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At what specific gravity is my mash ready to distill?
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Hi there
It's the FG you are asking about - SG or OG is the gravity at the beginning of the ferment.
FG is Final, and in most washes, 1.000 or lower..
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One of my mashes is a jelly mash, made up of a lot of jelly that my mom canned several years ago. It tastes like wine now and has a FG of 1.080 and 15% alcohol. is this to high of a FG?
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1.080 is not ready.. It indicates there's a lot of sugar in there that no yeast has yet consumed.
Does it still taste sweet? It should not.. The yeast are supposed to eat a lot of that.. |
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" Originally Posted by: 5brothers  One of my mashes is a jelly mash, made up of a lot of jelly that my mom canned several years ago. It tastes like wine now and has a FG of 1.080 and 15% alcohol. is this to high of a FG? I think your math is off some too, not sure you can have a gravity that high AND have 15% abv in your wash."
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I am wondering if the jelly had pectin added to it at canning time and if that's affecting fermentation somehow...I am not learned enough on jelly washes as I have not done any. But a few more details would help -
- Size of the wash
- what yeast was used & how much
- Yeast - dry pitch or cultured and then pitched
- what temp was the wash at yeast pitch time
- If a hydrometer reading was done prior to pitch, what was that reading? That is the OG/SG reading and what we use along with the FG (taken when the fermentation ends) to calculate the "EtOH" percentage..
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
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its not my math, thats what the hydrometer is reading.
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Sorry, I was reading it wrong. 1.040 SG and 5% alcahol.
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No worries, which hydrometer are you using can you post a pic??? Some washes at that gravity are still not that high, but the wash is not dead so dont worry about that it seems like it's alive and growing.
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" Originally Posted by: RCRed I am wondering if the jelly had pectin added to it Good catch, Red. 5brothers, the pectin is most likely the culprit ... it doesn't have a gravity of one (equal to water) ... and I would be surprised if Mom didn't use any when she made her jelly. So I'm sure it's bringing your gravity up. I have a similar issue when I brew a sweet stout. Once the lactose goes into the brew pot, all bets are off when it comes to taking a meaningful hydrometer reading. Just let it sit until the bubbling stops and it tastes dry. That said, eating brandied fruit is one thing, but fermenting and distilling jellies is another. Personally, I would avoid it since I'm chicken-sh*t about all of that pectin and the possibility of increased methanol ... and I'm just not educated enough about the chemistry to get the warm-fuzzies. If you do a good job fermenting, maybe you'll have an interesting wine you could enjoy. But for myself, I wouldn't I'd run it. --JB"
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
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" Originally Posted by: 5brothers One of my mashes is a jelly mash, made up of a lot of jelly that my mom canned several years ago. It tastes like wine now and has a FG of 1.080 and 15% alcohol. is this to high of a FG? How long has this wash been fermenting? Even if the other things are an issue then time will be the telling of finality. Give it until the airlock stops working and there you have it....done-then run it."
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
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I'm using a triple scale beer and wine hydrometer on my mash and a proof/ tralle hydrometer on my liquor.
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