Hard Seltzer

[bracconiere]

Cup of dry yeast? Can you explain a bit further bracconiere? Just overpitch? or dead for nutrients?

I'm doing 14 gallon batches of seltzer and looking for cheaper yeast nutrients that the fermaid o I've been using.

well hold, on i just did 20lb's table sugar in 13.5 gallons of water, hoping to get 3 kegs instead of two...why not i have 15 gallon fermenter, i pitched aproxamitly 1.5 cups of this into it on the 12th, it's stopped bubbling...


https://www.ebay.com/itm/3037480581...rentrq:704bd9b21860ab8e8444ba4dfffcf91a|iid:1
and those bags go along way when de vaccumed....


just checked it got a BRIX of 5.1 so with a OG of 1.068 gives me a ABV of 10% now, and final correct gravity of 0.991....


and honestly, i think the yeast need to be alive, and maybe die off naturally from starvation? not sure?


i would say it's got a sulphury smell....but usually that goes away with some more time for the yeast to settle out.....

 

[pawleysplayr]

well hold, on i just did 20lb's table sugar in 13.5 gallons of water, hoping to get 3 kegs instead of two...why not i have 15 gallon fermenter, i pitched aproxamitly 1.5 cups of this into it on the 12th, it's stopped bubbling...


https://www.ebay.com/itm/3037480581...rentrq:704bd9b21860ab8e8444ba4dfffcf91a|iid:1
and those bags go along way when de vaccumed....


just checked it got a BRIX of 5.1 so with a OG of 1.068 gives me a ABV of 10% now, and final correct gravity of 0.991....


and honestly, i think the yeast need to be alive, and maybe die off naturally from starvation? not sure?


i would say it's got a sulphury smell....but usually that goes away with some more time for the yeast to settle out.....

I wasn't critiquing at all....
I just over-read it I think.... I know boiled yeast IS used as a yeast nutrient and I was just wondering if that was something you were doing.
The previous batch I did....also in a 13.5 gal btw I dumped due to sulfur.
I used 3 11g packs of EC1118 and no nutrients.....this worked fine back in the day when I was making sugar wash for vodka....but the sulfur was too much for seltzer and would not go away.
This current batch was made with same yeast and fermaid o nutrients.... it fermented fast....came out sulfur free and is clean tasting.
I was just looking around for other less expensive yeast nutrient solutions and that is what initiated my question.

 

[bracconiere]

came out sulfur free

i'd be curious what molcule the sulphur got locked up in? i don't it's a gas so just more a pleasent molecule? some people enjoy egg yolk's?

 

[bracconiere]

actually you got me thinking...what are the conditions to form SO2? with free sulphur?

 

[pawleysplayr]

I'm sure if I had a way to CO2 scrub it....I could have eliminated the sulfur eventually....but I don't have a CO2 tank and regulator any more (at least not functioning yet).
But as I am bottle conditioning....it would have definitely carried over to every bottle.

 

[bracconiere]

i just checked the ph on it, my eyeballs can only tell on a strip it's between 5 & 6....


beer is usually in the 4 range, maybe i'll try adding some phosphoric acid next half way through the ferment? what do you think?

 

[bracconiere]

I'm sure if I had a way to CO2 scrub it....I could have eliminated the sulfur eventually....but I don't have a CO2 tank and regulator any more (at least not functioning yet).
But as I am bottle conditioning....it would have definitely carried over to every bottle.

i was more thinking about the chemistry condition that are required to form SO2 out of elemental sulphur.....maybe more oxygenation at pitch? is ph involved?

 

[pawleysplayr]

i was more thinking about the chemistry condition that are required to form SO2 out of elemental sulphur.....maybe more oxygenation at pitch? is ph involved?

For water I use RO water with about 40grams of Gypsum in both batches....I had read somewhere that this was a good source of calcium for the yeast in sugar washes. Of course it is also a source of sulfur.
Oxygenation could have been a problem, but the filling technique was the same for both batches.....RO water line trickle down the inside surface of an old model blichmann conical.
As to pH....I just checked the this bat it is sitting at 4.0 as close as I can tell with kombucha pH strips(0-6).
I think most notes I've read indicate pH drops in a sugar wash is more the norm than increases.
I'm a noob tho re seltzers.

 

[pawleysplayr]

For water I use RO water with about 40grams of Gypsum in both batches....I had read somewhere that this was a good source of calcium for the yeast in sugar washes. Of course it is also a source of sulfur.
Oxygenation could have been a problem, but the filling technique was the same for both batches.....RO water line trickle down the inside surface of an old model blichmann conical.
As to pH....I just checked the this bat it is sitting at 4.0 as close as I can tell with kombucha pH strips(0-6).
I think most notes I've read indicate pH drops in a sugar wash is more the norm than increases. Everything I read says I should be adding some buffer.
I'm a noob tho re seltzers.

 

[bracconiere]

The reverse reaction occurs upon acidification:

H+ + HSO−3 → SO2 + H2O


i just added acid to a neutral sugar wash, brought it down to about~4-5ph, it was basic, pitched 2 cups baker's yeast.....i'll see if i get clean ferment....

 

[bracconiere]

Gypsum in both batches....I had read somewhere that this was a good source of calcium for the yeast in sugar washes. Of course it is also a source of sulfur.

i think gypsum is just a source of calcium and magniesum? no sulpfur?


and i think it only is usful when used in a mash to lower ph? it reacts with some other stuff, or something along those line...other wise it's basic?

 

[pawleysplayr]

i think gypsum is just a source of calcium and magniesum? no sulpfur?


and i think it only is usful when used in a mash to lower ph? it reacts with some other stuff, or something along those line...other wise it's basic?

So in the 'stillers world it is said to be a good source of calcium for yeast health in sugar washes....this may be a myth that I latched on to in another life .
If google is to be believed gypsum is calcium sulfate dihydrate (chemical formula is CaSO4·2H2O).

 

[bracconiere]

If google is to be believed gypsum is calcium sulfate dihydrate

you got me on this, i was thinking about dolomite! which is a blend of calcium and magnisium carbonate....and now i'm thinking about epsom salts, which i think is magnesium sulfate....