Braga turned out sour what to do. What to do with sour wash and can it be saved? What can be the reasons for the sourness of the mash

Wheat-based mash is very popular. Moonshine obtained from such raw materials has a mild bread flavor and is easy to drink. Another plus in favor of choosing wheat for alcoholic fermentation is the presence of natural yeast in the grains themselves. The most important thing in obtaining quality raw materials is the selection of good grain. It is believed that in the technology of fermentation, you need to try to get a sour mixture, however, beginners are faced with this regularly, and even experienced distillers have such cases. Why does it turn sour and can it be saved?

To understand why this happens, you need to know the course of fermentation itself.

Fermentation is the process of breaking down starch and sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The main actor in this is yeast, and the presence of oxygen is not required. If oxygen in large quantities enters the container, then fermentation stops, and alcohol begins to split into vinegar and water. And the result is vinegar instead of alcohol.

The souring process begins immediately after the end of the fermentation process, so it is important to track in time the moment the bubbling in the container stops. In the early stages, the process can still be resumed.

The reasons for the souring of the mash are as follows:

1. The first of them - an increase in oxygen in a container with a solution - can also have several reasons:
   • the absence of a water seal (an ordinary rubber glove is often used instead) or a violation of its work;
   • frequent stirring of the mixture also helps to increase the oxygen in the container with the wash.

1. The second reason for the sourness of the mash is a decrease in temperature or its constant drops. Ideally, if the fermentation process takes place at 24-28 degrees. Sharp jumps her or too cool conditions will lead to a violation of the fermentation conditions and contribute to the souring of the product.
2. The third reason for the sourness of the mash is a large number of lactic acid or other bacteria, as well as the presence of fungi. This situation can arise in the absence of sterility when choosing a container for making mash. Dirty water, hands, as well as the raw material itself, on the basis of which the tincture is made.

What to do if the mash is sour? This is evidenced by the appearance of a sour smell and taste. Is it possible to save the sour mash?

Experienced distillers advise to neutralize the acid formed due to the disturbance of the fermentation process with the help of alkaline products. For these purposes, soda or chalk is suitable. Then the mixture is distilled at least two to three times.

Another tip for neutralizing the sour taste is to add sugar to the resulting liquid. However, this method is effective only if the fermentation suddenly stops, which is a guarantee of the subsequent souring of the product. In this case, such a measure allows you to resume the fermentation process and, at the initial level, prevent the mixture from souring.

As practice shows, in the event that the mash is sour, but in fact, it is already vinegar, it is impossible to revive it. Vinegar can be used for its intended purpose, especially if fruits or berries were used for its production. They say that on its basis excellent marinades for meat and kebabs are obtained. Wheat vinegar is most likely no different excellent taste, and if you do not plan to use it, you will have to get rid of it.

A very unpleasant moment that occurs during fermentation is the appearance of mold. This situation is even worse than acidification of the product, since the appearance of mold indicates the infection of the mixture with fungi, which will be extremely difficult to get rid of. And their presence is a guarantee of spoiled mash, turbidity and changes in taste.

Sour cultures based on fruits and berries are most often susceptible to mold. However, wheat-based mash can also be affected by pathogenic fungi that create a film on the surface. However, if the defeat is small and noticed in time, then there is a chance to influence the situation and correct it. If the mold layer is large, darkened, has acquired a rather dense structure, and the film has wrinkled, then there is nothing to save, the disease process is running and is in full swing.

What can be done if there is little mold penetration?

1. Pour the mixture into a clean container. In the process of pouring, the main thing is to prevent mold from entering the new container. To do this, you can use a rubber flexible hose, which is placed in a container with a wash through a space cleared of moldy film. Then the mixture is sucked in by the mouth, and as soon as it begins to rise along the hose, its end is placed in a clean prepared container.
2. Sterilize the expressed mixture. Sterilization of the purified mixture takes place at a temperature of 70–75 degrees for two to three minutes, after which the mash is closed with a lid, allowed to cool to an operating temperature of 25–30 degrees, and yeast is added.

Prevention of sourness

So, the process of souring mash is easier to prevent than to correct its consequences. What can be done to eliminate an unpleasant situation during the fermentation process?

