Hi Folks
Well, this could be a marathon of a story but here goes. Being new to the game has caused so many little issues along the way that I have now lost count of the mistakes that have been made. Already learnt that I could have made better purchase choices or better still, made my own stuff. It has however, provided a quick fire learning process. I’ll keep going using the gear that I’ve purchased and see if I can get the best out of it. Only four washes distilled and I’m already looking for better alternatives. A few days ago I finished a spirit run on a couple of TPW’s that I’d stripped. And here’s where the story starts. Decided to use a Woolies brand of tomato paste for the wash. Ingredients were very similar to Leggo’s but the cheaper brand had a lower sodium content. I thought it would work well and at less than half the price of the other brand I thought I was on a winner. The two washes I made worked out well. It was only when I went back and checked later that I noticed that it was made in China. Now I know it’s only a yeast nutrient but...... Anyway, I started to think about chemicals, pesticides, natural products and all that sort of stuff. Read a bit on Kale washes and thought that might be an alternative. Now I don’t eat the stuff, don’t grow it and unless I went down the kale wash path, I probably never would. When I looked at my barren veggie garden, (it’s been too dry to plant anything) the only thing that was growing without any attention what so ever was my silverbeet. It’s a light green variety that I let go to seed every year and it pops up the following season in weed proportions. When I did a bit of research I found that it’s classified as one of those super foods. You know the ones- cures every disease under the sun and puts hairs on your chest etc. Anyway I thought if it’s good for us then maybe the little yeasties might munch on it. I had a look at googes kale recipe and the birdwatchers calculator and took a punt (the real scientific approach lol) Made up a 4l batch that I could run through my 5l boiler. Put a wash down and placed it in my warming fridge next to my TPW. Looked to be gurgling away quite well for a couple of days. Went to pull the TPW out of the fridge to check the SG and accidentally pulled the silverbeet wash out at the same time. Demi’s and concrete don’t mix well. Ended up with an sticky mess all over the shed floor. Not to be deterred, I went out and bought a new Demi and started again. The recipe and method I used For a 4l wash is as follows:
- 800g of sugar dissolved in hot water
- 23g of silverbeet leaves blended with about half a litre of cold water
The green “tea” was then boiled for a couple of minutes (I know there may be a loss of some nutrients but I wanted to ensure that the silverbeet was free of any foreign yeasts or bugs that may infect the wash. Also wanted some goodies released into the water for the yeast to grab onto as soon as they started working)
- A very small pinch of Epsom salts
- A couple of teaspoons of lemon juice
- 12 grams of bakers yeast (rehydrated)
Made the mix up to 4l with additional water and a starting temp of 28 degrees. At this point I decided to test the SG. Was surprised that the hydrometer didn’t bounce when it fell onto the tile floor....... bugger, that’s 2 breakages in two days. Must be on a roll. Anyway, I reckon the SG would have been somewhere in the 1.070’s. Would have liked to have tested the PH but I don’t have the gear for that.(Now on the “must get one of those” lists) Pitched the yeast and covered the Demi with some glad wrap and a rubber band. Punched a very small hole in the top to allow gas to escape.
Left the wash on the kitchen bench as I wanted to keep an eye on what was happening. Pic one shows what the wash looked like after a couple of hours.
The wash was still working well after three days:
After 5 days, I decided to finish the wash at 25 degrees in my warming fridge. The wash finished at .991 on day 9. Racked the wash into some jars (strained the wash as there were still some floaties) At this stage the wash had changed to a creamy white colour. Popped the jars in the fridge overnight to clear. Was pleased at the clarity of the wash. Did a stripping run this morning and aired some of the hearts. Very little smell at this stage and it tastes quite good. I think I’ll be doing a larger wash as there may be some potential with the silverbeet as a yeast nutrient. Perhaps some of you wizards out there who actually know what you are doing, could try this and see if there is any merit in taking it further.
Cheers
Les