A new youtube channel for distilling ?

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Jes2xu
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

bitter wrote:I built a 2" Boka at first and planned to make a pot head but I like the Boka for making my whiskey. The main reason is I have issues with heads even smelling some scotch gives me a nasty head ach. With the boka you can compress the heads nicely and then open up and run in pot mode. I like that feature so much I went 3" recently and not built a pot setup as a result.

B
Now that I had not thought of! . . . good point man. I like that idea.
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Pikey »

Thanks for changing the colour J2 - much appreciated - I can read now in comfort :thumbup:

I used to do the "pastry" like we used to make "play dough" as kids - Plain flour, load of salt and some olive oil (any veg oil) - worked a treat and set like rock - didn't go mouldy and was easy to break off when done. However, the dog was forever looking for bits of it laying about and eating them and it attracted mice and rats like magic ! Now I use Plain Flour, water and porridge oats only. Spreads well and the porridge binds it like straw in bricks. Mice will eat it as will rats, dog's not bothered one way or another - but it doesn't attract them as such. sets well, doesn't stick too much to your hands if you leave it half an hour before using and comes off in lumps, with just a few taps.

Odd how we seem to start off to make a certain format of still and end up happy with what we have tho' - I wanted to make a "Reflux" for high alcohol. Made an "offset" as I now know, in copper, but didn't understand "Reflux" (I hadn't found this site at the time). So it has a fairly tall column in 1" and to this day I've never opened the "reflux valve" - it runs as a pot, but I'm convinced it does have an element of "passive reflux" because I seem to get decent abv's and run 1.5 runs. I have recently acquired a very nice VM column, but I don't want to lose all my flavour and have adjusted my washes to give the right amount of flavour in my preferred mode. Maybe I'll use it one day - but I'm not sure what I would do with highly alcoholic water ?

If you look at the "types of still" part of the site, the offset has a cross through it as it is reckoned teh Bokakob does teh same thing but cheaper. I have recently acquired a bigger boiler too (with the Vm) and a stainless "Pot head" - but my leaning is towards duplicating my "offset" with a couple of modifications, so I can run it as intended, but I'm also tempted just to stick my own "known" column on a 2" reducer !

What I'm really trying to say I suppose is JFDI (Just .............. Do It ) If cash is a problem, use second hand pot of some sort and solder up some scrap copper, as a fairly tall column. Run it as a pot still - cut your foreshots, Cut your "heads" and hearts, cut your "tails" - then blend some of them back in and throw the rest back in the pot for the next run :D

[Edit - Not the fores - chuck them ! ]

Is it an art? is it a science ? - Yes to both and the results are what we make them - SO many variables, that we can start off from entirely different places, with dissimilar recipes and get close to the same place at teh end !

Just build one and give it a go :thumbup: :)

atb

p
Jes2xu
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

Pikey wrote:Thanks for changing the colour J2 - much appreciated - I can read now in comfort :thumbup:

I used to do the "pastry" like we used to make "play dough" as kids - Plain flour, load of salt and some olive oil (any veg oil) - worked a treat and set like rock - didn't go mouldy and was easy to break off when done. However, the dog was forever looking for bits of it laying about and eating them and it attracted mice and rats like magic ! Now I use Plain Flour, water and porridge oats only. Spreads well and the porridge binds it like straw in bricks. Mice will eat it as will rats, dog's not bothered one way or another - but it doesn't attract them as such. sets well, doesn't stick too much to your hands if you leave it half an hour before using and comes off in lumps, with just a few taps.

Odd how we seem to start off to make a certain format of still and end up happy with what we have tho' - I wanted to make a "Reflux" for high alcohol. Made an "offset" as I now know, in copper, but didn't understand "Reflux" (I hadn't found this site at the time). So it has a fairly tall column in 1" and to this day I've never opened the "reflux valve" - it runs as a pot, but I'm convinced it does have an element of "passive reflux" because I seem to get decent abv's and run 1.5 runs. I have recently acquired a very nice VM column, but I don't want to lose all my flavour and have adjusted my washes to give the right amount of flavour in my preferred mode. Maybe I'll use it one day - but I'm not sure what I would do with highly alcoholic water ?

