Birdwatcher’s Sugar Wash is a wash recipe targeting original gravity 1.065 with a white granulated sugar bill. Use it as the starting fermentation for vodka runs in Broover, or as a reference template for your own variation.
Sugar bill, yeast, nutrient, target original gravity, and fermentation temperature band. These values pre-fill the New Wash form so you're not retyping them every time you start a fermentation.
The classic clean neutral wash. Tomato paste IS the nutrient (nitrogen + micronutrients), lemon juice pulls pH to ~4.5 at pitch — yeast loves it, off-flavour bacteria don’t. Produces an incredibly clean spirit suitable for reflux/column to 95%+ for true vodka.
DISTILLATION: Designed for REFLUX / column — produces neutral spirit. Strip optional (small batches can spirit-run direct). Aggressive heads cut for vodka clarity. Hearts at 92–95% ABV off the spout.
POLISH: Activated carbon filter the collected spirit — 50 g pellets per L of 60% distillate, slow filter, reuse pellets 2–3x max.
GOTCHAS: Don’t exceed 10–11% target ABV. Birdwatcher specifically warned against high-gravity attempts — stresses yeast, produces fusels, defeats the recipe’s whole “clean” point. If no tomato paste, DAP at 12 g/25 L works. Tomato paste settles into trub — rack off it before distil.
Source: homedistiller.org forum, user “birdwatcher” (~2005). Typical OG 1.065, FG 0.995, wash ABV 9–10%.
Broover is the workflow app for craft and home distillers — track every wash, distillation run, and bottled lot from a single screen with full provenance from kettle to bottle. Clone this recipe to your account and Broover pre-fills your next wash from these settings; strip and spirit runs link automatically, and the bottled lot at the end traces all the way back to this recipe.