StillSmart

I wouldn't worry. I think Robert would end up in a fight in a room on his own.

FullySilenced wrote:@easydrinker was never meant to start a fight in any form..

I like a good arguement, and don't mind putting my experiences up against other peoples.
That's how we learn.
And I will always be grateful to yourself for the introduction to "nuking".

ATB
Robert.

FullySilenced wrote:@easydrinker the link below talks about salt in the wash and also bicarb this is really old stuff but is still relevant enjoy and yes for a neutral i use both if i am not using or reusing the backset...

http://homedistiller.org/distill/dtw/salt


QUOTE: Mike warns though ..
"It's OK to add baking soda or other alkali to a STRIPPED wash, but NEVER put it in the primary ferment and then distill. If you do, and your still contains ANY copper, you will severely corrode the copper, and get blue, ammonia-smelling distillate. Not fun!"

Happy Stillin

FS

i also want to mention if you read and try salt in your spirit run use only non iodized salt...

And thanks for the thought in posting this one also.
Not tempted by salt at all.
I do use Bicarbonate of Soda in a wash,(Primary ferment) almost every time.
I have a lot of copper in my column and condenser (22 metres in the condenser alone),
Awhile back,on a couple of occasions when I fell asleep with the still doing the end of a spirit run and in LOW ABV mode when it should have been switched off, I awoke to a blue collection vessel.
Isn't it good that we all experience life a little differently?
My motto since joining this forum is that there is no "One True Way", get's me into trouble sometimes, but I stand by it.

Robert.

There seems to be divergent opinions on what exactly causes this. These seem the most reliable to me:
http://homedistiller.org/distill/dtw/blue
https://americanhomedistillers.com/foru ... moonshine/
http://www.artisan-distiller.net/phpBB3 ... f=31&t=158

So merely adding bicarbonate of soda will not cause blue distillate, but adding too much with the presence of nitrogen and copper will. Getting a blue distillate near the end makes sense as the sodium bicarb won't distill out so will become more concentrated as the run proceeds leading to a very high pH near the end.

After almost three weeks the hydrometer is still on 20 with only a few bubbles coming up, I reckon it'll stop before fermentation is complete.
According to the litmus paper the ph is around 5 but it's hard to be precise

Yes, it is time to salvage whatever you can.

Robert.

Easydrinker wrote:Yes, it is time to salvage whatever you can.

Robert.

So what would you recommend doing?

If I was in your position I would rack it off,leave a day or so.
Strip it, with plenty of boil pieces, maybe conditioner.
And carry on as normal.
A problem I have found with stalled or incompletely finished washes is the risk of a secondary ferment (infection)from a random wild yeast, which can take a brew/wash from somewhere that you aimed for to a bad tasting product.
What is odd is that if these wild yeasties co exist (infect, and work..) with the ones that you pitch originally,life is generally Tickety Boo.
Just my take.
Throw it, or try it maybe?
That is what I meant by salvage.

ATB

Robert.

Thanks, so you wouldn't bother stabilizing it first then?

I am unsure what you mean by "stabilise".
I would rack it off the worst of any sludge.
Leave a day or two,rack into the still and strip run.
My concern, if I were in your place would be having a high sugar stalled wash hanging around.
While wild yeasties working with the ones that you pitch can be beneficial, having them work on their own can be horrible.

HTH

Robert.

Tsste it. Take the oppoeruntiy to educate your 'buds. Tell us how it tastes. Also What temp have you been running it at?

I wouldn't chuck it.
If it is just slow - wait a bit, 3 weeks is not a crime.
Alternativey, rack it off. Seal it up and put is somewhere cool for a couple of days - this cold crash will help it clear and then run it.

Taste wise I'd say it's 'medium' as there is still a bit of sweetness there, I've now racked it and put it outside and it looks like it's started to clear at the top already.

Robert, being a bit of a winemaker I'm used to stabilising anything with unfermented sugar in to prevent a second ferment starting and was concerned about putting an 'unfinished ' product through the airstill.

I've ordered some pickling lime and will source a ph meter for my next attempt, I'm wondering if maybe the lentils were not heated for long enough as they still seemed a bit hard when I ditched them

brewhunter wrote:Robert, being a bit of a winemaker I'm used to stabilising anything with unfermented sugar in to prevent a second ferment starting and was concerned about putting an 'unfinished ' product through the airstill.

I know where your coming from about a second ferment as I do wines also...you don't want bottle bombs. As for running a slightly sweeter wash there's no problem..because as soon as you heat the wash to a high temp that will kill any yeast that may still be loitering.

I'm wondering if maybe the lentils were not heated for long enough as they still seemed a bit hard when I ditched them

I'm not sure on this as I've never taken that much notice when I rack a lentil wash....memo to oneself...find out next time.

Thanks everyone I'll leave outside until sun/mon then try stripping it

brewhunter wrote:I've ordered some pickling lime and will source a ph meter for my next attempt, I'm wondering if maybe the lentils were not heated for long enough as they still seemed a bit hard when I ditched them

Perhaps try the Kale recipe next time. I prefer the finshed spirit to that from the Lentils (was not too impressed)