My first ferment.

[Dtnt]

Ok so here I go. I have read till my eyes are bleeding Question marks. I'm fairly sure I have the basic understanding of all this down. I have started my first ferment of 6 lbs cornmeal. The package did not say degerminated like some and is stone ground. 6 lbs sugar and 6 gallons spring water out of the ground at a nearby spring. I mixed the dry ingredients and added 2 gallons hot water approximately 160 degrees and stirred till all sugar was dissolved then added the rest of the hot water and stirred and stirred. after it cooled down to 100 degrees I stirred in 1 and a quarter packs flieshmans yeast. A couple hour later I had bubbling and this morning 12 hours later I have lots of little bubbles and it smells incredible. Kinda like beer. I have it in a cooler and it is still at 99 degrees. I do not have an air lock. I read that not having an air lock can introduce infection. Is this method I'm using unacceptable? I have opened it up a couple of times to look kinda voiding an airlock anyway. Now before I do my first run instead of doing a sacrificial run with this on my new pot still with a copper worm cooled with cold water. I read that using cheap vodka for a sac. run is an option. One question is do I dilute the vodka with water first. I was thinking a couple gallons water to a jug popov. I have no intention of consuming anything I make until I am absolutely sure.

[still_stirrin]

...I have it in a cooler and it is still at 99 degrees...

Plenty warm, even for bread yeast. 80-85*F is better. But, if it's working at 100*F, so be it. It will likely have some extra esters and some higher volatiles as a result of the high temperature ferment. But you'll be able to cut those foreshots & early heads during your spirit run.

...I do not have an air lock. I read that not having an air lock can introduce infection.

I think you misread that. Airlocks prevent wild flora and bacteria from inadvertantly innoculating the wort because of the positive pressure difference between the inside of the fermenter and the outside. An aggressive ferment (like you have) will do the same, as long as it is outgassing.

When it flocculates and the yeast settles, it could suck outside contamination back into the ferment. This isn't as much a concern for us distillers, because we distill the beer shortly after it is done fermenting. If it were to sit a while, I would be concerned. And if you were brewing beer to drink, then I'd likewise be concerned with outside contamination.

...Is this method I'm using unacceptable? I have opened it up a couple of times to look kinda voiding an airlock anyway.

Acceptability depends on what you're intentions are. You're using somewhat "haphazard" processes. If you're expecting "top shelf" spirits, then your methods may need a "tune up". For a sacrificial alcohol run, what you're doing is fine.

...Now before I do my first run instead of doing a sacrificial run with this on my new pot still with a copper worm cooled with cold water. I read that using cheap vodka for a sac. run is an option. One question is do I dilute the vodka with water first. I was thinking a couple gallons water to a jug popov. I have no intention of consuming anything I make until I am absolutely sure.

Cheap vodka is more expensive than your sugar wash (for a sacrificial run). So, I'd suggest continuing as you've planned. No sense in spending money for store-bought liquor at this point. Just buy more sugar, yeast and cornmeal and get your first "keeper" run started. This sacrificial ferment and spirit (cleaning) run is priceless experience.

Be safe. Be responsible. And be discrete.
ss

[just sayin]

Welcome! Still Stirring is right, a second sugar wash is cheaper but... A handle of cheap vodka diluted 3 to 1 with water will give you 2 gallons 10% ABV. If you are as excited as I was years ago, another $11.00 or $12.00 is no obstacle to you first step in you journey compared to another week of waiting when you feel like an 8 year old trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve!
Enjoy your journey and never for a second forget you are boiling rocket fuel.
Just Sayin'

[Dtnt]

Thank You for all your time and input. I will make adjustments as necessary. I will run this as my sac. run instead of just trying to extract from someone elses product. I will get a better feel for whats going on with the WHOLE process.
Thanks again.

[Dtnt]

[quote="just sayin"]
Enjoy your journey and never for a second forget you are boiling rocket fuel.

That makes it sound even scarier which is a good thing. being afraid creates more use of more caution. Fear can prevent injury. Thank you.

[Dtnt]

Well I ran my homemade still for the first time and I must say I am hooked. I was a bit worried about the whole thing but after getting it going I relaxed a bit. I was surprised at what came out. All of it is crystal clear smells good no acetone smells even the first 300ml . More clear than the spring water I put in I think. I collected it in pint mason jars. I do a lot of canning so I have plenty of them. I bought a hydrometer at a local brew supply house. Thalle and proof. Here are the results of fifteen jars,proof then quantity. I stopped when I could see the liquid going into the jar was not as pure. I could see the difference in alcohol and water. It is all clear as can be and it all smell like likker. I'm going to start another batch of the same and do a more professional cleaning run and see what comes of that. Then I'm going to go with some of the tried and true bourbon and whisky recipes. Forgot to mention that this was five gallons into the pot.
1--110 --250ml
2--110--100
3--105--200
4--105--200
5--100--200
6--100--200
7--100--200
8--95--200
9--95--200
10--80--200
11--80--200
12--70--200
13--70--200
14--50--300
15--40--300
This took five hour to run by the way. and I was surprised at how low I had to keep the fire, used very little propane. Compared to boiling sap for syrup

[Pikey]

Well done dtnt - Around about 3 litres at around about 47% abv from 6 lb sugar - sounds like you got pretty much everything that was for getting; and those early abvs are quite respectable for a low abv wash too. (higher abv in gets you higher abv out - but those figures are fine).

