Fermentation query (Alcotec Vodka Star) ?

by **Phantom** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:12 pm

Ok, so when I make my batches of wash, I usually use SS triple distilled turbo and a sachet of their carbon liquid.
I thought I\'d already made up the \"vodka star\" I got mail order, but when I looked through my bag of bits last week, I found it.
So I\'ve made it up with the usuals i.e. 6kg of sugar and 21 litre of water, but as is my habit I\'ve put a sachet of carbon in with it (can\'t make my mind up whether this is really necessary or not).
I don\'t normally bother with taking gravity readings etc and as I run the ferments indoors, it\'s rare for the ambient temp to drop below about 19C.
I normally just make a batch, leave it for up to a fortnight, chuck the finings in to clear it, which can be up to a week (though normally it\'s about 14 days from start to clear and ready to run).
It\'s got to be 6, or possibly 7 days since I started this batch, and I just thought it prudent to check the gravity to see if it\'s finished yet, I\'m quite surprised to find that it\'s at between 1.000 and 0.990 - there\'s still signs of some bubbles coming to the surface.
I\'m sort of in a bit of a rush to usual as the time of the year means it\'s getting used up and we\'ve family over on saturday coming.
So the question is, does the vodka star usually take this long to finish fermenting, as it looks to me like there\'s just a few too many bubbles surfacing to just be it de-gassing naturally?

by **trelliS** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:42 pm

Hi Phantom

I tried a vodka star and my usual ferment temperature is usually 20c I found the vodka star slower than ss triple distilled and needed a higher temperature to completely ferment out.I didnt add carbon but was impressed with the results.At the moment i have an alcotek 6 on the go at 22c it has been going 4 days and is between 1000 and 990 so is pretty quick.I have also tried alcotek turbo 48 without carbon ..this does exactly what it says on the packaging but again ferment temp. 22c.All my washes are made with 6 kilo sugar and 21 litres of water.All the alcotek yeasts seem to smell better when fermenting ..and taste and smell better while distilling.

Also second still with the tails is impressive too.

by **optic** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 2:33 am

Phantom

my experience with the vodka star is yes it takes longer to ferment than the triple distilled,but it seems to have more residual co2 in it once its fermented out mine seem to finish a whisker under 990,i have not used any carbon with it when i have used it but IMO it smells a hell of a lot cleaner straight out of the still than all the other turbos,distilled twice it really is a clean spirit in fact i must say it is one of my favourites and is worth the longer fermentation,i am begining to wonder what is the point in the hassle and extra expense in using carbon in the ferment after all as we all pass the spirit through granular carbon a couple of times anyway

by **Phantom** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:17 pm

Cheers for the guidance both, thinking about it, the last alcotec one I tried, was the one that can be fermented with either 6 or 8kg of sugar, not the vodka star (which is why it was still in the bottom of my bits and bobs bag.....) I\'ll just let it go a bit longer then.
Handy to know that it also ferments out fine (and distill\'s cleanly for that matter) as it\'d be cheaper to use that alone. Though I\'d guess that I\'ll just mix it up a bit with some batches of vodka star and some of SS triple. Then do it as \"stripping runs\" and distillation runs with my reflux still.
Again, TVM for the info. Much appreciated

by **makum101** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 3:47 am

Ive been using Alcotec 24 with carbon. Ferments out in 24 hours but takes a day or so longer to clear. However as stated above this smells much cleaner straight out of the still than SS Triple.
I asked my Homebrew shop about it and he said not to use anything than SS yeasts and that stilled spirits made via a sugar wash made with the Alcotec 24 would contain so many bad things it would slowly kill me! When I told him the spirit smells cleaner with Alcotec 24 and tastes smoother he simply snapped \"RUBBISH!\".
Im wondering if some homebrew shops have an agenda to only promote SS products.

by **hoppinmad** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:01 pm

Makum101, You could have something there. I have just started my first vodka star wash, without turbo carbon so here\'s hoping, btw booker cash and carry do a 25kg sack of sugar for 13.99, bargain ;-)

by **optic** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:15 pm

hoppinmad

im sure you wont be dissapointed with the vodka star yeast,it may take a few more days to ferment out but the spirit smells a lot cleaner straight out of the still.

by **hoppinmad** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:36 am

thanks optic, it started well anyway, 10 mins after putting the airlock in it started bubbling and has increased significantly in the last couple of hours

by **bluecap** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:21 am

Makum Its like if you told a man who had driven Fords all his life that Vauxhalls were better you would get the same response â€œRUBBISHâ€

by **hoppinmad** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:38 pm

Hi bluecap
When you say you only use half a bag is that for a 25litre wash with 6kg of sugar? And if so what %age does it ferment out to over how long?

by **bluecap** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:53 pm

Hi hoppin I tip a full bag of Alcotec 48 in a dry airtight container, give it a good shake to mix the nutrient and yeast properly weigh exactly half out and use it in a 25 L wash with 6 kilo of sugar, it takes about 6 or 7 days to ferment dry @ 24C. Ok itâ€™s a bit slower but as the wife says slower is better.
I better add I have never tried it with anything but Alcotec 48

by **Opus 27** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:58 pm

I\'m trying a different approach with Alcotec 48. Assuming the maximumum amount of sugar the nutrients were intended for is 8 KG I thought if I made up a wash of 28 Litres of water to 8 KG of sugar I should get 14% ABV in 48 hours ((21/6=3.5)3.5*8=28). Total volume of the wash has come out at 34 Litres. Whether you go for 14 or 20% you will only get the same amount of alcohol from a given amount of sugar. The ABV will be dependant on the ratio of sugar to water and of course limited by the tolerance of the yeast.
Opus 27

by **bluecap** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:33 am

Its great Opus experimenting in it, the only drawback I can see in what you are doing is they say you canâ€™t ferment a double lot using turboâ€™s i.e. 50 litres at once as the yeast overheats and dies, at what point between 25 and 50 litres this happens I donâ€™t know.

by **Opus 27** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:58 pm

Hi Bluecap,

Mixed the wash at 1700hrs Friday by 1930hrs fermenting like Vesuvius. Saturday at 1000hrs realy going well and wash temperature was approx 32c. Sunday 0900hrs slowed down and temperature dropped to 29c. I don\'t know if the fermenting vessel makes any difference but I\'m using a 12 Gall stainless conical fermenter. (see Home brewers porn thread for pics) Theoreticaly fermentation should finish this evening (Sunday)so I will post the outcome later.
Opus

by **Opus 27** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:48 pm

Wash still fermenting at 1900hrs (48 Hrs) on Sunday so left untill Monday at 0700hrs when it had stopped and SG was 988-990. Left it for a few more hours and then started fining. Total time for the 8 Kilos to ferment out was 60 hours and going by the start and finish SG it should be around 13.5% ABV.
Opus 27