#41 High PH (7.5) Sugar Wash Fermentation

[@AK47m16films]

I'd love some clarification, what was the fail? That you didn't want to have to add bi carb soda but you did? What will you do differently in the future? Cheers

[@StassBrewing]

Cheers Nick. Yep, yeast does very well at dropping pH without pH buffering. Similar thing happens with beer brewing. I know commercial breweries often adjust wort down to low 5s high 4s to stave off infection and inprove batch consistency. Not sure if that still plays a roll for distillation of a neutral spirit.

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

I brought it back up but it’s down again this morning to mid 4’s. It dropped 3 gravity points over night so very active batch.

[@StassBrewing]

@@distillinginaustralia3257 what yeast are you using out of interest?

[@MasterDistiller]

DistilaMax GN from lallemand

[@gregryland1387]

Hi Nick what did use to increase PH, washing soda? I am having trouble finding calcium carbonate but see sometimes people use sodium carbonate as an alternative? Did the PH change after the initial addition? Plus did the ferment slow down because of the PH drop ? Or where you still able to do it in 5 days?

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

Hi Greg, I use bi carb soda. About 1gm/liter of wash increases ph by about 1. Be very careful when adding as it will foam up a lot. See my last video ….. Nick

[@Teddysad]

Rather than sodium bicarbonate, I suggest potassium bicarbonate. Has same pH raising effect but the lack of sodium is much kinder to the yeast

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

Thanks, will look into that as well. Thanks for watching. Nick

[@abrad3061]

You don't have to heat your water to get the sugar to dissolve?

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

No. I use a pump and reticulate the wash as I add the sugar. Dissolves very quickly and saves a lot of time.

[@workhardplayhard801]

@@distillinginaustralia3257 but does nothing to sanitize the sugar addition.

[@snappingbear]

Why not use a buffer to stabilize the yeast? Something like a sodium citrate or sodium hydroxide / acid buffer have long been used to stabilize the pH of biological systems including yeast and the fermentation process.

[@akiamini4006]

I just noticed putting my wine in 3.5 ph was a grave mistake LMAO

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

Yeah, that wouldn’t work too well. Nick

[@akiamini4006]

@@distillinginaustralia3257 oh yeah ! Added baking soda to it gently abd brought it back up to 6 ! Its totally doing absolutely great ! Just got the chance to taste the must and i tell you ! It was quite depleted of sugars ! Serioisly appriciate if you have any tips !

[@akiamini4006]

@@distillinginaustralia3257 BTW , does oxygenating your must creates some vaccum in thd chamber ? You know ! Just asking so maybe if i can manage a simple deal with it !Nick

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

You must take SG readings. It’s really the only way to know starting point and finishing point. Generally start at 1.08 and finish .95 -1 that’s when the fermentation has finished.

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

Oxygenated water to start and then leave it alone.

[@workhardplayhard801]

I just don't understand why there's such a priority for folks to sanitize all the equipment and then put unsanitary ingredients into the wash i.e. ; unboiled water, unsanitary sugar and bicarbonate etc. When I first started homebrewing , like a lot of folks I purchased " beer kits" , complete with all necessary ingredients for the beer including priming sugar to insure a well carbonated bottle /cask conditioned end product . The problem was , if you followed the kit instructions on adding priming sugar , then it said add +/_ a spoonful to ea., bottle, if you like the taste of a poor example of cider , then you were in luck , because every bottle tasted like that. This was wicked disappointing for myself, having no resemblance to the intended beer advertised by the kit. Then I realized what's going on. The priming sugar has huge amounts of unsanitary surface area. Next batch , in lieu of of following instructions, I added all the sugar to a sauce pan with just enough water to fully dissolve it and brought it to a cleaning boil, and held it around °165f for a bit . Then dumped all the contents into the racking vessel , this was a game changer, from then on my homebrew was fabulous and as advertised. I had choke down a bunch of shitty brew to learn this. 🤢 I have to wonder the impact on the distillate. Though , a good ol bacterial infection can bring interesting imputs to a boring sugar wash . Fruity delicious additions.

[@distillinginaustralia3257]

Hi, the issue of sanitizing is more critical in a brewing situation as you end up consuming the "Beer" that you ferment. With spirits the fermentation process is targeted at 5 days so consequently we use a lot more yeast and also a much higher alcohol potential (8-12%) depending on what spirit your are trying to produce. The distillation process then eliminates all bacteria through a combination of heat 80+c and also the alcohol coming off the still is anywhere from 50% to 95% ABV which bacteria can't survive. 90% odd of the fermented wash/mash is discarded (or recycled/reused) once the alcohol has been extracted from the wash/mash. Hope this clarifies this issue for you. Thanks. Nick

[@ArnookieVR]

Actually sugar is naturally resistant to any infections from mold etc. sugar can last indefinitely if kept dry. It's a preservative in itself hence why it's used in jam making. Contamination from the sugar really isn't a concern.