Home Distiller

Sounds like you're not too sure about what steps need to be taken and the why-fors. We all have to start somewhere, so it's good that you are getting your feet wet. Essentially, the basic steps are all the same for all washes / stripping / spirit run / cuts / blending, etc. Read, learn, and read som...

The Hook Rum turned out very well, I am pleased 8) The spirits averaged out to 82 percent ABV, and I am happy with the cuts, happy enough that I would repeat the recipe and cuts without any changes next time. I diluted the spirits to 64 percent, and have it aging on burgundy wine barrel oak sticks t...

Prairiepiss wrote:Don't make cuts by ABV. Taste smell and feel. Every wash, still, operator, is different.

Which is what I do.........
and then I test the ABV for my own records and interest.

I havent been doin rum for long but the molasses seems, to me, to come over as a little harsh at first, but after its aired and aged a week or so, the harsh starts to go away and smooth out. The tails is where I've found the real, solid rum flavor comes over. I leave the heads alone and put em in a...

I just made some Hookline Rum. To me, the 2nd distilled rum [ from a 2" boka, 21" column, no packing, needle valve wide open ] tastes best between 89% ABV down to 65% ABV. No parrot used so as not to smear the run from jar to jar. It is still on the harsh side for a straight-up sippin spir...

Cotton gauze / wrap / bandage from a pharmacy.

Back up running today..... I shut down last night because it was getting too late, not because I was into the tails of the run. It was 32 liters of ? 50ish abv....never did measure the low wines. I just added the 32L of low wines to the boiler, topped it up with water to the 54 L level or so, and th...

Having completed 4 batches of Hook Rum, I have 32 liters or thereabouts of low wines saved. Diluted to about 35% abv, I have distilled almost 14 liters of spirits before shutting it down for the night. Will have to finish the run tomorrow. Anyway, tasting as I distill, as I always do.........I seem ...

Try the Thai Terror recipe.......it's very good.

What is your boiler? By far, the easiest combo is a sankey keg boiler and a 2" triclamp for attaching the column to the keg. All of the fittings can be bought online. True........it is not as fast as going to the hardware store and getting a sink drain and other odd fittings, right then and the...

I have some Hook rum on the go that I will be aging, prolly with oak sticks. I had read in a thread here, that if the oak is charred, then the rum can end up tasting more like bourbon than rum. I'll try aging with light-medium roasted oak first, based on that premise. What rum recipe are you using? ...

Well it would appear that the million dollar question is;
Do the vapors mix and smear in a tall thin column [under 100 percent refluxing] or do they separate into distinct fractions within the top of the column?

I just recently finished a Boka rebuild that included a sight glass. I placed it just opposite the overflow point of the output plate and can see the condensate dripping down off of the umbrella plate, the pool of distillate in the output plate, and the stream of reflux overflow. It's almost mesmer...

I picked up two corny kegs in which to store distilled spirits in. Question about the o rings......... Are the original black o rings ok for this? or do I need to replace them with PTFE o rings? If so, where can I get them? I don't intend to fill the kegs to the max, nor do I intend to splash the al...

A nice heat recipe is the Thai Terror one. Very nice indeed.

Habernero is pretty much heat and no / little flavour.

Was my good one too

All it took was rinsing it off under hot tap water....shattered the bottom.

No more hot water rinsing........

Pretty sure it's cold input water to the outside coil and the inner is the return / warm.

Spokerider wrote About ball valves, are some better than others? Was looking at some 1" SS ball valves in the hardware store.......wondering if the seat / seal is up to the constant heat of the boiling wash for many hours? Mine has lasted for 4 years now - no worries Coyote Thanks for the info.

light green.
I bought the greenest limes in the bunch, and used a zester to take only the green part of the rind, no pith. Of course, I did use the lime juice too.

I found that it wasn't hot enough for me either, so I macerated 24 hrs and then added more ginger and habanero the next day....all in 1L.
It's great now!

About ball valves, are some better than others?
Was looking at some 1" SS ball valves in the hardware store.......wondering if the seat / seal is up to the constant heat of the boiling wash for many hours?

Yeah, what is PFA?

I'll prolly go the copper / silicon route.....easiest for now.

When I'm not needing hot dunder, I keep it in the boiler until the next day and hoist / drain when it's cooler.......like barney said.

Wondering how you all are getting the piping-hot dunder from your boiler. 58L full keg is dang heavy / dangerous for hoisting up and trying to pour into a pail. Tried siphoning, but the pvc hose just melts.........further, the plastic vapors / leachates from the melting hose can't be good. Have no b...

What does rubbing alcohol taste like? .......I've never tried it. Perhaps your dragging heads all of the way through your hearts. Does the best part of your hearts taste poorly too? Scrutinize your equipment. Scrutinize your distilling technique. Scrutinize your ingredients / wash / recipe. The answ...

Thank you guys.

Have a question about still puking........

Does rum have the propensity to foam / puke more so than say, BW's or UJSM washes?

I run a 58 L boiler at the 50L level with no such problems to date. Seems many of the foaming / puking threads have the word "rum" in them.

.........and maybe the corn's starch level varies from batch to batch.

Hook,
How would I best assimilate your 60L recipe using "brown sugar" in place of "raw sugar"? I know brown sugar is pretty much white sugar with molasses mixed in.

I'm thinking; 6L blackstrap with 6kg brown sugar?

Thanks

Rum.
50L wash
5L Blackstrap molasses
7.5kg dark brown sugar
Enough white sugar to hit 1.08 or so.
White Labs Yeast nutrient
DAP
Citric Acid
Dr Reeds?
Instaferm Bakers Yeast



I was looking over the vitamins in the store today when I remembered I had some of Dr Reed's at home.