yield too.

Oh and try bringing it inside after the initial 24-48hrs,gives off stuff all smell,trust me,i ferment all mine in a spare room,door wide open and this one the missus couldnt even tell it was on,cept for the odd bubble in the airlock.It does take a good 7 days to fully ferment,due to the lower wash temp i suspect,but this will also help it not to give off any bad flavours,which the carbon will help out in too.
I am in the middle of experimenting with the ol tomato paste washes,3rd one started yesterday,getting strip runs out of the way for a good spirit run,but after these i am putting a triple back on,too good not to!

Let us know how you go with it,and results.cheers

Marc

[BundyRed]

Mine is sitting beside the spare fridge in the garage. The temps here are 23c by day and 12c by night and the wash is sitting at 22c. I put it down Thursday night as per the instructions on the packet (temp and water). It is still bubbling away. It is the only one the misses will let me do in the house for the lack of smell it puts off. Will test the SG tonight. The last one I did went down to 990 with a start of 1090. I have used dry carbon this time and we had a spare 2kg packet of brown sugar that the missed didn\'t want anymore, so I added it to 4kg of white sugar. Figured it wouldn\'t hurt (well hope it doesn\'t).

[marc83]

Interesting bundy,let me know how it goes with the brown sugar,cant see it hurting.

[foRUM warrior]

Bugger think mine may have stalled
its currently @ 20 degrees, and its stopped bubbling, i checked the SG and its still at 1000. when the lid was off i gave it a good stir, and it did start bubbleing abit but that might have just been degassing, its still got till the 17th to go though so i think i\'ll just wait it out.
also i dont believe this is down to the heat from my conservatory, as its not in the conservatory, and the bucket is at the other end of the kitchen to the door.

[BundyRed]

Down to 992 at day 5, so the brown sugar hasn\'t hurt the wash. Will see what its like after I still it. I\'m going to let it clear on its own, so might be a week or so.

Warrior, my last one took 2 weeks to ferment. See how it goes.

[foRUM warrior]

Warrior, my last one took 2 weeks to ferment. See how it goes.

Nooooooooooooooooooooo, well i hope not i am almost out of rum lol
on the other hand if it is going to take that long i may start annother wash as i have a spare bucket but this time not wrap a towel round it till the rapid bubbling stops.
just out of interest anyone have one of the stick on temperature gauges? like This on ebay

[Andy]

I have them on both my fermenting buckets and they are less than useless.

I can never see a temp on them.

[foRUM warrior]

ha ha, thanks for the info andy, will avoid them then

[v4mpy]

I have them on my buckets and they are spot on.

I\'ve tested them a few time with my thermometer.

I did get them from the Aquatics shop though so maybe they\'re better.

Mine have the scale going virticle which is easier to read.

[foRUM warrior]

well i started another wash today, 1090 sg and it started bubbling almost from the word go. The only thing i have done different is add the carbon after the yeast .... Will have to see how it goes.
Also my original wash is bubbling again looks like the stir may have helped

[Andy]

I did get them from the Aquatics shop though so maybe they\'re better.

Mine were already on the buckets when I bought them, so maybe the fishy ones are better.

[foRUM warrior]

i checked the sg of my first wash again today, its still at (or just below) 1000
I dont know what to do now, do i leave it or try and restart it?