StillSmart

I thought I'd check on other people's results to see if I'm doing anything wrong

I have now done about 4 x 25l batches of the SS Triple Distilled each time using 6kg sugar, 21L water with a start temp of 30 degrees as directed, used the turbo carbon and left at 20 degrees give or take 1-2 degrees for 7days. The wash starts to bubble the airlock after about 3-4 hours
After about 5 days there is little or no bubbling action and the hydrometer is reading just over 990 with an abv of just under 9%
Leave it a couple more days for the full recommended 7 days and all fermentation action has stopped and the hydrometer just about reads 990 with an abv of 10%
Now I believe I have provided optimum conditions and should be getting the advertised 14%
Am I doing something wrong/missing something or do you think I am being a little optimistic expecting to do what it says on the tin?

The strength of the alcohol in the wash is a function of how much sugar there was in the wash and not the type of yeast used.

5 kg of sugar using bakers yeast will basically give you the same amount of alcohol as 5 kg of sugar with a turbo yeast. The turbo yeast will do a couple of days quicker quicker and has the "capacity" to convert higher concentrations of sugar in the wash and therefor produce more alcohol than say bakers yeast could, there is also the difference in taste and costs to consider.

I do not understand how you are ascertaining your %ABV you seem to be infering that you are reading it off your hydrometer, as far as I am aware this cannot be done. The strength of your ferment as stated above is a function of how much sugar the yeast has converted and is usually calculated using the following equation.

(Original Gravity - Final Gravity) x 129

You do not quote your Original Gravity but with 6 Kg of sugar and from the other figures you quote, it seems more than probable that you are achieving a wash of around 14% and that your method of measuring your ABV is confusing the issue.

Thank you for your comments YHB, I have been measuring the ABV using a alcohol hydrometer which after noting your comments may be the problem, as a newbie I have not taken note of the original gravity before but have been relying on the alchol hydrometer
I believed this to be reasonably accurate after using it to test the final product from my T500 at 93%
Am I to assume this is not a reliable method of testing ABV?

The Alcohol meters are affected by other components of the wash and are really only meant for distilled liquids.

Additionally when you look at the scale on the "alcohol hydrometer" at the lower end of the scale the increments are much closer together around the 10% value than they are at the 94% value and are therefore there is more likely hood of human error in reading the value.

I think the inaccuracies are more likely to be a function of our eyes rather than the inbuilt reliability of the device.

There are close range alcohol meters available which will give you a more accurate reading but they are expensive and I believe that most people use the calculation method for the wash.

Thanks for the info Brian I totally concur with your comments, I did understand the increments on the alcohol scale are closer together on the lower end and thought that may have been a factor
The reason for the posting the question and doubt was down to the fact that the very first attempt using the SS Triple Distilled yielded a 14% reading on the alcohol meter
I will in future use the gravity readings to calculate the ABV

Just posting to concur with Brian. Alcohometers will yield unpredictable (hence useless) results in a wash. I no longer measure OG and FG, just rely on approximate ratio of sugar to water and don't worry about it further.

Chuck