Corn wine

[Charlietuna]

I've made 3 batches now & they've all acted the same. Tried to start them out around 1.150 to push the limits of the 1118 yeast. All three have taken 2-3 weeks to stop fermenting & have never reached 1.00. I started the last at 1.16 & I think it's done, but the sg is at 1.030. Tastes strong like an 18%. But y are my numbers off? These three batches act nothing like wine. Is there any way the starches are breaking down or just hanging out affecting the specific gravity / hydrometer?

Thanks. Brian

 

[jamesngalveston]

you should try turbo yeast. it works at high alcohol contends......search for it on the net.

 

[GaDawg]

Where I live we call that corn msah

 

[Smartdog]

You are on the right track for making a decent bio-fuel. You just need a small unit to separate the fuel from the non-fuel components. And it justs so happens that one of the vendors on this site Home brew Heaven can help:
http://store.homebrewheaven.com/turbo-air-still---simple-to-use-distiller-p1729.aspx

As this fuel source will be an ethanol product it must not be used for other non-fuel uses.

 

[Thig]

Where I live we call that corn msah

Yeah, now you just need to cook that, condense the steam, and, oh wait can't do that.

 

[Charlietuna]

Lol. Yes, corn mash / wash. But that's illegal due to the government not getting their tax dollars. So, I'll call it corn wine.

I've actually read bad reviews on Turbo yeast giving a final distilled product a off flavor. That is for someone that planned on distilling the end product.

Any thoughts on the starches breaking down or messing with my SG readings?

Maybe I'm just using a bogus abv calculation. The online calculator I used gave me 18 % with a starting sg of 1.16, ending .995. ?? I'm stalling at 1.03.

Thanks

 

[saramc]

Charlie...my calculator says if OG is 1.160 (always measure out to .000) and you ferment to 1.000 you have a potential ACV of 21% @60F. If you have a FG of 1.030 at 60F you end up with ACV around 17.6%, which would be on target for EC-1118 which can push 18% +/-. I would hazard that if you rack and then allow this some more time you may drop a few more points, keyword: may.

 

[rjb222]

Would you not be better off to ferment to a dry 16% than dealing with residual sugars left to burn and put bad flavors into your 'corn wine? I would target a starting sg of about 1.100 as the ferment hits about the half way point I would add sugar and some nutrient this will trick EC-1118 into eating the added sugar quickly with a large active population and you could hit 18%+ with out the residual sugar to burn. If you start a yeast in a high sg environment many times you actually weaken the yeast cells and they give up prematurely. Turbo yeasts are in most cases as there are a few that are not EC-1118 with a large amount of nutrient and energiser added.

 

[Jolly_Roger]

If you search artisan distiller , or home distillation, you can find mountains of info... although most of those guys go for lower abv to start claiming better end product.. around 10% - 12% seems to be the norm.