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You do not get 'stacked' fractions in your column the way you seem to think.

It is the reflux itself that keeps the more volatile components near the top of the column and pushes the lower volatility compounds downwards, through the interaction of falling reflux and rising vapour.

Ali Express for me.

I haven't tried a sugarhead with this yeast, but my main all-grain ferments take about 1 week. Perhaps it would be worth adding a pinch of DAP when you start the second ferment?

sweeps wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 04, 2021 10:02 am

Still waiting on them to finish. They are much slower than the original ferments.

Are you holding the recommended 32 degrees C? It makes a big difference with this yeast.

If you're using a PID then there's your first easy fix: ditch it.

As opposed to just telling you not to use a PID (which I agree you shouldn't, but I also understand that it stings to be told you spent money you didn't need to), I'll ask you: what are you trying to accomplish with a PID? Your setup looks like a pot still and thumper. If you understand what a PID w...

I agree those hoses look like vinyl. Also 100% you don't need fancy baskets to make great gin. @toxxyc: your distillate contains more than ethanol, including hot vapours of acetone, ethyl acetate and other solvents. Silicone may or may not be stable with ethanol, but you can look up its stability wi...

Just FYI the lime or lemon juice was probably to acidify the wash, and not for flavour. Peel is where the very strong citrus flavour lives. Citric acid is more what we use these days, of you have to adjust, which with rum you don't always have to. I'd suggest not changing a recipe unless you have an...

It's more a case of the rules of the forum. Please read rule 8: https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... =35&t=5090

Citrus is intense and will not go away or mellow much on its own. See if you like it diluted, otherwise cut your losses.

Yeah I've now, in the new batch, cut back drastically with the woods and I'm planning on leaving it a bit longer. On a side note - I've seen some people make good whiskies in a matter of weeks, without the use of microwaves or heat/cool cycles. How does that work? I'm in South Africa so it's quite ...

I don't believe the frequency of dodgy, unscrupulous people in the farmer population is any higher than among grain merchants, maltsters and feed stores. BTW I think in years of distilling, I have once used some flaked corn that was intended for brewing and approved for human consumption. Every othe...

Boobyalla is not a juniper, it is a plant in the genus Myoporum. There are no plants in the juniper genus (Juniperus) in Australia.

For the Orstralians on this thread looking for Juniper berries and other herbs, there is an Italian Grocer near me who stocks the 'Euro Spices' range (https://eurospices.com.au/our-range.html), which includes Juniper Berries (30g for $5 AUD). If you can locate someone stocking them, you will have a...

Another ferment on the go. Same 16 pounds corn and 6 pounds Pilsner malted barley in 55 liters. Used MileHigh enzymes as well. I sanitized the hell out of everything to try and reduce the lacto. Will save some backseat for next batch. Most people don't worry too much about the lacto, and I can thin...

I can vouch that deathwish is quite nice straight.

I went for a few years without a broken hydrometer and then broke three in a couple of months. Then a couple turned up broken in the mail, so definitely an object to buy in person at the HBS if you can.

If you are using the Lallemand Voss kveik, then it is a pure strain isolated from a single cell, and not a mixed culture. The composition of sugar cane juice is so vastly different to all-grain barley wort that it's hard to even begin to speculate about the cause for the stall. I would be more comfo...

Well, for that matter, the pot is also a plate. Wait, the plates condense product, they don't evaporate it. Distillation is based on how many times the product is evaporated, not how many times it's condensed. I can certainly see the argument for basing Xs based on 'times condensed', since if it is...

I agree it depends. It's a good general rule to pause and think about whether it's appropriate to necropost or whether it would be more appropriate to create a new thread. If, for example, I'd followed someone's recipe or instructions and had a bad result, or found a better way of doing things, it w...

I would have imagined more smearing issues from the lack of fine control over vapour flow than from the ounce or so that collects in the valve, but every improvement should help.

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 03, 2021 11:58 am

The difference between 40% and 43% will be almost non existent.

Also relevant, the difference between 40% and 43% is within the margin of error of many hydrometers.

Was the distillate blue? If not, then definitely not copper sulfate.

I've had very strong acetaldehyde from cider. Not a pleasant smell.

How do you define "works perfectly"?

I often chuck in some copper scrubbies into the boiler to act as nucleation sites (smoother boil) and to remove sulphides. I also have copper in the vapour path, so I can't comment on whether it has a sulfide-removing effect or not.

I use a belt. You can buy 55-gallon drum belts, made of silicone. They have an inbuilt thermostat but I use an external one that I trust. I wrap the belt with a towel to direct the heat inwards.

Hi torstein,

A ball valve is not going to give you fine enough control to operate your VM still efficiently. You want something with finer control, such as a gate valve.

Dancing4dan wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:37 pm

Gelatinized very fast and became super thick.

Flaked corn is already gelatinised. You should be able to mash it without any boiling.

I put my first two stills together (plus a few mods later on) having never soldered before. Definitely give it a try, it's very satisfying.

Now I've gone modular but it's much more expensive.

Looks good. I used a similar VM (but copper) for 8 years.