When is a wash completely fermented?

[Glyn]

Hi Folks.

First post, I have done a wash 20lt water, 8kg of Tate & Lyle SS Classic 8 Yeast + Carbon.

Great fermentation, hydrometer down to 900 and its still Fizzy. Is it still fermenting or is it just gas?

Thanks.

[Mash]

At 990 its done (as its gonna be) imo.

[Icefever]

Hi Glyn and welcome.

First of all mate.....way way way too much sugar. ditch any carbon you have left...throw it in the bin.

How long have you had it fermenting? by the hydro it looks done...but by the colour, it needs to clear...stand the bucket somewhere cold for a few days.

This will help to clear the wash..and help stop any yeast...there's a saying "crap in the still...crap out"

What still have you got?? T500 or AS?

[Mash]

.....way way way too much sugar.

Good spot fella.

[gaza the instructor]

Heed This Glynn, as the guys were saying"Shit in shit out"
I have done hundreds of washes and tried a cheat.
DAP "NO" dont use it golden rule 1kg sugar per 5ltrs.
Broke both and ended up with drain cleaner!!!
I will stick to Kale wash its good and cheap, look it up.
Forget the turbo,s IMO you can do much better and cheaper
using natural yeast nutrients and less sugar with Bread
yeast. Do 2 or 3 washes if you have the space.
Listen to these guys I did and should know better.
Have fun and be safe GAZA.

[Maker]

Don't feel bad for using a turbo to start, I think most here did and it's all part of the learning process.

Kale wash is excellent and I also use vodka star, which is frowned upon by purists but I struggle to taste/smell a difference. Kale wash is way cheaper but takes a little longer so it's horses for courses.

[RumJohn]

@ Glyn. Your question, "When is a wash completely fermented" requires some expansion of the answers.

With the amount if sugar you used, complete fermentation will elude you. When the alcohol produced reaches a certain level, fermentation will cease and the remaining sugar in the wash is unused. Wasted. Might create foaming in the boiler. It will not become a super high octane. However, you have in effect reached "complete fermentation" from the process aspect, but not with all sugars being converted to alcohol.

I trust you can make a little sense out of the above.

In the future, do the math. Going into a run, you should know what you will get out of it. It is all predictable in the main.

Cheers.

[Glyn]

Thanks guys.

I cleared the wash with Turbo Clear, its going through the T500 as I type. 92.5%, first 100ml saved to use as a cleaning fluid.

I'll post the total collected later.

Interesting and fascinating hobby.

[Icefever]

Well done, you've now popped your stilling cherry it's a steep learning curve matey....

Next wash 5kg of sugar, whatever you wish kale or lentill, dried yeast, no carbon or anything else.

I take it that this is the striping run??? take it easy on the spirit run....nice & slow.

[Glyn]

Well done, you've now popped your stilling cherry it's a steep learning curve matey....

Next wash 5kg of sugar, whatever you wish kale or lentill, dried yeast, no carbon or anything else.

I take it that this is the striping run??? take it easy on the spirit run....nice & slow.

Got 5 Lt off at 92%.

I don't want to sound stupid, whats the difference between a stripping run and a spirit run??

[gaza the instructor]

Good stuff now water to 30% back in and take your cuts

[Icefever]

Well done, you've now popped your stilling cherry

I take it that this is the striping run??? take it easy on the spirit run....nice & slow.

I don't want to sound stupid, whats the difference between a stripping run and a spirit run??

A strip run is where you just take all the likker out from the wash....then you take what you've collected, and you then run it again as a spirit run.

I've picked this one the guy will show you a strip run....I've not had time to watch it all just hope it's ok...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m18Tw-ujGug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sei3V3Zo9O0

Hope this helps,

Ice.

[Icefever]

Just found this...maybe worth a read....

http://learntomoonshine.com/stripping-r ... -moonshine

Ice.

[Glyn]

Thanks so much for the info now popping up. This thread has naturally developed to a distillation topic!

I started with an Airstil, produced what we thought was excellent for a home made product.

Found the Airstill a bit fiddly, so bought a T500. The quality from the T500 was so much better than to Airstill, so happy days. Flavoured the, what I now know was the stripping run, and enjoyed the product as do all our friends who are amazed at what we have produced.

I now find out that I should be doing "spirit runs" no mention of this in the T500 instructions.

So to date I have 18 lt of 93% ABV from stripping runs.

Am I correct in thinking that if I put 8 lt of my 93% "strip", top up to 25 lt with water and run it again, I should get a much improved sprit?

Thanks for all you help guys.

[Icefever]

Yes....

My spirit runs at no more than 30% alc...the object of a spirit run is to clean up the strip run.

You will finish with a better likker...watering down doesn't 'undo' the stripping run, it just removes the crap.