12 days and STILL bubbling?

by **HangOver** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:36 pm

So i have this sugar wash, (first attempt) and its now been bubbling for 12days!

I has one buble through the air lock maybe every two mins or so.
Should I wait for it to COMPLETELY stop bubbling before i throw in the turboclear?

=====================

48/turbo yeast

8kg sugar as per instructions, 5 days my A$$

by **bluecap** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 10:42 pm

It sounds to like its ready for turboklar, i left mine till it was bubbling once a minute checked it with a hydrometer and it was 0.986 ok for clearing and distilling but you are always better to check it with a hydrometer or taste it, there should be no sweetness.

by **Jimmy** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:14 pm

If it's still bubbling, then something is still happening. It's up to you whether you think it's done enough - like bluecap says, the best way to test is with a hydrometer. My guess is that it would be OK to do now, but you can probably squeeze a little more alcohol out of it if you wait a day or so - depends how desperate you are!

by **HangOver** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:46 pm

I got sick of waiting, I took some wash and measured it with a hydrometer, presuming I'm reading it right, I think it reads exactly 90 @ 29oC

(It reads from the top of the hydrometer down 80, 90 1.000 it's on the 90)
It smelled like strong wine and didn't taste sweet to me, anyhow I stirred it until my arm ached and threw in the turboclear. Roll on 24hrs or however long it takes to clear.

by **quietman** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 9:00 pm

So you're nearly ready for the best bit, 24hrs and youll be sippin vodka mate. Enjoy.
Regards Q.

by **125neil** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 8:38 pm

I\'ve had exactly the same problem, been fermenting for 14 days now, gave it a good stir as bubbling virtually stopped and hydro reading under .990, put in the turbo clear and it\'s bubbling away agin like crazy!! Will see what tomorrow brings!

by **Phantom** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:18 pm

I\'ve had exactly the same problem, been fermenting for 14 days now, gave it a good stir as bubbling virtually stopped and hydro reading under .990, put in the turbo clear and it\'s bubbling away agin like crazy!! Will see what tomorrow brings!

For both HangOver and 125neil...........
You often find that once the ferment is complete, it will continue to bubble slowly, this is because it\'s releasing the trapped CO2 naturally.
One of the main tests when wine making (which is exactly what you\'re doing at this stage), is when you get the same gravity reading 3 days on the trot. You can then consider it finished and that it\'s de-gassing naturally.
Once you\'ve got it below 1.000, you should be OK, then any (very tiny) amount of residual sugar should be cleared down with the yeast/carbon etc
Personally, I follow the mixing instructions quite closely, but I often leave the wash to finish for 14 days (more to do with the amount of free time I have available than anything else - and it\'s certainly not a scientific method), then I\'ll clear it, but I often leave it for a number of days, sometimes a week to finish clearing.
As I say, that\'s not scientific, but I find that I don\'t need to bother with checking gravities etc.
Of course, if you\'re on one of your first batches, there\'s always the impatience to find out how it comes out. I can only say "try to be patient" - which is what I\'ve learned from my other wine and mead making (especially the mead making).

by **125neil** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 9:21 pm

Well it\'s been over 24 hours with Turbo Clear and I must say it is very clear. Have now syphoned into a clean tub, but it was quite odd to watch bubbles rising from the thick layer of sediment. As I said, it is crystal clear so am now going to progress onto stage two!

by **Phantom** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:52 am

Well it\'s been over 24 hours with Turbo Clear and I must say it is very clear. Have now syphoned into a clean tub, but it was quite odd to watch bubbles rising from the thick layer of sediment. As I said, it is crystal clear so am now going to progress onto stage two!

Patience young Jedi!
Excellent, it sounds like it\'s going well.
I handy tip. Make sure that you give it a damn good stirring too before you actually distil it. Plus, if you have some ceramic beads, raschig rings, or even sanitised broken glass will do the job, put it in the bottom of the still. The other option is "distillers conditioner". Also, when you run the still, if you can, make sure it\'s positioned somewhere, where it won\'t do any damage or cause any hazard if it should "burp".
This isn\'t something to cause a scare.
It\'s the nature of heating liquids, that sometimes, the liquid being heated, forms bubbles from the base of the heater pot (maybe you\'ve watched a kettle or saucepan of water boiling). It\'s what makes the surface "bounce" about. Occasionally, it\'s possible that when the bubbles are forming in the boiler section that as they "come off" the metal base, they join up causing one big bubble, which can lift the edge of the condenser lid enough to burp/spit hot liquid. It\'s the beads/rings/glass/conditioner that help prevent this. Plus it just makes sense to have the still running somewhere away from kids or anyone else who might be near it and also so if it should "burp", then the area is easily cleaned up.
I know that some people will only run 2 or 3 litres at a time, to give more expansion space inside the boiler. Then they take a smaller amount of distillate each time (obviously if you get 800mls from 4 litres then it\'s 600mls from 3 litres etc etc).
Oh and when it\'s finished doing it\'s thing I like to get a small bore hose connected to the tap so I can rinse out the condenser tubes - you can do that by taking the lid apart but that\'s a complete PITA.
There\'s also been some debate about what actually causes the "burping" or over boiling of the still. Personally I\'ve had it do that only 2 or 3 times, one these occasions, the wash/mash wasn\'t completely clear. i.e. it was clear, but not "gin clear". Which is why I now run mine in our utility area, so it\'s easier to clean up and there\'s no chance of any injury.
Like I say, it\'s not a scare thing, just treat it with caution and respect. It\'s a boiler after all !

by **125neil** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:16 pm

Thanks for the advice Phantom. I just posted a comment regarding the \'burping\' on another thread, have a theory that is has something to do with the outlet spout, but it\'s all one big learning curve. I am going to re-think the activated carbon bag thing, there must be a more economical solution!

by **Phantom** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:38 am

Thanks for the advice Phantom. I just posted a comment regarding the \'burping\' on another thread, have a theory that is has something to do with the outlet spout, but it\'s all one big learning curve. I am going to re-think the activated carbon bag thing, there must be a more economical solution!

