Teddy's Fast Fermenting Vodka (FFV) Discussion

[Bundaboy]

Yes it is white table sugar, the cheaper home brand type.

Cheers, in any case sugar is sugar more or less.

Oh, and I meant to ask how are you measuring pH? Litmus paper?

[Peregian]

I have a cheap digital ph meter purchased sometime ago and never used, thought I would crank it up just to see the ph level. Not sure if ph 6.1 is OK for a sugar wash, should do some research I guess.

Purchased the unit off eBay for about $15 or so.

[Bundaboy]

I have a cheap digital ph meter purchased sometime ago and never used, thought I would crank it up just to see the ph level. Not sure if ph 6.1 is OK for a sugar wash, should do some research I guess.

Purchased the unit off eBay for about $15 or so.

Ok good to know because my colour vision is not all that great and I haven't used Litmus paper for more than 40 years ;-)

Have you done your stripping run yet? (on previous batch)

[Peregian]

I have a cheap digital ph meter purchased sometime ago and never used, thought I would crank it up just to see the ph level. Not sure if ph 6.1 is OK for a sugar wash, should do some research I guess.

Purchased the unit off eBay for about $15 or so.

Ok good to know because my colour vision is not all that great and I haven't used Litmus paper for more than 40 years ;-)

Have you done your stripping run yet? (on previous batch)

This is a link to the ph meter I purchased....................
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OZ-Advanced- ... xyRhBS59-t

Yes, I have done the stripping run on all 4 previous washes, do 2 at time as they fill the 50 liter boiler just nice. Each run produces about 9 liter and I run the pot still at full speed down to an ABV of about 30. Next I will fill the smaller boiler and do the reflux run and this should yield about 7 liters of good stuff at MAX ABV, will take up most of the day as I run things very slowly.

Litmus paper would be no help in my case as I am color blind.

[Bundaboy]

I have a cheap digital ph meter purchased sometime ago and never used, thought I would crank it up just to see the ph level. Not sure if ph 6.1 is OK for a sugar wash, should do some research I guess.

Purchased the unit off eBay for about $15 or so.

Ok good to know because my colour vision is not all that great and I haven't used Litmus paper for more than 40 years ;-)

Have you done your stripping run yet? (on previous batch)

This is a link to the ph meter I purchased....................
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OZ-Advanced- ... xyRhBS59-t

Yes, I have done the stripping run on all 4 previous washes, do 2 at time as they fill the 50 liter boiler just nice. Each run produces about 9 liter and I run the pot still at full speed down to an ABV of about 30. Next I will fill the smaller boiler and do the reflux run and this should yield about 7 liters of good stuff at MAX ABV, will take up most of the day as I run things very slowly.

Litmus paper would be no help in my case as I am color blind.

I don't know how I came to write "stripping run" as I meant "spirit run" - You had already mentioned the stripping run a few messages back and I went back and checked it - that must have been what they call a Freudian slip.

Anyway you answered the question - good luck with the spirit run - as if you need that! ;-)

Yes, for all intents and purposes both the stripping run and the spirit run take a day out of my life (another good reason for a faster ferment - oh well).

All I can say is a person who is colour blind (red-green for me) AND makes his own spirit can't be all bad! ;-)

Thanks for that link - have placed an order - cheaper than Litmus paper I think.

[Peregian]

Well the 72 hours is up and the 4 washes just failed to hit the finishing SG 0.980, at present the SG is 1.000 so will give them another 24 hours and rack for a week or two.

Seems the lower wash temperature, 31deg C when bakers yeast added, did make a small difference to the finish time but not significantly. I will go back to pitching the yeast between 36-40deg C.

The 4 washes still feel slightly warm to the touch after 72 hours, the room I use is draught free and kept closed during this colder weather.

[Bundaboy]

Well the 72 hours is up and the 4 washes just failed to hit the finishing SG 0.980, at present the SG is 1.000 so will give them another 24 hours and rack for a week or two.

Seems the lower wash temperature, 31deg C when bakers yeast added, did make a small difference to the finish time but not significantly. I will go back to pitching the yeast between 36-40deg C.

The 4 washes still feel slightly warm to the touch after 72 hours, the room I use is draught free and kept closed during this colder weather.

Yep, it got down to 10C here last night inside the fermenting room (laundry) and it has probably been colder over the last week. My first ferment (20/7/16) has still not reached 1.00 after 2 weeks.

Do you normally rack it off for that long? If so how well does it clear?

I don't bother to rack it for long - after 2 weeks it's already settled down a lot and I then just filter it with some cheese cloth to get any remaining floaters.

I do find I have to filter after the spirit run, do you?

[Peregian]

Do you normally rack it off for that long? If so how well does it clear?

I don't bother to rack it for long - after 2 weeks it's already settled down a lot and I then just filter it with some cheese cloth to get any remaining floaters.

I do find I have to filter after the spirit run, do you?

Yes I always rack any type of wash and after 2 weeks they seem to be very clear.

I drain the fermenter into several 10 liter buckets, rinse out the fermenter and then replace the wash and leave for 2 weeks or so.

