Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I've managed to grab a small 100g bag of calcium carbonate from the hbs, how much will I need to lift my stalled cfw back to life?
It's a 50L gen 3 wash and I think it's around a ph of 2.5
I've been adding a few litres of dunder each gen.
And will I need to re pitch yeast after its balanced back up?

Iv had few issues with low ph lately. The water here has turned acidic this year and I didn't realise it and everything was stalling. The pet shop had 5kg of shell grit for $15, it did job but so far Iv found egg shells to be best. Pitch half and check it in morn, it shouldn't need any more yeast, should start back up by itself :handgestures-thumbupleft:

And I forgot to mention that I cracked the eggs and ate them all, nothing wrong with 6 eggs for brekky I say :teasing-tease: it was all for a good cause :laughing-rolling: then put them in oven for 15min, then smashed them to powder with mortar an pestle once they cooled :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I've never used it but found this

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-3/und ... adjustment

Calcium Carbonate is fairly insoluble in water and more so as temp increases.. Baking Soda..(Sodium Bicarbonate) should do the job a bit more efficiently.

Kenster wrote:Calcium Carbonate is fairly insoluble in water and more so as temp increases.. Baking Soda..(Sodium Bicarbonate) should do the job a bit more efficiently.

Doesn't that add flavours in tho?

Wobblyboot wrote:

Kenster wrote:Calcium Carbonate is fairly insoluble in water and more so as temp increases.. Baking Soda..(Sodium Bicarbonate) should do the job a bit more efficiently.

Doesn't that add flavours in tho?

Yeah, I won't be using bi carb :handgestures-thumbdown: :puke-huge:

Kenster wrote:Calcium Carbonate is fairly insoluble in water and more so as temp increases.. Baking Soda..(Sodium Bicarbonate) should do the job a bit more efficiently.

ph of 2.5 Calcium Carbonate would react with the acids so would not need to dissolve in the water.
The egg shell is a good idea when i put in the garden i put in the blender this would wash all the crap off the shell Salmonella is present in eggs and putting in the oven would help to kill the Salmonella and make the shells powder up better.

Yes Calcium carbonate is fairly insoluble in water. That's why lots of seafood wear it for houses. Water has a fairly neutral Ph. Its soluble like crazy in an acidic environment like an acidic wash though. If there's an excess of calcium carbonate it will dissolve up until it reaches somewhere in the 6's (my memory fails me) and will stop dissolving and maintain the Ph there. It will dissolve and consume the acid as quick as its created.

What's the process with shells for those who are close to water and find that easier way to go? Heat up in oven and put in whole?

Wobblyboot wrote:What's the process with shells for those who are close to water and find that easier way to go? Heat up in oven and put in whole?

I'd scrub them, rinse them nice and clean then bake em in the oven over 150 degrees for 1/2 an hour (once all shells are up to temp) or so. Should be nice and sterile by then.

Wobblyboot wrote:What's the process with shells for those who are close to water and find that easier way to go? Heat up in oven and put in whole?

I find hot backset is a good way to go. Drop them into the backset just out of the boiler in a bucket and wait for it to cool. Fish the shells out and they are ready to use in the wash.

Teddysad wrote:

Wobblyboot wrote:What's the process with shells for those who are close to water and find that easier way to go? Heat up in oven and put in whole?

I find hot backset is a good way to go. Drop them into the backset just out of the boiler in a bucket and wait for it to cool. Fish the shells out and they are ready to use in the wash.

True but only if you're using the backset in the wash. If you're only using it to sterilize the shell you're going to dissolve a lot of the shell unnecessarily. Would be a good way to reduce initial backset Ph though before adding into a wash. Hotter it is the better it'll work.
The oven sterilizes the shell without reducing the amount of CaCO3 you have available or needing hot backset available.

I just got some 1 kg bags of calcium carbonate from a horse supply place for 5 bucks each I'm going to try that my CFW is stalled also at 1030 :handgestures-thumbdown:

pH is a parabolic scale (and high confused the poop out of me initially) but we'd go by tablespoons full; take a reading, chuck in a then mix, take a reading - repeat as necessary.

pH was our initial problem but we have used bicarb and haven't noticed 'flavours' ... not sure if that is a testimony on our taste or if it is a myth...

Of late, I've been trying coffees' approach of using prepped oyster shells. He uses half a dozen in 150-200L so I thought I'd be safe with just one.... it completely dissolved (unless it came to life and climbed out)!

We have a long weekend in WA this weekend so I'm hoping to boil this ferment (to kill any infection and to try to clarify it at the same time), then test pH, adjust as necessary and try to ferment again. See what comes of it, don't see how I can loose!