StillSmart

Hi everyone I have just made a schoolboy error ! put the A+B finnings in my turbo wash but not degassed ? I uas an airstill what can I do ????????????

You can degas (or not) at any time i would have thought. I don't use turbo's so prolly not qualified.

Hi..

IMHO....you can't take the B part out...so there's nowt you can do about JJ1....
so don't worry mate...

When I started off with this hobby I did use turbo's for the first few months, to be honest I balls it up a couple of times. I would leave the wash for a day or so then siphon to a clean bucket...then hit it with my long plastic spoon fitted to my drill and blitz it.

I never see or tasted any difference...maybe some one will tell you if they have.

Go for it....

Or let it sit until it degasses and falls clear naturally.

As it's a turbo can I ask if you used 'liquid carbon' in the wash?

Degassing is only about clearing the wash before running it in your still and doesn't affect anything else. As you're using an Airstill try and get the wash as clear as possible, it can affect the final product plus a clear wash is less likely to puke.

For simplicity, I would degas the wash thoroughly now and then add a new batch of finings.

It should be fine and, as you'll learn here, there's very little in this hobby that can't be recovered one way or another so don't panic

My two pence worth;
If you used the "A" and "B" parts of your finings as per instructions,don't worry.
Do give it some time to settle out though.
Give the wash a big stir before stripping it,(after racking off again),and all should be fine and Dandy.
HTH

Robert.

How do you intend degas - whipping,shaking or vacuum?

having thought about this some more. Degas and then let it stand somewhere cold for a couple of days airtight. After that if it is clear creak on. If not rack and fine.

More importantly put some copper in the bottom of the Airstill.

Hum ? well it's been a good while since I bothered to degas any wash.

I don't stick to the minimum times anyway (just make a batch up, get it fermenting, then leave it - often for 2 or 3 weeks longer - it settles itself and then I just make sure I use rings - and now some copper in the bottom of the still).

And yes, mine are all turbo's, but no I don't bother with carbon usually......

I am also pretty flippant as regards de-gassing these days,I try to stretch the syphon tube to allow a decent fall when racking off,to allow for natural whatever to happen.
Also for me,almost settled washes seem to work as well as totally clear ones.
Horses for courses.

Robert.

I use Vodka Star or make lentil washes and try to knock some of the gas out of them before adding the finings.

Then I leave them for a week or two to clear in a screw topped fermenter which is fitted with a tap.

Then I drain 4 litres into a 5 litre bottle and shake it well, several times, then I pour it into the airstill from a great height and leave it for 5 minutes before adding 2 bags of ceramic rings and some copper tube offcuts.

If you think about it, degassing is a process for wine making mainly, so that there's less chance of foaming during any "make" actions, and so that any debris drops out during clearing.

For us, it helps so that there's no nucleation allowing particulates etc to stay in solution (I seem to recall some ionic particle issue about positive and negative ions preventing quick clearance once the finings were added as well).

Generally, the colder the wash, the more dissolved CO2. As the still heats up, it liberates the CO2 into gaseous form anyway.

Not sure if the bubbles formed during the boil are richer in CO2 or not........

So it's a useful practice, depending on how you make your wash. But it's not vital.........

I must admit I can be a bit iffy when it comes to degassing...sometimes all it gets is when the wash runs into the boiler from a height of 2 maybe 3 feet.

Confession time. I have never degased anything. Ever. Never ever had a problem with either wine or wash.

I always reckoned it was a case of "best practice" rather than "must do"!

I've always done because it did make it easier to get the wash clear when I only had my Airstill I was terrified of a puke if one of the Grandkids were 'helping Grandad' making his "concentrated beer"

Whatever works! But I would still tell beginners to Degass and Clear the wash before stripping and they can decide later, when they have a bit of experience, if they want to ride bareback

AidanMac