Newbie wanting some help on recipes

Mickiboi

ph probably would not have changed much. Keep us posted.

GD50

Yes would think it would be pretty stable now. Coming to an end nicely so at present rate 2 days or a bit more. Would you let it go to natural temp after finish or keep the gentle heaters on a bit longer.

Mickiboi

Keep it at ferment temp for 3 days when it's finished and then crash it. It should clear up in a couple of days. It's cold outside at the moment so just being outside might do it.

GD50

I got it back in my cool room freezer so I could crash it down to a solid rock if I wanted. What would you set room to.

Mickiboi

4 degc

GD50

So @Mickiboi 's brew is finished. Ended at 0.984 which calculates at 14.44 % abv and ph 3.4. Obviously not as nice to drink now as it is really dry but it has like a champagne taste. Will crash it after tomorrow for a few days then strip all in a few runs and then a spirit run. It is a slow but steady ferment but at 19 C I guess it would be.

With the reemergence of the Kale wash thread i am torn between going straight in with another batch of the same or doing a Googes Goo brew to compare as i always intended to go there when I figured out TPW has a bit of a strange taste. Also saw a post in that thread about using grain in a Kale wash that tickeled my fancy a bit. The 14.4% and great taste is a bit of a draw card though.

Mickiboi

Do the kale wash. I want to know what turns out better.

punkin

Then do this one, it's pretty close to what i used to do just grain and dap for nutrients.

Aces foolproof neutral @ AD

GD50

@punkin . That's something like it. I read down a bit and as you said any grain would be ok and it was either malted barley or tritacale i was considering. Even just chucking a few kg into mickibois brew was a thought.

flidget

Do you really just chuck the grain in? Don't you need to boil or at least heat the sugar and grain together - like a mini-mash beer? I can see your not looking to activate enzymes in the grain for extra sugar - plenty of that already - but won't the grain need to be sanitised by heat?

punkin

Distillers washes are not like beer. The abv is stronger and helps protect from infection. Minor infections are less likely to impact the flavour etc.

You can sanitise it if you wish, but i never did.

max

What's a pH meter? Why should I have one?

DonMateo

@max The pH is a measure of the acidity or basicness of any liquid. Ie Acid has a low pH and something that is caustic or is more basic has a high pH. This forum is very newbie friendly but I would suggest you do some more reading on making whiskey or even beer. You need a pH meter as the pH of the water effects both the taste but more importantly when your fermenting yeast likes to have a certain pH. If you have basic water, ie pH around 8 you need to adjust it to get to around 6 before you add your grain which drops the pH. Most yeasts like a pH around 3.5 to 4.5. You lower pH with the addition of acid, either sulphuric or citric. I use citric.

But seriously dude, spend some time reading the basics on making beer and distilling. Homedistiller has some great pages on the very basics, with the various stages. Everyone starts somewhere. It will take an hour or so of reading to get the basics. It takes more time screwing things up to learn it in practice. I read everything I could and then when I started making on grain ferments I was too eager and screwed up Strike temp, maintaining the temp of the grain while saccarinification is happening, and lots of other things. All the basics are online and there if you dont follow the rules it doesnt work. But that is the thing about experience. You only get it the hard way after you have read everything and you normally get the best experience when you screw something up.

Kapea

A pH meter has an ion specific electrode that measures the hydrogen ion concentration in water based solutions, and displays a pH value based on that concentration on a digital display.

pH is an integral part of starch to sugar conversion in mashing grains, and in yeast activity during fermentation.

Mashing and fermenting without a way to measure pH is akin to driving a car without a speedometer. You can do it, but you’re a lot more likely to get in trouble without it.

max

Yes it seems I need to do some more research and reading. I didn't make a couple of baches already including one that was 90%. I thought I knew so much I guess I didn't really. But I am interested and not deterred. Please give some suggestions on good reading material. Or any other methods of learning more. Thank you!