TPW wash fail

[Wazza73]

I followed the TPW wash recipe and left the buckets in the warmest spots I could find.
Some details, I have three four litre buckets so I did the calcs to get the ratios right per litre
The first 3 days of the week were cool (went down to about 17 degrees). It warmed up again so they have been sitting in 24 to 32 degrees.
The sugar parts per litre had dropped to about 189 after about 10 days but seemed stuck. So I added about half a teaspoon of yeast and half a tablespoon of leggos and stirred it in.
The sugar parts per litre are now at 117 but the alcometer says there is 0 alcohol in it.
It smells yeasty (so something is working) and there is a light foam on top. Some tiny bubbles are also visible in the wash.
It's been about 2 weeks now.
Should I turf it all and start again?

[BigRig]

U are using the wrong meter to check. You need a hydrometer not an alcometer.

The alcometer will work once you have ran the still and want to check the abv of your distillate.

[RuddyCrazy]

Sounds like a PH crash to me so get some bicarb soda and remember a little bit goes a long way :handgestures-thumbupleft: now you will need a ph meter or some ph papers and shoot for no more than 5ph and with a good stir after adding it should take off again.

Cheers Bryan

[Wazza73]

I pulled out the Aldi ph tester and it reads 6.5.
I checked it using the fishtank acid tester, and yeah that's right.
So I need to add bicarb to bring the pH to less than 5?

[The Stig]

Citric acid .
Why not do a proper 25L wash ? It will take up less room than 3 x 4LT buckets

[Wazza73]

Dropped in the citric acid.
Getting to the bigger equipment once I have my head around how all of it works.

[The Stig]

A larger ferment is so much easier to control and doesn’t need to be run all at once .
You will find life so much simpler going to a “standard” size equipment

[Wazza73]

I can't disagree with that. If I get this TPW wash to work I'm heading down to the brew store and ordering the 25 litre. With winter coming I also want to have a fair amount of wash done before it gets cold

[RobMichelle]

Where abouts in the world are you from Wazza

[Wazza73]

I live out in the western suburbs of Melbourne

[The Stig]

Heat belts fix winter issues but again you’ll need the bigger fermenters

[Adzie]

So just so I’m understanding things here, was the PH the thing that made things go wrong here?
I’m at the tail end of a TPW which seems to have gone amazingly (wifey didn’t complain about the smell either) as I’m down to the target 990 FG. Now just need to wait for the wash to settle, hopefully won’t take long because I’m super keen to distill it.

[Wazza73]

I bought myself the 30l fermenter, threw together a TPW wash last night.
Its cooking well. I just need to throw in a disco ball and party boom box and the mood will be complete.
I set the pH to about 4 with lemon juice. Couldn't check the SG though because I dropped and shattered my hydrometer. I was pissed about that but I'll pick a new one up tonight.

[The Stig]

I bought myself the 30l fermenter, threw together a TPW wash last night.
Its cooking wel

:music-deathmetal: :music-deathmetal:

[Professor Green]

I bought myself the 30l fermenter, threw together a TPW wash last night.
Its cooking well. I just need to throw in a disco ball and party boom box and the mood will be complete.
I set the pH to about 4 with lemon juice. Couldn't check the SG though because I dropped and shattered my hydrometer. I was pissed about that but I'll pick a new one up tonight.

Good move Wazza. Much better than a bunch of buckets.

I wouldn't worry too much about the cold weather in Melbourne either. I'm in Melbs west and for 30 litre ferments in my garage I use heat pads and thermostats to control them along with old bath towels wrapped around the fermenters and never had a problem.