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The VM is very good at higher reflux ratios (high purity). I can’t comment on the FFV recipe however, because I haven’t tried it. As you’ve noted, the “backend” should be easy to determine using the VM stillhead. It is good at leaving the tails in the boiler. I usually do not increase the heat input...

ricky, The rig in your original post would never make good spirits, because … it’s TOO SHINY. Even the kitchen looks too shiny. So, you’ve got to break it in a while so it starts to look like a real stillhouse. “Operating Room” sanitization is so overdone that it is too sterile. Use your system a wh...

… (Or an outdoor toilet directly into a hole) … I know what you mean … a few years back I visited central Europe and when on the autobahn in eastern France, we stopped at one of the roadside rest areas to use the facility. And low and behold, the “toilet” there was one of those “squat and go” holes...

Thepatman wrote: ↑Sat Apr 06, 2024 4:03 pm Love it!

Speaking of reds, what can be expected of them as opposed to the whites?

Yumm. It sounds like you may even have some fine “port wines” in the making too. Enjoy.
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If you’re not going to drink the wine, why not distill it? If it ends up as a lousy spirit, what have you lost? Running it through the potstill a couple of times will teach you a lot. So why not? It seems you worry too much. Just do it … if you’re not going to drink the wine, at least you can try to...

Make another ferment with molasses only (sugar dilutes the “rum” flavor you’re after). And run it through your potstill twice (strip + spirit) and then BLEND it back with your “light rum”. Nobody says that any product must stay “virginal”, that is, blending will add character to an otherwise un-char...

Have you ever had champagne from a crystal champagne glass? Crystal glass is made with lead, and you’re here to prove that the lead won’t kill you. Bear in mind that when glass is made, the sand/silica and lead constituents are heated up to a “plasma”, or molten state. That changes the molecular com...

5-0 clock, I suggest removing the slobber box/thumper from the vapor path. As you try to isolate the cause of the “chemical smell/taste”, simplifying the process will help narrow the possibilities. I don’t know if you’ve put something into the “slobber box/thumper” or not, but omitting that vessel w...

Eliminate the thumper entirely. Connect the flake stand (worm condenser) to the potstill lyne arm directly. Waste not … want not. Besides, all the copper in the thumper will act as a heat sink and that will affect heat up time and operation stability. Simply take the thumper out of the circuit … you...

“Chemical smell”? Alcohol is a “chemical” … and it has a smell. And it is a unique and distinct smell. But other fermentation byproducts (congeners) are also “chemicals” and they too have distinct smells. To me, it sounds like you are too inexperienced to know what you’re smelling. And your descript...

My “2 pence” answer would be triple distillation. That’s what I do when I make rum (I use the extremely raw deer-lick molasses). I HAVE to triple distill it to tame the raw “oily” character to a palatable rum flavor. Still, it is typically more “rummy” than a white rum. To get a “white rum” flavor, ...

Copperhead57 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:57 am Thank you for the help guys. It is 12volt . I have several chargers laying around. I'm going to use one of them

Is it AC or DC? It matters.

I believe most computer fans are AC, so make sure the power supply (wall wart) is also AC. But double check the fan (it should be labeled).
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Proof for “drinking liquor”? Well, it depends. I like to age my bourbons at 60% to 65%ABV (after cuts of the collection). But, after aging, I bottle it at 45%ABV because it gives me the most flavor when served “neat”. If the bottle proof is higher, it makes the liquor “hotter” and less enjoyable. Ho...

Hey, I’d suggest using calcium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide. It is not as dangerous to handle as lye. You can get the CaOH in the grocery store canning supply aisle, as “pickling lime”. Granted, it is not as strong of base as the lye, but safer to handle (I still advise being careful how yo...

Those SCR voltage controllers are Phase angle controllers and as Elbono said, if you control the Voltage , the current will proportionally follow . IE voltage controller is by default also a Current controller. True. But bear in mind that voltage control alone does not mean it will provide the curr...

Jonny, Expensive crystal glasses are made with lead and used to serve expensive French champagne. Keep in mind that the lead is bonded with the silica in the molecular structure when the glass is made. So, your paranoia of toxic effects of the lead in your spirits is unfounded. I use inexpensive “ho...

Using the gluco-amylase enzymes helped to break down the non-fermentable sugars in the malt extracts. That was indeed obvious by your finishing gravities. So, it was a wise decision. Have you tasted the beers yet? I bet they’re all quite tasty. And they’ll make a tasty and unique brown spirit. But, ...

First Stripping Run (35 Litre Charge) 50% initial product, ran for ~2 hours to 4% at parrot (25% overall) All seems good! I ran hard sub 10% because the flavour profile was quite good! :angel: How much low wines did you collect from the 1st run (strip)? From a 35l charge, I’d anticipate 8 to 9 lite...

I would start with a 50/50 ratio of the peated malt. It will smell real smokey when fermenting. And the taste will have a good smoke flavor in the fermenter. But the boiler will reduce the apparent smoke signature significantly, such that when first run (the spirit run, of course) the peat quality w...

... my induction cooktop has an on/off cycle of 5secs on / 6secs off . Is that okay for doing a spirit run? ... Well, I doubt you'll get steady output. And the surges will likely smear your products too. If the cycles were only 1 sec on/off, then maybe it would work acceptably. You'll just have to ...

… I am very interested in copying your hotplate design. So, the key here is to have a variable power controller instead of a variable temperature controller? While I would also like to try the induction cooktop for distilling with some help. Thank you very much for dropping in. Yep. But how an indu...

… That would explain why people have good lunch with lava rock. It has very low heat transfer, besides large surface area. Good observation. Ideal packing would provide enough surface area onto which the condensate could “wick” so it could be reheated by the rising (hot) vapors. And the packing tha...

… It adjusts temperature from 0 to 100C. It is a 1000w lab hotplate. I’m gonna’ jump in here to add my thoughts, although you’ve gotten good info from others already. That “laboratory” hotplate is designed to set a known temperature and maintain it, for the purposes needed in a lab. It is not a “he...

I'm collecting smaller amount in each jar for this run and will switch recipes to something easier next time around. For my stripping run today I seen small black stuff coming out of the spout, am I scorching the barley? Should I turn down the temp so I don't see any black stuff during my stripping...

Priceless Yummy. An EXCELLENT post.
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OK, that looks much better. Next thing to check is the Voltage across the heating element when powered. Put the pot back into the circuit and get ready to run. Put enough water in the boiler to fully cover the element. Then apply the power. Measure the Voltage on the 2 lugs of the element. Be carefu...

Did you check the potentiometer’s resistance before you wired it to the circuit? Check it from one lug to the wiper and twist the knob. It should go from zero to 500k. Also, it appears like you’re using the white wire as the case ground/bond back to the heat sink, right? Is the SSR isolated from the...

Artooks, how sensitive is your “sniffer”? I mean, how concentrated are the “fumes” from your boiler in the same room as the wine? If it’s extreme, then it is possible some of the airborne esters/ketones could settle and dissolve into the wine vat. But, it is unlikely those congeners would mask the f...

… Since generation 3 of the UJSSM [/b], i have been getting this issue, namely when I do my fast run towards the end of the run 20-10% , I get little greenish/blue dots[ in my spirit(they are also aggregated in some oils on top of the spirit)… It sounds like the “corn oils” coming through. Often, i...

Initial gravity - specific gravity hydrometer - 1.107 High OG for a (good) ferment. Starting that high will challenge the yeast. At least you rehydrated the dry yeast before pitching. And the Lalvin EC-1118 is a slow fermenter as noted. I would expect ferments with an OG that high to take a couple ...