Tomato paste wash
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A tomato paste wash is a modification of a sugar wash and is designed to be an inexpensive and effective method for fermenting sugar into ethanol. Unlike sugar alone, the tomato paste wash includes nutrients for the yeast.
Making a tomato paste wash
This recipe makes 1 liter of wash. Scale your recipe as needed using the Tomato Paste Wash Calculator.
- Clean and sanitize your equipment using sodium metabisulfite
- Mix together thoroughly until dissolved:
- 0.8 liters of distilled water
- 184 grams of table sugar
- 10 grams of tomato paste
- 3ml of lemon juice
- 0.05 milliliters of Epsom salt
- Measure the specific gravity using a hydrometer
- Aim for a specific gravity between 1.060 and 1.090
- Air for below 1.070 to reduce off flavors
- Gradually add more sugar if the specific gravity is too low
- Gradually add more water if the specific gravity is too high
- Transfer the solution to a fermentation vessel that is resting inside a larger container
- Sprinkle yeast over the surface
- Use K1V-1116 or EC-1118 yeast strains
- Some strains will may say they tolerate 18% alcohol but usually it will only tolerate 15% or less
- Use 1 package of yeast for every 2 liters of wash
- It may be stirred in, but it is not necessary
- Add an airlock to the vessel using the airlock's directions
- Fill the outside container with cold or warm water
- Use an aquarium heater to raise and maintain the temperature of the water to between 26ºC (79ºF) and 30ºC (86ºC), ideally 28ºC (82ºC)
- Add more water to the outside container as needed
- Ferment until the specific gravity is around 0.990 or below
- Approximately one to two weeks
- Turn off the heater and let the wash cool down
- Discard the water in the outside container
- Discard, or avoid distilling, any solids in the wash as they contain minimal ethanol