Easy Weetbix / All Bran Wash Recipe Discussion

[Professor Green]

Soldier on with it Stormchoir. These recipes are fairly forgiving. It may not have much of the wheat flavour at the end of it but it will still ferment out.

[Stormchoir77]

Soldier on with it Stormchoir. These recipes are fairly forgiving. It may not have much of the wheat flavour at the end of it but it will still ferment out.

Awesome.
...That somebody.... will continue. :text-thankyoublue:

[slideshowbob]

Soldier on with it Stormchoir. These recipes are fairly forgiving. It may not have much of the wheat flavour at the end of it but it will still ferment out.

Awesome.
...That somebody.... will continue. :text-thankyoublue:

That somebody will thank you some day!

[Dfer]

Hi
Planning my first wash, wbab, and found the following calculator.
Being my first i just want to follow the recipe exactly.
Trouble is no sugar mentioned- i presume the standard 1kg per litre- even for 60 l wash?
Also, what is a cup of weet bix?
is it hand crushed , which i guess is a few or , as i have seen , processed weet bix about 7 to a cup?
As an aside, what do i use dap for?
Thanks
Dennis

[Buj]

Hey Dfer,

This is what I used for WBAB before I moved onto Corn Flakes.
I found this in the WBAB thread a while back.

In a 30L fermenter i would go with the following and only fill to the 27 or 28L mark.
6kg Sugar
4 cups crushed weetbix
4 cups all bran
90g yeast
1tsp citric acid
1tsp epson

[Wellsy]

If you click the recipe link in the description at the start of this thread mate it takes you to the original recipe which mentions using 5 kg of sugar. I hope that helps

[Dfer]

Thanks

[RobMichelle]

Dfer as has been mentioned before it’s easiest to stick to the reciepe in the “tried &proven” section on the forum they do work brilliantly. As for a liter of weetbix I reckon it’s roughly a row in the box, I used to blend them in a blender now I just squash up with my hand in a big mixing bowl. Dap is a yeast nutrient some don’t use it some do I still use whatever the reciepe calls for.
Now to finish my coffee and off to Aldi to get 24kg of raw sugar :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[kingy]

I use a 1.4kg box of weet bix I crushed it and boil it up or maximum flavour and use 10kgs of sugar and top up to 55 litres.
Usually yield around 1litre of heads and 2.5litres of hearts around 91% through 4plates for a whisky slightly less yield when running as a neutral as the proof is higher. I use ag2 when making whisky it takes a little longer to ferment but has a bit more flavour. Saf gold for a quick ferment for neutral.

[Dfer]

Good info guys, cheers.
Im definitely going to stick to the original recipe, that’s why im trying to get a handle how many wb’s in a cup. Ive seen folks saying a few and others, putting them through a blender with 7 per cup, big difference.
Also looking at the calculator above, the recipe is not as simple as multiplying the quantities from a 25 l wash vs 60 l?
Im sure the answers are here somewhere . Or am I overthinking it?
Cheers
Dennis

[RuddyCrazy]

Dennis if your doing a 60 litre ferment it's the same size as I use so all I do is get a box of weetbix the one with 3 layers of biscuits and as I do 2 ferments just divide in half and just crunch them up with my hands over the fermenter and don't worry if a few lumps go in as they will fall apart when you give them a good mix with a paint mixer :handgestures-thumbupleft:

now for a 60 litre ferment I use 10 Kg's of sugar and aim for a SG(Starting Gravity) of 1080 which gives around a 10% wash. Now we want to invert the sugar so just heatup some water in a stock pot then chuck a 2Kg bag in and keep mixing until the liquid is clear then if the pot is big enough add a second bag doing the same. Then after the mixing chuck it in the fermenter and rinse and repeat until done.

Now also add cold water to the fermenter so we can aim for 30C when the fermenter is full, now one can just sprinkle Lowans Baking yeast onto the wash and give it a mix as your learning get a small jug and put some of the liquid from the fermenter say 20mm in depth then add enough but not too much yeast and give it a good mix. Very soon you will see the yeast starting to rise so do keep an eye on it as you learn it can bubble over and make a mess :laughing-rolling:

We call this this a yeast starter where the yeast is woken up and ready to goto work so then mix it in the wash then get the paint mixer and give it real good mix as we do want to get oxygen into the wash so the yeast can feed on it. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now mate oyster shells do make a good PH buffer so go shuck a few then enjoy :handgestures-thumbupleft: chuck em on a anthill for a few days and the ants will give them a good clean then just chuck a couple in the fermenter.

