Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Recently switched over from bi carb to calcium carbonate - chalk for adjusting or raising pH. ... residual salts/beer brewing reasons mainly.

Found that extended ferment time for the same Rye/corn washes no other change. These two washes are 3 weeks old, sitting at 26c on EC1118 and still powering along like it would on day two. It's normally done in two weeks.

Current Gravity is approaching 1.000 with no signs of slowing down. I expect it to take an estimated 2 more days... at least :think:

Could be a minor yield gain, expecting a couple of low FG's 990's here. Certainly chalk is better for repetitive gens not creating a sodium build up as bi carb does. EC1118 clearly getting on with chalk.

In a nut shell, longer strong ferments, with an expected yield gain
bt1

I like the sound of those results

Thanks BT, was considering chalk and now will use it!

PS: lovin the bike :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Yep Whisky,

Only had this one for a 2 weeks, threw some new Michelin Pilot Power 3's on it and geez it's so planted it's amazing.

More bling to go, gold levers, handlebars side badging, rearsets should just about finish it off.

A happy
bt1

Hey bt1,
I've used brewers Calcium carbonate before for PH adjustment in gens of BWKO,
do you notice the taste carry over off the still?

I think the main difference for the ferment is the calcium you have added by using the chalk (calcium carbonate). Most cities in Aust are low in calcium for a decent ferment. Up here we average 11-12ppm calcium in our water, yeast like 80-100ppm. If you get some Epsom salts in there for the magnesium you will find it should give the clean ferment for a low FG, but shorten the ferment period. The only thing the Epson will start to push the pH back down, which in the case of chalk you are trying to do the opposite. I actually use calcium sulfate (Gypsum) for my corn mashes.

A few rough ideas for water additions based on 100L ferment
Epson salts is a 1:1, so every 1g of Epson = 1ppm Magnesium (pH down)
Gypsum is 2.3:1, so every 1g of gypsum = 2.3ppm Calcium (pH down)
Chalk is 4:1, so every 1g of chalk = 4ppm Calcium (pH up)

Oz kev, what is PPM and you use calcium gypsum as a ph reducer?

Whiskyaugogo wrote:Oz kev, what is PPM and you use calcium gypsum as a ph reducer?

PPM = parts per million, 1ppm is equivalent to 1 milligram of something per liter of water.

Gypsum aka Calcium Sulphate, is a great way to lower the pH whilst adding calcium, I use it all the time. I've got a corn mash for tomorrow I'll be using it in as I don't have enough backset. Gypsum, Calcium chloride and Epsom salts all can reduce the pH effectively, but will effect other properties of the mash.

When doing the maths for it remember the brewing salt is made up of several compounds. So to add 1ppm calcium using Gypsum it is not just 1mg Gypsum per litre, you need to know the % calcium in the product. Hence the values I mentioned prior.

Thanks Kev some good info there :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Normally use Epsom and DAP but swapped out the bicarb for chalk. From the beer side, not altogether keen about increasing sodium levels over progressive gens using bicarb.
Would not be an issue for single washes or gens 2 - 5 but some of my Rye/corns run to gen 12 plus and I'm looking to improve yeast vigour in later runs.

Next trick to learn and get right is yeast washing and long term storage to take advantage of late gen yeast adaption/improved performance.

cheers
bt1