Any brewers here? Did I make hooch instead of tea?

Greetings,

Normally I use worm castings, hi-brix molasses, kelp and Earth Juice Catalyst or General Organics Bio-root.

30 hours gets the ph up to a usable level. Works great but Catalyst and Bio-root run $40 + a gallon.

Catalyst is oat bran, sea kelp, wheat malt, molasses, yeast

Bio-root is alfalfa meal, brewer's yeast, molasses, potassium sulfate, rock phosphate, sea kelp, soybean meal

Seems simple enough to DIY so I tried the following:

4 gallons water in 5 gallon bucket
ewc 1 cup
oat bran 1/4 cup
Malt O Meal Original 1/4 cup (wheat farina, malted barley)
alfalfa 1/4 cup
seaweed 1/4 cup
molasses 60 ml
yeast 1 tsp

Woke up this morning and the head was over the top.

ph at 24 hours was 6.5 so it rose from sub 4 ph faster than normal.

Normally it starts with a sweet smell and turns to an earthy smell. This morning I am smelling alcohol.

Could the yeast be causing this? Both Catalyst and Bio-root have yeast but never smell like alcohol.

tia

How are you aerating the brew? I'm going to assume your goal here is to multiply microbes?

P-

Danner ap-20, puts out .98 cfm

.08 cfm is needed to achieve 6 ppm D02 so I got that covered.

Only thing that changed from sweet / earthy smell to alcohol smell is the ingredients.

flaxseedoil1000 said:

Danner ap-20, puts out .98 cfm

.08 cfm is needed to achieve 6 ppm D02 so I got that covered.

Only thing that changed from sweet / earthy smell to alcohol smell is the ingredients.

Click to expand...

Adding solids and foam will both reduce DO2 - altitude and temperature also effect it.

Hmmm, had not thought of that, thx.

Gonna ditch the yeast and see what happens.

flaxseedoil1000 said:

Hmmm, had not thought of that, thx.

Gonna ditch the yeast and see what happens.

Click to expand...

I would for sure ditch the yeast, and really, I would at minimum ditch the malt o meal and oat bran. Small amounts of alfalfa and kelp can be ok, but longer brew times are required.

Your brewer will also make a big difference. Just a thought.

P-

Thing is it was not an anaerobic smell. I have a septic tank and know what that smell is.

Just started a new brew, will know tomorrow how it turns out.

Thx.

New brew, no yeast, turned out fine.

Spoke with a home brewer friend of mine, said yeah those ingredients will produce alcohol, even in aerobic conditions.

Suggested that perhaps Catalyst, Bio-root and other fermented products like Liquid Karma are having the alcohol removed prior to bottling.

Are you using an airlift brewer?