Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Good afternoon all, i am really hoping someone can help with a little information.

My hubby is wanting to create a 200 liter wash using his newly cleaned out and sanitized ex-olive barrel, but instead of using bakers yeast this time he is wanting to try Still Spirits Dry Vodka yeast.

We have one packet and it was suggested we try to make propagate our own growing enough for a big starter, we already have a stir plate but no idea on what to do.

Any help would be much appreciated

Hi Vicki,

Im not familiar with the Dry yeast, but i use the 220 litre fermenters for my sugar washes all the time.

I mix all teh sugar/hot water/tomato paste wash all with a battery drill and a Bunnings paint stirrer. Once the wash temp is below 30oC I make a yeast bomb.

A yeast bomb is made in a large bowl with couple of teaspoons of sugar, a crushed up vitamin B tablet and enough boiling water to mix it all together, once mixed add cold water to get the temp below 30oC, then add in your yeast. Let it sit for 30 mins. Pour the contents of the bowl into the fermenter and stur again with the paint sturer and battery drill to add aeration and to ensure its well mixed.

Ive never had any trouble with this method, i cant see why it wouldnt work with the Dry yeast.

I’m not sure what a stir plate is but I always rehydrate my yeast before pitching.
In a big 5L jug I add about 1L of warm water with a spoonful of sugar and then add the yeast, stir and watch!! Don’t leave it unattended for long!! It will foam up and overflow!!!

My suggestion is to use a yeast pitch rate calculator from a beer brewing site like https://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/
From my playing with the numbers in that calculator site, one packet won't really be enough.

Assuming OG: 1.08
Wort Vol: 150L (I think leaves plenty of space)
Using 10 packets, gives a starter size of 6L , 1.3Kg of DME, gravity 1.08
How big is that stir plate ?
What is your "packet" size ? The little 11g or a 500g block
good luck

stir plate uses a magnetic bar spinning magnetic field and a heating plate to continually stir and if need heat a liquid big with beer fellas.
The idea is get some of the wash after its mixed say a 10-20l bucket and 15 odd litres of the wash Sanitize the bucket before pouring wash in. Put some of the wash in the stir plate flask along with the yeast and the idea is to step up the size of the starter. flask first then 6-7litres once foaming well then 15l. Once 15l is foaming well add it to the rest of the wort.
I never bother but I haven't done vodka/neutral yet, I do re-hydrate yeast when doing all grain stuff..

One other thing any wash you have out for your starter keep it airtight to avoid wild yeast and bacteria :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Vicki55 wrote:We have one packet and it was suggested we try to make propagate our own growing enough for a big starter, we already have a stir plate but no idea on what to do.

Use you one packet to make a starter of say half a litre, once this is going full pelt transfer it to 2L of wash in another container, once this is going hard add it to 5L of wash etc. Once you reckon it's a big enough starter (I would go to about 10L) then dump that into the big wash :handgestures-thumbupleft:

:text-+1:
as sam said. start small and go bigger and bigger (may take a day or two depending on Temp and aeration). In the lab we use sterile equipment but provide a lot of aeration (shaking constantly). Under these conditions (aerob, plenty of Oxygen), the yeast will grow much faster but wont make any alcohol. Once you are happy with your starter, go to your proper fermenter and treat as usual (no oxygen to make alcohol).

One other thing any wash you have out for your starter keep it airtight to avoid wild yeast and bacteria

'Airtight' is not a good word here or maybe I misunderstood. Your fermenter may explode if there is no gas exchange (yeast, when growing, will produce plenty of CO2 even in a starter). Seriously, dont worry about wild yeast at this stage. You are adding grams of dry yeast to your starter. They will outcompete any contaminant (bacteria or wild yeast) if you use some basic standards of sanitation.
cheers rs

Wash that was taken out of the fermenter that will be used for the starter.
Not the starter or the fermentation vessel. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Airtight doesnt always mean sealed, nothing in or out ie in the case of using an airlock still airtight but only in one direction. In...

I have a bad habit of writing stuff as I think it rather than how others will percieve it. I am working on it :D

I just assume that ppl are half cut when posting on here anyway 8-}

:laughing-rolling:

RC Al wrote:I just assume that ppl are half cut when posting on here anyway 8-}

:laughing-rolling:
Who, me??? :obscene-drinkingdrunk: it is a forum dedicated to those of us that like a drink after all.
Sam, how long between upsizing from 2-5-10L do you recommend? Is it hours or days?

:laughing-rolling:

no worries, i had the feeling I misunderstood you bluc.
carry on!

Hours, but go by activity not a time frame :handgestures-thumbupleft:

rumsponge wrote: treat as usual (no oxygen to make alcohol).


cheers rs

Hang on a sec , back the bus up . Have I missed something here (quite possible )

No oxygen to make alcohol ?

Am I making a mistake by aerating with with a power dill and a paint stirrer after pitching my yeast ?

I know selective quoting is fraught with danger but this just caught my eye .

Cheers Al

My understanding is the yeast use oxygen when then are fast multiplying, that’s when they consume nutrients & oxygen to make lots of babies, who do the same , until they mature enough to feed of the glucose to burp co2 and piss alcohol. But I’m only going by my understanding.

prawnz wrote:

rumsponge wrote: treat as usual (no oxygen to make alcohol).


cheers rs

Hang on a sec , back the bus up . Have I missed something here (quite possible )

No oxygen to make alcohol ?

Am I making a mistake by aerating with with a power dill and a paint stirrer after pitching my yeast ?

I know selective quoting is fraught with danger but this just caught my eye .

Cheers Al

I think by what you are doing prawnz, you are giving the yeast a chance to start multiplying before they try to start making alcohol. You're not doing anything wrong.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

:text-+1:
aeration after pitching the yeast is good. gives the yeast a headstart. but yes, they wont make alcohol until they run out of oxygen.

here is a more scientific explanation:
https://www.morebeer.com/articles/oxygen_in_fermentation

My opinion would be ,first wash in ya 200lt should be using say 6 packs of that yeast and 6kg sugar per pack,to give you a base line and give a better than average chance of a good ferment,yes growing up yeast is cheaper but with the 200lt fermenter the volumes needed are much bigger than for a 25-50lt fermenter wich most hobbyist use and the stir plates are hard ta use with more than a 5lt flask,wich is as big as ya need for a 25-50lt fermenter but for a 200lt one thats the size you would first mix up and need ta end up with at least 30-50lt starter to be equivalent to the 6packs,and a lack of yeast could stall the ferment or make it very slow ta get going giving bugs a chance to out compete the yeast and ruin ya brew,you could also try collecting the yeast trub from the first brew and refrigerate it in bottles until ya next brew and then use less packs. Propagating yeast is a skill and I would get a little practice on small brews befor risking a big 200lt ferment with no experience.I always aerate my wash and help mixing by pumping from the fermenter outlet back into the top with hose for an hour befor pitching yeast and half an hour after.cheers hillzabilly ;-)