Home Distiller

Just a comment on "all grain." According to the USDA: "Corn that is harvested when fully mature and dry is considered a grain. It can be milled into cornmeal and used in such foods as corn tortillas and cornbread." Using cracked corn and malted barley IS "all grain." 70...

Thanks all! I REALLY miss the little guy. There will be another dog at some point to fill the hole in my heart but not ready yet. NOT going to change my user name!

WOW! I last posted here in 2019... I last distilled in 2018 according to my notebook. I made 10 quarts of "nuclear" whiskey with Jack Daniels BBQ chips, of which 1 precious quart remains. Yesterday I ordered a new 3" pot still with the dial thermometer from Mile Hi to go with my old M...

Well I've mashed it, just cooling at the moment. It seems to have worked. I mashed in the corn & rye, dedcided to use the cornflakes because I'm impulsive, but used 750g as that was the box size. Added enzyme and gave it a good stir. When it had cooled to about 68ºC I mixed 6 litres of it with ...

Have you tried fasting? Fasting can sort out a lot of problems as long as you don't overdo it or get sucked into some of the silly advice available on the net. Have not tried fasting. That would be the trifecta! No pain killers, no booze and no food! Just kidding. I am trying to drink a lot more wa...

I am in for the PNW Meet & Greet, probably not Proof, I am hoping Bushman and I can come down together, we are starting from more or less the same area. I am hoping he and I will get together fairly soon to talk about the details.

I appreciate all the advice. It is a little more complicated on the pain killers. Maybe TMI but I have had several severe GI bleeds in the last few years, and the doc says the only pain killer that does not aggravate GI bleeds is Tylenol. So any other pain killer is not an option. I was taking a LOT...

Before I left for Arizona last November, I had laid down 8 quarts of JD nuked bourbon. I was really looking forward to enjoying it, and I still may, but...last blood test when I got home in April showed elevated liver enzymes. I had been popping Tylenol like M&Ms for knee pain (bone on bone arth...

The weather here in December is way better than on the Upper Left Coast of Washington, and there is plenty to do, bike riding, woodshop, and a couple of musical groups. But I am dying here. Can't ferment, can't distill. It is pretty much all I think about when I am not actively doing something else....

Have to confess I have always used malted grains, probably should give enzymes a go. Would like to do both and a side by side taste test. Malted grains are what I use for conversion in the standard temperature range, 140-160 df. I have used White Labs Opti-Ferm along with the malted grains as sort ...

HDNB wrote:yes they sell liters to people pretty friggin reasonable too. about 16 bux IIRC

try their yeast too. goes off like a firecracker and makes some nice whiskey.

Thanks, I will definitely place an order when I get back from AZ!

Some stuff rumored to be pretty good. https://ferm-solutions.net/product-category/enzymes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow Thanks, I looked at those before, and they do look like what I want. I hope they sell in the liter quantity retail to individu...

Tried this a copule of hours ago. What a fool was I not trying it the first time I saw this thread. This takes home distilling to a whole new level, my spirit totally became something pro that I never experienced before. You are missing a lot if you are not using this method. +1 on nuclear "ag...

Fwiw i don’t care about alcohol quantity. So far my limited experience says I’ll take the 5 gal single pot still run of 1080 over the 10 gal 1040 every time. Yum. I'll have to argue with that. Yeast likes 1.040 alot better than 1.080. It will ferment faster and cleaner. Shady, I know you disagree b...

I have been pondering this too...my little bottle of Opti-Mash is apparently two years past expiration! White Labs does not sell to individuals, only to breweries, distilleries and home brew shops. I have been looking for alternatives but none of the powdered enzymes are high temperature tolerant. I...

I think small distilleries are a lot like farming...it's an opportunity to make a small fortune. Unfortunately you have to start with a large fortune. The best advice i've heard is to triple check your math and cut your expectations in a half...then maybe half again. Like most farmers too, best not...

You are seriously overthinking things.

Buy your still, try a few AG mashes, run them, and maybe try "nuclear aging." Get some good drinking stock, then fool around to your heart's content with "peated Scotch" and barrel aging. Learn to walk before you try to run!

I would have built my still if I could have but I have NO metal working or mechanical skills whatsoever - when I turn a key in a lock the key breaks. When I try to remove a lug nut the lug wrench breaks (really, it did). Translating a two dimensional representation of something in a drawing into a t...

Wow, a Google search brought me to a thread here from a year or so ago on carbon filtering, and it seems that there is a PDF book by Gert Strand on this site that pretty much explains all about carbon filtering! https://homedistiller.org/activated_book1.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href)...

Jack Daniels does single pass in a continuous still. They don’t separate cuts at all. But, they do run the new make through a big charcoal filter before filling the casks. They try to keep the distillate at cask strength (125-130 proof). ss Anybody try adapting this for pot stills? That is, no cuts...

And here is the almost final product! Eleven quarts of good looking, good smelling and good tasting un-aged whisky except for each quart being nuked three times with JD chips! I will use one of the quarts to top off the other ten, then put the rest of that quart in the liquor cabinet, and the other ...

Quit worrying and overthinking, and get mashing and distilling! You will have some failures, but you will find your way! I would never put solids in my pot still but if others do it and your want to try it, go for it. My mash tun has a false bottom, and just like in beer brewing, I always run off th...

I have been back from my epic boat cruise for a little less than a year now. Didn't get anything fired up until a few weeks ago, but now have a new batch in the old Mason jars ready to put down for awhile. Alas, we are about ready to head to Arizona until April, but when I get back, I am game for BB...

Not skeptical. Just apprehensive. I can f^ck up a solid iron block. This nuclear aging is in my sights for an all 2-row in the somewhat future. Good to see your photos for convincing evidence. Yeah, the photo kind of tells the whole story, well, you can't taste or smell anything just by the photo, ...

I am a firm believer in corn and malted barley for ingredients and nuclear "aging"! Here is this past week's efforts! Three mashes of 70% TSC cracked corn with high temp enzyme at 190 df and 30% crushed two row stirred in at 145 df, held for 2 hours in insulated cooler mash tun to starch c...

... but the rain started a day or two ago. Might be time to head south! Your kidding, right? This is almost normal, but dryer. Where are you really from? ;-) I am really from Western Washington, born and bred! But since retiring five years ago, we have been leaving the gloom of winter here behind f...

Yes, welcome indeed. It has been gorgeous for a few weeks in our part of the Upper Left Coast, but the rain started a day or two ago. Might be time to head south!

I have to agree with SCD. my buddy and I just tried a batch of corn liquor mash using cracked corn from the feed store. looks like this below. used enzymes and it turned out almost identical to SG of flaked maize shown in the second photo. not quite but close... and it required cooking of course. c...

So, any update on what is going on with Pintoshine"s case? We would love to be kept up to date. Hate the suspense!

I too use Tractor Supply cracked corn. Here is what I am doing right now. Time will tell how this will all work out this year - I was gone all last year, and drank up all my existing supply, so I am just getting cranked up again. I don't grind the corn, maybe I will start doing that, but I use Boone...