My first mistake, that I had no clue I was making, was when I purchased my fermenting buckets, breathers and yeast. I was standing in front of 50 different kinds of yeast with no clue what to buy. The first one that I read that looked to be the ticket, was boasting of 18% abv yield.....later, after referencing this site several times, I realized that I bought some janky ass turbo yeast. I had already got my mash together by this time and said to heck with it I was going to see it through and run it despite my poor choice of yeast....lesson learned.
My mash consisted of 10 gallons total (way too much I decided). Per 5 gallons, I added 7 lbs. of sugar (14 lbs total) and 10, 12 oz. cans of 100% Apple / Cherry juice concentrate (20 cans total). Once the temp dropped to 90 degrees on my mixed sugar and juice, I pitched my turbo yeast.
I let it ferment at 70 degrees for 7 days, then decided to run it. I never took an O.G. reading (because I had not received my hydrometer yet) but the F.G. was 0.995.
I was scared as hell the first time I fired that thing up.
Had an escape route planned, and emergency shut off on my propane and a fire extinguisher close at all times. I had no clue where it would leak steam or if it would. I tried my best to make a dough ring for the hat. My dough ring worked good, but started to leak a little condensation about 1 1/2 hours in. I got nervous but had some dough and flour on hand and started making "patches" as needed...squeezing it and flouring it up. The dough did cook up and harden good before the boil, but I was nervous that I had ruined the whole deal when I saw those small leaks. I used some very cheap rum in my thumper.It took 2 1/2 hours before the fores hit and I ran for another hour after that, shutting the still down after I collected 400ml of fores and 3, 11oz. jelly jars. I shut down because I ran out of cold water for my condenser and I was satisfied with just seeing what the still would do.
I actually thought I had ruined the whole deal by shutting down early...waay early. I never removed the dough ring or disconnected the lines...she just sat in my very private indoor location, which I'm able to use year round with no interference or worry of discovery, for about 4 days. Internal temp in that location stays above 40 degrees. I was going to dump out the mash and start over but after reading here in HD, realized I could restart that backset and keep going. So I decided to pitch the 400 ml of fores and 4 days later I added those 33oz. back into the backset and started over.
This time it took 3 hours before I saw fores (which turns out were not actually fores since I had previously removed them). I ran somewhere close to a gallon in 4 hours, separating cuts in 11oz. jelly jars.... 9 total.
#1 proofed at 166 abv
#9 156 abv
So I just dumped them all into one glass container....
....and that's what I got. a sample of that mix is 160 abv after adding a little water. Tastes like pure rocket fuel...no fruit until a minute or two after your throat cools. I dumped the remaining backset in the woods after it sat in my pot for another 7 days.I've got another 5 gallon wash (corn meal) going as of yesterday....it's probably going to be a disaster, but we will see. I'm going to keep trying. Here's some pics of the hydrometer reading. Again, I made another mistake and took the reading when the mash was 90 degrees not 60. I had not added the yeast yet though, so I guess that's a plus.
more interested in just being able to create something that is quality. I'm actually a beer only guy, as my Wife says I'm too wild on the spirits. I "inherited" this still and the more I read about using it the more interested I am in just being able to hone the skill.