1. The basic rule in the production of wash is the use of a water seal. The latter can be purchased at the store, or you can make it yourself using a flexible hose and a glass of water. And also replace it with an ordinary rubber glove. Just do not forget to pierce one of the fingers of the product with a needle to remove excess carbon dioxide: you don't need a big explosion!
2. Another rule is strict adherence to the temperature regime. It must not be allowed to drop sharply. The room for making mash should have a constant temperature within 24-28 degrees.
3. Distillation of the mash must be carried out immediately after the completion of fermentation. Even if it seems to you that it is too early.

To protect the mash from being damaged by bacteria and fungi, you can add some types of antibiotics:

1. Doxycycline (tetracycline series) is widely used in the process of home brewing and winemaking. His taste is neutral and will not affect the quality of the mash.
2. Lowland. Refers to a number of food additives used in the production of mash and wine. This drug helps prevent a number of diseases that occur during the fermentation process. Getting it is quite problematic.
3. Penicillin. It is inclined to provoke allergic reactions, therefore, allergy sufferers and people with a reaction to drugs of this group are not recommended to use.

The technology for making the right mash

It is important in the preparation of a quality product as a result of fermentation to acquire quality ingredients. For wheat mash, it is important that the cereal is no older than three years, ideally one year. You should not purchase wheat intended for planting. The best grain is winter wheat.

Clean dishes, a water seal and adherence to the recipe guarantee a high quality mash. Wheat mash does not need additional yeast, so many people prepare it from the appropriate grain. The wheat mash recipe contains wheat, sugar and water.

1. Cleanse wheat grains from debris by sifting. Rinsing is not recommended as this process washes away the natural yeast on which fermentation will be based.
2. Pour a small amount of unboiled clean water over the grains room temperature and mix with the required amount Sahara. Let the seeds germinate.
3. After germination, the grains are placed in a fermentation vessel, adding more sugar (according to some recipes, 6.5 kg of granulated sugar is recommended for five kg of wheat grains). And add water.

The mash is ready in 1.5 weeks. She is distilled. The resulting alcohol solution is optionally purified using activated carbon. To do this, it is poured into a container with moonshine at the rate of 50 grams per liter and kept for a week.

Of course, it is better to follow the cooking technology and not bring the raw materials to make moonshine sour. But if this happens, then the sooner measures are taken, the more chances are to save the brew.

A very rare case in the practice of any moonshiner is the souring of the mash. Honestly, it's even hard for me to imagine what needs to be done with it in order to achieve such a result. Immediately a small lyrical digression - I know people in the village who make mash without a water seal, and a couple of times I myself did this in a similar way. What do they do? Pour the mash into a flask, cover with a leaky lid, and then wrap the top of the container with blankets. While the mash is fermenting, there is an excess of pressure inside the container, so carbon dioxide is squeezed out through the cracks and the blanket. The main thing here is not to miss the moment of the end of fermentation. But if, nevertheless, the mash turned sour, are there any methods to save it?

Sour mash - what is it good for?

On the Internet, on many resources, you will find dozens of ways to "reanimate" sour wash. Someone recommends adding sugar to it, someone - yeast, others say that sourdough and raw cereals are needed. And I tell you - all this is nonsense, because sour mash is vinegar. Have you ever tried to make homemade vinegar ferment 3-5% concentration? And in sour wash, this concentration can be higher - up to 7-12%, depending on how long it sours. All you can do is spoil the food, both the sugar and yeast and the vinegar itself.

If the mash is cooked with fruits (apples, plums), then vinegar can be used for domestic purposes for marinating meat. Just take a part of the sour mash, filter through a cotton-gauze filter, and pour it into glass bottles. Make sure that the vinegar is ready and that the alcoholic fermentation has stopped completely - the evolution of gas should completely stop.

Why does the mash turn sour?

There is only one reason here - the depressurization of the "shuttle", that is, of the fermentation tank. Yeast decomposes sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide only if there is no oxygen. If air enters the fermentation tank, then the yeast quickly dies, and bacteria enter the business, which turns the mash into vinegar. How can you avoid this? Just make sure that the container is tight and make sure that there is always water in the water seal.

How to determine if the mash is sour or not?

