StillSmart

So, I live in the states and I ordered a t500 from Mile Hi distilling company four weeks ago. Their website stated they have them in stock ready to ship. So I expected to have it at least two weeks ago. After several calls ( they won't answer the phone) and several text I still don't have it. They texted me a week ago and said it has been shipped however they refuse to give me a tracking number. I hate doing business online. You have nowhere to go to report bogus businesses online.Now I have mash that I started thinking I would have my still in time to run it so I guess it goes down the drain. Do not ever do business with this company!!!!!!!!! Thanks for listening to my whining .:-) Now I am going to have to go shopping for a new one.

Don't bin it. Clear the wash get some Capden Tabs from a HBS and sterilise the clear wash, put a lid on it and it'll be fine

AM

Well after I vented here they texted me with tracking numbers and it will be here tomorrow. :-) I just checked my mash after 5 days of bubbling it has a reading of 1085, 11.2 % alc and bris of 20.50 . Still bubbling so I will wait until it stops before I run. Can't wait to get my first run under my belt. I sterilized my bottles with a bleach and water solution, anyone got any other ideas for sterilizing?

edwatters wrote:Well after I vented here they texted me with tracking numbers and it will be here tomorrow. :-) I just checked my mash after 5 days of bubbling it has a reading of 1085, 11.2 % alc and bris of 20.50 . Still bubbling so I will wait until it stops before I run. Can't wait to get my first run under my belt. I sterilized my bottles with a bleach and water solution, anyone got any other ideas for sterilizing?

No need to sterilise the bottles, your pouring strong alcohol into them, not a beer. Nothing funky is going to grow in that.
I just wash out to get rid of any lingering smells tastes from the previous contents.

BTW, how much sugar in what amount of water did you start with, 1085 is higher than my usual starting gravity, never mind after its been going 5 days.

I used 13 lbs of cane sugar and 5.5 gallons water with a rum yeast. I didn't measure it on day 1. I didn't realize until now that I needed to lol.

That is 6Kg in 23L of water. Did you add any nutrients? Were there nutrients with the rum yeast? That seems like a really slow (stuck) ferment.

Chuck

Nutrients were in the yeast. Should I be adding something else to improve it.nine also added liquid carbon

Liquid Carbon...really Ed!...we gotta have a talk.

6kg in 25lt and a gravity reading of 1.085 sounds like starting gravity. There's a gravity calculator on HD that you can work out the gravity of a sugar/water wash, here's the link, http://homedistiller.org/calcs/sugar_sg just enter the weight of sugar and the final wash volume.

The calc says the above wash would have a Starting Gravity of 1.092 so something's definitely up

Any chance your gravity reading is wrong?

AM

OK checked it again and it now shows gravity 1070. Alcholol 18% and brix 18. I used carbon because the t500 instructions said to. I take it it isn't nessecary :-). Calculator says I should be1099 and 15.3% alcohol. What numbers am I looking for when it is ready to run

The calculator only tells you what the gravity would be and the potential alcohol when fermentation is finished. If your gravity is 1.070 your wash has hardly started and has a long way to go.

AM

I have to be reading it wrong. It has been actively bubbling for days now. Pfffff

Mt RoboRum started at 1.114, yesterday and seems to be taking its time to get bubbling,, should I be worried or wait for it to keep going,, I moved the wash bucket closer to the wood stove for more heat..
There is signs of fermentation as the yeast was very active when I pitched it in..

@ edwatters; can you post a close up pic of the hydrometer in a sample or even in the fermenter? Also, what was the yeast pack you used?

@ KerryW; I'm not familiar with "Roborum" but a gravity of 1.114 is very high. What was the full recipe you used? Keeping a fermenter near a log burner may not be a good idea as part of the fermenter may get too hot and kill the yeast cells and this would eventually kill all the yeast as convection would move live cells into the 'kill' zone.

AM

RoboRum,, oh I nicknamed RoboStill's rum recipe that,, it might stick now,,
I placed the wash bucket closer to the wood stove, but what I should have said was to a warmer room that has a better heat source,, I will be monitoring it closely for the next day,,

Can't get the uplloader to work to post a pic of the hydrometer sorry. However after looking at the hydrometer I find that it is a beer and wine hydrometer. I assume it the wrong one. Checked the mash this morning and it dropped in gravity by twenty overnight so I think I'm on track for a 7 or 8 day ferment time. :-) :-) :-) :-)