Now I mention PH another thing for you to learn mate so go grab some cheap PH papers as I want to aim for 4.5 to 5PH when we start the ferment and we can use baking soda to raise the PH and citric acid to lower the PH.

Just a few tips to play with your mind mate :laughing-rolling:

Cheers Bryan

[howard]

If you click the recipe link in the description at the start of this thread mate it takes you to the original recipe which mentions using 5 kg of sugar. I hope that helps

i agree.
6kgs of sugar is getting up to around 14% (?), and depending on the yeast, maybe stressing it out and producing off flavours.
most folk stick to about a 10% wash.

[Dfer]

Jeez Bryan, oysters, ants. Mate , i really appreciate your help but , for my 1st ferments I just want to stick to the Tried and Proven WBAB recipe to reduce my risk of f**k up. Recipe attached.
What i'm trying to get a handle on is the actual quantity of weetbix in a cup. Dumb question but I can shove 2 in and it’s full or i can super grind them and fit 7 in a cup?
Also, the recipe is for 23 l and im using say 57 ( in a 60l drum) ?
Yes, I can multiply 23 l to 57 l but is it that simple- do the ratios stay the same?

Thanks Wellsy and Juc for input - im trying the KISS principle for my first run- really want something drinkable or SWMBO says its going back!
Cheers Dennis

[RobMichelle]

I think ya over thinking it as we do at the start dfer squash weetbix in ya hand till you get three cups, it really is that simple make what works for 23 ltrs work for what volume you wish for just leave enough head room for foaming.

[Wellsy]

Stick to your plan dfer
First few runs follow the recipe as there is a reason they are recommended. Try not to over think it.
General rule of thumb in cooking is a cup equals 250 grams. Just take lots of notes on what you did because you won’t remember next time :)

[Dfer]

Ok, all good to go.
Ill have a shot at yours Bryan once Im comfortable with the process and ^:)^ ^:)^
Thanks everyone.
Cheers
Dennis

[WoodyD40]

2 weekends ago i set up 3 x 60 litre fermenters with this wash - checked the levels on Sunday and it had only dropped to about 1040. So, then i checked the pH ... way way too low. Spread a 500g packet of baking soda evenly across the 3 fermenters - barely made an impact. Wife managed to get more packets yesterday, i ended up slowly adding a full packet per fermenter to finally bring the pH back up to just below 6 (i think - i am typing this at work without the gear in front of me).

Added some of 5star DAP to each fermenter and tossed a bit more yeast into it hoping to kick it off again. I'll check all the readings again tonight when i get home.

[WoodyD40]

I am home now. The airlock bubbles are working so I’ll leave it alone for now.

[RuddyCrazy]

Sheesh mate small packets of baking yeast and your how many years in this hobby :laughing-rolling: About 10 years I just pinched the 1Kg box of baking soda from the house cupboard and still got some left in my draw :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Anyway I can honestly say just leaving the ferment and making sure there is liquid in the airlock this wash will stay good :handgestures-thumbupleft: I went back thru my notes and the WB wash's were put on last xmas and a few weeks ago I ran the last 45 litres and still got a great yield :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Dfer]

Well, very relieved. I thought I had a monumental SNAFU when I religiously followed the recipe BUT Bgt a new stirrer from Bunnings-,big thing , great stirrer- but painted.
I can see all you brewers laughing! Stirrer back to Bunnings?
Anyway , at least I was smart? enough to wash carefully and sterilise! And after 48 hours I have a lot of very happy yeasties bubbling away furiously in 60 l fermenter. Phew.
Fingers crossed, it’s wrapped in a heat belt, Inkbird with sensor on outside and wrapped in old sleeping bag. I think it’s better off than I am.
First ferment of anything from total novice , so far so good and back to running the new (to me) neutraliser in a week or two hopefully!