how much soda ash is too much soda ash

[taleya]

Soooo I had a brainfart and accidentally dumped a tablespoon of soda ash into a 1.2 litre secondary distillation run. How screwed am I?
:sad:

[The Stig]

I have no idea why anybody would be putting soda ash into their booze .
What I do know is it’s customary to drop into the welcome centre and do a quick intro

[taleya]

I have no idea why anybody would be putting soda ash into their booze .
What I do know is it’s customary to drop into the welcome centre and do a quick intro

...I've been a member for four years.

[The Stig]

Doesn’t matter , it’s your first post

[raybies]

If you're adding soda ash, you have a pH meter. What was the pH before you added the sodium carbonate, and what is it now?

The only concern is that if it's too basic (> 9), it might feel a bit filmy or slippery in the mouth. I haven't adjusted the pH after fermentation, but theoretically, it should reduce corrosion in your equipment during distillation and possibly result in a smoother destillate.

What was your main objective?

[The Stig]

Same question , what are you aiming for ?
Are you using it to raise PH
Or are you looking to compress the fractions ??

[raybies]

Here's a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUgu1QRLu2k

I think the aim is to reduce the corrosiveness of the solution. While a pH of 4-5 wouldn't affect stainless steel, it would certainly cause copper ions to leach into the distillate, resulting in a tiny off flavour.

To ensure smoother distillation with fewer heads, a target pH of 7.5 to 8.5 would be ideal.

Btw, I had to buy 6 kg of soda ash to rectify my failed 1kg copper sulfate pool experiment. The copper precipitated out, and the sulfuric acid dissolved into the solution. The water started off as a nice deep blue which then turned in to an acid grey. This required extensive filter cleaning which was a chalky grey blue mess.

[harold01]

I managed 3 minutes of that halfwit, couldnt take anymore

[raybies]

Last night, while drinking my under-carbonated beer, I thought about this. I believe it would also neutralize carbonic acid (H₂CO₃). Since carbonic acid in solution makes my beer less sweet, I assume removing it from a wash or low wines would enhance the sweetness and prevent the build up of copper carbonate (CuCO₃).

Maybe I would aim for a pH of 7-8.

Carbonic acid is formed in a solution when carbon dioxide dissolves in water (H₂O).

A quick experiment can be done by distilling carbonated water vs carbonated water + soda ash/sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃). Just taste the difference.

[The Stig]

I think your over thinking this

[Coastie]

LOL that video was mildly entertaining but i didnt make it past the bit where he said im using turbo and if you dont like it you can suck my big hairy ... :laughing-rolling:

[harold01]

that's the three minute mark, didn't get past that either

[Coastie]

HAHA go Harold