Alcotec turbo 48

[marc83]

update-Been bubbling its head off all night,Going great now.Lucky.....it was going down the drain today if i saw no action.

cheers guys for the help.Will have a drink to you all...but not now..its 6:50am on a monday morning

[marc83]

Ok fermented out to 0990,added a turbo clear tonight and might distill this weekend if i get the time,the SS triple is going in first.

[hoppinmad]

nice one marc83, sounds like you sorted it out. 0990 is a good final s.g. you should get a fair result at that, i have been folling your posts, glad it worked out,
hoppin

[marc83]

Distilled both washes this weekend,the triple gave me just under 3.5L@91%abv so not to bad,very clean and no smell.

The alcotec-3.5L@88%abv--so a slightly lower percentage but not too bad considering i thought i was goin down the drain!It does have a slight odour to it though,my first time using plain sugar with that one.The carbon filtering should sort it!

Essencia super 6 next weekend.

Slowly running out of storage so next weekends wash will be the last one i distill for a few weeks,my stock is way up now,maybe a chance to put on a non turbo sugar wash.

cheers all!

[BundyRed]

Will be good to here how you go with the Super 6. You will have done the same experiment as what I\'m trying with using all the major yeasts out their.

[marc83]

pretty much bundy,only ones i havent tried and probly wont are the SS power and express,and the alcotec24.

The Triple distilled is by far my favourite,takes a few days longer but its worth it in the end me thinks,will see how it compares to the super6....I like to post results just so others can compare their own and vice versa

[Ronbo]

Marc83, glad the Alcotec48 worked out OK in the end.

I mentioned that I was just starting another run with the 48. Here are the results:

25 Litre wash, ambient temp 21C

Used 6kG plain sugar this time -- beet sugar, and aerated for 10mins.

Original gravity was 1.094

Started 5.0pm Wed with carbon added.

8.30pm just starting to feel slightly warm.

9.00am Thursday -- nice smell fizzing away, getting quite warm.

11.00am, now very warm. Ambient temp still 21C but thermometer on side of fermenter indicates 31C!

4.30pm, still very warm, 1 inch of white foam on top.

9.00am Friday, foam almost gone, cooling down.

10.00am Saturday, not much activity, feels cool.

10.00am Sunday, just a few bubbles.

9.00am Monday, stopped. Finish gravity is .890, Reckon that is 14.3%
Now have put turbo clear in and waiting to distil. Smells good and dry.

Cheers Guys!

[marc83]

wow, 1094 to 0890!!!!sure you dont mean 0980???thats a massive drop,and fast too.I guess adding the carbon with the 48 would help with the smell it produces,If i ever try it again it will be with the carbon i think......oh and pitching at the correct temp too ;p

[Ronbo]

No, .890 is correct, last time it was about .900. Took longer to clear this time.

Going to go for 8 kG of sugar next time too see what happens.

Cheers.

[marc83]

thats impressive in its own ronbo.what do you think it was that gave you such a reading??I aerate all my washes with a brewing paddle on an electric drill,works a treat but only for a few minutes to dissolve the sugar.Maybe shoot for a little longer next time.

Do you use the clearing agent or just let it sit?May be a while before i put on another turbo.

Cheers

Marc

[Ronbo]

Hi Marc83,

I aerate with an aquarium ball whilst the sugar is dissolving, it seems to help the dissolving and is probably about 20 mins in fact. The wash smells a bit sea-like when done -- probably the ozone created. I think this gives the yeast a tremendous start during the first aerobic stage. I always use the full packet.

The temperatures are starting to rise here (UK) so it will be interesting to see whether that will be a factor in the next wash.

Cheers.

[Opus 27]

I\'ve been using Alcotec 48 for a few months now and I use it as follows;

8 Kilos Sugar (either cane or beet does\'nt seem to make any difference which)

28 Litres of water at 40c.

Final wash is 32 litres.

Ferments in 48-60 hours.

Finish SG 0.860 ish

Racked and filtered usually leaves me with 30 litres.

Distills to 4.5 litres at 92-93% ABV

Cut with RO water to 40% ABV gives 10 litres (ish)

Carbon filtered and flavoured.

I use a Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter.

Not encountered any problems with temperature. Current ambient is around 26c Lowest was probably 20c.
Opus 27

[marc83]

If i ever try another alcotec i think i may make it up to 30L,that yeast can handle it.

[Ronbo]

Whilst waiting for my \'Vodka Star\' to arrive, did another 48.

8 kG Sugar. Original gravity 1.123, 25 Litres.

After six days the gravity is now 0.880, slightly pink colour but smells OK.

Calculated strength is 18.8%

Will pour the Turbo clear in tonight.

Very similar results to \'Opus 27\' Looks like this stuff is pretty reliable.
Estimating the strength is not straight forward, the simple calcs in the home brew books just don\'t seem to work with this stuff. And the calculating scale for the hydrometer doesn\'t go down to less than 0.980.
I used the formula ((kG x 1000) / 17) / Litres = %
So that 8kG sugar times 1000 = 8000 then divide by 17 then divide the answer by 25 Litres to get 18.8% final answer.
This theoretical calc seems to agree with the hydrometer scale if you extrapolate a bit. (Thanks to the Homedistillers site)
Ciao.

[hoppinmad]

i just tried the alcotec48 for the first time, made 2x25lt washes with 6kg of sugar in each and split the yeast between them after mixing it up in a container and BINGO both bubbling within 10 mins and after 5 days both fermented dry to 0.890, brilliant, wash and distillate smells and tastes great, will definitely be doing this again,
cheers, hoppin