Yeast in UJSM type washes

[kiwikeg]

UJSM type washes (see tried and proven recipes) are very popular and economical washes.
I have done a few with diferant grains and yeasts. here is my limited experiance with the yeasts so far

Bakers yeast-
is widley promoted on the net forums as the ultimate brewers yeast, I have found it very reliable,cheap and easily availible at supermarkets everywhere. Think household brandnames like Edmonds, Tasti etc :think:

Redstar Premium Cuvee wine yeast-
very nice flavours fast ferments availible from a few independent HBS. $3-$4 a small packet but as you reuse the grain bed the yeast keeps going from generation to generation but i have found it starts to stall about gen4-5 for all sorts of possible reasons , Redstar is my favourite yeast for this type of wash :handgestures-thumbupleft:

i beleive EC-118 has similar characteristics to the Redstar above but i have not tried it yet.

Still Spirits Distillery Yeast Whisky with AG 72g-
expensive at $9 a pack HBS owner assured me i would pull all the desirable cogeners from the wash and blah blah blah tried not impressed bread yeast won in a side by side taste test of white dog end product the judges opinion of this yeast- "eww thats Too strong" it might improve with oaking but why bother dumped it all into feints jar at generation 1- IMHO total waste of money. :handgestures-thumbdown:

Yeast is a living organism and as living things may adapt over generations to to their surroundings thus after 4-5 wash generations you may have a yeast strain that is well adapted to its own needs for the conditions in your wash barrel but may not be meeting your needs ie fast ferments, high ABV, taste etc

What I have started doing for UJSM type washes that works well so far is.... at gen 4-5
I tip my hot backset onto the grain bed thus possibly killing off a large amout of the resident adapted yeast population.
add my suger and some new grains and stir
once cooled to 30c i add new yeast thus making the dominant yeast once more the the original strain.
this works for me and resolves the stalling of washes that may otherwise occur.

Any comments or other recommendations for yeasts for UJSM types washes?

[R-sole]

Any comments or other recommendations for yeasts for UJSM types washes?

Yep. I use Danstil C. Don't think it's available anymore, so kinda stupid as a reccomendation :))

I'd use any yeast made for distilling grain.

As far as the fermentation slowing and dying after 4-5 gens it's a ph issue not a yeast issue. I've got a ujsm that's been going for 3-4 years, not 3-4 gens.

Reduce your backset use to 20% or less and it should go a long way towards reducing your slowing/stalling problems.

[kiwikeg]

thanks Punkin- yep danstil c no longer availible, but you could be right about the backset as I have been tending towards 100% backset :angry-banghead: I knew about ph but had disregarded it as i didnt like the idea of trying to adjust it. :angry-banghead: my millet ujsm has been struggling for a long time and I have been using 100% backset to try to build up the flavour. will give it a few more generations trying 20% backset before I toss it out in case that brings it right.
:text-offtopic: I like the new portal stig very classy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[kiwikeg]

Okay 5Star or anyone else? I put only 20% backset into my millet UJSM its still a sluggish ferment.
its got loads of dead yeast for food.
its on a heat pad,
its on gen 6
what else does it need to make it fire????

[Kimbo]

Hi Kiwi,
Try gving it a really good stir up, if that doesn't work,
try using a bit of DAP and/or some epsom salts ;-)

[MacStill]

Yeah I'd be checking the ph levels ;-)

[Rumdrinker]

PH is most likely the culprit. I just checked my 5th gen wash & it's down to 3.5.
I'm stripping it now & will be checking the PH of the backset which I will be using 20% for the 6th gen wash. Pretty sure I'll need to adjust the PH for it to fire

[R-sole]

It'll be Ph or temp related. Measure both those things (and the gravity) and report back.

[kiwikeg]

It got a good stir when the new sugar went in.

I didnt have any DAP or epsom salts but I ground up 5 kids Centrum multivitamins and added those with another good stir this seems to have helped to speed the ferment up a lot.

this morning wash is 1.022 sg and 23.3c

I have no way of measuring ph as yet, will get a ph tester from chemist or petshop when they reopen tomorrow.

thanks

[R-sole]

It could stand to be a lot warmer than that. If you get it up to 28 or so it will go much faster.

[kiwikeg]

okay got the temp up to 28.2 by wrapping fermenter in sleeping bag.
tested Ph it was slightly less than Ph 4.0
so what do I do now ? :think:

[Brendan]

Talking about yeasts at the top of the topic, have a look at Punkins commercial thread (link below) mentioning the Lallemand DistilaMax distilling yeasts, and they have a product called DistilaMaxGW also, especially for grain washes...maybe there is one tailored towards a corn mash too? DistilaMaxDS is a general distilling yeast which can handle various grain and other mashes...

DAP and Yeast for Sale in Australia

[R-sole]

okay got the temp up to 28.2 by wrapping fermenter in sleeping bag.
tested Ph it was slightly less than Ph 4.0
so what do I do now ? :think:

Just wait for it to finish mate. You have good temp and ph, just keep an eye on the Og and see how it does now.

[kiwikeg]

I have found a supply of
Safspirit Malt and Safspirit American Whiskey
anyone had any experiance with these in a Orignial recipe cracked corn UJSM?
i am undecided which one to go for as my first choice my white labs scottish ale liquid yeast was f#$ked up by a dipsh*t courier.. :twisted: or by my inept atemp at a starter :oops:
any advice as to which one to choose will be gratefully accepted.

[R-sole]

either would work just fine.