The main reason why it\'s probably unconnected, is that if you dismantle the condenser lid, you\'ll find that the end of the condenser isn\'t actually connect to the outlet spout at all it just sits into the small "moulded trough" that is the actual outlet spout that then sits into the top of the white plastic "carbon teabag" filter housing.
Logic dictates, that for the lid to lift, it either has to be a blockage in the condenser (unlikely) or the size/power of the bubble that the boiler is actually generating within the wash - hence why I suspect it\'s more about "boil control" than anything else.
Yes there may also be a number of ways to filter the distillate that works out cheaper than buying another pack of "carbon teabags". some of the methods might be a little "Heath Robinson" i.e. bits of split plassy bottles, cotton wool, loose carbon, etc etc etc. It doesn\'t really matter so much, as long as it\'s filtered to your satisfaction.

by **Balmoral** » Wed May 06, 2009 7:46 pm

My first mash is still bubbling away after 11 days, I put it on a week last Saturday. It smells sweet, yeasty and beery, it\'s slightly syrupy in consistency and is a transluscent grey colour. It has been at around 18-20 degrees for the whole period and hasn\'t been disturbed. SG is reading 1000 level on the Hydrometer, so nowhere near the 990 or below that it says in the instructions (although I don\'t know what it was at the start, I didn\'t think to check it). Does the %abv meter work in mash? as that is reading zero.
I was hoping to clear it over the next 24/48 hours and distil it on Friday.
What do you reckon?

by **Phantom** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:35 am

My first mash is still bubbling away after 11 days, I put it on a week last Saturday. It smells sweet, yeasty and beery, it\'s slightly syrupy in consistency and is a transluscent grey colour. It has been at around 18-20 degrees for the whole period and hasn\'t been disturbed. SG is reading 1000 level on the Hydrometer, so nowhere near the 990 or below that it says in the instructions (although I don\'t know what it was at the start, I didn\'t think to check it). Does the %abv meter work in mash? as that is reading zero.
I was hoping to clear it over the next 24/48 hours and distil it on Friday.
What do you reckon?

What brand turbo was it ?
@ 1000 it\'s not far off......
the alcometer doesn\'t work in wash.
11 days, is a bit over, but I often leave mine for a fortnight (not having time to do anything with it etc....).
as for the greyish translucent colour, well that\'s what it\'s like when it\'s cleared down naturally, though quite often, it doesn\'t get much clearer when you\'ve used turbo clear finings.
I\'d suggest that you leave it till the weekend (or at least friday night) and see what the gravity is then.
I\'d probably wait until it hits 990 or 980 ( my last batch was at 980). When you started, it was probably somewhere in the region of 1080 to 1090.......
I know it\'s a bit trite to say about patience again, but it\'s just one of those things - I seem to average about the 22 degree\'s mark when mines fermenting.
If you are feeling like you want to give it a try, well I\'d just take about 2 litres out without actually clearing it, make sure you\'ve got rings/saddles/broken glass or something to act as "boiling stones" (laboratory glass pellets are sometimes listed as boiling stones) and then run that.
don\'t try a full 4 litre run and make sure that the still is away from where it could harm anyone/anything (thinking of the "erindoors"/kids/pets here) so if it does burp then it\'s less likely to be an issue.
If you have time and your local HBS does it, then a capful of Still Spirits Top Shelf distillers conditioner would assist in helping to prevent a burp/over boil......
Plus, presuming that the turbo that you used is one of the "normal" 14% ABV/7 day ones, then you\'d expect to see about 400 mls at about 58 to 60 % ABV.
Personally, I\'d just leave it to finish and then process i.e. clear and distil it then....
sorry if that\'s not much help....

by **Balmoral** » Thu May 07, 2009 2:03 am

Thanks Phantom, I will leave it until the weekend.
I am using the Still Spirits Triple Distilled Turbo Yeast & Carbon. Clearly the 7 days it says on the pack is too precise a time span for an unprecise process, despite following the instructions to the letter. As a newbie, I just expected it to do what it says on the tin.

by **Phantom** » Fri May 08, 2009 12:27 am

I am using the Still Spirits Triple Distilled Turbo Yeast & Carbon. Clearly the 7 days it says on the pack is too precise a time span for an unprecise process, despite following the instructions to the letter. As a newbie, I just expected it to do what it says on the tin.

Curious that, because that\'s the one I usually use, but in truth, I just make the batch and leave it alone. I can\'t recall actually having a batch going for the 7 days, I think the quickest was 8 days, but I used a 24 degrees C brew belt on the bucket.
The only good thing is, as I understand it, the slower the ferment/lower the temperature, then the lower the volatiles/fusels that can be made during the ferment.
So I\'m guessing that it might be a complete PITA, and if it\'s your first batch then I can understand impatience (it\'s why I actually prefer making spirit over making wines/meads - it\'s a hell of a lot quicker). I\'m not a patient person myself......
It depends on how much you drink, but once you\'ve got your first batch distilled, then get another batch on the go and don\'t worry too much about how long it\'s taking.
As I understand it, you\'d just need to get the finished wash off the lees in less than 3 weeks (after it\'s finished fermenting) as that\'s about the point where it starts to impart bad flavours into the wash and that can get carried over to the distillate.