TexasT

Tha nks guys. Will dig in deeper and do my homework... I appreciate the mentoring. Time short at present due to a little medical issue but will begin tomorrow

My bad. Conversion w Alpha and Gluco and I did sparge the grain . All things considered, even if I eliminated any grains, the sugars or single ring dextrose should have sufficiently fed a nice fermentation just like a plain sugar wash. Not often I'm left scratching my head. I'm beginning to wonder if my package yeast got too hot when I was moving and degredated.

Ok. Ill show my ignorance...best to do it BEFORE owing any taxes....what are you paying taxes on...all ethanol off the still, only whats bottled, based on weight or by the bottle volume? Ive been to some micros that said they only pay on what they bottle, some that had no certified scales, one that didnt pay if test batches produced <1 gallon...its like a free-for-all. Whos got the scoop for me and can steer me from trouble.

Im at a loss. I did a test batch using flaked wheat and dextrose, but otherwise following the same recipe except for the ingredient change and the mash stalled after 24 hrs. At 12 hours it was looking very promising, was very active but by the time it crossed 24 hrs, all activity had stopped, the SG readings indicated very little ethanol had been made (<1%). Aroma was good, temp was good, Ph was around 4.2 if I recall correctly. The yeast was fresh, included nutrients and judging from the initial roll, I was expecting a good abv from this test. Since I was changing 2 ingredients (dextrose AND rolled wheat instead of whole berries) I did a second mini mash using sugar along with the rolled wheat. Both stalled. This was my first with flaked wheat, but made sure I heated and maintained at 160 degrees for about 10 minutes, then I removed the grain and transferred the sticky stuff to a small fermenter and added water, just as I always to with this recipe. (I usually pull the starches out with a third of my overall water, then add the other 2/3 to cool it faster so I can pitch and seal it up. This recipe has been spot on many times before, so Im at a loss as to what caused the stall. I may try adding more sugar to see it it will come back...but thats what puzzles me, it should be necessary. Never had to do that before.

Sounds like a plan. I'm running a small trial with it now and will check the abv shortly to see how it's progressing. Thanks

I'm wondering if others have used dextrose in place of sugar or hot rolled grains (pre-gelatinized) instead of whole grains. Was it worth the switch? Encounter any issues with mashing that I would want to consider before switching?

Just wanted to offer kudos. I've run into many folks that just had no interest to lending others a hand. Andy and Mitch aren't personal friends but you'd never know by the way they act. These guys have answered questions, shared resources, designs and in general just been friendly folks. I appreciate you guys