If you look at the "types of still" part of the site, the offset has a cross through it as it is reckoned teh Bokakob does teh same thing but cheaper. I have recently acquired a bigger boiler too (with the Vm) and a stainless "Pot head" - but my leaning is towards duplicating my "offset" with a couple of modifications, so I can run it as intended, but I'm also tempted just to stick my own "known" column on a 2" reducer !

What I'm really trying to say I suppose is JFDI (Just .............. Do It ) If cash is a problem, use second hand pot of some sort and solder up some scrap copper, as a fairly tall column. Run it as a pot still - cut your foreshots, Cut your "heads" and hearts, cut your "tails" - then blend some of them back in and throw the rest back in the pot for the next run :D

[Edit - Not the fores - chuck them ! ]

Is it an art? is it a science ? - Yes to both and the results are what we make them - SO many variables, that we can start off from entirely different places, with dissimilar recipes and get close to the same place at teh end !

Just build one and give it a go :thumbup: :)

atb

p
No probelm :) Will always use blue now. Glad someone mentioned it, I didnt even think about it haha!

Yeah, I think thats a very valid point. The process is kinda the fun part (even though its frustrating as hell sometimes haha) . The product is a pretty sweet bonus!
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

3 reasons home distilling SHOULD be ILLEGAL . . ..
https://youtu.be/WDOQWWFowwY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

. . . .wait . . .. what????
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Oldvine Zin
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Oldvine Zin »

:thumbup: :thumbup:


OVZ
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by dieselduo »

that was really good ! thanx jes2xu
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

dieselduo wrote:that was really good ! thanx jes2xu
Oldvine Zin wrote::thumbup: :thumbup: OVZ

Thanks guys :)

Need to do a practice video next I think. I need to brew, so perhaps I will use that some how.
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by bitter »

that was entertaining.. lol
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

Hi all,

So finally. . . . . a video where I do something other than stand in front of a black screen and just talk!

Brewing a best bitter to fill my empty kegs, and talking about what brewing "knowledge" helps transition to distilling and what needs to be forgotten.

I thought this may be a good example of what distilling videos could look like later on so let me know what you think :)
https://youtu.be/mHh1PEk8DD4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Swedish Pride »

I know fuck all about beer, but I do know you need to have an axe over you shoulder with a shirt like that on.
Don't be a dick
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

Swedish Pride wrote:I know fuck all about beer, but I do know you need to have an axe over you shoulder with a shirt like that on.

Hell yes. I just cut some wood with a axe actually. . . .

Although im not sure if cutting pre-split wood down into kindling really counts as what you are talking about !
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Swedish Pride »

not unless you sing "I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok" whilst doing the kindling
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by bitter »

Good video.. I brew beer also can you post your full beer recipe? Sounds tasty.

Alot of beer habits are good for distilling but may not be as important... because as soon as the yeast is done fermenting you let settle a little and then run so in that case sterilizing everything etc to the nines is not as important... But infection can change flavors.. soon good some bad.. for beer these infections are nasty and wreck it.. If you do the same as beer it will not hurt... in fact it will make a more constant product (Same yeast, sterile, same temp for fermentation etc etc)...

For the comment on the boil for all grain mashes I have found if you boil through the hot break when you run things, you normally have less foaming and puking for an all grain wort.. The downfall of the boil is all enzymes are dead.. Sometimes as a result I add some enzymes for stuff I will be running though my setup to optimize ferment-ability at the same time I add my yeast. Another benefit of the boil is and airlocks and keeping everything clean is I have had 6 month old brewers wort that I could not run sit in the cool room in the base and still be good 6 months later... Also keep mash temps down for all grain mashes.. in the mid 140's F. Ensure a more ferment-able wort.

