Home Distiller

14 months in, best rum I've made! Also, the only rum I've barreled.

I love when my grandson visits and want to “stir the corn”. Maybe someday he will continue the craft as you are. Welcome! Hopefully the insight here will lead you to a fruitful craft!

I've always followed up an AG run with a sugarhead - usually only one though as sugar has doubled in price in the past could years. I make tight cuts and age on chunks for 6-12 months for the daily drinking. All the feints then get saved for a neutral run. Why waste good flavor!

Processed the early apples, a light year, only got 12 gallons of cider. Quite a few Fuji and winesap’s left, will do a second run for them. Started pulling out the equipment at noon, cleaned up and put away by 5pm. Picked up a restaurant fruit slicer for $10 at a yard sale- can cut a 5 gallon bucket...

I scoop out all the clear liquid on top, then I push the turkey basket down into the mash, let it sit for a while and scoop out the liquid in the middle. I don’t try to screen out the slop as it settles out nicely. I start the night before I plan to run. I strain as I scoop it out using the paint st...

Was about to post, but you beat me to it! We’re getting closer…

Stainless Steel bolts - 3/8", which was the biggest the local HW store had. I used the same for both holes. I made a tiny funnel many years ago that worked for filling. I have no plan to open for several years - the harder it is to open, the less tempted I am!

My first recollection of doing anything with alcohol was making brandy with "borrowed" wine using my chemistry set in the basement. Glass tubes and rubber stoppers inspired by Hawkeye's still on MASH. I'm sure that was some quality stuff - but as a teenager, I'm sure I thought it was great...

Might there be hope for those of us here in the US? They are challenging the legality of the federal ban instead of trying to pass a new law.

https://dailycaller.com/2023/12/24/fede ... ings-ever/

Received and promptly filled my first official Badmo barrel with HBB. The designed inspired me to make my own. I've been searching for quarter-sawn air dried white oak for a while now without luck. Was going to buy a used barrel to tear apart and steam straighten and refinish. I ended up purchasing ...

"Tried with no success" - what recipe did you try? Did you use a Tried + True recipe? Several sugar wash recipes depending on what you are trying to make https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=14 All yeast need nutrients, sugar doesn't provide any. Turbo provides nutrients to make...

The only temperature that would have any bearing is the temperature on the output side of the thumper (and subsequently the liquid temp of the thumper, assuming it was boiling). If you got zero output, the thumper never boiled, or you had a huge leak. Water vapor condenses to liquid regardless of al...

Welcome fellow Ohioan!

When doing an all grain batch, I always grind the cracked corn again to a cornmeal consistency. I have found other brands of cracked corn have better yields than Tractor Supply - maybe the strain of corn they are buying? I steam cook the corn for 90-120 minutes (sometimes with some malted barley - H...

in both cases he never used Gluco Amylase or malted grains, only Alpha.

I've sampled several times over the years - never been ready. 2 years in it had the color and taste of a jar a couple of months old aged on re-charred oak. As a comparison, I age mostly in half gallon jars with re-charred wood staves - better results in much less time, 4-6 months typically. Not sure...

Taping the paper together was a pain! Get it printed if you can. I cut the individual components out of the paper, then optimized those on the copper sheet.

5 gallon finishing boiler to add to the collection . 3000w element, about 1 gal minimum to cover the element. Interchangeable with all my head/ condenser setups.
Built into a milk crate for stability.

58 gallon HDPE cut down to 45 or so gallons, cheesecloth on top with a lid set loosely. I put an open jar of heads to catch the fruit flies. Haven’t touched an airlock in years!

Finally emptied the 5 gallon Balcones barrel I filled in October 2016 from the UJSSM runs in the summer/Fall 2016. The Angels took more than their fair share - 3 of the original 5 gallons (actually 6 as I topped off in 2018). End result is very smooth sweet and caramelly, with distinctive Balcones b...

Went to tri-clamps after having everything connected by unions - have two left in my whole setup, looking to swap them out. I built the setup so I can interchange as much as possible. From a single boiler, I have a column, pot still head, thumper, and a steam cooking head.

I see a new project in my future

... The 50g HDPE barrel is great for a full mash (or multiples in a series) to do three strips with the 16g boiler. The 20 and 32g brutes are better for smaller batches with limited materials or experiments. The Brute cans may(and do but not always) sometimes leak if filled with boiling hot corn ma...

Admiring my setup…

Welcome fellow Ohioan!

I noticed my 30 Brute was weeping a bit after the last run. It has also developed some bulging, probably the source of the crack. Glad I caught it before losing a batch. Have been contemplating on what to do to reinforce the replacement. I was thinking of spay foaming insulation between it and a lar...

That looks interesting- where did you find that listed?

Just trimmed the apple trees this past weekend

After hand cranking a bag, I Rigged up a corona type mill to an old kitchen aid mixer. Works perfectly!

The teaser for next week's episode mentioned Tater's Birdwatchers recipe.

FYI - Buffalo Trace is not wheated, it is a low rye mashbill. Their Weller and Pappy lines are wheated bourbons.