Home Distiller

There is a tried and true recipe for this. The hard part is sourcing an agave pineapple. If you can manage to find one, you deserve a shot of tequila! Yep, JD had two threads going at the same time about his project. The one I listed and the one in Tried and True. I seriously considering doing this...

Tried buying in the past, no go. I got to know a winemaker and get it now for free. Have to time it right, when they are pressing. Depending on where you are, it is normally mid-August to Mid to Late October.

Read the below thread, done by Junkyard Dawg, it was one of 2 that he had going. The agave is a pain to deal with, he said, which is why I gave up on trying to do this. Never know, might give it a spin at a later date. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=31434&hilit=agave+pla...

Sorry for my reaction, as well. It was a bad day and I over reacted. Sis had just been placed in the hospital. Anyhow, you are right it is over priced for what you get. Two bottles, one is 500 ml and the other is 250 ml, not sure why they would two (instead of just one 750 ml bottle) other that to m...

Sell to Yuppie morons for $50.00 = $35.00 apiece in your pocket = a bunch of money to lease warehouse space, pay for an alcohol distributors license, and maybe enough extra to live high on the hog for a while. .....at least until the fad dies out and the whole thing collapses under its own weight. ...

Funny you should post on this, my sister, knowing my hobby, thought it would be a great christmas gift. I have already done it. Wonder if I should post my review here or under "Resources and Reviews"?

I use these, which my wife found for me and they work quite well, sorry not to step on your invention. http://www.tovolo.com/freezer/king-cube-ice-tray-stratusblue She also just found these, which are pretty cool. It is a littl weird to have a ball of ice in your drink. http://www.tovolo.com/freezer...

Sorry, Bushman. Comfort is up near Fredericksburg, except on the West side. Here is what I found https://www.docketalarm.com/trademarks/85961201/SINCE_2013_TEXAS_MOONSHINE_COMPANY_PRICKLY_PEAR_CACTUS/ after further reading the page, I see they are going under the name Hill Country Distillers. After ...

Still not much out there, other than trademark information. This is also another company in the same area making prickly pear vodka.

Got anymore information on Texas Whiskey co.? After a google search, nothing comes up at all on it. Curious to see pictures of this distillery and his process.

Also, did they press this with the stems attached? If so, be very aware you will need to toss larger fore cuts because of the increase of methanol. How long have you been on the board reading?

Highilife, How are you heating your boiler? The reason I have added sugar and am refermenting is because I heat my boiler with a 5500w element. I did not want to put a pommace/water misture directly into the boiler due to scorching concerns. My boiler is a 15.5 gallon keg with the original 2" f...

Thanks Odin!!! Yeah this took about 3 weeks as well. The SG is .998 in one fermenter and .995 in the other. The sugar will probably cause some loss of taste, but we will have to see. Plan to run this coming weekend, hopefully it will clear some this week.

YJ

Been real busy this week and havent had time to post updates. I pressed both fermenters last weekend. Ended up with about 45 gallons, in three carboys for set for clearing. I must have had a residual sugar in the fruit because they have been bubbling away this week, so havent quite started to clear....

I bought one from Schnapp Stills before he had a web site up. The owner is/was amember of this board, yet I haven't seen him post in a good bit. Anyhow, I didnt get a flute. I have a 3" lm/vm column and am very satisfied with his work. Clean, good welds. No issues what so ever. I customized min...

Thanks ZB, each has it positives and negatives. I will I had a steam-jacketed boiler, would make the decision much easrier!!! Looking into this posiblity, but that is down the road. One of the fermenters seems to have developed a small infection overnight, looks like Candida Mycoderma. I can not rac...

NZChris, Thanks again for the response. I am planning to add more sugar to this pommace once I press and do a neutral. Right now this is still going and I am just waiting for it to finish and then I will press it.

YJ

NZChris, Thanks for suggestions, my supplier is a bit of a drive from me. He was going to bring a small bladder press this past weekend, when he was in town, but it didnt happen. Looking at a ratchet press now. I punched the cap on last time last night, at day 7. Ferment is still going strong. Next ...

Thanks GG, I appreciate any feedback. As for my punching tool, I just used a large paint mixer attachment, not as planned, but it is what I had handy. Works pretty good. I love punching the cap, amazed to watch is fall and all the gas be released!!!

YJ

Thanks, I'll post some more pics once the cap falls, move the juice to carboys, and press the solids. Thanks

YJ

Odin, Thanks for replying and I was hoping you would. No, I will not be using a steam-jacketed still, although I am looking into plans to do so in the future. I will be using an internal electric element to run this. Yeah, it is pretty thick. Here is a question for you, from a grappa newbie, should ...

Bushman, thanks for the help. It was the picture size and I couldn't get it taken care of till this morning. Hope the pictures help. I am now at a total of 19lbs of suger per each container. I last punched the cap down last night and will not be doing so anymore. The ferment is slowing a little and ...

I wanted to post some pics of the ferment so far....but I am having trouble uploading the pics. Any advice?

NZChris, Thanks for the response. You finally made a light bulb go off in my head! I kept hearing more sugar = equals less flavor. I just didnt grasp what it really meant. You are dilutiing the grape flavor because you are making more alcohol. Thanks for the help, I dont know why it wasnt clicking.

Coyotex and MDH, thanks for the responses. Both of them are on either end of the spectrum. Coyotex, so you have had great results of the years with adding that much sugar? Did it ferment dry? How fast did it take to finish? MDH, how much product were you able to pull from just adding 1lb of sugar? A...

I've always removed the stalks while treading as I heard they can give a grassy note, but some deliberately leave them in because they like that. For any brew, decide on your target OG and do whatever you need to do to get it. The % of sugar in the skins isn't worth worrying about. Seeds float to t...

Okay, here is what I have and before we go any further just know that in the end this will not be a completey true Grappa because I use an electric element and will not be distilling on the skins. Through a great connection I was given approx 44 gallons of freshly pressed grape must. The grapes are ...

Bushman, Welcome to South Texas!!! I'll PM you with my contact information and would be happy to offer any site seeing information. As for Garrison Brothers distillery, the tour is kinda cool, the have 2 continuous column stills, huge fermetation room. Too bad their whiskey is not that great and sel...