-
Fermentation is Dragging On
Did the stripping run on a malted barley ferment a few weekends ago. Set up 2 new sour mash ferments using 1/3rd backset and 1.5kg of the left over grains + 6 kg of sugar in each, topped up to 27l.Gravity was 1.080 almost 3 weeks ago checked it at 2 weeks gravity was 1.030. I used bakers yeast and thought i would chuck in some alcohol tolerent yeast to speed up the last stages of the ferment checked to today (day 15) and its reading 1.020. Mash temp is a solid 20 degrees and the airlock on both are continuing to bube away, not sure why its going so slowly. Can anyone point out where i may have gone wrong?Burning is learning
-
11 Replies
-
Perhaps a ph crash. If that’s what it is, a cheap digital ph meter will confirm it by reading a ph around 3. You could add some Calcium Hydroxide to immediately raise the ph to 5.2-5.6 then add some Calcium Carbonate to buffer the ph so it will not crash again. Sources of Calcium Carbonate could be Marble Rock/Chips or even crushed oyster shell. You can usually find Calcium Hydroxide at most garden supply sections.4″ VM Build
-
If its not the pH, it may be temp related. 20c is a bit low for bakers, its usually happier at 25-30c.
-
Yep, temp would be number one culprit, pH second. Does it smell a bit sulphuric? Eggs/farts?Make Booze, not War!
-
1/3 backset is probably a little much and the pH will drop further without buffering. Could be a combination of temp and pH?Don’t harm the yeasties – Temp, pH, gravity, alcohol, and nutrients all affect the yeasties environment. 1.080 is on the higher side for a starting gravity but not that high. AG should have adequate nutrients.Cheers,jonny————i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred————
-
The temp is the lower range of what bakers needs, so it’s going slow.What are you using to measure SG?
-
Im using a hydrometer not a refractor.It smells fantastic!Burning is learning
-
Finally completed the stripping runs, added them together, ran the distilling run and ended up with about 10l of useful cuts. Put 5l in my new oak barrel at 52% i have another 5l of clear spirit at 42% still deciding what to do with it. The spirit is suprisingly sweet buttery and caramel. I think aging this will be a winner.Burning is learning
-
That’s a little low for “barrel strength” so it may take longer for the oak to flavor the whiskey. Have you barreled at that proof before ?________________I drank fifty pounds of feed-store corn’till my clothes were ratty and torn
-
Ive never barreled before, learning curve for me Burning is learning
-
You could use some of you white to top off with. I haven’t used my 5l barrel yet, but I know the 2l needed topping off quite a bit.
-
I don’t use a barrels for room issues. But I believe most, including me age closer or around 62abvI drink so much now,on the back of my license it’s a list of organs I need.
Log in to reply.
English 
Spanish 
German 
French 
Russian