Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

G'Day all, I have been running macstills rum recipe for a while now and super happy with the outcome but have always had issues with it never starting back up off the original trub/yeast cake, usually requiring the addition of more yeast. I have reduced the volume of dunder from the previous run to 5 litres thinking it might be a pH issue but still having issues.

Ive recently changed yeasts and managed to kick a second generation off nicely without addition (restarted itself within an hour) and all went well until the 3rd which was really slow to start and has been slowly working away for 3 weeks now. It's still bubbling slowly so I'm guessing there's still sugar and yeast that's active. Would anyone have any idea what's giving my yeast such a hard time? Im leaning towards pH but haven't got a means to test yet.

Also I've included a picture of my makeshift dunderpit, I've had this going for a few generations now and usually add half of it to a new ferment then top up with the boiler slops from the last run.

Every new ferment smells better and better so I think I'm on the right track. Can anyone confirm for me please?

(Apologies for the double post, I figured it would be better here than beginner questions being rum related, admin feel free to delete previous post)

You are not alone. I have made a fair bit of this rum now and have had to add new yeast every time.
I have tried using different molasses, no change
I use lowans bakers yeast, haven’t tried anything else but seems to fire up every time on a 5 generation run of bwko
My ph level is usually around 5 for first gen, then by third gen is down around 3. I have tried adding calcium carbonate to raise ph level with no great success.
I think next time I will still use Dunder/backset, but clean the fermenter of trub and start fresh each time.

Cheers mate, good to know I'm not the only one. Temperature could play a big part of it to I think, I'm in the south of NSW and definitely don't have the tropical Queensland climate.

I've started again with a clean fermenter with backset and dunder from the pit. I might try halving the trub and pouring boiling water over it for nutrients on the next batch. The half I take out I might use to experiment making a few starters with.

I salvaged the stuck batch and will strip today, giving me enough for a spirit run and I should have enough feints stored up for a feints run. Such a time consuming hobby but well worth it.

So true, a challenging yet rewarding hobby it is.
Do yourself a favor and get a Eheim submersible aquarium heater, awesome bit of gear.
I got mine on eBay, you just need to make sure you get one with the right power output to suit the volume of your fermenter.

Better still just get a couple of 30 watt wrap around heating belts from the shop :handgestures-thumbupleft: I find for my 60 litre fermenters they are great at keeping the temp up without overheating the wash.

Now when ferments in a cold climate these heating belts are must as they just plain work and the best part is they don't use much power but do a great job of keeping the ferments warm enough to not stall due to low temps. A must have for the toolkit in fermenting if a cold climate is there when trying to ferment.

Cheers Bryan

Thanks fellas. The still just took forever to get up to temp on this strip and pumped out a heap of brown crap and instantly down on output once cleared, only coming of at 40⁰ and tastes like vinegar :handgestures-thumbdown: at least the still got a good clean and I already have another wash down. One bad batch in 5 odd years, I guess that's not a bad run. I just hope it's from the extended/stalled ferment and not my dunder pit.

I've read of varied success using the in-fv aquarium type heaters. I have a few heat cords here I might try or I'll just bite the bullet and get a wrap. I like the idea of not having to clean it.

bluc wrote:This may be of use also
https://www.bostonapothecary.com/confid ... usins-1906/

Phew, it took me half an hour to read and reread. Thank you! Learned some good information for myself!

Wife bought 10L of coconut water but doesn't like it, I actually do like the taste of it but it is sweet so only in small amounts. She has challenged me to see if there is anything i can do with it. So should i ...

Throw it in a rum wash to ferment out ?
Throw it in the boiler with a rum wash ?
Use it for dilution ?

Thoughts ?

Would be interesting to see if the coconut flavour carried through in either the fermentation or adding it into the distillation. You may end up with a Malibu type rum. I’ve used coconut water in a syrup trying to get a Malibu type flavour but still had to add essence. Coconut flavour wasn’t very strong without adding essence.

Yeah i am not sure the flavour will come across so i threw it in the wash to ferment out but kept 500ml to experiment with dilution.

I’ve only got 60l fermenters, is the a chance to do double 25l batches for 5 generations or just follow the directions to avoid cleaning fees?
Thanks
Listo

Just don't lock the fermenter up for the first 24-36hrs mate, wait till the initial ferment has foamed up, then settled back down to fizzing coke and lock it up and you will be sweet. The cleaning issues can easily be avoided if you just don't lock it up straight away. Back in the day it was a right of passage to see who could get the craziest ferment lol

Squirting out the airlock onto the ceiling above, that was fun :laughing-rolling:
Cleanup not so much :angry-banghead:

So there’s plenty of room for doubles by the 5th generation?
Sorry for questioning your words, I’ve never done one of these so I don’t know what’s left over. It’ll be good if there is though… that’s speeds things up nicely!
Thanks guys

I think I’ve had my first lesson in puking. I’m doing a strip run and from 4l on my spirit is a lovely badly dehydrated urine colour :doh: . Is that going to affect flavours if I use it in my spirits run later?
Also, it still seems to be running ok, do you guys just keep going or shut it down?

No need to answer, I think I learned a bit from that one. The still went like normal and I just chucked the whole lot in with the previous strip run and will sort it out later if it doesn’t work out. After the day I’ve had, it’s a wonder I didn’t just try to drink it all out of the jug :angry-banghead:

Listo wrote:I think I’ve had my first lesson in puking. I’m doing a strip run and from 4l on my spirit is a lovely badly dehydrated urine colour :doh: . Is that going to affect flavours if I use it in my spirits run later?
Also, it still seems to be running ok, do you guys just keep going or shut it down?

It will be perfectly fine. Might even have more flavour.

Keep stripping until you have the amount and abv you are after

Thanks mate