Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Well I'm trying to do a corn wheat and barley wash for whisky and it's taking too long to ferment it's my 3rd mash in a row that this is happening to first mash went to crap so I binned it (infection) after 2 weeks 2nd mash same thing but distilled it anyway and got 2 litres of bad alcahol now my 3rd one has been fermenting over a week now and it's slowly bubbling still I'm doing the recipe for all grain bourbon in the recipe development section so I pitched the yeast about 12 on Sunday and sunday night it was going well on Monday night it pretty much completely stopped and the temp of mash was 42c it started at 30c and it was a cool day around 20c how can I keep this cooler and I'm also confused about generations I though just do a all grain mash then distill it

If you give us a bit more info like what grains, are they feed grains, what yeast you are using, whats your ambient temps ect the ag brains here will be all over it.
Also are you running your wash through a reflux? If not update your profile ;-)

What are you fermenting in? is it closed top or open? I just did the bwko reciepe and each gen took 14 days till ready(cleared) in fermenter. As far as gens go you do a mash(boil the corn to release the starch from then add the malt barely,enzymes(if you use them) and the wheat, and let it steep in water no hotter than 65 degrees to convert the starch to sugar. But part of the total volume of the mash will be "backset" the stuff left over in boiler after a strip run the amount will vary, follow the recipe too start with then alter it to taste down the track if you want. Then once its cooled it all goes back on the yeast bed/lees/trub and the same yeast the fermented the first back ferments each generation from then on. Clear as mud??

Also a specific gravity reading would be helpful

Hi all for my 80l wash I used 15kg corn fine as I could mill it with my corona mill 4kg wheat malt and 4kg barley malt both cracked I used about 7l back set with about 80 l water boiled it all the way to 200c then put it in my esky only about half of water added corn mixed it in and closed the esky lid about 7 hours later I came back and added water and got temp 70c and then added wheat barley and 4 packs of enzymes and mixed well closed the lid, came back in the morning and had to cool off till 30c I used my copper chiller which just run water from my ibc it took about 3 hours to cool from 55c to 30c then I added whisky yeast 4 packets 72g my sg was 1070 after 24 hrs it stopped fermenting at 1040 and the temp of mash was 42c

Doesn't sound like technique is a problem did you sanitize everything before use? And is your fermenter open top or closed? Is it an old fermenter with scuffs scratch's on inside(if plastic) or any other obvious places that bacteria can live? Did you get a photo of the infected wash?

Closed top esky and I've got a spray bottle of sanitiser maybe on the first day I should leave the esky lid off and just cover with cloth or can I leave the lid off

i'd say get it out of the esky! Great for mashing in, not so much for fermenting. i would suggest the wash is generating heat and the insulation of the esky is trapping it all in. put it in a plain sided fermenting vessel and it will allow it to expel some heat. A screw top drum with an air lock is a good way to keep nasties out too. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Sounds like 1 thing to try but is it possible to heat and cool my mash in my esky automatically maybe with a element under a false bottom and some sort of immersion chiller

Keep it simple dude :handgestures-thumbupleft:

domgistimo wrote:Hi all for my 80l wash I used 15kg corn fine as I could mill it with my corona mill 4kg wheat malt and 4kg barley malt both cracked I used about 7l back set with about 80 l water boiled it all the way to 200c then put it in my esky only about half of water added corn mixed it in and closed the esky lid about 7 hours later I came back and added water and got temp 70c and then added wheat barley and 4 packs of enzymes and mixed well closed the lid, came back in the morning and had to cool off till 30c I used my copper chiller which just run water from my ibc it took about 3 hours to cool from 55c to 30c then I added whisky yeast 4 packets 72g my sg was 1070 after 24 hrs it stopped fermenting at 1040 and the temp of mash was 42c

Enzymes are tricky things, I would give them a miss in your next AG as your malted barley and wheat will handle the conversion fine. As long as you crush them to release all the goodness :handgestures-thumbupleft:

maddogpearse wrote:i'd say get it out of the esky!

:text-+1:
For sure, lots of heat generated early on.

domgistimo wrote:Sounds like 1 thing to try but is it possible to heat and cool my mash in my esky automatically maybe with a element under a false bottom and some sort of immersion chiller

I ferment in a old fridge, look up "fermenting fridge" here or elsewhere. Works a treat. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

How do commercial distillers keep the temp they require

Ok thats something to look into how do the commercial distillers keep the temp correct

lots of distilleries have been around since the 1800's. i doubt they used anything! if you think about it, rum likes a hot ferment, and rum was traditionally made it hot places. Things like scotch whiskey like a cooler ferment, and they were made in scotland, not an excessively hot country.
Bigger volumes tend to stabilize temperature better, so maybe try putting on a 10,000 liter wash and tell us how you go. :laughing-rolling:
Personally i don't really give two hoots about consistency. I need to have a heater on in winter, especially at night or my wash gets too cold. In summer if it's really hot, i open a window in my shed. Or don't put down a wash. i wait for a cooler week. There is a lot of consideration to think about in this game, but i think you can easily over think it, and spend time doing stuff that really doesn't matter all that much!
It will still work and taste great, just pull it out of the damn esky!

Usually in cold warehouses, with immersian chillers and heaters, constantly monitored and automatically adjusted.

scythe wrote:Usually in cold warehouses, with immersian chillers and heaters, constantly monitored and automatically adjusted.

I'm going to assume you are talking brewery not distillery here?

I thought larger batches, say 10 000L would get higher t emps with the extra yeast and thermal mass? maybe i was wrong but thought i saw that on a doco?

it does not matter if you are making whiskey or beer..up till distillation the process is identical ( with whiskey mashes even called beer)... to achieve consistent fermentation we built a large freezer room which we bought from a Woolworths which was being renovated... this room is capable of handling about 8000 liters... It has thermostatic control over a small fan heater... but most of the time the exothermic heat is all that is required. ..
To achieve something like this at home one could use an old fridge as a cabinet.
Doc

If you start off with a small batch can save on yeast by reusing the yeast and when measuring the temperature of the mash its hard to get an accurate temperature .