Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

So put my first one down in 25L (30L) fermenter, bit of foam after the first 30 mins stirred it back in.
Now it just fizzes? I tried putting the air lock on no bubbles but can her and see fizzing and garage smells like molasses (I love it, wife hates it), but no bubbles out of airlock, could be rubber seal, no HBS open until Tuesday. Thoughts??

Take off and put lid back on. Think coles iga big w in home brew section have the rubber rings. Plenty dont use an airlock but I do.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks bluc, but nope no big w here, coles, woolies and iga a no go for these. Is the fizzing normal, will it be ok till tuesday?

Fizzing is what its supposed to do all good! Just keep lid on will keep insects out :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I've resorted to using glad wrap and elastic as a fly strainer! :))

:laughing-rolling: i bet you get more than your fair share of the little flying buggers. North Western qld when sleeping out they use to crawl under closed eyelids and bath on your eyeballs at first light :laughing-rolling:

Yeeeeeees little pita buggers!!

Turd-budgies, we call them; they thrive in turds and .... other living creatures lives!

It's funny but we somehow manage to get a couple into a jar or more! Sometimes we find them in the funell we use to transfer the liquid from one container to another! Don't know how these little blighters get in... 8-}

PS: I have realised that they 'fly-in'! :teasing-neener:

Hey all, I've got a question for the more experienced rum makers. I've made my first big wash (180 litre) and have run half through the still. Now that I've let air into the fermenter, how long have I got before it goes bad? My boiler is the standard 50 litre keg so I'll have another two runs left before I've used it all. That 100 litre boiler of macs is looking better everyday.

Andy, I've left the fermentes with molasses for a couple of months post ferment. No problem at all.
The 100L boiler does make things easilier for the big ferments.

andybear wrote:Hey all, I've got a question for the more experienced rum makers. I've made my first big wash (180 litre) and have run half through the still. Now that I've let air into the fermenter, how long have I got before it goes bad? My boiler is the standard 50 litre keg so I'll have another two runs left before I've used it all. That 100 litre boiler of macs is looking better everyday.

I've done that with an uj. What I did was throw 1/2 a kg or so of sugar syrup (so I didn't have to stir it in to dissolve) in to produce a bit more CO2 to refill the headspace on the barrel. I then left it for a few more weeks as I wasn't sure how long before I could get another crack at it. Tiny boiler was a nuisance.
However I used scrupulously clean transfer gear as well.

warramungas wrote:

andybear wrote:Hey all, I've got a question for the more experienced rum makers. I've made my first big wash (180 litre) and have run half through the still. Now that I've let air into the fermenter, how long have I got before it goes bad? My boiler is the standard 50 litre keg so I'll have another two runs left before I've used it all. That 100 litre boiler of macs is looking better everyday.

I've done that with an uj. What I did was throw 1/2 a kg or so of sugar syrup (so I didn't have to stir it in to dissolve) in to produce a bit more CO2 to refill the headspace on the barrel. I then left it for a few more weeks as I wasn't sure how long before I could get another crack at it. Tiny boiler was a nuisance.
However I used scrupulously clean transfer gear as well.

Great tip, thanks!

So now I need a little advice,
I check on my fermenter yesterday and, after putting a second heat belt on, noticed the temp around 40 deg and no more fizzing :angry-banghead: , quickly turned off heat belts, it is now done to 30 deg but still no fizzing. Have I killed the yeast? Can I save this wash?

What yeast and how long has it been going. Perhaps it has finished? If its bakers wont have died at 40c :-B

Lowans Yeast, put in down on the 29th in the afternoon, have the air lock issues, as previously discussed, so a little concerned.

At that temp wouldnt be suprised if it was done. Taste it if its dry its done. If you dont want to taste it put some on your finger let it dry if its not sticky then its done.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So I tasted it, Id say its dry.
I also some on my finger let it dry it was not stick.
Really done that that quick??
Should I leave it longer? Will it achieve anything? Or should I run it and get 2nd generation going??
Thanks everyone for their help so far. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Leaving it sit then taking off the top helps prevent puking. If you treat it gentle you can run it now. Quite often mine finish in 3 days :handgestures-thumbupleft:

by taking of the top do you mean using a jug and scooping out the top of the fermenter, not using the tap?

In my fermenter i have a u shaped pipe sticking up that i attach a boozooka screen to. The u bend takes the drain point above the sediment/grain bed..

going to run it tomorrow morning and just scoop out from the top as to not disturb it. Looking forward to it.