 Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/9/2013(UTC)
Posts: 8
|
"Hello all,
I'm Brian, I'm a wine maker that has been into distillation for a short time. Started with a small pot still & just received my essential extractor for my keg. So I'm looking forward to getting a first run with it.
My question is, why do most (I've read)start out with ~ 10-12% washes? Wouldn't adding sugar up to a starting SG of around 1.18, use ec-1118 yeast (which can survive up to 18%) yield more final product?
A starting wash of 18% vs. 12% just sounds like the most efficient way. Plus, there's no extra work & a minimal amount of sugar cost.
Thanks for any advice.
Brian"
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/12/2012(UTC)
Posts: 804
Was thanked: 5 time(s) in 5 post(s)
|
"Hi Brian,
Welcome to the forum!
Many people do try to push the OG as high as they can ... not just with the more alcohol tolerant wine yeasts (like 1118) but also with the turbos. You'll also see posts where folks are pushing the temps up as well to get more a vigorous fermentation that finishes quicker. And yes, it will produce more/faster. So if you're making fuel, that would probably be the way to go. However, the higher OG and temps create osmotic and thermal stress that the yeast must deal with. The stress factors cause the yeast to react in a number of different ways. But the end result is enhanced production of various congeners (or stuck fermentations). There are dozens of papers on the subject if you want to get into the details.
So, if you plan on drinking what you're distilling then you'll have to decide for yourself if you can live with all of those by-products that you added due to your process. If you push things hard, you may indeed end up with more alcohol (esters, ethyl alcohol, and fusel alcohols), but that doesn't necessarily translate into more volume and better quality in the bottle.
--JB"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
Joined: 7/25/2009(UTC)
Posts: 2,209
|
I always do my 1118 sugar washes at 16% but I ferment as slow as mud going up hill and try to keep my wash temperatures at 75F or less of its winter lol---
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/9/2013(UTC)
Posts: 8
|
Thank you for the replies..
Even at my level of noviceness, I have learned that a slow distillation is paramount. I was really just curious why more home distillers don't push the limits of the fermentation concerning % alcohol. With a few dollars more in sugar up front, I'd guess you would increase the final liquor alcohol percentage by a few numbers.
I've also read briefly about concerns with Turbo yeast & with the 1118 cabable of producing the same % alcohol, I'd decided not to use it.
I greatly appreciate all of the knowledge available here, I'll be reading & asking questions for a while I'm sure.
Thanks,
Brian
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
Joined: 4/14/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,666
Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 15 post(s)
|
" Originally Posted by: Charlietuna  Thank you for the replies..
Even at my level of noviceness, I have learned that a slow distillation is paramount. I was really just curious why more home distillers don't push the limits of the fermentation concerning % alcohol. With a few dollars more in sugar up front, I'd guess you would increase the final liquor alcohol percentage by a few numbers.
I've also read briefly about concerns with Turbo yeast & with the 1118 cabable of producing the same % alcohol, I'd decided not to use it.
I greatly appreciate all of the knowledge available here, I'll be reading & asking questions for a while I'm sure.
Thanks,
Brian Brian, I see you mentioned slow distillation and you are right its a good thing. Now back to Scotty's reply, he ment very slow --- fermentation. Thats where all the nasties or uglies we dont want are created."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.
