Re: [AGA-Member] GLOB from DIY Co2 using TAG recipe?

[SunflwrgrlS@aol.com]

I appreciate your advice, and I first suspected bacteria either from the old 
tank water or some other source; however, the new mix I did was new bottle, 
new co2 silicone tubing, the whole works, fresh water, and a different protein 
mix. Even new yeast.  I'm now suspecting my molasses as it is a new molasses 
too.  I did make some new mixes, so I'll watch how it goes.  I'm skipping the 
baking soda from now on, even though my water is very soft -- I didn't need it 
in the past.  It takes a few days to do the GLOB thing, so I won't know for a 
few days.  I did clean out the bottle with very hot water (just short of 
boiling) and it is empty right now.  I don't want to throw that one out as it is one 
of the nice big orange juice bottles.  

I'm intrigued as to why the cornstarch though?  I have some cornstarch and 
never use it, so if it can somehow help, I'll add it to my co2 mix.  

You use a lot of protein powder. I had only used a little before and 
suspected maybe I put in too much, but it would have only been one scoop.  In the 
past, I'd sprinkle it in from the envelopes they came in.   Well, I'll update if 
anything changes. 

I also wondered about pectin.  Does molasses have pectin?  Might it be from 
the cooler temperatures?  My house is getting to 69 degrees at night lately, 
and the times it did the glob was overnight (although I can't remember if the 
first time it got that cold or not).  

Thanks again for your help! 


In a message dated 10/10/2004 1:48:58 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
hgladney@comcast.net writes:
Not an expert source, but until recently, I had a whole gang of bottles 
eating sugar every week!
I suspect two things:  off-balance proportions or contaminated source 
supplies.  You could have some sort of bacteria going in  there when you 
put the bottles together, in spite of using different bottles.  Perhaps 
something else has crept in on utensils or storage containers that goes 
wild on such a great high-quality culture.  I believe the helpful 
article noted that yeast solutions can be overtaken by other things such 
as molds, and there are bacteria that do make impressive gelatinous masses.

You may want to run your bottle lids (tubing and all) through hot water 
and soap, recheck proportions you're using, use different utensils, 
perhaps try a different recipe without yeast food or molasses, or try 
different supplies of them.

BTW, I started trying protein drink after reading that article.  It did 
seem to extend the life of the solutions a little longer.  But I had 
some odd reactions when I tried adding leftover wine as an experiment to 
see if wine yeast might last longer and be more resistant to acid.  
(Apparently not, and it went bad, moldy & smelly.)  After a year and a 
half, my recipe ended up using soda and white sugar and protein drink.  
I didn't need to use molasses or yeast food to get it to work fine.
On proportions:
for a 2-liter bottle, I added about 1/4 cup protein drink (this happened 
to be ready to drink liquid), 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cornstarch (as a starch & 
site for attaching for better growth), about a tablespoon of baking soda 
to counteract increasing acid of solution, 1/4 tsp yeast, about 1 cup of 
sugar, and warm but not hot untreated tapwater with plenty of headspace 
left for foam.
You may need to adjust soda for your water conditions.  Some people have 
very alkaline tapwater and don't need as much soda, other people have 
nearly distilled stuff coming out of the faucet and really need to add 
*lots* more soda.
I've read panicky posts about using tapwater without removing chlorine, 
and perhaps some systems really overdo the chlorination, but I've never 
had a problem.
I also ran a whole gang of 18 bottles  (it's not a big tank by *this* 
list's standards, but it's pretty big by mine!) through multiple 
airstones, and rotated out a third or a half of them every week so I'd 
get an even gas supply from them.  It looked like a distillery under the 
tank!

Hope this helps!
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