I've been at this about a year and a half and until recently have dutifully carted buckets of backset after a run to dump it on plants I wanted to die or didn't care if they did. That got old so I started sticking a piece of pH paper in it.
My backset steadily comes up at pH 6 (my tap water does as well BTW). I do simple sugar washes or mashes of corn or rice with angel yellow label (is that really a mash? That's another question though). After fermentation I will see pH readings around 4 or 5 but what is left in the boiler at the end of the run is pH 6. This is true on both stripping and spirit runs.
Lately I've been dumping more recklessly wherever is convenient and haven't seen ill effects on the vegetation.
How acidic is backset? Do I have something weird going on? Totally incompetent at reading pH paper?A wise man never makes a mistake. He has many learning experiences.
The acidity of backset will be the same as the wash Ph adjusted at the finish of its fermentation process.. removal of the alcohol does not change the Ph level of the backset..
Reading the Ph using paper will not give you an accurate reading but only a ball park indication..
Mars" I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, Obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my knowledge and understanding "
– Albert Einstein
Its acidic enough to tear rust off of steel or cast iron bits n bobs ....and acidic enough to clean copper beautifully.
Demonstration below a cast iron lid that I cleaned using backset.
It think that it would depend on your water chemistry. If your water has a high alkalinity (buffering capacity) then your backset may not be very acidic. My well water has very little alkalinity and my backset is quite acidic.higgins
25 yr AG beer brewer, newbie stiller
15 gal 5500w kettle pot still with 2" x 12" copper riser,
and a 3/4" over 1/2" by 24" liebig with a twist.
Also a 3 qt Gin pot still
I’d think that once you boil the alcohol out it would be slightly more acidic than a wash but i’ve never actually measured the pH pre/post distillation and of the distillate to compare scientifically.
It does clean the inside of the copper very nicely up to the liquid level each strip run.
-jonny————
i make stuff i break stuff
water into whiskey into water
just getting started in home distilling - been drinking for decades
16g copper pot still, 10l alembic, and a column or two
————
I can attest to it's efficacy. I used a good bit of hot backset to strip the rust from my grist mill when I restored it.Use all your senses, and its not that hard. You just have to pay attention.
Procrastinate, you'll make better whiskey.
Weird. I don't find my backset to be very helpful when cleaning soldered copper parts so I use citric acid.
My last sugar wash finished at pH 4.5 and backset from both strip and spirit runs was pH 6.
I would expect boiling an acidic liquid to make it more concentrated and lower the pH.
Maybe the utility is putting something in my water that does this, it measures pH 6 at the end of my garden hose. Where I live most ground water is alkaline because of limestone so they have changed the pH during treatment.
Another little mystery to contemplate I guess.A wise man never makes a mistake. He has many learning experiences.
Heh. I left some rum backset in a galvanized bucket, and it removed the galvanized part. Poor bucket, it had previously been left outside with water in it and froze and become misshapen. Kinda hard on buckets round here....Warning: slightly inebriated novice!
Yeah, me too. I've considered purchasing a SS milking bucket just for hot backset, I'm hard on cheap plastic buckets, and find myself replacing them frequently because I don't like wasting for the boiler to cool before draining.
I also think hot backset helps keep the plumbing clear of grease that SHMBO inadvertently let's down the sink drainUse all your senses, and its not that hard. You just have to pay attention.
Procrastinate, you'll make better whiskey.
Post time 2022-12-16 22:22:43
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