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Column temp. tells me what alcohol is available in the wash at any particular time during the run. The run starts off at low temp. as high alcohol content boils at low temp. As the temp. rises in the column it tells me the alcohol in the wash is diminishing. Using this in conjunction with an Alcohol...

Have you a thermometer in the Column? Monitoring the Column temperature is important. Low temperature high alcohol, high temperature low alcohol along with an "Alcohol Hydrometer" to separate the cuts accurately.

Travis

Search the site for "Yeast Harvesting"

For my Vodka a big "yes" I cut the bottom off a 1ltr coke/soda type bottle, drill the cap with a 1/8th drill bit, invert the bottle & fill it with "Activated Carbon", slip it into the wall brackets & drip through a couple of drops per second.do this 5 times to a "ver...

I add Glycerin to it smooth out when I bottle it, got this tip from reading the forums, also a drop of sherry just for my taste?

(Reading a Smirnoff Vodka bottle label, distilled 3 times & filtered "10" times? must have used some shit ingredients to start of with?)

Did you give the jug a "hell" of a shaking after you added the yeast?

I get mine from Holland & Barrats usually in the sale

Yes Likkerluvver I am now able to “crawl” patience is the key, attention to detail in whatever you do will give a good result. Don’t forget, do your research!

Travis.

This is a very big website, the answer to your question is in there, have fun looking for it & learn as you go along.

When I began “Stilling” I wanted to run, then I read more & learned to walk, now I read & read again & stroll.

Regards Travis

Browsing in the Recipe Section I decided to make Vodka from White Rice, Barley & Wheat. (I normally make simple sugar washes & I am pleased with the results) However the extra work involved was “well worth” the effort. The left over grains I re-soaked & sparged into the fermenter & f...

I too am in favour of pure sugar washes for nice Vodka, especially for its simplicity. I have also found after a 2nd stilling if I filter through Activated Carbon granules a few times this really cleans, polishes it & brings out flavour? (In my opinion) However browsing the site I came across a ...

Baker, the wash had finished last November, so I just left it sat in the fermenter over winter with no heat. I use Alcotec Whisky Yeast & now for the first time I have 2 washes (Vodkas) on at the same time, one is on the Alcotec (as this is my last packet) & the other is on standard Bakers Y...

I decant my beer into a 40 pint barrel with dissolved 3oz of sugar & leave for 2 months minimum to mature. I have 5 barrels in line maturing, the 5th barrel is for drinking & the 1st is just out of the fermenter & so on. If you want a really thick & creamy head with body, I fill a so...

Well, I put a basic sugar wash on last November (2010) & close to finish (just missed the winter temperature window) when the temperature dropped to much to run the “Still” in my garage. (bottle gas prices & it’s to cold to be in there) So I just left it in the fermenter over winter, some da...

Hi, check my post back in 2008 (4 tube still up & running) I built a 4 x 22mm tube design with reflux, works fine for me.

Travis


4 tube still design up & running

Really like to brew beer for a living, in my dreams I would just bring home (with permission) 23ltrs of beer (mash) before the hops are added & "Still" a good Vodka, or is that too easy?

Not only talking about Spirits in this message, however I do have questions on counterfeiting & deceit. “Deceit”, could be an expensive branded company selling a product at inflated prices, i.e. a company that has a product made cheap, say, $1 each & sells it in the designer shop for $100. “...

Why not make a phone call, would you want to have you & your friends ripped off, while the landlord is “”laughing”” at you all? Pissing in his beer & spirits.

I save all my beer slops & run the through the still & comes a fine whisky, the trub I harvest & feed to make the yeast for the next batch of beer. Same for the wine, run the slops though the still & make Brandy, same for the trub, harvest for the next batch of wine. Travis. It suits...

I use Blackstrap Molasses from Holland & Barrett’s (UK) when its on offer, makes a good dark rum when aged in American oak sticks in a 5ltr demijohn.

Travis
Lancashire UK

Hi, when designing my “Still” I nearly fell off my chair when I priced up the 2” copper I needed. I pondered for a few despondent days & came up with a budget version using cheaper 22mm copper, instead of using a single large column I use 4 x 22mm tubes. Pictures are in “Column Distillation &...

Rad 14701 hit the spot of what I was getting at by saying that :- “I think the aspect we really need to be looking at this from is that a consumer in an establishment is expecting that the spirits poured from a labelled bottle are, in fact, the spirits manufactured by the distillery listed on the la...

In pubs (UK) if I suspect they are doctoring the beer & spirits & I am paying good money for what should be quality drinks, it’s a phone call to the Trading Standards Office (UK) they just love tax dodgers, they are straight in there at the juggler, they welcome a phone call.

Regards Travis

BD, ref. the yeast harvest, I have kept yeast this way for months.(not in a fridge) If the plastic water bottle is pressurised (hard as rock) the yeast is ok & will set of as soon as you use it. As with everything, we all do it our own way, so experiment & see what you come up with. Regards ...

On researching this site, from my chosen yeast, I harvest the sludge/trub from the fermenter, I fill a 2 ltr. plastic water bottle half full, then add half a tube of tomato paste/puree & 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, this sets the yeast off like a rocket for the next brew. The finished product i...

Hi, as a reasonably novice distiller, I am getting the experience of the taste & feel of the spirit as it comes of the still. I have learned this from an essential & cheap (here in the UK) Spirit Hydrometer. By measuring exactly the % of the spirit that comes off in 100ml measures, comparing...

May I start a topic on yeast harvesting? when using a new yeast the brew may set off like a house on fire & may bubble over. However I have found that using yeast harvest the brew sets off gentle & keeps on bubbling at a steady rate, it may take a little longer to finish (just think of a slo...

What I have, is a fine barrel of English Beer (Bitter) made from Barley, Golding Hops, Munton’s yeast & natural spring bottled water. All I am saying is that the C02 from the UJSM “IS” keeping my brew in tip-top condition. You can quote any hypothetical connotations you like, however it does wor...

Yes it does work, as the secondary fermentation was coming to an end, there is little C02 production & as I draw beer off from the barrel tap, instead of air being sucked through the air lock, the C02 from the UJSM replaces the air & keeps the beer sound. As the kit is not pressurised, any e...

I have a 5 gal. fermenter of “British Bitter” that has finished primary fermentation & now is “ticking over slowly” in secondary fermentation. I have sampled it regularly & it tastes a little too “hoppy & a little too sharp” Rather than bottle it I have left it on the bench alongside my ...