Home Distiller

Chalk it up as an anomaly and move forward with some of the advise about using less backset. It is too much of a tried and true recipe to be for it to be the "recipe". If you want to be on the safe side, I'd measure to the PH of the added water for Gen 3 along with the backset, and then th...

RIP and condolences to the family.

Dougmatt wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 8:23 pm Was at the farmers market and found Redonda Panela on clearance. $.69 for a 14oz pack. Bought their last 11 packs. Just enough for another Panela batch (just finishing up 100lbs from sugar daddy).

Nice score.

Good news! Love to hear it.

SB and Bunny,

When doing multiple strips, how far do you go on each stripping? What is the abv coming off the spout when you cut it off?

Regarding flavor "from" aging on wood: This is two part answer. Yes, the type of wood, toast and char contribute a big part. But not the majority if grain bill, mash, ferment, distillation and blending are all done well. I'm at a point in this craft I'm personally working on the mash / fer...

About a year ago I got a nasty smelling infection in one of my mashes. Most people suggested it was a butyric acid infection. I just know it smelled like god awful puke that made me gag the whole time I cleaned it. I was really worried about my fermenter being ruined. I could not get rid of smell an...

Sometimes after I use my calculated water volume and strike temp, I use more water during mashing to control temp when the temps are just off or when trying to help drop temps for pitching (my wort chiller is too small for the larger batches). I started to think if the higher volumes and lower SG af...

Welcome. Sounds like a nice copper rig.

Welcomne. The pursuit for "better" is a two road journey. There is the process (Mashing, Fermenting,Distilling,Cut, Blending,Aging). Then there is the recipe development. By learning how to alter your grain bill and yeast to get the product to taste how you want is something often overlook...

My sweet feed was the first thing I made to drink and I made almost 3 gallons of it. It took 10+ months to get good. What remains is now 16 month old on oak, and it's gotten much better. You don't like it right away? Granted, I agree, 10 months is really begins to gel wonderful, but we're consisten...

lance, Typically you want "seasoned" white oak, not just dried oak. Seasoned oak is weathered/washed by the elements. This is said to wash unwanted tannins. In terms of how much to use, opinions vary. Some suggest it is best to go for a longer aging period with less oak to give a chance to...

Blackgrub79 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 25, 2022 4:38 pm .....What's wash recipe works best? What ABV is the best? .....

Really any sugar wash in the tried and true would be good to start for a good neutral. If you have a reflux column use it. If not, double distill it.

Silicone, even though it's rated "food safe" isn't rated for high abv spirits. Gotcha, even If the spirit isn’t touching the silicon gasket? Yes. What is the most volatile gas that will be evaporating trying to escape? And at what proof? Plus, no matter how hard you try, good chance they ...

I am not one to tell people to "read til your eyes bleed" before you ask questions. However, in your case I would highly suggest you do more research before you run your still based on the type of questions you are asking. While distilling can be very safe, it can also go very wrong, very ...

Hillbilly Popstar wrote: ↑Sun Mar 13, 2022 3:22 pm Dumb question here...

Is NGS, Neutral Grain Spirits?

Yes.

I've heard it said that sweet potatoes have enough enzmes to convert them selves.......I think you will be fighting a losing battle to get them to convert corn. +1 Saltbush Bill's answer is spot on. If you want to make a mash from Sweet Potatoes and Corn, you will have to get additional enzymes fro...

Aging is a broad term. As such it is often misused. In it's simplest form it storing your likker in an intentional manner to will improve the taste over time. What the likker is stored in, how it is stored, how long and what else is added while storing it all affects the flavor. Vodka and Gin aren't...

Sorry to hear this.

After the holidays, I'm got low on mason jars and PTFE lids for bottling. So on a whim this past weekend I decided to contact a local micro distillery to see if they'd sell me some bottles and corks. The owner said no problem and quoted me $2.00 a bottle with cork bottle tops. I sent a text today t...

Check out UJSSM... Read that whole thread. https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=725 As of today there is 4474 posts in that specific thread. Maybe suggesting something like "A good place to start would be to learn with a recipe like UJ. & Here's the thread that explains...

Alcohol Content Calc.png . One additional tip to add to the others. For making alcohol you want to drink, limiting wash ABV to 7-8% (at least in the beginning) will help avoid the nasties your yeast may produce at higher ABV's like the one your friend got. Given the ingredients and process used, I ...

After the holidays, I'm got low on mason jars and PTFE lids for bottling. So on a whim this past weekend I decided to contact a local micro distillery to see if they'd sell me some bottles and corks. The owner said no problem and quoted me $2.00 a bottle with cork bottle tops. I sent a text today to...

Late to this thread....but my thoughts are with you Cranky and the Mrs.

Same with you Bushman. I hope your wife's hip surgery goes well.

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Sat Jan 01, 2022 9:02 pm I’d just run it and make changes as you learn more. You might end up diy’ing a longer liebig if the one they supplied doesn’t quite knock down all 5k5W.

Cheers!
-jonny

+1

Welcome to the group and hobby. Have fun and be safe.

Unless water is expensive where you live, and assuming you have a good supply there's really no reason to reuse water. I built efficient condensers and the hot water goes down the drain. Water cost is less than the electricity to heat the still, which ain't much. +1 I'm on a well. Water is free Asi...

Expat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 18, 2021 3:26 am Unless water is expensive where you live, and assuming you have a good supply there's really no reason to reuse water.

I built efficient condensers and the hot water goes down the drain. Water cost is less than the electricity to heat the still, which ain't much.

+1

Personally, I would choose a 3” column, assuming you have enough power. About 3500W +/- for my 3” x 42” packed column. Rule of thumb for me is about 20’/second max vapor speed when fractioning, regardless of the column diameter. The calcs page has a calculator for determining vapor speed based on c...

Another update... I have about 4L of Irish Whiskey sitting on once used Oak for about 6 weeks. And it is by far the best I've done so far and really look forward to sharing it. I made it for a friend because I lost a friendly bet. I just hope I will pull it off oak at the right time so I don't over ...