Propionic Acid acts as a fungal growth inhibitor in some feed grains. It isn't harmful for human consumption, but may (likely) kill your yeast. Some people soak their grains briefly and pour through a strainer, discarding the soak water before making the wash (when they get cracked corn with PI in it). The problem here is that you'll probably lose some of the molasses this way, but it seems to be the easiest solution. Some will add a base to the wash which binds (prob not the right word) with the acid to form a salt that falls out of suspension once heat is added (which would mean you have to cook the wash first). Propionic acid is soluble in water, so a rinse in tepid water followed by another rinse with more clean tepid water will probably get enough of it out so it doesn't affect your ferment. You may have to add a little bit of molasses back to recover what you lost.

All of the above advice is useful if you already bought the sweet feed. If you haven't, try and find some that is not treated with PI.

HD topic concerning PI in cracked corn: http://homedistiller.org...amp;hilit=propionic+acid

Thanks guys, I was just checking out the local stores for supplies and came across this. I read the thread on home distiller and it seems to be a potential problem with fermentation. I will continue to look for a non-treated SW in my area. Thanks,B.