There are several simple ways:

• Braga smells like vinegar - the smell is very pungent, literally "hits" in the nose
• Very harsh sour taste - reduces cheekbones
• Fermentation stopped quickly and suddenly

Is there any hope to save the soured mash?

It all depends on at what point you discovered the catch. If the mash has already specifically turned into vinegar, then just pour it out, leaving a part for marinating the meat. By the way, I even recommend doing a little of this on purpose. homemade vinegar, since barbecue with its use is obtained from any meat is simply amazing. If the mash has just started to turn sour - it still tastes sweet, but with a slight sour smell, then just add a little yeast diluted in warm water to it (50 grams of baker's for 20 liters of mash will be enough), and ensure complete tightness. If the fermentation process has not recovered within 8-12 hours, then the case is "pipe", since yeast does not grow in the acid pipe.

• Never overload the fermentation tank - the optimal filling level is 2/3, regardless of the volume. In the process of fermentation, foam always forms, a cap of pulp rises, it is they who will need the remaining 1/3 of the space. Otherwise, the cap may rise so high that it gets into the outlet pipe, and it gets clogged, the water seal will fly off from the excess pressure, and the wash will deteriorate if you don't notice it right away.
• Use a wide seal as a water seal. silicone tube and a large container with water - today there are a lot of special covers and water locks, on the one hand they are convenient, but their disadvantage is that the volume of water in them is small, like the diameter of the tube. As a result, the water evaporates, or the tube becomes clogged. Homemade odor trap is the most reliable and proven, and the optimal tube thickness is 2 cm

• Take care of the complete tightness of the fermentation tank, then even if you do not guess somewhere with the proportions, the mash will ferment normally

It is difficult to spoil the mash - just provide it with the necessary conditions and do not interfere with the process, and you will succeed.

It so happens that the moonshine becomes sour. This is a problem most often faced by newcomers to home brewing, who do not take timely measures to prevent oxygen from entering the wash. But, as it turns out, there are other reasons why there may be sour mash made from wheat.

Can mash, in general, be sour? If you check the taste of the mash obtained from any grain under normal conditions, you will notice that there is a bitter aftertaste with the aroma of the raw materials and never gives off sour. This means that the souring of the mash is still a phenomenon that should not exist under normal conditions. What to do to prevent this from happening?

Why does the mash turn sour?

You should choose quality products as raw materials. In addition, observe their ratio and carry out the processes described in the recipe as accurately as possible.

What can be the reasons for the sourness of the mash?

In addition to the fermentation of alcohol, other processes and reactions occur in the mash, which may not be related to home brewing. Bacteria and microorganisms live in raw materials, dishes or in the air. All of them are involved in reactions under certain conditions. Such reactions can cause sourness, odor, and the cessation of fermentation.

The main reasons why the mash turns sour:

• Excess oxygen. Fermentation takes place anaerobically, that is, in order for the yeast to convert sugar into alcohol, the absence of oxygen is necessary. If the odor trap is not installed or if it is constantly removed, for example, for stirring, the amount of oxygen increases. Although it does not interfere with fermentation, it contributes to the beginning of another process - the synthesis acetic acid... As a result of this, the mash acquires a sour taste, and the concentration of ethyl alcohol is significantly reduced.
• Lactic acid bacteria can be another cause. When infected with them, fermentation will stop and the mash will deteriorate. It is useless to reanimate such a product; it will simply have to be poured out.
• Another reason may be a violation of the temperature regime. To prevent souring of the mash, it is necessary to maintain a stable temperature in the room. For fermentation, it should be 25-28 degrees.
• The reason, as already mentioned, may be the lack of a water seal. A water seal is necessary for the release of carbon dioxide, and it also prevents the access of oxygen. An alternative to it can be a glove with a hole in one finger. In some recipes, the odor trap is not installed on purpose, and the acidity level must be carefully monitored.

Separately, it must be said about infection with bacteria and fungi. Often, instead of the usual, are used wild yeast or they get into the wort from natural raw materials. The metabolic products of such yeast are alcohol compounds. But not all types of microorganisms are suitable for this. In some cases, mash can be infected with other pathogenic fungi, and it will be impossible to get a quality product. The concentration of harmful impurities in the mash will be too high, so much so that it will not make sense to distill it into moonshine.

