Home Distiller

But I don't have any vanilla bean or I'd just put THAT in the aging jars... that's the problem! :lol: So I put 650ml of white dog @ 55% in the quart jars with the regular amount of oak chips, maple, apples, and then added just a half-TBSP of vanilla extract. I noticed I was able to take a wider cut ...

My previous aging has been done in Quart Jars: ~ 600mL UJSSM (tempered to 100-120 proof) Jack Daniels #7 Smoking Oak Chips (fill chips to ~100ml Mason Jar line or 2.5oz weight) half of a granny smith apple; skin on, sliced 1/8 inch thick half of a honeycrisp apple; skin on, sliced 1/8 inch thick 1/2...

Next time I make it, I'll try a bottle with no milk... I've got a bottle to work on though for now. I've got to say, I just had about a 3oz pour of this stuff as a nightcap. WOW it's smooth. I did start out with some very mellow neutral (it was allowed to rest about 6+ months and breathe occasionall...

so the recipe came out nicely... but it was a bit unique compared to anything I'd ever done. Tastes great and here are my observations. Try it and let me know your thoughts. Again, from earlier posts, here is the recipe and source I used: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5150 ...

The zest of the orange alone should be enough for the orange/citrus flavor. Avoid using the juice. Put some in a jar of neutral, let it get strong, then blend it into whatever base you use for creamyness to whatever proportion you find enjoyable. Any reason to avoid using the juice? I mean, with a ...

Good to know. Well I ran it anyways... just finished up the run. Resting and eating some dinner before I clean out the still. I'm not sure why, but I decided to run it even slower than usual (25% power instead of 30-35%) and collected in half-jars for a finer cut. Took a fair bit longer but I really...

I did a handful of UJSSM washes earlier this spring, stripped them out into a few glass carboys, corked them, and then set them aside to keep pursuing other ideas. I figured I'd get back to them in a few weeks. Well, weeks turned into months and they've been setting in the garage in glass carboys wi...

Well, this recipe with the milk cream was found here on HD and seemed to get some pretty good praise. I figured I'll give it a go and report back here.
The curdling shouldn't be an issue once it's filtered out...

If it turns out poor, I'll try the dreamsicle recipe though.

I don't see how using the juice wouldn't curdle the milk and turn it into a train wreck, but go ahead and try it, then adjust your recipe for next time, repeating until you get something you like. I suggest doing a half recipe to start with. Refrigerate. Shake before serving. It's probably ready to...

I was asked by a friend to make her some "Orange Creamsicle" moonshine, but I had never made any or even had any myself ever. So I have to research it. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot that turns up when I search HD for "Orange Creamsicle". I'm only finding 2 threads and one ...

You know... you could check the brew shop again. LOL.

If you were at a brew shop, and they were whole... I think it's most likely they were Fawcett Malted Oats. They are not uncommon in well stocked brew shops.

If you were just at a grain / feed store ... then they were likely whole grain oats.

Honey Bear. Oats: Took ShineonCrazy Diamond's advice and went with 1-lb. of additional oats. I use fine corn meal and have room for it. Stick with the recipe's option corn replacement if using cracked corn.... BOOM there was no doubt. Betty Boop. #1 sample. The oats. What kind of oats... Rolled? St...

I have my gen 3 bubbling away now of this recipe. i added 2 tins of LME and a few kg of barley on top of the 9kg corn in a 70l fermenter for gen 3. tastes nice :D plan to run gen 3 through my bubbler for a whisky and hoping this will create enough flavour carry over on a gen 3 to make it through th...

My guess is a 6qt bain marie, with 1.25" of wood smashed into it, no longer holds a full 6 qts.

Most of us are using 1/2"-5/8" (12-16mm) marbles for column diameters 1-1/2" to 3"

If you're going to use 6-7mm marbles you'll be in uncharted territory, I think. Best to just experiment with some 30% clean low wines and a sight glass over the packing.

Hi. Would someone please tell me what a Sugar Head is, or point me in the right direction to look this up? There are several mentions of a "sugar head" in this thread, and I want to know more. I've tried searching HD but the words are too common to search. Thanks in advance. All y'all roc...

Hope that I can keep my hands and tasting thief away for a year You could go what I did, no tap! On my latest BadMo I simply cut a round barrel head and put it in with no holes. Only way in will be a drill later. Been thinking about doing this with a used barrel head. They're selling the Balcones b...

Good looking boxes.

My plain-pink 1" foam is good for ferments, I probably only need about 30w to keep warm in the winter. But when I go to do mashes in it, I think I'm going to build a 2" box.

How much wash it take for you to fill that 5gal barrel?
Is it filled completely or is there some headspace?

Curious what "bourbon" recipe you went with?

Right on. My notes on grain expansion (specifically Producer's Pride Cracked Corn from Tractor Supply Store), is showing about a 3:2 wet-to-dry volume ratio. Meaning For every 3 cups/scoops of damp corn I remove from the fermenter, I need to add 2 of the same size cups/scoops of dry fresh cracked co...

No... takes me about 35-45 minutes to boil and maybe another 15-20 minutes to get vapors at the condenser. Although one should fully reflux for 45-60 minutes to get a good equilibrium and fractionation before taking off any output.

I only use my thermometer to let me know a) When to turn on the water b) When to stop stripping out the tails Stripping run I collect everything until the vapor temp reads 99.1 degrees C, give or take a couple tenths depending on how much I got collected. On a spirit run, I collect slowly in jars un...

For those of you running internal elements, how much power can you put into stripping runs with before foaming becomes a problem in the boiler? Since there is no sort of post-mash boil/hotbreak or even a mashout, am I right to assume it's pretty easy to foam and puke while pushing a stripping run ha...

I'm doing steel cut oats and corn right now. I have much of the same problems you are. After I rack out all the liquid, the corn and oats are somewhat mixed throughout but there's definately bit more oats in upper layers and a bit more corn in the lower layers. In my 7.8 gal buckets, the damp draine...

Ahhh, you did! Speaking of OAK times though, I thought that's the allure of the JD chips... being previously used they have already had many of their tannins leeched and are thought to be much more mellow than new toasted/charred Oak. Handful of long time posters in mash rookies thread seemed to thi...

I've found a still site in the woods before. Was hiking about 2 hours into some light woods and near a creek I came across. A little 3/4 circle of stones/bricks, an old 50gal blue plastic drum nearby, and some old garden hose pieces running here and there. No Boiler or anything else though. Didn't l...

Take really narrow cuts and it will be good to drink faster. B +1 Oaks delay drinking. And nuking ain't the same. Do some panty droppers for immediate drinking. The ladies will get on board, too. :thumbup: I thought my cuts were pretty conservative... I only kept about 6 of 20 jars and sent the oth...

Carmel is another good addition. Typically things with sugar are added after aging when cutting to final strength so you can still check % and adjust accordingly. Mix a little rye in your UJSSM if you want to get closer. I really like about 5-10% rye in my UJSSM. You might also want to looking at a...