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I have completed three successful all grain conversions using corn , rye and barley malt. I use 2.3 # of grains per gallon. Getting a beginning hydro reading of 1.080 to 1.085. The end results are pretty tasty. I use 5 gals water, 11.5# of grain and 1.5 gals backset. After complete fermentation, I c...

Thanks for your reply rad14701. Good advice from a master distiller. I can tell it's not your" first rodeo". This is an exciting journey...Ive got a bunch to learn. I started with a pot still, added the option of a packed column with cool tubes at top, and recently built a thumper to exper...

So Tater....why do we really mess with a pot still and thumper? Would a packed column do the same thing in less runtime with higher proof and same flavor?

Thanks for your reply

HDNB....thanks for the topic reference. I had scanned that a while ago, Guess I didnt catch diluting the low wines to 40%. Ive been through several distilleries and never once did they reference diluting the low wines to 80 proof or lower. Woodford Reserve has three beautiful 1600 gallon copper onio...

Tater.... I think you're right. I've made plenty of good apple brandy on the "stripping run".....I just stopped about 8o proof and didnt dive low into the tails. With a little clean up with charcoal it was very smooth flavorful stuff. I usually proof to 90 for sipping. And the girls love A...

I have an 8 gal pot still and a 2.5 gal thumper. The STRIPPING run was a 6 gal wash (12%) that yielded a little over one gal of 130 proof (avg) alcohol. I ran the stripping run down to the 60-80 proof range. it was getting nasty by then. For the SPIRIT run I charged the pot with the gal of stripped ...

I used quart jars to separate the "cuts"....and checked temp, proof and taste/smell . Each jar was checked for proof and taste twice. Nope, didn;t air it out. out of approx one gal 100 oz tested 155-162 proof. the last 28 oz averaged between 132 and 147. Was that the diff between heads and...

Thanks for your reply . My steps: 1. Distilled fermented strawberry mash from heads (approx 140 proof) down to tails approx 80 proof which averaged 130 proof. this was the first run...I am calling that the initial stripping run. 2. I took that alcohol....I'm calling low wines....and ran it a second ...

Just made a spirit run of strawberry using a thumper for the first time. The stripped spirits from first run averaged 130 proof. Put a strawberry puree in the thumper to see if it would enhance the flavor. Not really sure I can tell any flavor enhancement took place but upped the proof to 155. 1. Is...

Thanks for providing this post on cuts. It has answered a lot of questions in my technique. Somehow I've managed to reason through a way to separate good from not so good. Literally did this for a run of apple brandy .... actually separating every pint and recording proof, temperature etc. I get it ...

Thanks Moonbreath. You are correct ....got a long way to go and a whole bunch to learn. I know enough to be dangerous. It's a steep investment just to not have to look over your shoulder. Assuming the results are well received, the payoff may be quicker than some business forays. IMHO, it's the grea...

Basically pot still for grain whiskeys, reflux column for white dog corn, rum and some brandies. My wine recipes are old family hand me downs....particularly apple and peach. I would like to be the first legal distiller in our family tree. ;-)) Experimented with a lot of different yeasts. so far so ...

My name is Staystill. I enjoy good bourbon and fruit brandies. Interested in learning more about the craft of distilling . Familiar with pot and reflux distillers. And learned a little about the differences in certain yeast cultures. My goal is to become a licensed distiller in one of the colonial c...