Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

So first up I'm pretty certain I've cocked this up but it's a test and that's what test's are for!

Full credit goes to hillzabilly for this in the "Neutral wash for gin" thread as he is the one that started it!

The idea is to use "wheat" liquig malt extract (unhopped) as a quick and easy alternative to an AG wheat grain wash.

Hillza's idea is:

25lt batch
350-400ml wheat malt extract (unhopped)
6kg white sugar(I never use more than 6kg/25lt batch)
1/2tsp citric acid
1tsp gypsum
1 by 8gr pack of CL23 wine yeast

The Adzified (half assed) version is:

50lt batch
1.1kg wheat malt extract (for simplicity sake just used the whole tin)
10kg Sugar
no gypsum/citric
22g of US-05 (it's what I had laying about)

OG gravity was 1.096!! pH 5.2 according to my digital ph meter. US-05 i thought was supposed to be ok for big ales so re-hydrated and pitched 2 packets.

Fermented down to 1.050 within a week, then cactus for 2 weeks, super sweet to taste, it has a sour tang and the pH is now reading at about 3.5.

As I don't have anything yet to help adjust the pH (just ordered some calcium carbonate) I pitched some Uvaferm 43 using the manufactures instructions for a stuck ferment, re-hydrated bla bla

It started to come alive again for a bit, there is a thin krausen I guess you'd call it, a slight fizz, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything according to hydrometer after 2 days.

Firstly, I'd be keen to know what you think I can do if anything to dry this batch out.

Secondly, should I be looking at using citric/gypsum as buffer? I'm in Melbourne and mains water here I'm pretty certain is about 5.5 out of the tap. I do have a water filter to but not sure if that would affect much. Could the LME have really caused such a pH crash?

I think the idea is sound, but just looking for advice on how to tweak this and scale it up to say a 200L batch.

Cheers!

If your using more expensive yeast and LME wheat extract may be better to not add all the sugar at the beginning of fermentation as the high gravity is not ideal conditions for the yeast .

Not enough yeast IMHO. I use US05 for my beer at 1050 (max) in a 20L wash 1 pkt is enough. If you work on this assumption, you would be using 2 pkts in a 20L wash (pretty common for "big"beers over 1060). You're using 2 pkts in a 50L wash at 1096.'Chuck in another 2 pkts...

I might be wrong... but I think another consideration is the "strength" or attenuation power of the yeast.

The SafAle 05 is a brewers yeast and likely will only ferment 75% of the available sugars.

Champagne yeast? Or even a distillers yeast maybe? Beer yeast is not the best for high alcohol ferments. It can be done but beyond 10-12% is usually where they stop.

Beer yeast needs to add to the flavor of the beer and and flavor is not what your after and the other thing to look at is what is the temperature of the fermentation.