That being said something like and UJSSM its hard to keep everything perfect... The most important things keep infections at bay with somthing like that recipe is keeping the yeast active. so when its fermented and settled a couple days pull off the wort... and then run it .. while the yeast bed is sitting there some water and a little sugar so the yeast get working to say off any infection is a good thing.. Also produces a blanket of co2 to protect things. I made about 12 ujssm runs over a 6 month period and not once did I get an infection.. still used lids.. but no air locks... was I worried.. a little.. My sweet feed was similar only over a few month period...

Now when I did my booners' I followed everything perfectly.. and it fermented out great.. but could not run it for a couple days.. well I did get the start of a lacto infection.... so infections can happen and for me most often for this type of a mash... its after yeast stop working.. but I always pitch alot of yeast and often a starter this seams to minimize the risk of a bacterial infection taking off before the yeast can keep things at bay...

To summarize... I think you can relax beer protocol a bit when stilling... and normally it will work out fine.. but does it hurt to just keep things clean (Gives the advantage of if you can run the wort not going crazy bad)? Maybe its the beer making drilling it into my thick skull but.. I like to sterilize everything at the start.. and a boil of the distillers wort will decrease the chance of a puke.

B
Last edited by bitter on Sat May 06, 2017 6:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

That was some of the things that I had to relearn from beer brewing to distillers brewing. 1) mash in a lower temp, we are trying to get a full conversion and not worried about mouth feel. 2) we don't have to be so anal about sterilization, we aren't going to drink the distillers beer. 3) no good reason to to do a mashout, actually we want the enzymes to work during the ferment. The protein break will happen during the distillation (just leave enough headroom).
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

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Swedish Pride wrote:not unless you sing "I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok" whilst doing the kindling
I never sing! It ruined my lumberjack career too, let me tell ya.
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

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bitter wrote:Good video.. I brew beer also can you post your full beer recipe? Sounds tasty.

Beersmith print out attached. Sorry there may be some screwing stuff in there. I had to start over with all my profiles and preferences not long ago. It kinda screwed me, to lazy to fix it yet haha.
Its pretty tasty though. Subtle little bitter. Amazing aroma, hope this one turns out!



For the comment on the boil for all grain mashes I have found if you boil through the hot break when you run things, you normally have less foaming and puking for an all grain wort.. The downfall of the boil is all enzymes are dead.. Sometimes as a result I add some enzymes for stuff I will be running though my setup to optimize ferment-ability at the same time I add my yeast. Another benefit of the boil is and airlocks and keeping everything clean is I have had 6 month old brewers wort that I could not run sit in the cool room in the base and still be good 6 months later... Also keep mash temps down for all grain mashes.. in the mid 140's F. Ensure a more ferment-able wort.


Hmmm interesting! So less than full conversion during a mash is fairly common huh? Im guessing the less refined grains will do that. Is step mashing ever a thing for distilling to combat this?



To summarize... I think you can relax beer protocol a bit when stilling... and normally it will work out fine.. but does it hurt to just keep things clean (Gives the advantage of if you can run the wort not going crazy bad)? Maybe its the beer making drilling it into my thick skull but.. I like to sterilize everything at the start.. and a boil of the distillers wort will decrease the chance of a puke.

Yeah, I get the feeling im going to find it hard to not at least do that. But I will of corse experiment :)

B
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by bitter »

Thanks that looks tasty!
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by frodo »

Jess, I know your suggestion box is overflowing full
and this has most likely been suggested already.
the correct way to read a hydrometer beer and wine plus liquor hydrometer, and why not to use acrylic on hi ABV. I think it would be a nice topic. if you used a glass hydrometer it would look good against the black background
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by hellbilly007 »

Jess, just repeating what I've read, the only time step mashing would be beneficial is when mashing rye. That would be a protein rest at 120*F (49*C). This will thin the mash and make it easier to work with.
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

frodo wrote:Jess, I know your suggestion box is overflowing full
and this has most likely been suggested already.
the correct way to read a hydrometer beer and wine plus liquor hydrometer, and why not to use acrylic on hi ABV. I think it would be a nice topic. if you used a glass hydrometer it would look good against the black background
is the wasp dead?

