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Sugar Wash - Prestige 48 hour, 15 lbs sugar, 6.5 gallons cooking in my wine plastic bucket.
Okay - How do I know when the wash is done? I have a water airlock on it, so my assumption is it will be done when the airlock stops bubbling?
I have a hydrometer and alchometer. What should the ending specific gravity be? I've searched homedistiller.org and it has a specific gravity for a molasses wash at .990. Are all specific gravities for all washes ending at .990?
I've also read that I should have used a glass carboy ,I have one,. Does this matter that I used plastic?
Lastly do you need to do anything to the wash before you put it the still?
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Hello, I am not a pro but will offer what I know.
When the sg is below 1.0 and the airlock stops bubbling the wash is done. If the airlock stops bubbling and the sg is not below 1.0 then it is stuck.
Glass vs. plastic? From what I have read, glass is preferable for long-term fermentation or settling as the glass is not permeable to oxygen where plastic is. I don't think it will really matter in a short fermentation.
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Wait 5 to 6 days before siphoning into your boiler. Techneclly, it shold be finished in 2 days, but wait anyway. You will convert more sugar and get a higher yield abv. Use food grade plastic for your fermentaton vessel ,usually opaque but white plastic pails seem safe too,. No, a wash such as you have made ,vodka, will be different from rum. Don't worry too much with Prestige since it makes very clean, high alcohol. As to your last question, no, just wait till most ,not all will settle out, of the sedimate clears ,again a total of 5-6 days should be enough,, and be careful not to stir it up again when you transfer it to the still.
Let us know how your first attempt turns out, I,m betting it will be good!
Spiritmaker
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Rank: Guest
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I found this on another commercial webpage - it seems to answer my questions on specific gravity and confirms Jeff Miller's response.
Make sure that your mix has not actually finished by checking the Specific Gravity,SG, with a hydrometer. The SG should be around 990. If the SG is higher and all sign of fermentation has stopped, first try restarting the mix. This can often be achieved by stirring the yeast that has settled on the bottom of the fermenter back into the liquid and also ensuring that the mix is at the correct temperature for the yeast strain used. If the SG is below 1005 and fermentation has stopped and you can not restart by the method above, then distill as normal but use some Distilling Conditioner. This will ensure that unfermented sugar in the mix does not cause frothing during distilling. You will also get a slightly lower yield of distilate. If the SG is higher than 1005 then try adding some Bayanus yeast. This is a particular strain of yeast which will start in the presence of alcohol and is used in Champagne making for the secondary fermentation in the bottle. Most yeast varieties will be destroyed by being added to a mix which contains alcohol as they need to build up a resistance to alcohol during the normal process of fermentation. Do not add more Turbo or Nutrients as excess nutrients at this stage will result in problems distilling and may actually make the mix more difficult to ferment. The best method to get the yeast going again is to get a 1 litre jug, rehydrate your Bayanus yeast in 100 mls of water at 30o C with 1 teaspoon of dextrose. When this is fermenting, add 100 mls of stuck mix. When this is fermenting add a further 200 mls of stuck ferment. When this is fermenting add a further 400 mls of stuck mix. When this is fermenting add half to the stuck mix and top up with the same. Continue until fermentation has restarted.
In extreme cases the wash may not start again. If this happens do not dispair. Distill it anyway and accept a lower yield rather than discarding it and getting no return.
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