Buffered wash

[Mash]

Mashy I wondered how the Trono wash turned out - I guess I know to stick with the wheat recipe now!

Cheers

Hampk

Both IMO are cleaner (more neutral) than lentil. But I have to say your results have surprised me and I might have an experiment myself.

[hampk]

I have another wash set up - I've been busy this afternoon!

This time I've stuck to exactly what I did last time, but added in an extra half kilo of sugar for an initial SG of 1.08. Same amounts of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid, same amount of Trono.

If it goes the same as before, it'll be done by next weekend though of course the last run could have been a complete fluke.

Watch this space!

Cheers

Hampk

[Mash]

Good call

[hampk]

Well it's away.. I just made the mistake ( ) of sticking my head into the fermenter for a sniff - hoo-wee! So far so good..

One interesting point - I always got a thick krausen with the lentil wash - doesn't seem to happen with the wheat, though that may be because the recipe calls for agitation after 15 minutes or so.. Either way, smells good!

Cheers

Hampk

[hampk]

Well after twenty-four hours, SG is down to a shade over 1.05.

In the words of Roy Scheider - "I'm gonna need a bigger still..!"

Cheers

Hampk

[hampk]

A further update - the wash has now been going at it for 72 hours and SG is currently at 1.01.. No sign of any fermentation slowdown.

More in due course

Cheers

Hampk

[hampk]

And the results are in..

6 days since the wash started, and it's now reached an SG of 0.990. Obviously I've yet to process it, but on the basis of the first wheat wash I've completed (best neutral I've made), I'm going to be running this regularly.

The extra half kilo of sugar has mattered not a jot.

Very very pleased

Cheers all

Hampk

[Mash]

Good work. Good work indeed. Be interesting to see what the final result is.

Yeast can be funny beasts be interesting to see if they have made something different.

[hampk]

A quick update on this - I have now managed to get the first of the 5.5kg sugar / 25 litres water through the airstill, and completed the first spirit run last night.

Following Mozr's bible, I have wound up with 1300ml of 65% spirit which smells great even before filtering.

I'll update this thread tomorrow once it's filtered, but I think I now have my perfect wash

Cheers

Hampk

[hampk]

Ok, I couldn't resist - the first hundred mls have come out of the bottom of the Essencia - clear, smells delightful, tastes the best I have got out of the airstill.

Result; I'm a happy bunny - I now have my personal ideal neutral production process.

Just need more throughput capacity now!

Cheers

Hampk

[Chubbs]

This is a fantastic thread.

Can't recall who mention ph buffers to me last week when I mentioned my lentil wash was taking forever to ferment, but the info above has made it much easier for me to rectify, thankyou.

Chill

I will mix the same amounts of Citric / Soda together and give it a try in the wash I am making today.

Thanks.

[Still Brewing]

I have now bought half a kilo each of citric and sodium.

Once mixed up into the correct amounts, is this added after I have altered the ph of my water to 5.2 or should I forget about altering it all together as some of you do and some don't.

[hampk]

What works for me is 50g of each slung into a litre of the water going into the wash - wait for the fizzing to die down, and use a big container! - and chuck it in. I'm assuming a 21 - 25 litre wash there.

I haven't bothered with pH adjustment beforehand..

Cheers

Hampk