Home Distiller

Quick update on this still, haven't posted here in a while. I still use this still for spirit runs, it works very well. I have a new stove and the heating problems are no longer a problem. New technology in the stove probably solved the problem. Performance is good, today I did a spirit run of grapp...

I thought I would post an update to my rum making. For a nice flavourful rum that can be consumed within about 60 days of distilling, fancy molasses with some blackstrap molasses (say 3 parts fancy to 1 part blackstrap) aged on medium char oak will make a nice tasting rum. Of course this is all a ma...

Two posts you should absolutely read How to seal with flour/water http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6485 How to solder, complete with soldering stainless steel to copper http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4052 Read both posts, carefully, compeletely, at lea...

I got a brother with house on 100 acres of trees. He could do anything on his property and nobody would notice. Probably could build the next manned mission to the moon, rockets, launch pads and all. Where he'd get noticed is buying the ingredients/materials. He's got two sheds/buildings beside his ...

I'm thinking more about this, and think it's brilliant. Use two worm condensors in a row, The first worm condensor sits in your next wash you'll distill. This will cool down the vapors and heats up the wash getting it ready for the next charge. The second worm is in the 55 gal drum of water, it cool...

I'm not an expert, but....

... seems to me that if you got a lot of wash and planning on doing lots of runs per day. Couldn't you use some of the wash, run a coil through it (a worm condensor), then you're preheating the wash, getting it ready for the next batch...

Would a big stainless steel stock pot work okay? It doesn't clamp to hold pressure, but the lid is dead flat, flat enough to put a coupla' bricks or whatever on to hold her down. Any thoughts? Don't need to hold pressure, just needs to be sealed. Flour/water paste will do the trick. Here's a thread...

I'd like to avoid this as I would only be able to perform one run per day

How many runs are you going to do a day? How are you going to get your wash to your boiler?

Keep the airlock on, make sure it doesn't go 'dry', as in the air lock has always water in it to make it work. 8 days? hmm... I regularly have sugar wash sit for 14 before distilling to have them settle. You probably can go at least 60 days without worries as long as the air lock is on. If I have a ...

I really don't have the experience to correlate ph vs flavor. Doing this for only some 2+ years, my first concentration was to improve my skills at distilling - knowing when to make the proper cuts (at what point in the distillation output to keep). Next I worked on ingredients of the wash and aging...

Well, I'm not a pro, and I'm sure you'll have a pro answer in more details. When to measure PH? before pitching the yeast in the wash. Too high and too low of a PH and the yeast won't ferment the sugars. Yeast prefers lower ph, but not too low. If you are doing a mash (starch conversion to sugar, as...

Interesting. Don't have a Fortino's - but there's one in Hamilton. We have Sobeys & Zehrs - can't find any bulk active yeast in either place, they only sell Fleichmans, which is way too expensive. They don't sell yeast hulls either. Sugar seems to be a best buy at Real Canadian Superstore. Debat...

hmm.... Bulk Barn has got some great prices on active dry yeast, yeast hulls, wheat germ, etc. That's what I buy there. Everything is in bins, buy by the scoop. Bought the flaked rye there, worked well in my Irish Whiskey recipes. Messy as hell for fermenting in a glass carboy. Don't think I would b...

I used steel wool and elbow grease. Wear plastic/latex gloves, otherwise you'll be washing your hands forever trying to clean them. I hear elbow grease is very expensive? I don't know about expensive, but it does need quite a bit of it to make it shine! :) Especially if the copper wasn't shiny to b...

I used steel wool and elbow grease. Wear plastic/latex gloves, otherwise you'll be washing your hands forever trying to clean them.

Interesting - sulfides. Always wondered that was. It's a light brown color - not a heck of lot of it, just there.

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Oh, checked my notes and I used vinegar as well after the still was built to give it a good cleaning as well.

If I could make stills that nice, I would quit my day job and start making stills all day.

Molasses -> Rum

I make Rum, GingerBreadMen are made from rum, err, I mean molasses

hmmm.... don't know. However, when I built my still I ran several washes to clean her out. Also, did a physical clean with a bottle scrubber brush, I was surprised how much stuff is in there. After every run, I clean her with a brush and there is always some dirt to be cleaned. Maybe I'm just overze...

Ahhhh.... so I just have to remember to poison myself with methanol/isopropyl/otheralcohol before consumption

At some point you just have to say to yourself... hmmm, there are more studies out there that say distilled alcohol is bad for you - with or without the PTFE tape? --------------------- This reminds me of another thread a long time ago about storing your likker in bottles and what bottles are safe. ...

I believe that no matter what, there will always be someone that will come up with one more test idea, to prove that since not all tests have been done, it's not 100% proven.

I won't regret it, cause I mean it.

Hi Hook, I would have congratulated you on the moderator title, however, I think I won't. Instead, I'm going to say, if you ever feel like venting about having to sort through childish, spastic, flaming threads, and having to tell people to knock it off and behave themselves, give me a PM and I have...

Heh, I'm in Canada, officially it's metric. However many of us still think in inches, feet, pounds and degrees F.

I have no idea how much I weigh in kg or how tall I am in meters.

Not sure what you're asking, but. If I'm doing a stripping run (first run) I'll run without packing and connect the water to the tap and just need a trickle for the condenser to knock down the vapors. For spirit runs (like the Irish whiskey, rum) I'll run with the tap on just a little bit more, pack...

Should a fining agent be used ? or just more time ?

More time.

Thanks, I enjoy making alcohol. I don't have the biggest still, so I just make small amounts. Today's efforts yielded a 1L of 65% ABV Irish Whiskey that I'm aging on oak, that I'll be sampling in about 2 months - http://datalore.ca/sandbox/ZZ2EAE6A86.jpg Made good notes, so hopefully I can improve o...

Heh, that's just so low.

There's some fascinating stuff I've learned over that last 6 months that just blows away all theory posted here.

Heh, I have a still without a hole at the top that can operate in VM mode - http://datalore.ca/sandbox/ZZ10766421.jpg More info on the build here - http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6900 The hole at the top is a safety feature, but doesn't matter in theory. My still is complete...