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

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

Baking soda just keps the mixutre's pH from going too far
south, the yeast prefer the pH above 3-4 unit.

You can try adding some ammonium sulfate -- yeast like
ammonia.

The protein powder provides the nutrients for the yeast.
Sugar is for them as for us, empty calories.

Other carbohydrates (starch) serve pretty mucht he same
purpose as sugar except that starches can "gel" things a
bit, which might contribute to foaming.
Try leaving out the molasses and see if that makes the
diff. There's nothing like empiricism ;-)

sh
--- SunflwrgrlS@aol.com wrote:

> 
> 
> 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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