Home Distiller

Oh, and which yeast specifically did you use for the wash you were talking about? Sorry if you already posted that I didn't see that in the thread. Sorry - I keep terrible notes. The brew shop guy and I go over the recipe when I buy the grains, and we decide on the yeast then. Thanks guys - this is...

Part of my argument is that if a ferment is not done properly, it doesn't matter how well one can run a rig - certain chemicals are NEVER going to be separated with distillation. Ethyl acetate boils at 77, and ethanol boils at 78. There's also an azeotrope (or three) in play there. In other words, i...

Just installed it and ran it.

Great program - nice interface, easy to use.

Add the starting SG - finishing SG = alcohol % calculation, and it will have everything I use.

Keep up the great work.

I've received a few books on making moonshine from friends recently (after they learned my hobby) and one talks about just that possibility. It put a smile on my face, but I'm not about to get my hopes up. I think the best we could possibly hope for is a little loosening of the ridiculous process on...

Well, maybe things have changed here since I've been on. It just always seemed to me that the majority of forum members were using baker's or distiller's yeast, had starting SG's above 1.100, and pitched rather hot. I poked around the forum last night after I posted, and there seems to be a lot of n...

Even though I started distilling spirits almost three years ago, I put this in the "Novice Distillers" section because I still consider myself to be one. The more I learn, the more I realize that I need to learn more. I started this hobby with a simple plan - I would do things one step at ...

Every turbo wash I made created what I believed to be ethyl acetate. It smells like acetone / nail polish remover because that's what it's used for. I never minded the taste, but the smell really threw me off when it came time to drink it. It can't be separated from ethanol easily.

I say scrap it.

Make Jell-O shots with it.

I believe Cletus is correct on all counts. Insulating helps in a number of ways. With copper, you'll be transferring all kinds of heat to the atmosphere, and you'll have a heck of a time getting stability. Any plumbing supply / home improvement place should have plenty of pipe insulation to choose f...

I don't see the point in running a batch in full reflux the entire time. If you're not pulling anything off, you're not doing anything.

If you're short on time, there's no harm in rushing through a stripping run now and doing the spirit run at a later date when you have more time.

You'll definitely get things other than water to come over. I imagine you'd end up with something that tasted like watered down fruit juice.

You have an SG reading?

I can't find a damn graph that shows how much salt raises the BP. I've seen the melting point graph for water-glycol, but I don't think I've ever seen a boiling point one. If anyone can find one - look for concentration vs. boiling point for salt water. Salt should help the separation of water - eth...

As much as I love to watch temperatures on my thermocouples - I realize that it's not the best way to judge when I should make cuts. Test them first by putting them in boiling water and ice water. If you're off by just ONE degree, you're plan to make a cut between 81 and 82 degrees is going to waste...

Salt RAISES the boiling point of water. There's contradictions in this very thread. It's used in the kitchen mainly for taste, but boiling salt water will also be hotter and cook foods faster. Salt water also has greater thermal conductivity, so it heats up faster. The amounts of salt mentioned abov...

What temperature has it been fermenting at?

I've had batches go real slow when they're in the 60's - about 3 weeks to finish. You're SG should go down a lot in the beginning, though. Did you take any readings earlier?

That's an awfully expensive way to do it. Why not just buy the baking soda? It's significantly cheaper and will introduce less things and therefore less flavors into the batch. I think the bicarb is the only active ingredient. There must be other things in it.

Let me see if I understand this...

You want someone committing a crime to contact you in a way that can easily be traced so that you can get details and proof about the crime he is committing?

This is funny...

I'm sure you'll be fielding many questions soon.

I'll start - you guys ever care about the guy making stuff for himself and his friends, or did you just concentrate on the guys that were selling it?

I add mashed jalapenos (muddled with a little sugar) to margaritas every once in a while. They're not very popular, but sometimes I like them.

Agreed. You most definitely DO NOT want to control a still with a PID controller. PID controllers are useful when you're trying to maintain a certain temperature in a system that has some lag time when heating. The PID controller, if properly tuned, will prevent overshoot and hold the temperature at...

I might have bought from here before:

http://www.pennmac.com/items/2681/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

It's 2 lb. for $5.49.

Also I assume you airing before diluting? I already diluted I guess I can still air it out if I go by jars? LIve and learn, thanks for the help everyone. From a chemistry point of view - you're going to have a harder time evaporating the lighter components after you dilute them. I've tried airing o...

Getting an infection is bad, but not as bad as it would be if you were doing beer or wine. Take precautions, but don't be paranoid about it. When I'm doing something new, I open it up to check the progress daily sometimes. Wash your hands, make sure your meter or whatever else you put in there is cl...

Yeah, you're mixing up the vapor temp just above the boiling liquid with the vapor temp at the top of the column after things have been separated. If you've got enough ethanol and not too many other things, you'll do what rad said - you'll have a vapor temp at the top of the column that can hover ar...

How much does the temperature fluctuate? Are we talking about tenths or 2+ degrees?

Is it the kind of fluctuation that could be caused by external forces? I'm using a different design, but I had little control over mine until I insulated it.

Next week? No problem. Go to the liquor store, buy some Bacardi 8 Year, pour it out into a few mason jars, and impress the heck out of your friends.

I would have guessed that more people use copper pot scrubbers. I remember using the stones in the pot of a giant glass distillation unit in a lab I worked at long ago... Superheating was always an issue with glass because it was so smooth and there weren't many nucleation sites on the surface to ge...

There may not be anything chemically making the soda flat. But for starters - if you make a 1:1 drink, you just lost half of your carbonation in an instant. As for the bubbles, I'm sure things like rum and bourbon have plenty of oils that will disrupt the surface tension of the soda and eliminate yo...

Pressure relief is needed only if there's a chance that your system can be sealed up. At first I thought you had a ball valve in your condenser - I thought I saw the handle - now it looks like something in the background. I like process temperature readings because I stared at them for 10+ years at ...