Never have I ever filtered any spirits. The neutral is for gin so it is distilled for a third time and is top stuff.

Bourbon is oaked and then aged further by aeration for about 3 weeks, but that's another long story.

[Bundaboy]

Do you normally rack it off for that long? If so how well does it clear?

I don't bother to rack it for long - after 2 weeks it's already settled down a lot and I then just filter it with some cheese cloth to get any remaining floaters.

I do find I have to filter after the spirit run, do you?

Yes I always rack any type of wash and after 2 weeks they seem to be very clear.

I drain the fermenter into several 10 liter buckets, rinse out the fermenter and then replace the wash and leave for 2 weeks or so.

Never have I ever filtered any spirits. The neutral is for gin so it is distilled for a third time and is top stuff.

Bourbon is oaked and then aged further by aeration for about 3 weeks, but that's another long story.

Cheers, I'll try that on the next run by starting my next fermentation pretty much immediately - I need to build up a "reserve" so I don't have weeks of abstinence ;-).

[Bundaboy]

LOL Ok, 18 days and my first ferment is just on 1.00, second on 1.02, and the third, that has been on a heat mat, all done and probably has been for a couple of days.

Does anyone have plans for a heating cabinet?

[Peregian]

Maybe an old defunked fridge with the shelving removed, drill a hole in the bottom for some ventilation, not the top as the hot air will rise and you need as much warmth as possible.

If the temperature is still too low inside the fridge run a small watt light globe to keep the temperature up.

You could automate the inside temperature with a STC1000 temp controller.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-STC- ... SwMmBV7Q1c

By using a STC1000 you can set the inside of the fridge to the desired temp.

[Bundaboy]

Yep I have the STC1000 AND an old (small) freezer that I have kept for just that purpose - unfortunately that was in the good old days when I was using an air still and only needing to do a single ferment at a time. It would only hold a single fermenter and my smallest at that.

Getting a large fridge home is problematical (or costly) so I was thinking about building what would ostensibly be just a largish wooden crate that is insulated with foil batts - I could even line it with sheet steel if necessary. I am thinking that a single heat mat would keep it reasonable warm - but yeah an incandescent light bulb or something similar could be added if necessary.

The crate, to hold three fermenters which is the minimum I need to charge my still, would be approximately 1200 x 600 x 500 - so quite manageable.


LOL BTW I have had the first ferment on the heat mat for an hour or so and it has burst back into life - it good be just some degassing going on though I suppose.

On the other hand I have a 165L that should come to life when the weather gets warmer (I couldn't convince myself I could keep such a large ferment warm enough).

[Bundaboy]

This is a link to the ph meter I purchased....................
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/OZ-Advanced- ... xyRhBS59-t

Oh BTW, I received that yesterday and look forward to using it on the next wash, looks good.

Thanks for the tip.

[Bundaboy]

LOL 21 days and still bubbling, at least the SG has dropped below 1.00 - I will probably rack it tonight regardless - it's costing me more in heat pad electricity than it would to buy top shelf stuff methinks.

[Peregian]

All I can say is, must be fekin cold down your way.

What brand of bakers yeast are you using?

[Nino]

LOL 21 days and still bubbling, at least the SG has dropped below 1.00 - I will probably rack it tonight regardless - it's costing me more in heat pad electricity than it would to buy top shelf stuff methinks.

This maybe a silly question, Have you wrapped your fermenter in a blanket to keep the heat in?

I wrap mine in an old blanket with a heat pad under it and it ferments out in about 5 days.

[Bundaboy]

All I can say is, must be fekin cold down your way.

What brand of bakers yeast are you using?

All last week -2C min, 10C max.

I don't feel the cold much but last week I did because it has been pretty much relentless, and the cold has seeped in (metaphorically speaking) through the insulation more so than it ever has.

I use Lowan Premium Baker's Yeast - that seems to be pretty standard on the forum.

[Bundaboy]

This maybe a silly question, Have you wrapped your fermenter in a blanket to keep the heat in?

I wrap mine in an old blanket with a heat pad under it and it ferments out in about 5 days.

Well, to charge my still I need at least 3 x 23L washes. I have one on a heat pad and 2 on an electric blanket.

They are all in the laundry and I have an oil heater keeping the ambient temperature at around a minimum of 14C~15C (it's hard to get it higher when it's -2 outside).

I admit I haven't tried the blanket trick.

I have written this before but I was having similar problems last summer as well when the ambient temp would have been at least 18C.

So unless the wash needs to be closer to 30C I just don't know.

[Sam.]

The only way you are going to achieve a super fast ferment is with a fairly high ferment temp.... among other things like plenty of nutrients and viable yeast etc.

[Bundaboy]

The only way you are going to achieve a super fast ferment is with a fairly high ferment temp.... among other things like plenty of nutrients and viable yeast etc.

Well I can only assume the "nutrients and viable yeast etc." are correct as I am following the recipe fastidiously, I guess it's worth doing an experiment with one fermentation kept at a constant temperature - any suggestions as to what a "fairly high ferment temp" should be?