You made youself a nice little piece of kit there and ran it well

[Dtnt]

Thank you Pikey for your encouraging words. Well worth the experience. After all the reading I am still a little confused on a couple of things. 1 Is what I just did considered a stripping run. 2 Is a Spirit run when you run only distillates through the still. 3 Is what I collected considered neutral spirates.

[HDNB]

Thank you Pikey for your encouraging words. Well worth the experience. After all the reading I am still a little confused on a couple of things. 1 Is what I just did considered a stripping run. 2 Is a Spirit run when you run only distillates through the still. 3 Is what I collected considered neutral spirates.

1 sounds more like a low and slow, but thats good for cleaning anyway. for a strip run, you turn the heat up until the product condenor cannot hold back (condense all of) vapour anymore, and then dial the heat down a bit so you are not blowing vapour out.

2. yes

3.no neutral comes off at azeo, 95-96 ish percent and is often scrubbed with extra distillations through plates, packing or multiple runs in a potstill diluting with clean water for each successive run

[still_stirrin]

...After all the reading I am still a little confused on a couple of things. 1) Is what I just did considered a stripping run. 2) Is a Spirit run when you run only distillates through the still. 3) Is what I collected considered neutral spirates.

question1)
A stripping run is the run in which you distill a wash (sugar), must (fruit wine or honey wine), or mash (grains). It is the 1st pass through the still to which you PLAN a 2nd pass. The collection from the 1st pass is considered "low wines" if you plan to do a 2nd pass.

If you don't plan to do a 2nd pass, then the 1st pass becomes your "spirit run" and you collect in several small jars so you can make cuts on the product. A single run for the spirit run is often referred to as "one and done".

question 2)
Now, suppose you have run the 1st run through and you collected everything after discarding a little of the foreshots. And you collected it all in one container with the intentions of running it through the still a 2nd time, the 2nd pass would be the spirit run....see, the 1st pass was the strip run netting a jug of low wines. You'd then collect the product from the spirit run and do your cuts on that.

question 3)
Now, after making conservative cuts on the product from the spirit run, it may be ready for the barrel, or it may be too high of %ABV yet (depending on how you make your cuts). If your product is a "cask strength" full flavored spirit, then it likely is NOT a neutral.

A neutral is a ferment produced with the intent of stripping all the flavor out of it, either by using a neutral-based wash (birdwatcher's or all bran, for example), and then running it to eliminate the flavors. If you have a reflux column, you may be able to produce a neutral on a single pass with a high reflux ratio. If you have only a potstill, it will likely require multiple passes through the still to produce a neutral. And often, the neutral has a higher %ABV as a result of this process, sometimes upward of 85-90%ABV.

I always plan for a strip + spirit runs. And depending on what the product goal is, I use the potstill (flavored spirits) or the reflux column (neutrals like vodka, etc.). And for gin, I actually triple distill; 1) postill to strip, 2) reflux to produce neutral, and 3) postill with botanicals for gin.

I hope this makes sense...it's the best I can do at "layman's terms" for you. Beyond this...you've got to read some more.
ss

[Dtnt]

Thank you still-stirin those Layman terms did help me to understand this a lot more. Searching for answers on here can be a chore in its self. Now I'm working on a system to keep my condenser water cool without using massive amounts of water.

[miket]

Well I ran my homemade still for the first time and I must say I am hooked. I was a bit worried about the whole thing but after getting it going I relaxed a bit. I was surprised at what came out. All of it is crystal clear smells good no acetone smells even the first 300ml . More clear than the spring water I put in I think. I collected it in pint mason jars. I do a lot of canning so I have plenty of them. I bought a hydrometer at a local brew supply house. Thalle and proof. Here are the results of fifteen jars,proof then quantity. I stopped when I could see the liquid going into the jar was not as pure. I could see the difference in alcohol and water. It is all clear as can be and it all smell like likker. I'm going to start another batch of the same and do a more professional cleaning run and see what comes of that. Then I'm going to go with some of the tried and true bourbon and whisky recipes. Forgot to mention that this was five gallons into the pot.
1--110 --250ml
2--110--100
3--105--200
4--105--200
5--100--200
6--100--200
7--100--200
8--95--200
9--95--200
10--80--200
11--80--200
12--70--200
13--70--200
14--50--300
15--40--300
This took five hour to run by the way. and I was surprised at how low I had to keep the fire, used very little propane. Compared to boiling sap for syrup

I plan on doing my first run Thursday, this gives me a good idea on what to expect and what to do like keeping the fire low.

This gives me hope as to it being productive, first run I have no clue as what I will get.

I take it you don't use a thumper?

[Saltbush Bill]

I have read till my eyes are bleeding Question marks.

I don't like people picking on newbies, but I dont like bullshit either, if you'd read that much you would have known some of the answer to questions you have asked.

smells good no acetone smells even the first 300ml

Congratulations you've done what no one else can do

[Dtnt]

Hi miket no I haven't gone the thumper route yet butt headed there. make sure you have a lot of jars. I do a lot of canning and have in excess of a hundred. Second time I kept smaller increments in the beginning and did notice the acetone smell stronger because it was not diluted as much I believe. But hay what do I know I don't read enough.