Can I add new wash to my fermenter mid ferment?

[oddian]

Ok so I'll preface this with I'm an idiot.

I'm doing a double batch of peated whiskey. First batch is fermenting now, been going for 3 days. Second batch has just gone through the mash tun and I'm adding it to my fermenter with a pump.

I leave the room, come back and realise to my horror that I've left the tap open on the fermenter (please tell me some of you are as stupid as me some times!) and 3/4 of the batch has poured out on the floor.

:angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: I cried a little, yelled at my kids, broke a window, punched a wall (just kidding) and when I got over it I realised there's a fair bit of head room in my existing ferment. Rather than wasting the whole batch, I was wondering.

Can I add a small amount of extra wort to an existing ferment mid ferment?

Cheers guys, don't laugh at me too much.

[RuddyCrazy]

Thanks for the laugh mate :laughing-rolling: we have all been there at some point and not many come out here to admit it :laughing-rolling: as far as adding the wash mate go right ahead and cut your loss's :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[WoodyD40]

I had proceeded to start filling the boiler with fermentation - only to realize the tap was still open and i was emptying it as i was filling it. Only lost about 5 litre before i realized my mistake.

[The Stig]

Done it with molasses ferment

[WoodyD40]

Done it with molasses ferment

thats a waste of potential Rum

[Wellsy]

I have done it more then once.
pour germented mash into my boiler and wonder why my feet are getting wet.

[oddian]

Oh thank god I'm not the only one!! haha.

Anyway I've sparged the crap out of my grains and got up to just over 20L with a gravity of just under 1.050 without having to add any sugar so at least I've salvaged something from this and learned that I've not been sparging enough in the past. I lost about 12L I rekon. Live and learn, thanks for the advice fellas.

Cheers
Oddian

[RuddyCrazy]

Not sure I have mentioned this one before and that rule of NOT drinking your homebrew while distilling :scared-eek:

I set up my still in the attempt to see if I went as high on the still would I get 94%, now the collection jar was at head height and as I was taking off a full mocono jar cut the jar hit the output and spilled all the 94% went downwards :scared-eek: Well I was using 4 off milk crates to get the collection height aswell as few other things to get the height and managed to salvage 2 of them, that new sink I put in place the door lost it's plastic lock and as the spill was contained I didn't burn my shed down.

Now when I do all grain I do it in my 50 litre mash tun and by the time all the grain is put in with the water it is close to 45 litres and once the mash is done it's transferred by bucket to my 60 litre fermenter then I just chuck 10 litres of hot water in to do the sparge then cold water is added to get the temp down. Then it's sealed up with an airlock and once the temp on that stuck on temp gauge shows a reading time to do a sg reading. now if it is under 1060 I just invert some sugar to get around 1080 then the US-05 yeast is rehydrated and the ferment begins.

This is also good for doing generations to get the sour mash and after the first ferment a sugar hit to get the last of the grain goodies is done, then scoop out over 1/2 the grains and add new crushed grain. Also backset is added after the first run to create the sour mash :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

[B-Man]

I filled my boiler with a mash only to realise when I turned it on that there was nothing in there. I had the tap open and the hose connected outside.
only realised as smoke started coming from the element.
sadly I done that twice in 2 weeks! so lost about 100L
I did write a note to turn the tap off at the fill port now.

[The Stig]

So now you need a new element ?

[oddian]

I filled my boiler with a mash only to realise when I turned it on that there was nothing in there. I had the tap open and the hose connected outside.
only realised as smoke started coming from the element.
sadly I done that twice in 2 weeks! so lost about 100L
I did write a note to turn the tap off at the fill port now.

Oh my! Thanks! This has turned into a bit of a "how did you stuff up" thread hahaha. It's making me feel better.

BTW my wash fermented fine, got a gravith of 1.035 out of it and it went down to nearly 0.990 for the FG, end product tasted OK, nto as good as the batch that I didn't stuff up but pretty good none the less. 2.7L of whiskey now set aside on ex brandy staves, we'll see how it goes.

[bluc]

Yea I pumped 1/3rd of one of my all grain brews down the drain instead of into boiler after spending most of the day mashing it(corn) was not happy....

[Liquor_Down_Under]

So essentially you're fermenting a third full fermenter and want to add more? It should be fine, though ideally it's best to add when the yeast is at high krausen, before it starts to fall out. Also, try to get your temps matching as much as possible, thermal shock can cause issues for your yeast

[B-Man]

So now you need a new element ?

surprisingly no.
As soon as I realised I turned it off.
poured water in and ran it and worked fine. did have to give it a few cleans though