StillSmart

I'm a newbie here and after some good advice from mash, icefever and chill among others, I decided to accelerate my purchase plans by starting a Kale wash this morning. Quickly followed by a visit to love brewing where a AirStill and bits and bobs were ordered. Have to say I am impressed. Within an hour I had a text saying that it would be delivered tomorrow!

Recipe is pretty much Googe's except only 23ltr as from what I heard it gets lively and my bucket is fairly full.
100g Kale blended @50p
5kg bag of Sugar @£2.50
90g baking yeast @£1

water up to 23ltr and started at 22 degrees c
Reading at 1.076 to start
Quick question. Using the above solution but with more water Googe reckons on 11% SG when done but with 2ltr less I reckon mine is headed for only 9.75%. How does that work. From what i can make out the Hydrometer being a modern one is likely to be calibrated to 68f and makes no difference to the reading through temperature??

So kit arrives tomorrow. If I keep it at 24 degrees with a belt, how long do you think it will take before I can play?

3hrs in and it is bubbling away already!

it'll be just fine - prolly finish a bit quicker.

MagicH2o wrote:Quick question. Using the above solution but with more water Googe reckons on 11% SG when done but with 2ltr less I reckon mine is headed for only 9.75%. How does that work. From what i can make out the Hydrometer being a modern one is likely to be calibrated to 68f and makes no difference to the reading through temperature??

So kit arrives tomorrow. If I keep it at 24 degrees with a belt, how long do you think it will take before I can play?

Having just indulged in some jocularity,I'll try and put my thinking head on and help you here.
Your first Q.
The temp. of the wash does effect the Hydrometer.Most are calibrated for 20°C,and come with a little table to deal with different temps.
You have the maths a little upside down,If you use less water for the same amount of sugar,then the SG will be higher.
Not wishing to be a schoolteacher,trying to help,you can use the term 'expected' or final alcohol with a % figure, but SG/OG and FG need the numbers from the hydrometer.

2nd Q.
I have never done a Kale wash.
I expect that it may finish bubbling in 5 days.
You would then be wise to rack it off and leave to settle before going any further.

Do ask if you need more,but IHTH.

Robert.

In my experience of kale washes it won't foam and it won't smell to great, a bit like old socks.

The few I have done, I always boil down the kale and just add the green water. No solids.

I would top it up WITH SAME TEMP water, as soon as you think it safe.

Foam overs are typically an early event in a wash with proteins. This hasn't any. So if it hasn't done it after 2-3 days chances are it won't.

Easydrinker, thanks for the help and patience.
sorry, I might not have been clear enough with what I said. I should have put more detail. I looked at a temperature adjustment chart and at the temp I took the og reading at it needed no adjustment. And I was looking at a "potential" or expected figure which came out at 9.75%. I know I will only know for sure when I take a final reading. I was surprised though that my expected figure of under 10% was lower than googe was getting from the same amount of sugar when I was using 2ltr less with the same amount of sugar. Does that make more sense?
Mash, I blended the kale and it is going like a train, lots of foam on top but not overflowing or anything. It is lively though.
One more thing, I'm going to have an airstill today and no wash for a week or to. I do have a number of bottles of home brew elderflower champagne that is really clear and not fizzy. I made it to a recipe much stronger than usual and we didn't like the strong elderflower taste so it has just sat. I think it is about 12%.
As long as there is no gas and it is clear is it worth putting it through a couple of runs as a test and see what comes out in the way of fores, heads, hearts and tails?

"blended" - yikes.

Elderflower champagne will be fine. Paul it from a great height, shake it, do what you like, but get rid of most of the fizz.

Have you got a collection of small change yet? 1p's and 2p's that are not magnetic??

Mash hahaha, after you kicked me into action with your KALE WASH AIRSTILL post I read a couple of threads on a kale wash, I thought the blended idea came from you, but obviously not. Someone else had a thread then that had different approaches (maybe googe ?) They tried blended and apart from the bits it was very successful and someone else had tried boiling and just using the water, others then fed back that it didn't work as well (I think, now I'm getting confused.)
Anyway blended it is, bubbling like crazy it is. If I can't get rid of the bits at the end I'll filter it through muslin and rest it for a day or two before using.
If the kit arrives today though Im going elderflower spirit making.

Wifey took all the change to one of those machines that converts it into bigger denominations whilst stealing 10% from you. But being a man I don't use change anyway so the wallet is always filling up with the little blighters. Should they be bent first and put through the dishwasher?

MagicH2o wrote:Mash hahaha, after you kicked me into action with your KALE WASH AIRSTILL post I read a couple of threads on a kale wash, I thought the blended idea came from you, but obviously not. Someone else had a thread then that had different approaches (maybe googe ?) They tried blended and apart from the bits it was very successful and someone else had tried boiling and just using the water, others then fed back that it didn't work as well (I think, now I'm getting confused.)

Worry not. It will be fine. You will just need a seive. There is always different ways of doing things. there is always different folks who swear by their methods as against others. Some people prefer more natural fermentations. some people prefer turbos. The one overriding factor is yeast is very forgiving. as long as it gets something warm & sugary, it will give you some alcohol.

MagicH2o wrote:Wifey took all the change to one of those machines that converts it into bigger denominations whilst stealing 10% from you. But being a man I don't use change anyway so the wallet is always filling up with the little blighters. Should they be bent first and put through the dishwasher?

Make sure the 1p's and 2p's are not magnetic - you want copper ones!

If you have citric acid wash them in that, or a bit of vinegar, or under the tap at a push.

They do not need bending. In fact, they positively do not want to be bent.

How they work. Tiny little gas bubbles boil in the thin film created between the 1p piece and the boiler surface. These little bubbles then flip the 1p piece and agitate the rest of the boil. This stops the liquid superheating. It is superheating that causes pukes & boil overs. Remember the thing about taking a cup of boiled water out of a microwave and stirring it, and then it boils over in hand. This is what they stop.

I use about half a tumbler full. If your air still comes with a small packet of rings, these will do short-term but seriously, get some currency in there.

The copper content also has an effect on smoothing the alcohol, there is evidence to suggest it reacts with sulphurous compounds. Remember that Campden tablet you used in the elderflower wine - thats sulphur!

5kg of sugar in 23 litres should give you an OG of 1.078

If that ferments down to 0.990 then you should be heading for 12% alcohol.


Good luck with your first forays into this hobby. I haven't tried the kale wash myself yet, but will probably get one on the go as soon as my fermenter has been emptied at the weekend.

Get a refractometer - it soooooooo much easier.
£15 on Ebay.

mash,
you are a bad influence! She will kill me soon.
ordered on Amazon prime, delivered tomorrow along with a PH tester i thought might come in useful. I am in a very hard water area.

Hard water makes nice beer. I thoroughly recommend a braumeister 20l.

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/braumeister-20l.html