Dimethyl sulphide may be formed if some other bacteria are contaminated. In this case, the smell of corn is a sign of infection. It also happens that the smell of rotten eggs comes from the mash. In this case, a lot of hydrogen sulfide was formed. At the same time, acidity, oddly enough, can be within acceptable limits. But distilling the mash is also not recommended, because the moonshine will have the same aftertaste.

Thus, sour mash can be not only of poor quality and give a small output, but also dangerous. Therefore, it is necessary to know the signs that the mash is sour. This is usually indicated by the following:

• an incorrectly installed odor trap, for example, with a twisted;
• sudden cessation of fermentation;
• pungent vinegar odor;
• scalding sour taste.

Prevention is the correct selection of ingredients, the installation of a water seal of any design, the tightness of the fermentation tank and its neutrality. In addition, you can protect the mash with some drugs, for example, antibiotics:

• In winemaking and home brewing, antibiotics of the tetracycline series are used to prevent souring of the mash. For the preparation of wine, for example, most often it can be Doxycycline. It is commercially available, inexpensive, stable in an acidic environment, does not affect the taste of wine and moonshine.
• Another safe food supplement- lowlands. It is used in the production of food and beverages. It dissolves well in liquids, works normally in an acidic environment, and is inexpensive. At the same time, it is quite difficult to get it, and some types of bacteria are immune to it.
• Antibiotics of the penicillin group are also often used in the preparation of moonshine. Among them, the most widely used is Amoxicillin. This is a very effective antibiotic, but it has a significant drawback - its components often cause allergic reactions. Therefore, it can only be used for mash, which will undergo distillation, since it completely decomposes during heat treatment.

Antibiotics are most often used in combination, because bacteria have the ability to develop resistance to any particular species. Therefore, more often than not, several of them are required. They are introduced before adding yeast, and if acid appears, the procedure is repeated after 3-5 days.

How to fix sour moonshine?

One way is to add baking soda and chalk. The effectiveness of this method depends on how much acetic acid appears in the wash. If it has only a pungent smell, while the taste of alcohol is not felt at all, then the easiest way is to simply pour out the mash, because the yield of moonshine will be low. If alcohol is still present in the wash, you can try to save it. The technology looks like this:

• First, we distill the mash, finish the selection at a strength below 45%.
• We measure the total strength and determine the amount of alcohol.
• We dilute to 20% and add soda and chalk, at the rate of 25 g of substance per liter of pure alcohol.
• Stir and close tightly. We leave for 3-4 hours.
• Then we re-distill, collect 15% separately and pour out. We finish the selection when the ABV is below 45%. At the end, we dilute the moonshine to the desired strength and leave it for 3 days until it stabilizes.

There is another way to save the sour wash. When fermentation stops, add sugar in the amount of 2 tablespoons per liter of substance. After 2-3 hours, signs of fermentation appear. Alternatively, you can add a sourdough from fruits, berries or grains. If fermentation has not started, you can pour out the rice at the rate of 0.5 cups per 10 liters of wort. After two days, the taste becomes normal.

How to cook mash so that it does not turn sour?

To begin with, when preparing wheat mash, do not forget that the grain does not contain sugar. It contains starch, which is a polysaccharide, therefore, in order for sugar to ferment into alcohol, it must be prepared - split.

For this, enzymes or malt are used. Malt contains natural enzymes. For cooking, its grain is germinated. If you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better to use ready-made malt or artificial enzymes. Because if the cooking technology is violated, the product may be spoiled.

Wild yeast does not require preparation, but it may not be sufficient if the grain is improperly processed. For beginners, it is recommended to use artificial yeast. But they need preparation. For this in warm water dissolve a little sugar, then add the right amount yeast in the correct proportion. The yeast solution is infused for about an hour and a half. After the appearance of abundant foam, they are transferred to the wash.

When installing the mash for fermentation, you must remember about complete tightness and compliance with the temperature regime. It is also very important not to stir the mash, especially in order to speed up the process, as this can lead to souring. Depending on the feedstock, fermentation takes up to 2 weeks, followed by distillation.

