First TPW down

[baldoss]

Finally put down my first TPW.. 2x 25L using the recipe from Tried & Proven exactly as described. Pitched yeast into both of them about 5 minutes ago, at roughly 33 degrees on both of them (next time I plan on following the recipe but only doing 8L of hot water to dissolve sugar, then going cold water from there up to 25L and see where that puts us).

SG on both was just a bit shy of 1.07. Got them sitting in 30L tubs with two layers of glad wrap over the top, secured with the rubber O-ring and one pin prick hole in the top of both of them. Let's see how we go :handgestures-thumbupleft: Hoping to check back on them in a couple hours and hear them fizzing away!

edit: Mac/Mods - I just realised this may supposed to be in the Sugar Wash section but not sure? Feel free to move if needed

[Brendan]

Good job Baldy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Don't be surprised if you don't see any action until tomorrow morning...

33 degrees is a good start, but if your temps are colder like mine are here, a TPW has been taking more than 6 hours to start showing signs of action. I end up going to bed and it's firing away when I check the next morning.

There are a few ways I have found to have it take off quicker, like inverting the sugar, increasing the temp with a heating belt, and using a yeast starter. End result will be the same though, good luck with it. :D

[baldoss]

When the recipe said it should land around 30 C and mine was at least 5 degrees higher than that I wondered if I was going to be stressing the yeast. On a lot of the beer forums they're quite adamant that 30 is the absolute max you should be pitching yeast as anywhere above this and apparently the yeasts develop more esters and fusels. I know we get rid of them ourselves in the distillation process but wondered if I'd get a 'better' wash by pitching at lower (28C or below) temp. Guess we'll find out :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Brendan]

Yeah mate, I thought the same thing with my first washes and I actually thought 30 deg meant the yeast would be near dead. I think I was pitching at around 25 degrees, and it would rise to high 20's anyway with the heat generated by fermentation.

People may disagree with me, but i've since seen many a commercial operation pitching between 30-35 degrees, so there can't be too much of a problem with it. I now don't worry as much as I used to...once it's below about 32 deg i'll get the yeast in there.

One thing I have found through research, is that more important than the pitching temp, is the difference between a starter and pitching temp of the wash. Say you have a starter which is just hydrating the yeast in tap water at 23 degrees, and you then pour that into a wash at 35 degrees, it can cause a lot of stress to the yeast that way. They often recommend to keep that difference well below 10 degrees, but i'd rather keep it a lot tighter than that. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[baldoss]

I'm using Lowans so I just chucked it straight out of the tin into a measuring cup to weigh it to 80g then put that straight into the wash, no activating or adding to water or anything. Cop that yeast!

[Brendan]

Yeah it'll be right, seems to be what a lot of people do :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I haven't used bakers yeast since the very few washes I did, but only because I bought specialty yeasts and they are 500gm blocks, so may as well use them! :)) I should run a comparison again with a baker's yeast just out of curiosity.

[baldoss]

Welp they're both fizzing away - one of them has about a 2-3 inch layer of thick, light orangey/browny foam on top of it, and the other has just some large bubble formations on it. Bit weird but whatever, they're both going for it so we'll see how they travel over the next couple of days :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Brendan]

That's a good start mate, must have been that pitching temp :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I think i'm going to start using the heating belts on my fermenters for the next few months now.

[googe]

Your off and racing baldy, well done :handgestures-thumbupleft: . You'd have to do something pretty bad to stuff a tpw up, I don't use heating in winter, sits in my shed freezing, ive had many blonde moments and pitched straight into the hot water, very rarely clean my fermenters, just hose em, don't use Epson salts or citric acid and never had one stall. Been close in the dead of winter on them 1c nights but still bubblin away the next day lol good luck mate.

[Brendan]

very rarely clean my fermenters, just hose em

Geez Googe, we are polar opposite...

I hose them for a start to get the main gunk out...then move them to the shower with removable head where I spray and wipe them out thoroughly with sodium percarbonate and a clean sponge, give them a good rinse and wipe again, then spray them with a no-rinse sanitiser (like 3% peroxide or whatever they are)...then keep the lid on until I put the wash in so that no dust can fall in there... :shifty:

[unsub]

I'm with googe. I just rinse my fermenters with hot water and if they have a bit of crap on the inside I wipe it out with my hand or a sponge and then leave them upside down on a plastic bag until I use them and then just rinse with hot water before making the wash. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[BackyardBrewer]

You are making the beer brewers cringe! But yes I have embraced the ease of cleaning when stilling. No real need to be as paranoid as I am with beer brewing.

[Bushy]

Yeah. :text-+1: on what Googe says.
This isn't beer we're making. Save yrself some muckin around Brendan. Hose it out and go again.

[1 2many]

I feel the old habbits cleaning and sterilizing for beer making will take a bit to wash off. Although it would be so much easier . ;-)

[blond.chap]

Think about it this way, whatever bacteria grows while you're fermenting will be pretty dead when it gets boiled, and very dead when it's stored in 40% alcohol (which I believe is used to sterilise biology labs).

[1 2many]

Think about it this way, whatever bacteria grows while you're fermenting will be pretty dead when it gets boiled, and very dead when it's stored in 40% alcohol (which I believe is used to sterilise biology labs).

Thanks blond.chap I think that therapy session worked great :)) . I think i am cured , less stress and hassel. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[invisigoth]

Think about it this way, whatever bacteria grows while you're fermenting will be pretty dead when it gets boiled, and very dead when it's stored in 40% alcohol (which I believe is used to sterilise biology labs).

nope, standard solution for surface sterilisation is 70% and it's usually flamed off when used on glass or stainless steel. :-B

[Geoff]

Just did my first TPW. How many of you carbon it? Or do most just air it only? (Using reflux for neutral)

[Sam.]

I don't carbon just make good cuts.

[blond.chap]

Think about it this way, whatever bacteria grows while you're fermenting will be pretty dead when it gets boiled, and very dead when it's stored in 40% alcohol (which I believe is used to sterilise biology labs).

nope, standard solution for surface sterilisation is 70% and it's usually flamed off when used on glass or stainless steel. :-B

I stand corrected (on the sterilising thing), 40% still isn't a great growth medium for bacteria.