Wash correction (maybe) gone wrong
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 3:49 pm(I'm not sure if this should go here or under Nutrigrain Wash Discussion Thread - feel free to move admins)
As a beginner I think I’ve been pretty lucky with washes so far, but on the 15th wash I’ve done a little faux pas.
I’ve had a Nutrigrain 2nd-gen wash on for 19 days. It appeared to stall maybe 4-5 days ago (around day 14-15). Hydrometer indicated the same as it hadn’t moved for days. It was stable at 1.014. I wasn’t sure if I’d added enough yeast initially (it's my first ever 2nd gen wash!) so I added another tablespoon - sprinkled directly into the fermenter, light stir. A day later - nothing, so I tested Ph on an eBay device that I hadn’t yet calibrated (oops!). Ph was down to around 3.2 which seemed low (assuming that reading was correct) so I added bi carb (~2 tsp) to try and raise it (is that bad?). I should also add that it's been wrapped in a blanky and on a heat pad - so temp is all good (mid 20's).
It then occurred to me that, with an SG of 1.094, an FG of 1.014 isn’t too bad (around 10.3% ABV if my calcs are correct). I track every wash but I'm used to seeing the FG at under 1.000, so I'd assumed (without thinking) that it wasn't ready. In hindsight, I'm sure it would have been ready and good to run... but then I messed with it.
My question is: where to from here? Will the wash be spoiled slightly by the yeast or bi-carb? Is there something further I should do to iron it out… or just run it as is?
As a beginner I think I’ve been pretty lucky with washes so far, but on the 15th wash I’ve done a little faux pas.
I’ve had a Nutrigrain 2nd-gen wash on for 19 days. It appeared to stall maybe 4-5 days ago (around day 14-15). Hydrometer indicated the same as it hadn’t moved for days. It was stable at 1.014. I wasn’t sure if I’d added enough yeast initially (it's my first ever 2nd gen wash!) so I added another tablespoon - sprinkled directly into the fermenter, light stir. A day later - nothing, so I tested Ph on an eBay device that I hadn’t yet calibrated (oops!). Ph was down to around 3.2 which seemed low (assuming that reading was correct) so I added bi carb (~2 tsp) to try and raise it (is that bad?). I should also add that it's been wrapped in a blanky and on a heat pad - so temp is all good (mid 20's).
It then occurred to me that, with an SG of 1.094, an FG of 1.014 isn’t too bad (around 10.3% ABV if my calcs are correct). I track every wash but I'm used to seeing the FG at under 1.000, so I'd assumed (without thinking) that it wasn't ready. In hindsight, I'm sure it would have been ready and good to run... but then I messed with it.
My question is: where to from here? Will the wash be spoiled slightly by the yeast or bi-carb? Is there something further I should do to iron it out… or just run it as is?