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I've read the whole thing (thats why its been over a month since my welcome post). It's impossible for someone new to the hobby to remember it all on their first attempt.

When you say run an alcohol run, what do u mean?

This is my first run ever, so I don't know what you mean. I cleaned the inside of the still thoroughly before each run with dish soap and I did make cuts on the foreshots and tails.

I just ran my first successful alcohol and it came out with a sour, almost rotten, smell and taste. I was wondering if maybe I should have racked it before running it or if that has nothing to do with it.

I used Wineo's Plain Ol Sugar Wash and followed it 100% I aerated it for about 15 minutes and, like I said, I let it work off for 16 days. I have no idea why it came out like this.

Hey gang. Just got done making my first successful run and I got about 5.5 quarts of alcohol on the first run. However, it smelled and tasted really 'sour' or 'rotten' so I distilled it again and ended up with about 4.5 quarts. After the second time it smelled and tasted better, but still had some o...

Thanx for the help gang!

Could someone please explain what racking is or point me in the direction of a thread that explains it? I've looked, but haven't found an explanation...only people talking about doing it or not doing it.

Thx for the tips!

If I distil my alcohol multiple times, should I remove the fore shots each time?

Alright I finally produced some liquor! Its smells and tastes terrible, but that's a whole other ball game LOL. Thanks for all the advice!

Why do I feel like I need an electrical engineering degree all of a sudden?! Don't get discouraged. Just take things one step at a time. It can seem overwhelming at times, but if you keep at it, it will soon fall into place. It's all about patience and persistence. The whole electrification thing w...

I am really trying to be open minded but am more confused now than ever......

PF...when I said I need to control the temp I guess what I meant was the heat input. Turn the knob down and both the heat input and the temp go down....kinda hand in hand.

Why do I feel like I need an electrical engineering degree all of a sudden?!

Tater there is no law, but most manufacturers, such as the one I work for, meet or exceed ASTM standards. We do in-house material testing on all of our product and can offer certification if needed.

So, from what I've read it seems that controlling heat essentially serves the same purpose as monitoring the abv. I will make it my intention now to learn to control my heat on this freakin hot plate. I'm gonna try to just put water in my still and hold it at 176 degrees. Any suggestions? Am I appro...

I'm a mechanical engineer at a gasket company that solely makes PFTE for gasket purposes. It is in a class by itself when it comes to plastics. It is resistant to just about every chemical out there, never deteriorates from exposure to chemicals, has a melting point greater than 600 deg F, and, beca...

Where are said gaskets being used? I ask because I work at a gasket company and 90% of what we make are PTFE gaskets for various purposes.

T-Pee wrote:

Tony_D wrote:Have tried feeling for any leaks around all the seams and haven't come across any that I could feel.

You'd sure as hell know it if you did. Use a mirror next time if you want to keep your skin from melting off. Seriously.

tp

I do like my skin attached so thx for the tip!

I'm still working on Cranky's feed....bout 25% done at the moment. As for the wash, it seemed to be done. I used an air lock and it stopped bubbling after about 5 days. Yes, belly, it is a ceramic one and it does cycle. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. Obviously I haven't figured out how t...

A friend suggested wiring a PID to my hot plate so that I could theoretically get the hot plate to the temperature that I want and then hold it there. Any thoughts on that suggestion? My brother builds commercial ovens for a living and he said that he could do that no problem.

Ok...I'm going to have to do some more reading. In the meantime, heres a pic of my still, my hot plate, and the thermometer that I'm using. I just picked the thermometer up from down in my basement and , as you can see, it is reading 194 degrees lol. As for my mash I used the popular all bran recipe...

Hey gang...total newbie here. Been buying vodka for a long time and, being the hobbyist that I am, I thought I would make my own. I bought a copper reflux still and figured it would be about as easy as following the instructions on the back of a Rice-a-Roni box. Obviously I was very mistaken. I'm at...