Home Distiller

My friends, it's been awhile since I last reported. I'm still using the 15.5 keg with the detuned bok. The only thing I've changed is that I no longer ferment in 5gal buckets or 15 gal vessels. I took a 55 gal food grade drum and cut the top of 3" under the rim. That makes it easy on several le...

This recipe has all of my friends thinking I'm Jack Daniels re-incarnated. Currently, I've got 44 gallons of wash/mash ready to run. I've played around with the recipe quite a bit. I use vitamins and fruit juice as a yeast nutriant. I find this comes out much better with some bicarbonate of soda add...

I'm embarrassed over this one. I had a ferment wash ready to run, I charged the still with about 11 gallons of wash, made the run, then turned the electric burner down. I didn't turn it off, and I didn't unplug it. I was off to my home town with 3 jars of sweetfeed whiskey for my dad and brother. My...

I've run no fewer than 7 runs of SF. There have been a few hickups with ferments.... I got some high class advice on what went "somewhat" wrong and think I corrected. I just started a new ferment with some 2 week old trub.. I removed one gallon of trub and added one gallon of fresh SF. My ...

I'm also using a 15.5 keg boiler. I've never had an issue like this puking issue. But, back to subject. I just combined tails and post "Jar#8" with a 2nd generation trub. I took Kentucky Shiner's lead and combined the results of this run with the collected hearts. The result was 285 oz. of...

I am currently on jar #6 @600mL and I still have a thin stream running out of my parrot. ABV is at a tic under 60% and my column temp is at 195.9F. I'm thinking I just need to strip down the rest down to 20-30% and re run it with the next run. You're on "yummy jar" as far as I'm concerned...

McShiner, I have to refer to what all of these mentors have said regarding running stills. Even though it's a bok, if you're running in potstill mode, it's not run by temp. but by output. I'll risk a dressing down by the higher ups telling you this, but my bok with it's 46" column reads a hair ...

Ga flatwoods, I'm relativly new here. I enjoyed (and absorbed) your fine introduction. I come from a family of hard working men and women who grew up in the great depression. My Dad is 74 and can outwork most men in their 30s. We grew up throwing hay, cutting yards, shoveling manure, and doing oilfi...

If there's a "Tractor Supply" outfit close to you, there a few pages back in this thread is a SKU # for the correct feed. As 12o said, maybe you could crack that corn. I don't know what addn flavors you'd be missing without the oats.

Today was run day with the bok and the 11 or 12 gal of wash I nearly threw out. I cleaned the rig out last night with 4 gal of 50/50 water/vinegar, Scrubbed, washed everything again and charged the boiler. My 20 dollar ebay dimmer worked like a champ with the 4500 W element. I used a small pump and ...

I just wanted to share this regarding welding fittings into stainless kegs. When I started thinking about the idea of heating elements in the 15.5 gal keg, I thought I'd have to buy the fittings, cut the holes, then take it to a welding shop to have it tig welded. I have found that to be bull-sh*&am...

The original formula (correct me if I'm wrong) is 3-4" of sweetfeed in the 5 or 6 gal bucket. It takes one gallon of sweetfeed to make that. My latest SF was is racked and ready to run. My ambition is to run it tommorrow, but I'm still dealing with "construction" issues with the many ...

Gentlemen, I certainly appreciate your patience. I read through the first 9 pages of this thread before I found an SG. I'm thankin my lucky stars that I checked the forum before I dumped all that stuff. I just did an initial rack this morning and got roughly 13 gals of wash from that. I'm going to r...

Guys, I don't know where I effed up. Had top line sweet feed, zero pellets. I added more yeast than was necessary. I added some yeast nutriants. It bubbled hard all day long and slowly befor it quit after about 36 hours. I opened the vessels today and tasted the beer. Not sweet at all. So, I went to...

Some take sg readings, some don't. I don't, since they ar off by definition. Fake certainty. If you want to know your beers abv: run it, collect 1/3. If it is 30% low wines, the beer will have been 10%. Done? When it is done bubbling. Put a finger in and taste. Sweetness? Not done yet. Sour? Done. ...

My advice, Sir, is keep on reading. Sounds like you've learned a good bit already. The new distillers lounge is packed with good info. There's also some very good info on cuts, running the still, and safety info. I'm not much of a chemist and I stick with the tried and true stuff for now. There are ...

Welcome WayneShiner! Save yourself the trouble and get a 15.5 gal beer keg. You'll be much happier being able to run from 3-13 gal instead of 7 or 8.

That's funny, K. Neither do I. I am currently doing most of my fermenting in trash bins. Extremely cheap. Just a towel over them and everything is fine. Odin. Thanks fellows, I'm getting some 15 gal fermenters in a few days. I'll give the saran wrap thing a try. My lids are airtight though... I cle...

No way.... I started this ferment Sunday eve and it bubbled like crazy all day monday. It's tuesday am and I observed one bubble from one fermenter. Any guesses here?

Don't know if this is going to work, but I added a little liebig to the take-off tube.

Gents, I'm somewhat confused. I just got my sweetfeed from my source in Kentucky. No pellets. I want to start fermenting this evening 15 gals. In the very first couple posts that KS and Tater made, KS recommended 5 packets or 8 tablespoons of yeast. Then tater says 1 package... I've read enough to ...

Gents, I'm somewhat confused. I just got my sweetfeed from my source in Kentucky. No pellets. I want to start fermenting this evening 15 gals. In the very first couple posts that KS and Tater made, KS recommended 5 packets or 8 tablespoons of yeast. Then tater says 1 package... I've read enough to k...

Baseball, are you making cuts as described here? http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 63&t=13261

I get mine from some of the fields we lease for dove hunts. I pick up a dozen or so ears every hunt. Since some that I've picked up were wet and soggy, they'd already begun malting. I'm going to bury a sack beneath a pile of horse manure for a week or so and see how that goes. I'm certain it'll do w...

My condensor coil is single wound with a 1/2" cold finger and about 9" long. At full power it has no problem taking care of the vapors. I think you will be fine with a 7" double wound coil, they are more efficient than single wound cold fingered condensors. But there is only one way ...

Nice cooper! As others have said, nice stool as well. BTW, your avatar runs in my family... LOL..

Great work. How big is the condenser? Even though it will probably work it looks slightly small. The coil is double wound, but it may be too small. It's nearly 7". The inner coil is tightly wound and I've yet to "open" it up. I left plenty of room in the column head to build another ...

If you did as I did, you'd be afraid to drink the product. I threw out roughly a cup of foreshots, then drank some (about a shotglass and a half) of what would be called "heads"... the hangover the next day was worse than the time I drank 2 bottles of MD 20/20 when I was in my early 20s. L...

All of my stuff, keg pot, copper column, and bok head all "live" in my shop. The shop is an out building that stays locked when not in use. As I mentioned in another post, I've not gotten to the all grain fermentation, but when I do, I'll store the grains and grinder there as well. I have ...

Very good info. Your post just tells me how much I'm yet to learn on all grain mashs. It's something that interests me because my Dad and I love good Scotch.
I've read a bit about that, but there's so much more to learn. Thanks for sharing.