by ekul » Wed Nov 05, 2014 11:35 pm
Speccifically in bundaberg or gympie area? I've been making rum for years now and never had trouble. I used to pitch the yeast and it would be done in 5 days.
They dont ferment anywhere near as vigorous as they usually do and today i've had one fail to even start!!! Last three batches have finished at 1040, which is extremely high for me.
My recipe for 180L ferment:
20L molasses
16kg sugar
2x teaspoon craftbrewer yeast butrient
some lowans bakers yeast
I got some molasses from boylans in bundaberg about a month ago and some more at a feedstore in gympie. I have used heaps of molasses from boylans because my folks live up there so i get them to grab a few cubes full whenever they come to visit but i dont think i've used any from this season. Anyone finding this stuff to be of bad quality lately?
The only other thing that has changed is that I moved from St Lucia to West End. The water in st lucia tastes really bad so i assume it has more minerlas in it. My beer ferments have been just as vigorous however so i dont think its the water.
My wash pH was sitting around 3. When calcium carbonate wouldnt budge it i started adding sodium bicarb and managed to get it up to 4. It took 500g to get it there though. Bought a pH meter (using strips atm) so when that gets here ill probably use sodium hydroxide to bump it up a little more.
BOught some molasses from brookfield produce today to try one more batch but if it fails I think ill have to bust out the mash tun and just make bourbon till next cane season.
Its VERY frustrating. Never had a drama and now its failure after failure.,