Yeah, I have seen a lot of questions around reading hydrometers and refractometers. Seems like a lot of beginner distillers see them as an afterthought, not a required tool. Shying away from really committing to learning how to use them. So good suggestion dude! Me likey! And something I feel like I actually kinda know what I'm talking about! haha.

Will do that for sure!

Yeah, I need a glass one for sure. For brewing I always toss all my samples anyway. . . . . . . won't want to do that with 100+ ml of precious distillate though!
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

Copper hunting and discussing pot still vs boka stills.

And perhaps looking at going CCVM too.

https://youtu.be/Z7qR3STCtq8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by bitter »

If you go modular, you could do the either on the same setup.

For my last 3" boka build, I soldered 3" triclamp ferrule's to each end of my pipe.. and used a 2" to 3" from the keg to the column. Then you can put a boka head on top, CCVM whatever you want...

Eventually I planned to get 2 3" 90's, some more ferrule's and make a 3" shotgun to attach to the top of the column for stripping runs (all modular).. for doing more than 200l ferments I might do this but the 3" strips so fast compared to the 2". I can run at a full 5500 with the 3" boka. or if I want can get a second keg and make the setup bigger with a thumper... being modular it is so easy to make changes for later.

For the needle valve check ebay. many stainless ones on there.

EDIT: Should have watched video before commenting ;) Also ensure you check the copper for lead.. could be old lead solder on the joints.

B
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

bitter wrote:If you go modular, you could do the either on the same setup.

For my last 3" boka build, I soldered 3" triclamp ferrule's to each end of my pipe.. and used a 2" to 3" from the keg to the column. Then you can put a boka head on top, CCVM whatever you want...

Eventually I planned to get 2 3" 90's, some more ferrule's and make a 3" shotgun to attach to the top of the column for stripping runs (all modular).. for doing more than 200l ferments I might do this but the 3" strips so fast compared to the 2". I can run at a full 5500 with the 3" boka. or if I want can get a second keg and make the setup bigger with a thumper... being modular it is so easy to make changes for later.

For the needle valve check ebay. many stainless ones on there.

EDIT: Should have watched video before commenting ;) Also ensure you check the copper for lead.. could be old lead solder on the joints.

B

haha, thanks dude. I think that is pretty close to what I am thinking now.

Is that a stainless ferrule? Couldnt tell from the colour in image :)
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by bitter »

yes stainless ferrules. soldered to copper pipe. Also skip 2" and go straight to 3". will save so much time!!!

B
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

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bitter wrote:yes stainless ferrules. soldered to copper pipe. Also skip 2" and go straight to 3". will save so much time!!!

B
Or 4" :)

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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Klein »

I have not even run my 2" ccvm yet (still doing the stripping runs) and I already want to go to 4" [FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY]
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

Yeah . . . I hear you guys on the 3-4 inch . .. . I know . . .. . I know . . . .
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Jes2xu »

A 101 on hydrometers. Let me know if you think I missed anything!

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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by dieselduo »

very good Jessie ! Next one should be refractometers with Brix and % ABV with automatic temp control (ATC) . They can be had for about $20 US on Amazon. Ever since I switched I'd never go back. The ABV refractometer during a run is better than a parrot because there will be no smearing. Just stick it under for a cpl of drops. Only drawback is it only goes to 160 proof but that's no problem
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Re: A new youtube channel for distilling ?

Post by Rod »

dieselduo wrote:very good Jessie ! Next one should be refractometers with Brix and % ABV with automatic temp control (ATC) . They can be had for about $20 US on Amazon. Ever since I switched I'd never go back. The ABV refractometer during a run is better than a parrot because there will be no smearing. Just stick it under for a cpl of drops. Only drawback is it only goes to 160 proof but that's no problem

Hi , can you give me the on-line amazon address for the hydrometer you purchased

there are heaps on line and I would like to buy the one you got as I can be sure it works

I am in Australia and will buy locally as amazon charge heaps to ship here

better give me the brand name to be sure as well
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