Sour mash is considered an abnormal situation. This is not the norm. When the mash turns sour, it is necessary to try to save it or simply pour it out, but drinking, as well as distilling in this form, is not worth it, although the very presence of acetic acid is not harmful. If the wash is sour due to other bacteria, that is, an infection has occurred, it is not recommended to use it further. Even if the mash was saved, you shouldn't drink it anyway, just distill it.

A favorable, neutral environment for all living things, if its acidity lies in the range from 6 Ph to 8 Ph.

If the Ph value is less than 6, then the medium is acidic, if it is more than 8, then it is alkaline.

The optimum value is 7 Ph.

The acidity of our blood is 7.4 Ph.

If the acidity of the living environment of organisms is less than 6 Ph, then their activity decreases, they just feel bad, for example, the plants stop growing.

Since yeast in the course of its life constantly acidifies its habitat, they gradually adapted to an acidic environment.

Yeast thrives at an acidity of 5 to 3.5 Ph.

Yeast activity drops completely if Ph is below 3.5.

The 3.5 Ph value corresponds to the acidity of lemonades.

If the mash, for example, is more sour than lemonade, then there is less than 3.5 Ph.

The activity of yeast competitors drops if the Ph is below 4.2.

The acidity of water is usually somewhere around 7 Ph, after we introduce yeast there it drops to 5 Ph.

The yeast does not have time to acidify the sugar mash during fermentation to an acidity below 3.5 Ph, so there is no need to specifically check the sugar mash for acidity.

Yeast during fermentation sugar mash, of course, lose their activity with each decrease in the acidity value, but not so much.

It should be borne in mind that by acidifying the mash, yeast is fighting with competitors in sugar.

It is not necessary to specifically neutralize the acidity of the sugar mash with soda or chalk.

It can be neutralized if we make mash from inverted sugar, where we add a catalyst in the form citric acid, and went overboard with it.

How to neutralize the acidity of the mash.

It can be neutralized by adding baking soda.

How much soda to add to the mash depends on the amount of acid in it.

I usually added 1-2 teaspoons per 10 liters of mash to the mash.

Add a little soda to the mash, because there will be copious foam.

Also, acidity is neutralized if the mash was made with the addition of juice or cake of sour apples, plums and other berries.

The acidity value can be measured by taste, if the mash is sour, then neutralize it, or you can measure it with a Ph Meter. It can be ordered from AliExpress and is not expensive.

Braga can drop and stop fermenting from yeast feed, especially if it is made from grains such as flour, bread.

With top dressing, we introduce lactic acid bacteria into the wash.

This is why it is not advisable to use a yeast feed if we want to reuse the yeast sediment.

How to determine if the mash is sour from bacteria.

Braga is too white, tastes sour, smells unpleasant with acetone, soda does not neutralize it well.

When distilling sour mash, there will be a spray, alcohol mashine will spit mash, at the exit from the refrigerator, from excess pressure in the cube.

There will be many heads in the moonshine made from soured mash.

The way out of this is not to distill the mash at all and pour it out, or drive it on low heat, for the first time until all the gas comes out of the mash.

Normal mash, before distillation, it is not necessary to neutralize with soda if it does not spit in your moonshine still.

You can watch a video with a test of the fermentation rate depending on the acidity of the mash.

Making mash is not difficult. You just need to take the ingredients you need, fill them with water, add dry, baker's yeast, add sugar and it's ready. Next, it's up to little, the dishes with the prepared wort are put in a warm place. It remains to wait for the ripening time. Braga is done this way. However, what is the reason that it turns sour with a couple? And what if this happened? Can overtake, in an effort to get rid of the sour taste? Just throw out the spoiled product? Or still try to fix it?

You just need to pay attention in advance to preparing a high-quality tincture. To do this, you should:

• Use only high quality products and use them in the correct proportions;
• Create mash in stages, without violating the technology;
• Adhere to fermentation conditions.
• But the work doesn't end there.

