Kale wash - Gravity hasn’t dropped one point.

Sugar wash info and questions

Kale wash - Gravity hasn’t dropped one point.

Postby Dunnonuthin » Tue Jul 26, 2022 7:40 am

Just let me open with I’m not new to fermenting sugar washes, and their pitfalls, including the Kale version. But this has me stumped.
Pitched the starter 5 and half days ago. Ferment got off to a reasonable start in 6hrs and has been fizzing/circulating strongly ever since. But the bloody gravity is still bang on 1.072….
Wash still smells brilliant (fresh pineapple wtf?)

17L starter @ 1.050
11g Omega Kviek Lutra rehydrated in Goferm protect.
2tbsp dead bakers yeast for nutrients
2 or 3 fresh kale leaves, starsan’d, blended to soup.
pH of 5ish
Aquarium pump and airstone aeration for 12hrs at 25deg C

Pitched into 153L (190 total)
Combined gravity 1.072
Sea shells in a hop spider have kept pH above 4.2 (since raised to 5.2 with calcium carbonate)
700g fresh kale, starsan’d, blended.
1/4 cup dead bakers yeast for nutrients.
Kept at 24deg C (Just bumped temp up to 26deg).

Was the starter not as good as the Brewersfriend starter calculator said it should be?
What else could it be?
I don’t have any more Lutra yeast on hand - it’s a order and wait thing.
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Re: Kale wash - Gravity hasn’t dropped one point.

Postby bluc » Tue Jul 26, 2022 7:51 am

Sorry cant be more help but I couldnt get kale to ferment either. I would try bakers next if it ferments yeast was the issue. If not add different nutrient. Or add different nutrient first they way you keep your yeast profile. "Smells like pineapple" sounds like butric infection. May or may not be a brett infection and can be a pain to fix. If you cant get it moving with different yeast or nutrient you may have to dump it and clean & star san your fermenter...
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Re: Kale wash - Gravity hasn’t dropped one point.

Postby Dunnonuthin » Tue Jul 26, 2022 11:20 am

Thanks Bluc. I’m not sure about the infection part, the aroma is fresh, nothing like baby vomit or Parmesan. But we will see.
I gave it a good stir when I bumped the temp to 26.
Lutra is supposed to like it hot (20-35degC) but I’ve kept it cool for a clean neutral.
The dead yeast nutrient I’ve used in this batch is comparable to successful Kale washes I’ve done. My biggest problem with Kale in the past was pH crashing. But I’m on top of that now.
At this point I’m thinking I’ve under pitched, but I’m reluctant to throw fresh Lowans yeast on top of the Lutra.
I will in another 24hrs if gravity doesn’t start to move.
Dunnonuthin
 
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Location: Long ways South of Bass Strait
equipment: 50L boiler
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Re: Kale wash - Gravity hasn’t dropped one point.

Postby Dunnonuthin » Wed Jul 27, 2022 10:31 pm

Checked gravity this morning- dropped maybe 1 at most 2 points. Sourced another 11g packet of Omega Lutra yeast. Yeah just one. Not enough for a 190L wash. Anyway, rehydrated it in 40deg C water for 15 min. Added a little bit of wash at a time to bring it down to 28deg C. Definitely active by the time I pitched it at 2pm. It’s now 10pm and wash activity has definitely increased. Getting large bubbles popping under the green goo, fizzing hard. Temp won’t go any higher than 28.5deg with current heaters and insulation.
pH is steady at 4.5
But gravity hasn’t really budged. I’m hopeful I’ll see some progress in the morning.

What the hell went wrong with the starter?
Dunnonuthin
 
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Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2018 9:02 pm
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Re: Kale wash - Gravity hasn’t dropped one point.

Postby Dunnonuthin » Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:21 pm

Update. Got this near enough to done (1.001) after about four weeks. I had to add the last of the Fermaid and about 60gr of HBS “wine nutrient” I had on hand. Ferment rate made steady progress after that until it finally stopped. Ph and temp were maintained. Stirred up the sediment with big paint mixer daily. Aroma was good, and still pineapple like at the end. Pot stripped it in 45L batches, taking about 10L of 38% ABV for each charge. Just waiting for another sunny day for the reflux spirit run.

Did some research into the nutrient levels of kale, and the requirements of yeast. If you dare trust my math, you need 1 cup of Kale PER LITRE of wash just to provide enough potassium and calcium. All the other nutrients are WAY short of what’s needed. 1 cup Kale to 1 litre would make a thick, messy and expensive wash.
I have not yet found out how much nitrogen (YAN) Kale provides, I suspect it is far below the 200ppm requirement.
A real shame because I (and others) really like the product it has produced in the past.
Dunnonuthin
 
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