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Just pointing out for those that might not be familiar with the design that it is made to be easily run either as a reflux still OR a pot still...

Am i correct in my understanding that using a reflux - PSII - still is a waste with UJSM? I think it is more clear to say that using a PSII AS A REFLUX STILL would be a waste. The column can easily be used without running water through the tubes at the top, in fact there is a valve right there to m...

Gelatin pretty much needs to be used where there is also tannin (ie red wine), or it will just stay in solution and keep it murky...

kiwistiller wrote:the lab glassware still had gin botanticals in the boiler I think

...because they were always drinking out of martini glasses...

Can't seem to find a picture of it, but I'm pretty sure it had a condensor on it...?

That's weird, cause they were constantly showing them in their tent drinking, and they had a still made of lab glassware...

...they want the infused flavor, just not the color...
Could try just a quick run through a potstill...

Will the P.S. wear off in 24 or 48 hours? I think I read somewhere that it will kill wild yeast and become inert in that period so that one can pitch "good" yeast. It doesn't work that way. The whole point people use it is to prevent refermentation of sweet wine in the bottle-if it didn't persist t...

I'm telling you from experience:
boiling is more than sufficient to expose all the starch.

But grind it if you must...

Commercially, I believe the recommendation is to filter at 4% higher than your desired bottling proof (but that might be for pad filters not carbon...?)

,,,and i have never washed out my brand new quarts. don't think that has anything to do with the oil slick... i get it to, coffee filters catch it.... i always use a triple.... i do unpack lots of brand new spiegalau and riedel glassware and crystal.....MUST be washed before use... boric acid..... ...

Strangely enough, the 3rd post in this thread says: "FYI, the "ONE Brewer's Yeast" from GNC does NOT work. It says it contains active yeast, but this is not the case. Do not buy it..." I have no idea why a nutritional supplement from GNC would claim to contain "active" yeast in the first place. Whol...

"Brewer's yeast", which I believe is rarely found in the past decade or 2, IS spent yeast from beer fermentation. "Nutritional Yeast" is what almost any store will sell, and it IS produced specifically as a nutritional supplement. Red Star has been making the stuff for years and years. If you compar...

nutrients that would help the bakers yeast to ferment faster/better? Yes, but the nutritional yeast doesn't provide all of the required nutrients... Boiled yeast may actually provide more nutrients and is probably cheaper than dried nutritional yeast... I'd say you've gotten that backwards, or at l...

The only thing you are going to find IS agave sweetener, unless you happen to live next to a tequila distillery in Mexico. I doubt there'd be any way to handle to cooked, pressed agave "juice" to get it to you in any decent shape. Concentrating it to the syrup is really the only realistic way of pro...

Yeast actually keeps WAY better under beer (or whatever ferment you collected it from) than it does under water.

I wouldn't grind it at all. I've mashed millet 5 or 6 times, and simply boiled it till each grain had ruptured. The good thing about millet is that it doesn't turn to mush when you boil it (at least after 30-40 minutes) so it is easier to work with than some other grains.

In my very limited experience, it is very similar in flavor to malt extract, and not at all reminiscent of molasses.
It made an incredibly buttery rich rum!

Hawke wrote: Fill with water and soak in a tub for 24 hours, if it still leaks, it will never hold alcohol.

A truly dessicated barrel can take many days to swell up, yet still eventually tighten up just fine...

[quote="Usge" Seems to me, it makes sense that if copper is absorbing some of the bad stuff that over time it would start imparting off-tastes to your distillate. And it makes sense that something that strips it down to bare copper would be the surest way to do that. [/quote] That's not really what ...

Worth mentioning that if you are trying to swell up dried barrels, you don't want to tighten the hoops too much at once- when the wood swells, staves will crack if the hoops have been driven too far up.

Well, you just listed 3 totally different yeasts. Yet if I were making whiskey, I probably wouldn't pick any of them. So yeah- maybe not as much variation is needed (or desired) as when brewing beer, but SOME is. But then again, I've tried dozens of beer yeasts over the decades, but 95% of my brews ...

eternalfrost wrote:
for distilling, the strain dosent really matter

...that's debatable...

17 gm of sucrose is still as much sugar as 17 gm of glucose though... the fact that it is a discaccharide doesn't change anything...

Throw a tiny bit of sugar in while you're rehydrating...they'll appreciate it. Not that it makes a huge difference, but that goes against what all the "experts" (ie the people that study and also manufacture the yeast) recommend. Rehydrating is NOT making a starter... read about shock excretion...

Mud wrote:I use PTFE gaskets from St Patrick's of Texas. They have a silicone version that's tri-clamp x sanke. Wish they had that in PTFE, too.

-Mud

Can you just slice off the ridge on one side with a razor?

I'm pretty sure they make them in PTFE (Teflon) also....

I've read that some distilleries distill it again AFTER barrel aging...

few fun facts 1.star anise is in inferior ingredient... 2.old absinthe made people trip because of a copper compound from using shitty equipment...you would trip too if your brain was eroding 3.czech recipes are shit 4,you don't trip but things get a little bit brighter 5. [Mod Edit: Please read ru...

...the less alcohol you have, the less liquid it takes to float it...

Hawke wrote: approved by the BATF.

...actually alcohol regulation is now done by the TTB....