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A few more photos from North Carolina Moonshine - An Illicit History. First race I've seen with snow.

Informative intro, TBB. Your 2” kit will take you to lofty heights as you increase your knowledge.

Welcome to HD. Enjoy the journey.

That boiler will work fine as a mash tun and a fermenter as well as boiler. But, like Moose points out, your challenge then becomes the prohibitively small mash/ferment volumes. Most milk cans come with a port for an element. Many members have kicked themselves for buying an 8gal milk can to save $4...

On the grain: Pro: more flavour, slightly lower fg. Con: pain to handle or move, grain needs to be squeezed to minimise loss. More chance of scorching from solids. So you’re going to need to squeeze the grain either way unless you’re Distilling on grain. I don’t see how fermenting on the grain give...

Redundancy not needed. The bulk of condensing on a reflux still is performed by the RC. Your shotgun PC is more than enough to do it’s job.

I stay close to the still, so for me, its easy to use ears, nose and touch. First, the boiler starts to make agitated 'stirring' noises, then fruity (apple/sweet corn) aromas start coming out the condenser. As soon as my boiler's heat migrates up the riser to the stillhead and it grows really hot, f...

I don't know how to search a specific users post, or I would have before I commented. :thumbup: If you have a member's screen name handy, just click on it. The member's post activity is listed mid-page on the right hand side. If you do not have a screen name handy, simply scroll down to the bottom ...

No. Unfortunately I don't think we will be hearing from Stillerboy again. Last time we talked he told me he felt his time was better spent elsewhere. He helped me immensely and I'm sure many others. I personally will miss him. +1 Yeah, Mars’s style has always been direct, mostly because of his pass...

Not all wheat contains the same potential starch/sugar. Testing of wheat from a brewers resource would tell you a lot.

I think at a minimum you need a 6" access port and a 2" drain if you're going to do on grain... you need to be able to get I there and clean it. I'm sure it's doable with just the sankey, but youll be hating life. +1 I put a 6" ferrule on my steam keg thinking one day it could be use...

Bolverk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 9:54 am So you want a 15g pot and 3 thumpers?

Rickyaifd, what spirit are you planning to make with 3 thumpers?

Next time you’re feeling ‘oatey’, you might consider using rolled oats. Not only are they less expensive than steel cut, they come pre-gelatinized and make conversion happen a bit quicker.

Dunno. I let my ferments completely clear before stripping to avoid any yeast notes after aging. Others (including Eric) have reported their on-grain strips run fine.

I’m curious, would a pair of nozzles opposite each other to induce a swirling motion be helpful? Or angle them down at 45 degrees or so for better mixing? Or does it even matter? With the silicone tips, I found that my angled nozzles caused water to swirl, full grain mashes, no. I tried to 'help' t...

Sometimes I see folks asking 2.0 or even advanced 3.0 questions. When the answers they actually need are basic Homedistilling. +1 To be fair, it may be that some new folks don't know what they don't know and are unsure where to start. Other times, it appears these posts are simple requests to 'fill...

Deplorable wrote: ↑Sat Mar 30, 2024 4:34 pm I installed a 2nd AC on my 5th wheel, and when SWMBO finishes cooking this wonderful bacon I'm smelling I'm going to make a 5th of bacon washed bourbon. Today is day 4 of no alcohol for me.

Your homemade bacon?

Great looking rig, Theo.

I did a yeast starter last night as outlined in one of TB's posts. Reading up more on the S-04, not only is the attenuation a bit low, but it seems to have a small hearts cut also. I am debating on pitching WB-06 once the S-04 finishes since it has a much higher attenuation. Hoping this would give ...

Great story, PM. Hat’s off for nurturing your children and keeping them engaged. I think every set of parents has enjoyed their own variation of bucket lickers and socket droppers.

Kudos for your diligence in filling a 25gal barrel.

I use a yeast from Wilderness Trail (Ferm Solutions FSI-917) on my bourbon and I like the results, but I may need to try S-04. That’s good to hear. Summer temps here are too high for S-04/US-05 so I picked up some FSI-900. It’s touted to work well into the high 80’s and above, but don’t know what t...

Looks like a winner mash bill. I love the profile S-04 produces.

Significant progress has occurred at great speed since Jan 24. HB 4793 passed both the Senate and the House and was forwarded to the Governor on March 9. IIRC, the Governor has 15d to approve/veto, and if he does nothing, the bill becomes law. http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/Bills_history.c...

A Google search of cooperage oak aging yards will show many stacks of white oak aging outside . The reasoning is that moisture is critical to the removal of tannins and other objectionable elements from their oak. My guess is that 'curing' oak inside is different and would not give the desired resul...

still_stirrin wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:08 am Eliminate the thumper entirely... Simply take the thumper out of the circuit … you’ll be glad you did.
ss

+1

There is always a curve to learning how a thumper rig will operate and the time/materials you save could go to making a great double-distilled spirit sooner than later.

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Twisted Brick nailed it. I don't know where he got the rest of his information though. It was the sightglasses and valved plumbing that gave away that it was a pressure vessel. I tried to retrieve the site I got the historical info from but couldn't find it (was sippin'). Either way, it mirrored th...

Ingersoll straight line steam-powered rock drill (mining) air compressor.

Your own experience will always be more accurate than what others' most valuable opinions may be.

Great score, Cranky. Hardwood is like gold to those who cook/smoke/age with it, and a truckbed full of it for free is truly (hard) wood porn for sure.

The smaller the diameter of your riser the higher the vapour speed . Higher vapour speed means less separation of the fractions. So small diameter riser needs to be run slower than a wide diameter riser I agree with these, but I think there’s more at play here than just liberated fractions and vapo...