StillSmart

Hi guys

After having a great success with the vodka star, I feel its time to attempt my first tpw. Now I have been doing a lot of reading today and just want to run it by you lot to see if u agree with it. Now Im following hangover's receipe off here ( cheers hangover) which consists of

5.5kg sugar
250g tomato paste
40ml lemon juice
90g active yeast
1level teaspoon of Epsom salts
21litre water

Now I have been reading the bird watchers thread on another forum, and he says that a ideal sg start point is 1.07 so I was thinking I would adjust sugar to suit this, is this the correct way to go?

Also I can only find double concentrate tomato paste so do I only add 125g of it?

I intend to keep the temp at 30oC through the whole process is this right?

I also have read that people just sprinkle the yeast on the top and don't mix in, is this what most do?

And finally do people use finnings to clear this at the end, as bird watcher says he just chucks his straight into the still,usually cloudy, but Im only using a airstill, does anyone clear there's first?

Sorry for the questions which have prob been answered but any advice u's can give will be great fully appreciated

Everyone has their own personl preferences, but for me everything you suggest looks fine;

Recipe is good.

For the first batch go with the 5.5 kg of sugar, do not bother adjusting the SG.

TP - I use 250gr double strength.

I shoot for 25 deg C, sometimes with a vigourous ferment and a well insulated fermenter the wash generates enough heat to raise the temperature to 30 degrees.

Yeast, sprinkle or stir, I dont see that making a big difference either way, I soak mine in warm water while I am making the wash, I do not know if it makes any difference but that is what my wife does when she is using the same yeast to make bread.

For the sake of a few extra days, turn off the heat and let it clear. If I am in a rush I use the two part finings from Wilko's.

When I was starting out, which was only last year, I was like you and had lots of questions, after a couple of ferments everything will seem very straight forward. Go with what you describe and let us all know how it turned out.

Toodlepip

Brian

Hi i make this wash as you described but most sugar washes even the turbo's take a dive on the Ph on day two, so by adding 2 teaspoons of calcium carbonate (precipitated chalk) to the wash you can improve the enviroment for the yeast speeding up fermentation times

Cheers

Thanks for the advice where do I get calcium carbonate from? And do I add it on day 2?

Any home brew shop will have it and as a guesstimate addition after 48 hrs of fermentation is ok, or if you get a ph meter when the wash is down in the low Ph 3 range.may i add calcium carbonate is not essential for this wash but it does speed things up
Cheers

Ok thanks again, been reading and bird watcher says to stir it everyday when taking the sg, does everyone stir theirs or do they leave it to brew?

Hi Jon

I just sprinkle the yeast on the top of mine. Usually it will be fermented in around 5 days and I never stir it, or open the fermenter, I keep it at about 25deg. with an old fish tank heater.

It takes a few more days after I've degassed it and left in a cool place to clear ready to be distilled.

For comparison, here's the recipe I'm currently using for about 26 litres. Has worked really well for me so far.

6kg sugar
250g tomato puree (double concentrate)
1 whole lemon { ~90ml juice)
75g yeast ( Cheap allinson's active yeast from supermarket ) Probably don't need that much but its really cheap..
Pinch of Epsoms salt

Hi Uber
Whats your secret here. I've carried out the same recipe many times to find that it takes forever or stops befor reaching under 10005. So whats your secret here I'd love to know.
regards
Patch

That might depend on local water. A ferment slowing at 1.005 suggests that the pH has dropped too low (add some baking soda, it will foam like mad so beware!) or it has run out of nutrients.

Chuck

I use 5kg sugar in 20l with a sprinkle of bicarb, 200g Tom paste, 1 lemon juice and about 70g dried bakers yeast that is stirred in at the start. My start temp may be anything up to 35Deg C and I leave the fermenter lid ajar for a few hours (as its kicks off with a vigorous start). I never degas by stirring the wash, but I do rack it off and I also give it a shake in the boiler prior to heatup. This ferment takes about a week from start (ie yeast pitching) to finish (ie constant FG).
I love TPW (Birdwatchers)as its a reliable, cheap and suitable wash for neutral....limited offtastes/offsmells and subtle everytime

+1 on the pH and nutrients comments too BTW

Thanks again everyone, ended up using 5kg of sugar in 21l of Water , as the sg ended up at 1.076 which from reading is a gud start point, temp is a constant 26oC and got to admit its bubbling like a trooper

I also chucked the whole 200g double concentrate tomato paste in. Will update thread when it finishes.

I haven't got a ph meter so will have to just go with it this time but will get myself on eBay now

You can get cheap ph papers off of eBay. No need to go all scientific on this.

Chuck

Right tow finished at 0.990 after 8 days, so have degassed and stuck it outside to clear, now my question is as it has a red tinge to it how do u tell if it's cleared correctly???

It should look like Rosé wine.

@Jonc26uk
mate if you are truly keen on making sure its 'cleared' then carefully rack it off to a separate container and wait some more...meanwhile the constant FG is your friend here and a consistently, semi-transparent wash with an obvious 'sludgeline' at the base is a good guide too.....just please remember to pour it carefully into your boiler too!

(and Chuck, I've found this finished wash to be coloured from pink though to pale yellow ....so could that be temp or wait time or )