My preference is WPOSW. Its so neutral you can pot still it. IMHO better than TPW, making gin the better your neutral, the better the result. EC118 can be really slow, make sure you are using a pH buffer because it can crash.
Target lower starting gravities and run more wash. In the end it’s faster than trying to push up ABV - it’s a losing battle. Low nutrient, high gravity, that’s the recipe for yeast stress and congener formation, especially if that high starting gravity favors bacteria growth faster than yeast. If your goal is neutral, slow washes are your enemy. 4-5 days and strip should be your target.
EC1118 is a solid yeast. Nutrient should always be a blend of micro and macro - DAP + Fermaid/Fermax or just boil down some yeast off the bottom of the fermenter.
Tomato, chicken soup, apple juice, kale, whatever else that’s got some micro/macronutrients works in a pinch too.
This recipe by Shadylane "Shady's Sugar Shine" is probably the cleanest and best sugar wash that Ive ever used for making neutral.
His recipe and words below.
Rule # 1 don't stress the yeast
My fermenter holds 20 gallons. So the recipe is based on that.
Since it's a sugar wash, I'll start with how much sugar to use.
With bakers yeast, 1.5 pounds of sugar per gallon of wash is close to the upper limit.
For 20 gallons that means 30 pounds or less of sugar.
Rule # 2 don't stress the yeast
Yeast needs nutrients.
I use yeast that has been boiled, epsom salt, multi-vitamins and DAP.
Bring 1 gallon of water to a rolling boil, turn off the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of bakers yeast.
-You can try heating the water to boil after adding the yeast, but that's likely to cause drama.
Add the boiled yeast, 8 crushed multi-vitemins and a big pinch of epsom salt and 3 tbs of DAP to the fermenter.
Top the fernenter off with water to the 20 gallon mark.
Rule # 3 don't stress the yeast
pH control can be a problem with a sugar wash.
A cup or two of crushed oyster shell/coral that's normally used as chicken feed helps for pH control.
I use a drill and paint stirrer to whip the fermenter into a tornado for aeration.
Let it settle down for a minute.
Then pitch a 1/2 cup fresh bakers yeast on top.
Bakers likes to ferment at a constant 85F ish temp.
Heating the fermenter from the bottom is best.
That helps the yeast keep the fermenter actively stirred up.
Figure 4 days to a week for it to finish fermenting and settle.
Quite similar to mine. I use 5.23L water per Kg granulated white sugar. Start with 3/4 volume of water, heat to 40 deg C add sugar whilst agitating for 1 hour. Add balance of water to cool down to 27-30 deg C, PH at 5.5, add hydrated yeast and agitate for further 3 hours and STOP. Depending on required ABV for yeast addition, 12% = 4g/l or ... 18% ABV =6g/l. Leave manhole open and ferments out in 3 to 4 days.
@richard said:
Depending on required ABV for yeast addition, 12% = 4g/l or ... 18% ABV =6g/l.
Yes, yeast pitch rate can influence the final alcohol content (%ABV) of a wash. A higher pitch rate will likely lead to a more complete fermentation and potentially a slightly higher ABV (i'm not talking 6% however), while underpitching can result in a lower ABV due to yeast stress and incomplete sugar conversion.
Other factors affect conversion rate including yeast strain used, ferment temperature, yeast pitch rate, nutrient availability & ph (both starting & across the ferment). However the biggest factor impacting the final ABV is the original gravity (OG) of the wash & it's composition. Basically a higher gravity wash has more sugar that can be converted into more alcohol but some wash eg molasses contain sugars that aren't / cant be consumed by yeast - or need additional enzymes to break them down into a form that the yeast can consume.
Your yeast has nutrients added, so that's likely the reason for the increased yield, not the additional yeast as yeast will grow to the conditions. It'd be intersting to hear if you've tried the lower pich rate and added additional nutrients eg Fermaid & achieved a higher end ABV
Also good practice to run it as soon as possible. Every day it sits past "stall" will be completely counterproductive. Bacteria will absolutely continue to produce lactic and acetic acid post-fermentation. This is where stripping is your friend. For many the number sounds crazy, but I'd say target 4 days start to finish (strip).
Comments
My preference is WPOSW. Its so neutral you can pot still it. IMHO better than TPW, making gin the better your neutral, the better the result. EC118 can be really slow, make sure you are using a pH buffer because it can crash.
Target lower starting gravities and run more wash. In the end it’s faster than trying to push up ABV - it’s a losing battle. Low nutrient, high gravity, that’s the recipe for yeast stress and congener formation, especially if that high starting gravity favors bacteria growth faster than yeast. If your goal is neutral, slow washes are your enemy. 4-5 days and strip should be your target.
EC1118 is a solid yeast. Nutrient should always be a blend of micro and macro - DAP + Fermaid/Fermax or just boil down some yeast off the bottom of the fermenter.
Tomato, chicken soup, apple juice, kale, whatever else that’s got some micro/macronutrients works in a pinch too.
This recipe by Shadylane "Shady's Sugar Shine" is probably the cleanest and best sugar wash that Ive ever used for making neutral.
His recipe and words below.
Quite similar to mine. I use 5.23L water per Kg granulated white sugar. Start with 3/4 volume of water, heat to 40 deg C add sugar whilst agitating for 1 hour. Add balance of water to cool down to 27-30 deg C, PH at 5.5, add hydrated yeast and agitate for further 3 hours and STOP. Depending on required ABV for yeast addition, 12% = 4g/l or ... 18% ABV =6g/l. Leave manhole open and ferments out in 3 to 4 days.
The particular yeast used has nutrients within.
@richard, I'm curious about this comment:
Yes, yeast pitch rate can influence the final alcohol content (%ABV) of a wash. A higher pitch rate will likely lead to a more complete fermentation and potentially a slightly higher ABV (i'm not talking 6% however), while underpitching can result in a lower ABV due to yeast stress and incomplete sugar conversion.
Other factors affect conversion rate including yeast strain used, ferment temperature, yeast pitch rate, nutrient availability & ph (both starting & across the ferment). However the biggest factor impacting the final ABV is the original gravity (OG) of the wash & it's composition. Basically a higher gravity wash has more sugar that can be converted into more alcohol but some wash eg molasses contain sugars that aren't / cant be consumed by yeast - or need additional enzymes to break them down into a form that the yeast can consume.
Your yeast has nutrients added, so that's likely the reason for the increased yield, not the additional yeast as yeast will grow to the conditions. It'd be intersting to hear if you've tried the lower pich rate and added additional nutrients eg Fermaid & achieved a higher end ABV
Also good practice to run it as soon as possible. Every day it sits past "stall" will be completely counterproductive. Bacteria will absolutely continue to produce lactic and acetic acid post-fermentation. This is where stripping is your friend. For many the number sounds crazy, but I'd say target 4 days start to finish (strip).