StillSmart

yes (it is wine at this stage) - but a couple of days in the fridge is cheaper and will prolly clear it enough.

Mashy wrote:yes (it is wine at this stage) - but a couple of days in the fridge is cheaper and will prolly clear it enough.

+1 stick it in a fridge....(if you can) or somewhere colder...like a concrete floor in the garage.. it should start to clear in a few days..

+1 what Mashy and Icefever said

Personally I'm impatient and just in case you are too here's what I use http://www.brewhaus.com/Clearing-Agent- ... -P853.aspx Cost per 25 Lt wash GBP 0.19 - Yep! 19pence and it clears any wine wash overnight.

BTW, stirring a wash everyday is not necessarily a good idea, in the normal run of things, as it introduces Oxygen and the yeast cells rapidly revert to their other favourite pastime - reproduction!

If you want Sparkolloid you have to buy it from the US as it's currently not available in the EU - no matter who says otherwise Rick Morris in Brewhaus, Texas, is a mighty nice Good Ole Boy who will gladly ship it to you by US Mail.

Once it is completed I will stick it in the shed as it has a concrete floor so will be ideal.

I had a look at the Sparkolloid. Interesting stuff but the shipping costs were huge compared to the price of the product. It might be worth a buy if I ever bought a few things from them.

email and ask them. The prices on the site are probably based on UPS courier shipping. They seem quite willing to use USPS when asked and as Sparkolloid is light, the costs are reasonable if you buy a few ounces. As Aidan said, it is quite remarkable. But your wash does need to be finished and degassed for it to work. I have had it fail or partially fail with some washes there either were not finished, undergoing a secondary fermentation, or otherwise infected. But if Sparkolloid won't clear it then nothing will!

US shipping often prohibits me from buying stuff over there.

AidanMac wrote:

BTW, stirring a wash everyday is not necessarily a good idea, in the normal run of things, as it introduces Oxygen and the yeast cells rapidly revert to their other favourite pastime - reproduction!

Tried eversohard to not reply.... Lets just agree its not that black and white and people should not be scared of air. Peeps should not be scared to go in their ferments. I do regularly. Every single one. Making an oaked beer and the mo and have had my hands in it 2-3 times already. I some wines 2-3 times a day for 2 weeks.

Sorry I have a pet orange box with "air phobia" written on the side :-)

I found this article on yeast and oxygen quite educational:
http://www.morebeer.com/articles/how_yeast_use_oxygen
The truth seems rather different from "common wisdom".

I don't disagree with you Mashy but my comment was for the benefit of beginners doing essentially sugar washes for distilling purposes. That's why I qualified what I said as follows;
"...it is not necessarily a good idea..." and
"...in the normal run of things..."

Real Wines and Beers, even for distilling, can be a whole different kettle of fish and require many strange rituals and practices, like sicking your hands up your oaked beer and I'm sure you know what you're doing there whereas I wouldn't have a clue.

The article puts it better than I ever will. Good find.

chill wrote:I found this article on yeast and oxygen quite educational:
http://www.morebeer.com/articles/how_yeast_use_oxygen
The truth seems rather different from "common wisdom".

"the problem with internet quotes is you cant always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln 1864.

Abe Lincoln must be right

The article from Morebeer does however follow the same principles my oenology lecturer taught.

chill wrote:I found this article on yeast and oxygen quite educational:
http://www.morebeer.com/articles/how_yeast_use_oxygen
The truth seems rather different from "common wisdom".

That is one hard,but very interesting read,now bookmarked for posterity.Thanks for sharing.

optic wrote:
"the problem with internet quotes is you cant always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln 1864.

That just had me rolling around the floor laughing!

Just to say that having aerated my washes before pitching,I gently stir the yeastie head back under the surface,almost daily if I remember.
That seems to work for me.(Glad to have a little more understanding as to why)
I don't object to trying /incorporating new practices,but when you are riding a winning horse,why would you look around for advice?
When the day comes that we fall at the last fence,no doubt I will call a Stewards enquiry,and look for solutions.

Robert.

My latest wash is now complete, ending with an SG of 1000.

With these washes, do you have to degas and then kill of the yeast like you do with wine. I usually use Campden tablets and Potassium Sorbate for this, but if needed will it affect the flavour of the final spirit.

All washes will clear faster if degassed. A clearer wash should result in improved flavours, but I have run cloudy ones and not noticed the result was terrible. I don't see a need to kill the yeast - boiling the wash will kill them soon enough! We are not going to be storing this for a long time.