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In addition to the alcoholic fermentation necessary for the preparation, many extraneous and harmful reactions take place in the tincture. Great amount Microbes and bacteria are found on fermentation devices, dishes, in raw materials, yeast and even in the water used. As a result, when they get into the product, they cause unnecessary chemical reactions. Under favorable conditions, an unpleasant odor can often occur, a change in taste for the worse, contamination of the mash and, of course, to its souring. What factors can affect the acidity of the tincture? The most common reasons include:

1. Abundance of oxygen. Frequent stirring of the wort increases its oxygen content. It does not interfere with fermentation, but it causes completely unnecessary oxidation reactions. And if suddenly the mash has an unpleasant sour taste, then this is directly related to the synthesis of acetic acid, which causes an excess of oxygen.
2. Acid lactic bacteria. If it gets into the mash, a rapid souring occurs, and the fermentation reaction stops. It is no longer possible to correct this situation. The spoiled wort will have to be thrown out.
3. Incorrect temperature conditions. For high-quality fermentation, it is necessary to monitor the constant temperature of the room. If there are sudden changes in temperature, the tincture will turn sour. The best option for fermentation, the temperature is between 25 ° C and 28 ° C.
4. Water seal. Or rather its absence. Sometimes rubber medical gloves with a hole in one of the fingers are used for these purposes. Carbon dioxide that accumulates during the reaction must be released. Also, the presence of a water seal limits the ingress of oxygen into the tank with the wash. However, if the shutter is not available, you just need to carefully monitor the acidity of the mash.
5. Bacteria and fungi are also worth mentioning. Although perfect fermentation will not occur without fungi, not all of them are suitable for this business. If pathogenic bacteria get into the wort, then making high quality mash will become unrealistic. Due to the too high content of unnecessary impurities and compounds. Yet too many fungi can lead to mold.
6. The perpetrators of the appearance of dimethyl sulfide also require attention. These are Megasphaera, Obessumbacterium proteus, Klebsiella and several bacteria similar to them. A symptom of infection with these bacteria is a specific smell boiled corn... An unexpected smell of sulfur compounds, i.e., rotten eggs, indicates a too high content of hydrogen sulfide in the mash. But even with this problem, the acidity of the wort can remain normal. And even if the solution is distilled, the smell will not disappear anywhere. Therefore, it makes no sense to do it.

Is it possible to save the sour mash?

• You can eliminate increased acidity with alkali. Acetic acid in sour mash is eliminated by adding chalk or soda (baking soda) to the wort. Such manipulations are recommended before distillation. It is better to distill too sour wort a couple of times.
• Sour mash can be helped in other ways. If fermentation stops unexpectedly, sugar should be added to the mash. The ratio is four teaspoons per liter. Fermentation will resume after a couple of hours. Sugar can be substituted for other starter cultures, such as wheat grain or fruit starter.
• If the wort does not ferment again, then as an option, you can pour rice into the container with the mash. In the amount of half a glass for ten liters of solution. After a few days, the taste will stop being so sour.

In the case of wine wash, it is simply impossible to fix the situation. Distillation at a high temperature of ninety-five degrees can somehow remedy the situation and get rid of excess acetic acid. After distillation, the mash must be diluted with ordinary water from twenty-five to thirty percent of the fortress. The last step is classic distillation.

Ways to protect the mash

Antibiotics will be required to protect the mash from excess bacteria. When creating moonshine and wine, the following are used:

Tetracycline antibiotics. The most common of these is doxycycline. This antibiotic is inexpensive and is sold almost everywhere. At the same time, it is stable in reactions and does not spoil the taste of the product after cooking. It is used in a proportion of one hundred milligrams per ten liters of wort;

Lowland. It is used in the creation of various products. Dilutes well in all drinks. Not afraid of an acidic environment, eliminates many pathological processes associated with fermentation. However, the lowland has a couple of significant drawbacks. The first is due to the fact that it is difficult to get hold of it. Second, the immunity of some microorganisms to it. It is used in a ratio of one hundred milligrams per liter of home brew;

Penicillin. However, not all types are suitable for mash. Amoxicillin is used mainly. The downside is allergies, which can manifest itself on one of the components of the drug. It dissolves completely only during heat treatment.

Most often, the above medicines are used together for best results. This is because bacteria are able to resist commonly used substances over time. You need to add antibiotics just before adding dry yeast. You can try to get rid of the acid that appeared in the mash by adding a new portion of the medicine on the fourth day of fermentation.