Whisky Lover in the Great White North

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brewer24
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Location: SW Ontario

Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by brewer24 »

Hey everyone,

Hello from Southern Ontario, Canada.

As you can tell by my username, I'm a home brewer. As a lover of whisky as well as beer, my interests have naturally drifted towards distilling. It seems like a no brainer to take what i know about working with barley and other grains, to making another drink I like. That being whisky. I started out drinking on warm beer and rye and cokes. Then discovered Scotch, and now my girlfriend has gotten me into bourbon.

So, my plan is to eventually make some excellent all grain, aged whisky. For now, I've made a practice sugar wash, and started playing around with a quick still I made out of my old brew kettle which was a turkey fryer. It's aluminum so I didn't drink anything out of it. Drilled hole in the lid and attached a copper coil that used to be a pre-chiller for my wort chiller. I did a vinegar run, a sacrificial run with some shitty wine I made last year, and another one with my practice sugar wash.

I'm currently working on assembling parts for my still. I already have a 10 gallon stainless steel brew kettle. My plan is to drill a hole in the top, and run a 1"copper column up from there, then elbow, union, reducing elbow to 3/4", then a 1" over 3/4" liebig. I dislike how finickey my current coil is, trying to get it all downhill and having to refill the bucket and repatch the putty around the hole. A liebig I can just screw on and hook up to the tap.

As far as what I want to distill... I want to make good whisky. I'll get there, but I think I'm going to practice with sugar washes. It seems easy enough to run 5 more gallons of water through my grain after a batch of beer, then add some sugar. The grain should provide a bit of flavour, some sugar, and some nutrients for the yeast. Once I get the hang of it I'll move to all-grain whisky mashes.
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thecroweater
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by thecroweater »

Whoa what's with the Ontario invasion lately, provincial tax increase or something :lol:
Welcome here.
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tuner
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by tuner »

thecroweater wrote:Whoa what's with the Ontario invasion lately,
Snow Storm
:_)

Welcome
Last edited by tuner on Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
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bilgriss
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by bilgriss »

Welcome! Seems you have a plan and destination. There's plenty of info here to help you get there.
brewer24
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Location: SW Ontario

Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by brewer24 »

Thanks guys!

I've been reading on here like a crazy person for a few weeks now, I think I've got my head wrapped around a lot of it, but I'm sure I'll run into questions once I actually get into it.

The still build is on hold for a couple weeks, just had to pay for a bunch of work on my truck so I have to save up a little.
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fizzix
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by fizzix »

I'm sorry but we're all filled with Canadians :lol: LOL
Hello & WELCOME from your U.S. neighbor in Missouri. Keep reading and good luck with your still!
You're in with a great bunch of folks here.
Antler24
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by Antler24 »

Welcome! Fellow Canadian here from the East coast but frequently travel to Cambridge, maybe we could meet sometime! All these new Ontario members, we should organize a meeting and greet!
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
StillerBoy
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by StillerBoy »

Welcome to HD.. from a fellow Canadian from northern Ontario..

So where is "southern Ontario"..

Learn to use "HD Google Search" tool at the top of the page... best tool / friend around.. leave a space after the forum, and type in whatever you want to research.. and make sure you develop folder heading to store the info.. otherwise, your are wasting you time researching, because you never seem to get back to what it was that had your interest..

Enjoy

Mars
" I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, Obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my knowledge and understanding "

– Albert Einstein
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nuntius01
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by nuntius01 »

welcome
I'm just the bank and the mule

post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
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bitter
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by bitter »

Welcome fellow OnCa
brewer24
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by brewer24 »

Antler24 wrote:Welcome! Fellow Canadian here from the East coast but frequently travel to Cambridge, maybe we could meet sometime! All these new Ontario members, we should organize a meeting and greet!
I'd be down for an Ontario meet! I don't know soon I'll have anything worth sharing though...
Scrubby
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by Scrubby »

So I live in Maine and I have been running into fermenting issues. What yeast are you using? The basement keeps dropping down to 60s and the bubbles stop.
brewer24
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by brewer24 »

I've been using US-05 and S-04 dry ale yeasts, just in some practice sugar washes that I ran through mu beer grains to pick up some nutrients. I don't think I'm pitching enough though, the first one didn't take off until I added another pack, and now the second hasn't done anything even with additional yeast.
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thecroweater
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by thecroweater »

If that's a question buddy maybe ask it in the novice section :thumbup:
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin
DudeBud
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by DudeBud »

brewer24 wrote:
Antler24 wrote:Welcome! Fellow Canadian here from the East coast but frequently travel to Cambridge, maybe we could meet sometime! All these new Ontario members, we should organize a meeting and greet!
I'd be down for an Ontario meet! I don't know soon I'll have anything worth sharing though...
I would also be down for this, currently living in Guelph (close to Cambridge) but wold definitely be willing to travel a bit for some quality talk.
Chuck6
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by Chuck6 »

not sure but a 1 inch column seems small, I am building a CCVM still and my column is 2.5 inches, I'm from Brantford On. myself!
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Bushman
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Re: Whisky Lover in the Great White North

Post by Bushman »

Locking topic since we are now beyond the welcome.
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