Tomato Paste Wash (TPW) Recipe Discussion

[Crow7]

Hi all

Need some advise.

TPW
5kg sugar
80g lowans yeast.
200g TP
Juice from Half Lemon as no citric acid.

30c when adding yeast

Fermentation started very quickly. Went well for 4-5 day.

Kept temp above 25c

But now its 2 weeks later and still fermenting.

It is very slow (I can see the pressure difference in the air lock and its bubbling every couple of minutes.)


Shouldn't it have completed by now?
Gravity is .994

[The Stig]

If the gravity is that low shes done.
What your seeing is C02 being released.
Shes ready to run :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Crow7]

Cheers.
I will wait till the weekend when I have time.
Hopefully this will allow any extra sediment to clear out.

[yobgow]

Doing my first TPW wash, followed the recipe to the letter.

Temp adjusted SG (was around 32C when measured) was 1.077.
Running a heat belt and the wash has been hovering around the 28-30C and the wash was made last Friday meaning today it's been 5 days.
I haven't noticed any bubbles for the last 12+ hours so I got some out from the tap that was 26C when I measured the SG which came in at a temp corrected 0.992.
From what I've read on here it's basically ready apart for waiting for it to clear a bit more and according to the calculators I've used the wash is around 11% ABV.

My question is, 5 days seems pretty fast from what I've read in this section, so could I run into any issues or problems?

Or have I done something wrong?

[RuddyCrazy]

When fermenting at the higher temps most wash's will finish in a week or so, just leave it for a week or 2 to fully clear then it's ready for the strip run.

[yobgow]

When fermenting at the higher temps most wash's will finish in a week or so, just leave it for a week or 2 to fully clear then it's ready for the strip run.

Ahh that's good to hear.
Thanks for the info :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Wellsy]

Don’t be afraid to taste it mate. If it is sweet there is still some sugar to be dissolved so wait a bit.
Running it to early with sugar still in the wash will cause the wash to bubble in the boiler and those bubbles build on each other ( have you ever boiled sugar for toffee). This bubble will continue and rise up through your still and eventually come out the spout. It is called puking, this leaves a sticky residue that will sweeten your future distillations until it is cleaned out. Don’t ask me how I know that lol

[yobgow]

Don’t be afraid to taste it mate. If it is sweet there is still some sugar to be dissolved so wait a bit.
Running it to early with sugar still in the wash will cause the wash to bubble in the boiler and those bubbles build on each other ( have you ever boiled sugar for toffee). This bubble will continue and rise up through your still and eventually come out the spout. It is called puking, this leaves a sticky residue that will sweeten your future distillations until it is cleaned out. Don’t ask me how I know that lol

Cheers Wellsy.

I will do a taste test tomorrow, it smelt a little sickly sweet but I do have another 25L fermenter with TPW that I started 24 hours later so I might as well wait till they both have worked their magic before distilling.

I really need to get some more fermenters so I can have several batches going in succession, but it will have to wait till I hit the big smoke to get some as the freight cost to where I am makes them stupid expensive and the local shop just takes the piss wanting $65 for a 22L bucket with temp strip, tap and trap.

I just hope I don't run out in the meantime :obscene-drinkingdrunk:

[AJH1]

Hi all have been reading this post and learning a lot. Some seem to do a pot still run of the wash first and others do a reflux run, I was wondering what would be best with the air still pro? Then what for the second run, reflux or pot still?

Thanks
Adriam

[Wellsy]

Your airstill pro is a pot still, so it will retain some flavour no matter how many runs you do. This is what makes them great for brown spirits and gins. Most run this wash for a neutral spirit.

The reason some run through a pot is simply because they are doing a stripping run. They then take that output (low wines) and do a spirit run in a reflux still.

For you I would recommend you do the wheatbix all bran wash as the residual flavour will be a slight wheaty flavour instead of tomato soup. But if you love tomato soup alcohol this is the wash for you.

Just my opinion of course

[AJH1]

Hey Wellsy,

The airstill pro does a reflux run, so I should do pot still run first and then dilute that back to below 40% and then run on reflux mode?

[howard]

Hey Wellsy,

The airstill pro does a reflux run, so I should do pot still run first and then dilute that back to below 40% and then run on reflux mode?

i think that's a yes.
i'm sure there is airstill threads with advice from users.
meanwhile, this diagram for airstills has done the rounds..

[AJH1]

Thanks Howard,

I had a look at that, but again that is for the airstill that is a pot still only. I have the pro that is both a potstill and reflux. While it is small and not a high end unit hopefully it will still give me something drinkable. I can not find a lot on the pro version on best way to run it.

Cheers
Adrian

[The Stig]

A pot still run then a reflux run will give a drinkable result .
But, even with a T500 I could still taste the tomato and it’s a dryer spirit than the weet-bix.
Maybe try double refluxing.
Try a few things and let us know what you find :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[AJH1]

Thanks Stig, will give it a go

[howard]

Thanks Howard,

I had a look at that, but again that is for the airstill that is a pot still only. I have the pro that is both a potstill and reflux. While it is small and not a high end unit hopefully it will still give me something drinkable. I can not find a lot on the pro version on best way to run it.

Cheers
Adrian

yep, i know what the airstill pro is, the method still applies, strip fast then reflux.
if you still get that tang of tomato, an FFV is cleaner.

[AJH1]

Thanks Howard,

I had a look at that, but again that is for the airstill that is a pot still only. I have the pro that is both a potstill and reflux. While it is small and not a high end unit hopefully it will still give me something drinkable. I can not find a lot on the pro version on best way to run it.

Cheers
Adrian

yep, i know what the airstill pro is, the method still applies, strip fast then reflux.
if you still get that tang of tomato, an FFV is cleaner.

Brilliant thanks

[Chriss]

Not much has been going on...

September 2024 with one of my nephews want to learn distilling. Thus I started with the safety procedure. He replied "Do I need to know all that"

The wash is from September 2022, last of the 200L TPW from then. 80L minus that run, about 60L to go.
Re-packed the T500 column with lots of copper, oh boy does it weigh in now. Compared to all those S/S little thingos.
The T500 thermometer has a problem with not displaying correctly. Cheap plastic crap. Fixed it.
The T500 water flow controller needed a clean, stuff inside it from sitting too long.
Result: 92% ABV - taste is quite neutral in the hearts. All of it went into oak (blocks are lightly burnt, chunks and staves are medium charred)

Did my first honey mead experiment (DO CHECK THE SUPERMARKET HONEY IS FROM AUSTRALIA) the 1kg container from aldi is sub par. Woolies stock cloverfield which is worse, bitter imported crud. Anyway, the mead turned in all the wet weather, and saved it before it became infected. Had it over the xmas period and not bad considering its origin, the fungi growing inside the glass jar above the mead liquid. Kmart 3kg jar we purchased, the metal lid is dodgy.

Pretty lazy here, even have a copper pipe for ethanol out, but haven't fitted it yet. Might have to get a parrot with charcoal filter. But too lazy here.
Finally got a stainless steel fermenter for brews this month. Sick of all the crap plastic issues with the plastic fermenters. They can become storage for grains, sugar, etc.
Brews are superior than before. using pure water.

[slideshowbob]

Looking for a PH meter ? Look no further :handgestures-thumbupleft:
https://5stardistilling.com/product/ph-test-meter/

Does this work out of the box, or do you need to calibrate it first?

*Asking for a friend... :think:

[The Stig]

They do work out of the box , but they do come with calibration powders and instructions