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The batch I started on the 1st is still churning away. I still need to stir down the cap that forms a few times a day. I seem to remember it didn't form a cap this long last time. I am really hoping that it will eventually settle, but no sign yet. The old freezer with a small electric heater is work...

While I was concerned about whether the Angel Yellow Label that I have had sitting open (in a zip loc bag) would have lost its potency after probably a year like that, I was proved wrong. When I went to stir my mash this morning it was churning away like it was a bunch of new yeast. It seems this st...

I started another batch tonight. 12-13 kgs of ground mixed grain (barley and oats) [there is some scattered kernels of whole corn as well as this is from a feed mill] 40ish litres of water 70ish grams of Angel Yellow Label I am using a new fermentation vessel which allows a batch this large. The dow...

My second try with it is still bubbling away, so I get to wait some more. I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. The first try was okay, but I made some mistakes that resulted in less product than I could have gotten. Let it ferment until it is not producing any bubbles. Not just through ...

My second try with it is still bubbling away, so I get to wait some more. I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. The first try was okay, but I made some mistakes that resulted in less product than I could have gotten.

Started a batch using about 20 kilos of rolled mixed grain which I ground much finer with my corona mill this weekend. This is the biggest batch I have tried. I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. The last one was all corn and went well except for user errors.

I know this is a very old thread, but I have sodium carbonate. How much do I add to my low wines and how long before doing a spirit run? The answer is already given in the thread. Except I did not find the answer to be clear even having read the tread several times. I will just muddle through and e...

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Fri Jul 01, 2022 7:01 pm

Oceanwave wrote: ↑Fri Jul 01, 2022 9:20 am I know this is a very old thread, but I have sodium carbonate. How much do I add to my low wines and how long before doing a spirit run?

You do realize that people only usually use this method when trying to make good clean neutral from a sugar washes?

Yes, and that is what I am trying to do.

I know this is a very old thread, but I have sodium carbonate. How much do I add to my low wines and how long before doing a spirit run?

Right, finished my experiment with Angel vs bakers yeast. Did 2*25l ferments of TTFV, the Angel had a bad smell, in fact wifey referred to it as a vomit smell, and the strip run came out with a sour taste. I also feel that the yield was a good deal lower, I know, same SG at beginning and end but I ...

So what seems to be the ideal number of grams of yellow label yeast to kilos of grain?

Metalking00 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 7:14 pm After a while with no action, i whipped it up with a paint stirrer, thinking maybe there wasnt enough oxygen in there. An hour later and it seems to be moving now, but its off to a slow start.....

Instructions are to stir it well a couple of times a day for the first several days.

Started a 25g batch of all corn a few days ago. Stirring twice a day. Stirring vigorously at the start is good. Incorporates oxygen needed to get the yeasties going. But after that the yeast needs to NOT have more oxygen. Stirring gently to bring up grain from the bottom is probably a good idea; do...

Going through the ingredient list, the vomit smell is from a number of the enzymes that are part of the Angel Yeast. I work with an enzyme mix that has them and some others in it, and it have a vomit like smell. The smell goes away as the enzymes do their work. BTW, you didn't need to add DADY, but ...

Ran it after it settled. Sadly, I lost a lot of product to a spill, so I only have about half a gallon of low wines. Took a taste during the run and it tasted pretty good. Overall, I would consider it a success. I will probably take the half-gallon of low wines and run it in a feints run through ref...

Strained out the corn today. I should have done that a few days back to let the yeast and other suspended powders settle out. I have it out back in the cold wind to hopefully speed up the settling, but I am really hoping to get it running in a few hours to at least get low wines done.

-18 here today. I guess I won't be running.

Hopefully, I will be running it this coming weekend.

So far, so good. It nicely thinned out the corn which had done its usual forming into an almost solid goo almost immediately after adding it. A couple of day mixing it with my stainless paint mixer on a drill every 12 hours or so and it no longer formed a solid cap. It has been bubbling along steadi...

I can't say I have read though all the pages of this, but I did receive my Angel Yellow Label today. I am going to get an experimental batch going today. Nothing crazy, just fairly fine ground corn. I need to finish reading all the other posts. Hopefully, this goes well.

I've been using a worm and flake stand on my 5 gal alembic for three years. Just recently up sized to a 10 gal but do not like the worm that came with it, so made a 34" Liebig, 1/2" copper inside 3/4" jacket with wire coiled outside the 1/2" for turbulence, and an inner fin twis...

Thank you all for answering my main question on the boiler size. Time for more reading.

Truckinbutch wrote:The fact that you both are posting now opens a whole new world for both of you . Weellcoomm to the daarrk side .

Oh, another dark side to be part of. This should be fun.

As per my post elsewhere I have a 16 quart stainless stock pot that is extremely solid that I thought would serve as a boiler to start. I have seen some keg still around here being sold, but I figure with what I have lying around and some minimal purchases I could get up and running. Then if I like ...

Come off the bowl with 3/4 or 1" minimum and forget about winding a worm . Fabricate a Liebig condenser with a minimum 1/2" id vapor tube . Google search Liebig specs and build projects . You can get decent results with that size boiler . I had not considered doing a liebig condenser. I w...

Turns out there is an exception to chemical still licensing in the Excise Act (not Excise Act, 2001) in Section 134, Subsection 2. It states that if your still capacity is 23L (6gal) or less, you can register and license your still without paying the bond or registration fees. So while you still ne...

I already have a decent sized stock pot I would be a way to get into it for only the cost of the copper, some of which I already have around the house. Having some information on what is "some of which I already have around the house" means, would be of help in guiding on what could be po...

Same thing happened to me both in my initial post, and in my initial response to you before my Welcome Center post was approved. I have read so much here and was working on my phone so I only wanted to post my initial questions at the time. Oh well, that is the down side of being eager to learn.

I have a 16 quart stainless stock pot. It is heavy duty with very thick sides and a heavy bottom. The upper rim would be ideal for attaching a stainless bowl to run to copper piping out of. My question is whether that would be an okay size to start out with? The batches of wash I would likely make w...

Another newbie here. I have been doing a lot of reading here and elsewhere, and realize there is a lot more reading to go. I am looking to make a small pot still out of mainly materials I already have on hand to see if this is something I want to get into. Looking forward to learning a lot more.