Home Distiller

This might belong in the newb forum, so please move it if necessary. I have been wondering this for a couple weeks and not found the answer. I have learned that to ferment grain you need to malt it, which is a process of sprouting the grains so that natural enzymes are released. Alternatively, you c...

Probaly Reishi (ling chi) mushrooms. Paul Stamets is the man. fungi.com is a good source for spawn.

If you're willing to jump right in to tissue culture work then you can probably take a tissue clone from store bought mushrooms. If you're successful you'll have isolated a known fruiting strain, which is good. I'm not sure if it'll be cheaper than buying an isolated strain in solution, but it'll be...

Yeah, what can I say? A lot of the interest is around tripping. I don't think most mycologists are really bothered by that, because after about two months of study, funny colors and the giggles aren't the weirdest thing you know about mushrooms. As far as saving the world, besides being delicious, t...

Sorry for the slow reply, you caught me on my laboratory day. Fungi are amazing, yeasts and mushrooms included. I'm in the USA so I don't know any Aus providers of spawn, however, I usually use www.sporeworks.com and they are fast and good quality. Local spawn will probably be fresher, however, and ...

Morels are a mycorrhizal mushroom that grows in conjunction with a tree. There has been limited success in growing them. Oysters are a very easy beginner mushroom to grow. in fact, if you go to http://www.mweme.org there is a little slide show *cough* someone made to get my brother growing them on h...

I know it's not computer measured, but I like that specific gravity measure with the flow through tube...

Anyone have a link for that?

How large of wash should I make to clean out a full sized keg pot still?

This will be it's second run after a water testing run.

Thanks.

20 inch liebig condenser, recirculating with a submersible pump in a bucket ice water. Cools like hell. Need to do an cleaning alcohol run, waiting for my tri-clamp to come in the mail. In the garage with the windows doors open. There is a stove and a carbon monoxide/fire alarm right next to it, wit...

Hey Gents, Trying to make sure I have all what I'll need (besides the still) before I start. The still is a full size keg pot still. Have: 1 x propane burner 1 x 15 gallon plastic fermentation barrel w/ airlock in lid. 1 x fish tank style fermentation thermometer 12 x quart mason (for cuts?) 6 x hal...

right. I'm mostly interested in rum and fruits, although I like gin a lot. the "vodka" would be mostly for friends. Looks like my first wash is actually going to be wineo's simple sugar wash. There is a GFS near my parents but it's a good couple hours from where I live. Thinking about maki...

I don't mind some flavor, because I was thinking of trying the rice vodka, which apparently has a nice flavor.

Good to know. Now I just have to figure the whole enzyme thing out.

Hello gents...

I plan on mostly rums and fruit washes, but if I wanted to try to make a relatively neutral spirit, would it be worth packing some copper scrubbers in my pot still, or should I make a reflux attachment as well?

Yeah, the trough design is awesome, especially if you can use that much. For more personal sized projects, I was thinking more along the lines of http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/solarcooking/parabolic/bart_orlando_arcata_plaza_2003_smaller.image.jpg that keeps itself pointed at the sun, with a large p...

With two mechanical engineers and two computer scientists you'd think you could create a motorized parabolic solar oven that knew what time of year it was and where the sun was and where the black pot is. Parabolic reflectors are the fastest heating designs in the solar oven world. 2kW per square me...

oh man. alcohol vapor getting released from pits over a flame is a terrifying mental image.

punkin wrote:mix one teaspoon of a sample with one teaspoon of water, that gets mine down to 40% where it won't harm my taste buds and it also opens the spirit up and allows the full flavours to come through. Obviously when you get down to lower %'s you mix less water....

Ingenious.

see? One dimmer gives infinite control. Sounds good. I was thinking "Now when 'n' the heck would I have four sliders half down!?" Just wanted to make sure. Reckon' I'll give this a shot then. Run two pairs on one circuit, so two inputs. 3 with on/off switches and 1 with a slider. Make a n...

Rod wrote: I am drinking it as it ages , so top up will be a lot more

Sounds like a lot less than your share!

so you're talking about making a switchboard out of four of something like this: Lutron 600 Watt White Slide-to-Off Dimmer Model: S-600PH-WH $17.93 http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=70763-000000539-S-600PH-WH&detail=&lpage=none" onclick="window.open(...

Runaway, dont really se what you mean. in a still, you wouldnt connect a thermostatic controller, just a straight power controller. No feedback. I'll admit that I was over thinking the problem. Doesn't really matter what the sign of the temperature coefficient of the rods are, because even if they ...

theholymackerel wrote:al_shine, why is there a valve on top of yer still?

If it closes off the vapour, ya just built a bomb. If the column is clamped on (as it appears), yer bomb is even bigger.

That's not a valve, that's an access port and a thermometer.

*edited for mis-applying ohm's law Well, he says in the ad that he has a bunch of them, so if anyone can reckon with me for a workable controller design for a full size keg still, I am willing to let my still be a guinea pig. I don't think I have 220 volt outlets readily available. Can't you use 110...

There are no-weld elements available. Alcohol vapor in a fairly enclosed space, with an over-heated element can make a very large bomb. That is a good darn point. How do you make sure? Do the no-weld bolt in? could you provide an example? It's actually looking to be pretty cost effective to get a s...

oh, good point. a single one of those elements would be the "large" heater for a keg still.

That's what I get for browsing ebay when the neighbors dogs wake me up too early.

Are there any recommendations? most of the talk seems to be about control, not the elements themselves.

Hello everyone. Looking to put internal heating on a keg. I've been reading through making controllers and stuff like that. Then I found a listing for this four branch heating element ( ) My thought is to switch each of the four elements individually with standard rocker switches (of proper rating) ...

internal heating sounds good. I did notice the rounded bottoms, i picked up a full size keg and a quarter keg (7 gallons, I think?) I was thinking I might use the pony keg for smaller runs, but if I have to have a lot of welding done, I may just stick with the larger keg. Maybe I can find a muffler ...

Hello everyone. I got my brother to solder myself up a water cooled condenser arm when he built up one for himself. (His is in the picture, doing a water test run.) still-and-outlaw.jpg Now I'm going to look at stainless steel kegs someone is selling of craigslist today. Does anyone have any keg buy...

the big round bales or the little rectangular bales?

What kind of rice is being used? White? Brown? Long or short grain? sticky?