Home Distiller

Made another attempt a few weeks back. Heres what i did: 1) Diced 1 lbs of strawberies and froze in a quart jar 2) Added 70% nuetral and let soak probably longer than i should have- 1 week. 3) Poured this off to a bottle and added 2TBSN's of lemon juice . Added 1/2 cup fruit to jar. 4) 5 Days later ...

I fiind four 60 litre fermenters filled to 40 for 1 charge of different things like rum and sugars and allgrains etc and a large ninety litre one filled to 70l for two ujsm strips keep me going and don't interfere with my homely lifestyle. :shock: How many sheng you fermenting at a time?!?! How muc...

Shroud wrote:trthskr4 - By saving it for future builds, you mean add it to my next wash for distillation, right? Does that leave the oils and whatnot behind, or do they come out as foreshots?

You will have future builds or modifications that will require another cleaning agent/run...

I use a handful of stainless washers and whatever scrap copper i got...

Good post

I just picked up 2 ss kegs that I found on craigslist.
KIJIJI is a new one few me , I'll definitely check it out.

Been stillin' in the detached garage but I'm gettin tired of tearing it down after every run, scared of pryin eyes...
So I'm tryin to get power and water to an old shed (12x16) out back so that I can set up and do some real runnin.

FeralPig wrote:Because the government says it is illegal and I don't like their reasoning.

Because I like to drink it.

Because it ain't easy like many things.

Ditto...

I have a little bit smaller liebig,1/2 in 3/4 x 2 foot. I also have a 14" long coil at the top of my column.

When I'm done, I kill the flame and leave the cooling water on. Haven't had an issue yet- as long as you leave it open and not sealed up like w/ a valve, as in a VM or LM.

I think the results of this research are alot more favorable.

Maybe one could cancel the other out ?








Ithinksometrialsareinorder...

After testing several batches I've found lemon juice (couple squirts per jar) instead of citric acid yeilds a darker red and cleaner strawberry taste, more in the aroma than the taste. Maybe The amounts of citric acid I was putting in (couple pinches each 1/2 gal jar) is wrong. I'm trying to figure...

Hawke wrote:Yes, start with 3/4 for a double. I like to use a 'coldfinger' return as it adds some extra cooling and takes up more space. There is a stickie post here somewhere on winding coils. It would be well worth the time to read it.

I always thought the cold finger was the supply side of the coil...???

Heh, I have a still without a hole at the top that can operate in VM mode - The hole at the top is a safety feature, but doesn't matter in theory. My still is completely open (there is no valve at the output). By controlling the power and cooling I can put this still into reflux mode. Despite the s...

I have zero experience with rum yet but, I air my neutral for over a week prior to bottling.

Whatever the water test doesnt get out , your first distalate/cleaning run should get

I have a nine foot long leibig condenser :shock: HOLY CRAP ! :shock: Actually I'm a little jealous :mrgreen: You got a picture of it posted somewhere? I am useing a reflux still and only a 3 foot liebig and use about the same methods that Dropping Planets uses, except, I will let it get a little wa...

I chose to build the CM Relux instead of the Valved one and I can't find anything written good about it. Is anyone happy with theirs and can you give me some help operating mine. Does this thing work or should I use my pot still and throw this one in the river? I take it you already have one built?...

Mine had a notch on the top lip ( that I dont see on yours... ) that i was able to BEAT a screwdriver behind and pry.

I still ruined two screwdriver tips

thanks for the replys, beings i already have 1-1/2 pipe im sticking with it. If its slower thats ok, i'll sit back and have a drink :P and then the hard part of learning how to run the thing. Im also new to this. I built mine from 1.5" that I already had also. I'm gettin 90+%ABV at what i thin...

vent---leave open Exactly what Dndr said... Without that vent you run the risk of pressurizing your column/boiler. The condenser is suppose to knock down any vapors so you aren't steamin out the top. But... With it plugged, and you run into a problem with your cooling water, you turn it into a pres...

I'm still learning the basics with neutrals but I've heard good things about uncle jesse's simple sour mash, or UJSSM.
You can find it in the tried and true section.

HookLine wrote:

mroe wrote:So why do they sell the flavor additives?

'Vodka Essence', anybody?

I guess I should have paid more attention to the temp difference. I just get impatient waiting for the wash to cool...yeah i know - patience. I'm using Distillers Super Start yeast I thought i read somewhere that starters actually perfer to to go to a higher SG environment? Maybe on the yahoo forum....

Heres a post that i found to be very helpful in learning the difference between all the different types of columns.
Its a Sticky under the Column Distillation and Design forum.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =17&t=6151

Well, I had to give it try and I thought I'd let you know how it's going... I could only scrape a little under a cup of dregs of the bottom of my last wash. I put it in a 750 mL sugar mix so end SG was 1.05. I then put this in the fridge for later. Nine days later...(work schedule kept me busy). I p...

Not sure about your area, or situation, but i was able to build a 10 gallon reflux for less than $250. Thats for the pot and everything copper plus the tools need to build.

Jman, aside from reading a lot, you're gonna find yourself spending a lot of time in hardware stores just browsing around and picking through parts... It gets addictive... Every time you walk through a store you'll be eying anything stainless, copper, or otherwise a potential still component... You...

I figured your wash should be 14.19% by my formula. I got the formula from the parent site, and I have no idea where they came up with 129. I'm sure it was from someone a whole smarter than me. Heres the post that a few dicuss how it comes up. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=...

I had a half gallon of panty dropper do the same thing. If you don't drink it within a month or so it'll get nasty. So...your recommending me and the wife drink it up in a quick manner ?!?! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I'll see what i can do. I am having a glass of it right now. Poured it with the spices st...

My figures for calculatin wash %alc is [ SG(startin specific grafivity) - FG(finishin gravity) ] X 129 = Wash %Alc (1.083 - 1.003 ) * 129 = .080 * 129 = 10.32 % ALC There was another post discussing this - I think it was in WPOSW thread. I'll use alot of references there only cuz thats all i've trie...