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Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from Gen1

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:04 am
by twobottles
Hi there,

I put on a 30l rum wash almost 4 weeks ago that was pretty well finished and by my estimates should be 8-9% abv.

I racked it off into another fermenter and wanted to get the next one underway before I will get the chance to strip this wash and use the dunder for gen 2.

After racking the wash I added some water and a little sugar at the same temp, 18c. I poured this into a separate container then mixed up my next 30l wash in the cleaned and sterilised fermenter.

Adjusted the temp to 23c and added the sludge/yeast. I was expecting to see something after 1 hour but nothing and still nothing this morning 8 hours on. The molasses is sulphur and preservative free.

Any ideas? Did all the old yeast die?

Cheers

Re: Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:14 am
by bt1
Howdy,

Has it got any nutrients in for the yeast?
DAP, vegemite or vitim B tablets, Epsom salts?

Even without these it normally will restart but very slowly...surprise nothing so far. Your re add temp seems about right so doubt it was over cooked.

Second gens + may also be fairly high pH... some bicarb 2-3 teaspoons dissolved added slowly over about 3 - 4 separate gentle stirrings would tell. We've had washes that just sat until pH was tweaked.

bt1

Re: Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 8:45 am
by unsub
23c is a little on the low side from personal experience. I try and keep everything at or around 30c for my rum washes and don't have any issues with off smells/tastes or stalled ferments.

If you can, throw some heat into it and see what happens and if that fails then just throw in more yeast.

Re: Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:06 am
by r.c.barstud
hmmmmm :think: i have never had this happen before, but im guessing that the pH is out of whack, however i have on the odd occasion not clarified my molasses and that has slowed the start up shitloads, but it has never stalled. all signs point to the pH i think mate, the temps you are at are within the limits. if i get problems with start ups on dunder washes, i use a (sterilised) submersible pump and sheer the wash around the fermenter, it provides really good agitation and aeration and gets things going, i leave it running for a day or two and then remove it, it will also help with the foaming problems that rums can have with their aggresive foaming during fermenting.

Re: Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:40 pm
by twobottles
18hrs later and its very gently started bubbling. Should I still add 3 tsp of bicarb? The last time I tried gen2 with the same recipe it had a problem and stalled. I have wine nutrient, should I add some of this as well?

Re: Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 3:47 pm
by r.c.barstud
i had a look at my records from my slow starter, it too was gen 2, i used calcium carbonate, 2.5 grams with a 20 litre setback over 60 litre wash volume, i would tell you the pH but there is a molasses smudge right across the page, i could only just make out what i had scribbled down on the page. hope this helps.

Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from Gen1

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 4:08 pm
by Dominator
20L of dunder/backset will bring your ph down quite low. I usually add 10L of dunder to my 55L washes. But I only got a ph meter the other day, so I have not had a chance to use it yet.

Re: Rum wash not started after 12 hours on racked lees from

PostPosted: Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:35 pm
by twobottles
Ok, so my still is in pieces patiently waiting for me to find the time to build the extension to my reflux column enabling me to run from a keg boiler instead of my poxy little 5l boiler. The 1st gen was done and I wanted to get the next gen underway before I will get the chance to run the still and generate the backset. The general idea behind this is that I will split the next lees between two 30l fermenters, add 20l dunder and half the lees to each gen3, then make a gen4 from each gen3, and a gen5 from each gen4. So i'll end up with 8x30 ferments if I stop at 5. Any obvious flaws in this plan?

So anyway, no backset was added to this wash.

Assuming this one takes a couple of weeks It will give me time to get a ph meter. What ph am I aiming for a pre ferment rum wash to be?

I added 3 teaspoons, 1 spoon at a time over 1/2 an hour.

we'll just suck it and see I guess.