Home Distiller

Ever wondered what gasket to use for preserving jars? (those jars without a screw top but only a glass lid that you can fix with a metal clamp) I've got the solution! It's cheap, you can DIY, non-poisonous, and resistant to alcohol to a certain extent. I call it the PWP gasket. So this is what you n...

Maybe you don't need more proof. But around here it is customary to provide proof that a material (that is thought to be unsafe) is safe to be used. This forum is geared towards safety for a lot of new distillers and old ones at that. So if proof is not provided it should still be considered unsafe...

Galvanized Steel for a boiler is safe according to the principles of distillation. It just won't last as long as a copper or ss boiler. Try getting one of these and save yourself the useless effort of using a steel boiler. Really? Do you have any other proof then what the principles of distilling t...

Galvanized Steel for a boiler is safe according to the principles of distillation. It just won't last as long as a copper or ss boiler. Try getting one of these and save yourself the useless effort of using a steel boiler.

Hey guys,

started malting 10kg of barley this week, this is what it looks like after some days:


Shall I step over to kilning now or shall I let it germinate some more days?


Have a nice day

schmand

Hahah that is why I love this forum, you ask something and you get 5 replies instantly :D The Solera System is what I was looking for. Thanks to everyone! Some ppl. here mention that they have seen shiners connect their barrels from top to bottom so that when you open the lowest barrels tap, spirit ...

Hey guys, I need someone to talk with I guess :D I've been planning to build a good pot still for almost a year now. I often changed plans but now I think I know what I want: It is a 30 l Keg still with a 2" copper pipe connected to it with a tri clamp. This pipe then after about 10 - 15 inches...

Her guys,

sorry If this already has been asked x times. I am looking for threads where the three jar method, e.g. collecting every new product in a jar, drinking from the first one and not letting get one jar less than half full.
Thanks for your help.

schmand

You don't want the lead compounds leach into the spirit, right? These compounds are formed with an ionic bond or metallic bond, so the boiling point is much higher than e.g. 100°C - the maximum temperature the vapor when a Home Distiller is producing spirits reaches. That means that they will NOT ca...

Yeah I got 30 pieces of 3/4 diameter copv per pipe cut in 1/2 inch lengths in my pot for boiler chips & will pack the colum loosely if I werent afraid of loosing flavor ??????????? Im listening to all the input yall give me & thanks to all !!! I ran my 2nd. gen. of UJSSM with a 8 inch lengt...

Electric or gas often comes down to WHERE you are running the still. I tend to run indoors and for me that means electric. I have a 30 litre keg as the boiler for a reflux still that works just fine on a 1.5kW electric hotplate. I also have a 100 litre keg with 2 of 3kW elements for the pot still. ...

Dnderhead wrote:Watch the sodium carbonate on stripping runs..if you add enough to make it alkaline
you can end up with blue distillate..

Why did you say stripping runs?
Does it only occur with stripping runs, not with spirit runs?

schmand

put the keg on it's side while putting a blunt instrument into the center of the valve with moderate pressure to vent the keg. The spears pick up tube will have a difficult time spraying old beer all over the place on it's side and maybe save you from injury. After that then worry about the best wa...

schmand, I wouldn't be overly optimistic in having the off taste from the turbo wash being removed during the aging process... You are better off starting the aging process with clean spirits... But, hey. you never know till you try... Haha, that's right! Yea, I know bout the off taste, that is why...

Hey guys, examined the planks some days ago and I think it is white oak (I hope so, too :D). Cut it into approx. 3/4" x 3/4" x 4" sticks. Charred it with my propane torch, it smelled delicious! Would you call this alligator char? SL271375.jpg I put one of the sticks into some booze (t...

Hey guys,

got some oak from a friend now.
I got 3 planks, what kind of oak are they? White oak?

all of them: plank 1: plank 2: plank 3: Do you think this is heart wood?


Have a nice day

schmand

Hi Schmand, I met a lot of "East" Germans when visiting Hungary years ago. Iron curtain about to fall and stuff like that. You ever visited Hungary? Odin. Yes, I've been to Lake Balaton once, although I am not old enough to have experienced this :D Welcome to HD schmand... :thumbup: Nice ...

Schmand, What are you going to make? Do you have a still already? Any preferences? Whiskey, vodka, schnapps? Curious to know! Odin. Hmm, difficult question. I think if I can get some grain I am going to make some whiskey. I like that stuff :D I do not have a functioning still yet, but I got some ke...

Hey guys, been searching the web for a cheap and accurate electronic thermometer and then bought a bbq and cooking thermometer. It is not as fast but it is okay. Many ppl. here in Germany, especially home brewers, stick to the IKEA cooking thermometer "FANTAST", but I do not know how usabl...

At first, sorry for 2 posts in a row if you do not like that here. I think I am additionally going to build a bokabob reflux still. I need some packing for this: 1. Is it okay to use glass marbles which have kind of a color inside? (not coated) 2. Maybe I will buy 1kg of SS wool. Is 1.4113 (X50CrMoV...

You filter through cotton? I got about 10 m² lying around here. But some of it is dyed. I am going to remove the color and then wash it a couple times. Is that ok?
What kind of cotton do you use? I guess it must be some rough-textured one, so it doesn't take too long.


Best wishes

schmand

Hey guys, I want to share this "Christmas schnaps" recipe with you. I did it almost a year ago (2010) as a birthday present for a relative and he was very pleased with it. I found it on a german website whose name I forgot :D The only problem was that I put too much chilies in so it was wa...

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4705 Don't know if this will help, it might. Isn't it amazing, the information people could find, if they only look at the forum sticky messages :ewink: H. Sorry mate, but this is the wrong fitting :D This is my keg spear, it has some kind of b...

Hey guys,

my name's schmand and I am from Germany! Have been reading this forum for several months and then decided to participate some weeks ago.
Maybe I can give something back to HD.


Have a nice day

schmand

Ahaha, took me 2 hours to create one, too, and then I read you already did one :D :? Anyways, here's mine: Distillation Temperature and Concentration Relationship (Celsius).pdf Updated Version (a bit easier to read and smaller :) ): Distillation Temperature and Concentration Relationship (Celsius) v...

Hey TAF, searched the forums but found nothing for this type of fitting (or spear). Instead I found a tutorial by searching google. Basically you have to build a tool that pushes down the rubber valve gasket. Then you can push a long needle into the now generated gap and push it into the inside of a...

Hey guys, just bought a 30l Euro Keg in a spontaneous decision :D But as my other 50l Euro Keg - from which I cut the top off and got a custom lid built by a friend to use it as a fermenter - it has one of those goddamn "Korbfittings" (german for ... uhm ... Cagefitting? dunno) and I canno...

Kentucky shinner wrote:If it is below 1.00 it is finished. Give it a stir and I am sure it will stop bubbling pretty soon.
KS

Why's that? I mean, when it is below 1.00, there can still be some unfermented sugar left, right?

schmand, a 45 minute lag time is nothing to be concerned with... Every wash will be different due to the many variables involved... The apparent sag in fermentation after adding sugar is due to the fact that you have an excess of CO2 released immediately after the addition and the concentration in ...

hey guys, tried out the BW recipe with a 20l wash 2 days ago now: - 3kg of Sugar - 1 tsp. of Epsom Salt - 200g tomato puree - filled up to 20l of Water - 84g of bakers yeast I also poured in citric acid for the pH value, but the calculator on the homepage told me I had to put in only 0.26g for a ph ...