StillSmart

Thanks for the instructions, I got a similar set off the net from a beer making forum but the amounts and times were a lot less than you quote and there was no hint of stirring the wash every hour.

It is 24 hours since I added the bentonite. It is clearing but not as quickly as I have come to expect with the two part finnings from Wilko's. I will give it a couple more days before pronouncing judgement.

Brian if you like it try here
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1kg-Bentonite ... 3394wt_801
and here is where i found the info
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7626031_use-b ... -wine.html

Cheers

I have had better days.

My normal modus operandi is to rack the wash into a settling bucket. This frees up the heated fermenter and allows me to see the gunk as it settles out through the thin wall of the settling bucket.

For some reason I changed the way I do things and added the bentonite into the fermenter. Due to the insulation on the fermenting bucket I could not see how much sediment there was and the wash never cleared enough to allow me to see down through the wash to the bottom. Tonight I decided to rack the wash and transfer it to the settling bucket so that I could get another brew started.

I put the syphon hose into the fermenter so that the cup was about 6 inches off the bottom and gave it a suck - nothing. It turned out that the fermenter was half full of this liquid concrete like slurry that refused to go up the tube. I cant describe it, it was horrible.

I eventually managed to salvage about three gallons from a five gallon wash, which are now in a sealed bucket, the other two gallons of liquid I will save until tomorrow and use as foundations for an extension I am building. I tried filtering the stuff through a tea towel, but not one drip went through it, the tea towel is now standing up in the corner.

I have made plenty of all bran / weetabix washes before but never had this carry on.

I will give the cornflakes one last go but give the bentonite a miss. Two 5 gallon batches and I may be able to salvage one boiler's worth of wash.

Not very impressed.

Thinking about it, when I was doing some research on bentonite, there was one article that said that the commercial brewing industry does not use bentonite due to the large amounts of sediment that it has difficulty getting rid of. I can believe it.

Toodlepip

Brian

its not a cornflake issue... i made 60 gallons of that mash total with no issues...

i just dip off the clear stuff when i get down to cornflake i put a collander in the fermenter and then dip from inside the collander no chunks.. get through...

then i let the buckets settle a bit then pour it into my boiler and let her run.....

Brian,

Be careful of where and how you get rid of the bentonite. If you have an area at the bottom of the garden tip it out, let it dry out which shouldn't be a problem with the current weather and dig it in to the existing soil. You may invent the world's first cornflake scented sunflower.

Word of warning don't put it down your drain. You have experienced the ability of how it can swell. I use it regularly for it's construction use in sealing the ground around underground structures etc. It has the ability to swell several times when exposed to water and then seal itself. (Your concrete layer)

Please give a description of how you made your bentonite clearing agent. From what I have read in your description I don't think you are to far away, but may have added to much powder in the first place.

Just to cheer you up I misread an instruction on one construction site and added 450kg instead of 45kg. Now that was a mess!!!!

Sorry to hear of your woes Brian,today must have been your day for the shitty end of the stick.
I consider myself forewarned and forearmed.
Bentonite has been crossed off my list.

Robert.

Before I added the bentonite I did a bit of research and found various methods on the web with different amounts of bentonite. I also had the instructions that came on the tin, The manufacturer recommended one teaspoon per gallon, I used a lot less than this and used only three teaspoons in total, blended with a cup of hot water and left to stand for three hours.
I am glad that I did not use more.

amaark wrote:Word of warning don't put it down your drain. You have experienced the ability of how it can swell. I use it regularly for it's construction use in sealing the ground around underground structures etc. It has the ability to swell several times when exposed to water and then seal itself.

Thanks for the warning but it was a too late, I seem to have got away with it this time but I will keep an eye on things for a while.

When I use Bentonite I mix two tsp with 1lt of cold water then heat gently, stirring all the time, until completely dissolved and free of lumps. (I found that if added to hot water it would immediately form lumps that are very difficult to break down)

To ensure it is 'lump free' I hit it with my stick blender then leave it to cool for about half an hour before adding it to the wash

They say the best way to use Bentonite is to add it to your wash at the start of fermentation. In the course on the ferment it clears all the suspended materials so when the yeast has finished their work the wash is supposed to be clear too.

Going to give that a try in my next wash

AM

Brian,

I think the problem is to much added and it wasn't allowed to sit for approx. 24 hrs prior to adding to the ferment.

A couple of guides incase you wish to give it another shot:

1. 1 slightly rounded teaspoon of bentonite to 3/4 pint of water.
2. Allow it to sit for 24hrs, this will allow for hydration and saturation of the bentonite (the swelling).
3. Introduce it sparingly to the racked ferment. Easy to add a bit more but a bugger to remove it.

I have done 2 generations of cornflakes and had no issues. I allow a couple of days after fermentation, rack across allow another couple of days then start the strip runs in my airstill with a teaspoon of cooking oil.

Hope the above helps.

With the second batch of Cornflakes I used eactly the same ingredients and methods with the exception of adding five teaspoons of Wilko's general purpose yeast nutrient, this time it fermented out in 6 days, very impressive.

After my last experience I racked the wash without adding any finings, I had about the same results as the previous batch ie a lot of sediment in the fermenter, I lost about one and a half gallons of wash. I added two part finings to the settling bucket and after just a couple of hours there is a big difference in the wash and I reckon that I will be able to strip it tomorrow.

I will not be doing this recipe again unless I use a larger fermenter, ie 7 gallons to make room for all the sediment.

From the two batches I have just over 7 gallons of wash at around 13% abv.

Yesterday, I quickly stripped 4 gallons of the wash, then added the distillate to the remaining 3 gallons. With a bit more of the backset from the first run I ended up with boiler charge of 20%.

Compressed the heads with the LM and got a nice clean cut at 420 ml. Then switched to pot mode.

I have ended up with a gallon of 40% and it tastes good straight off the still, I am hoping for improvements with age. I will definitely be making it again ( with a bigger fermenter).

Unless you leave the civilised world

AM

OK Guys...looking for some advice on this one!.... using an Air Still!

made this cornflake wash/mash up couple of weeks ago as per


750gram of Cornflakes
5 kilograms of Sugar
60 grams (1/2 tin) Allinsons Dried Active Yeast
Water to make 23 Litre.

didn't get a SG as my hydro broke at the time but now have a Final Gravity of 0.995

It's cleared reasonably well on it's own and last night racked to a secondary. I would say it's clear enough to give a whirl but not sure about the cuts & best method to use.....

I've heard you don't want to carbon filter the taste out of this one.

I plan to nuke this one on JD chunks & use the backset on my next batch

Any Advice would be greatly appreciated

Stu

I can almost taste it from here.

Why are you asking for advice - you seem to be a doing a good job on your own.

I only use 25% of backwash in the next generation, I am told that any more will make the wash too acidic and slow the ferment down.

I do not reuse the yeast bed and pitch a new batch of yeast, I think reusing the cornflake and old yeast will need addition nutrients, so I throw the unused backset and use I/2 a tin of fresh yeast - works every time.

On flavoured drink I struggle making the cuts, in a new batch there are so many other flavours that confuse me. I find it helps leaving the product to air for a couple of days longer than neutral / vodka.

Feeling a bit bored, well its winterish and more snow
for this weekend! No fermenters free so 4 DJ's with
160g crushed cornflakes 1kg brown sugar and 30g bakers
in each. Have blowoff tubes to a blowdown jar as it
looks like a violent fermentation. It smells yummy
and will neuk on JD chips to finish.
Should give me 4 runs in the AS and hopefully two
spirit runs fingers crossed.