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Are you squeezing to separate the grains and then letting the resulting mix settle? Yes, I run everything through a brewers bag and squeeze it with the mop wringer. Fermentation stops in the fermentation barrel and after squeezing and transferring everything into the settling barrel is when it star...

Hey everyone I have a minor issue that I'm looking to understand what's happening. The issue is not so much with mashing or fermentation its after the ferment is complete. I've been doing all grain bourbons for a few years now with excellent results (thanks to all the info on this site). After the m...

Save the trub at the bottom ferment tank and you don't need to worry about buying yeast.

The probe is under the plate. I see what your saying though, it's the angle of the picture that makes it look like it on top.

Congrats on the new still. Looks really nice. What is your max power? Thanks. Max is 5500 watts. I run it at about 3500, any harder and it pushes the re flux up into the sight glass, I don't think I want that correct?(that's what the video was showing I just added a picture in its place). Running a...

Thanks. No thermometer on the water outlet. I just go by feel on that.

Sacrificial run.
Edit, not sure why video don't work. Replaced with pictures.
Re-flux perfectly centered! Very pleased with that. Pushing it a little too hard!

My new baby all cleaned up and ready to run.

If the flow is good, it should be very close to handling 5500 watts. Good = 3.5 lpm, just shy of 1 gpm. I know this because I have some condensers that use about the same amount of copper and with a flow of 3.5 lpm, it just barely handles all of my 5500 w. Otis Update. It did better than I thought ...

Thanks everyone! Wow. That looks so much better than my first, and second, attempt. Is the 1/4”” id or od . I used refrigeration tubing of 6mm OD but I think it will be too small. Is there a link on the coil winding on here, my eyes are bleeding trying to read off the iPad That would be 1/4” OD and ...

It's 1/4 inch tubing to fit in a 2" column.

My first try at a double coil! Thanks to the info here, it was simple. Now, on to the rest of the build!!

I felt I needed to update everyone after my last panic post. Everything worked out fine and it finished in 5 days. I use US -05 Ale yeast @ 68 degrees. So after starting this hobby (9 months ago) and loving this recipe, I scaled everything up last weekend so I don't have to wait so long to have enou...

Well, don't I feel foolish now. This morning it's bubbling away like all my other ones have. I never had one take that long to start. The good news is I know I don't have an iron problem. Moderator's feel free to delete my post above.

So I have an issue. I've done a few runs of HBB and all went well. The only problem I had was not getting the conversion I was hoping for, I was always in the low 1.050- 1.054 range tops and it would never ferment dry. So I started to make some changes. I think I made a really bad mistake by switchi...

Looks like it's time to start toasting and see what happens. Looks like good wood to me!
Thanks!

Thanks Skipper. I know my use of power tools is not in question and I have plenty of experience using them.

I was able to find some rough cut air dried White Oak from a sawmill. It looks like good oak to use for aging but my concern is if I'm dealing with any sapwood. It all looks the same color not lighter on the edges to indicate sapwood. My plan is to cut it 5 in long and split it into 1" sq. Is m...

Thanks for the advice everyone. I like the results I'm getting so far so now may not be the time to mess with a good thing. Maybe down the road I'll give it a shot once Ive learned more, but it's to early for me to start changing that large of a variable when I'm still new to this. I need to focus o...

I'm looking for a little more info on running a pot still with just a Liebig and doing stripping runs and then spirit runs, or adding a Thumper with a Liebig condenser and running once and done. I've been doing a lot of reading and I'm getting a little confused. So far I've had good results doing st...

Just add all the Malt when it hits 155 degrees. I haven't been adding the honey malt with the corn anymore and I've had no problems with it. It's just a little thicker but not unmanageable. It'll turn out fine.

So I started my first batch of HBB yesterday and I ended up with a SG of 1.041. I see most are at a 1.065 or thereabouts. Followed the original recipe with oats. 1) Hard boil for 5 mins and continued to boil as I drained it into my Tun with corn. 2) Wrapped in blankets and took 5 hours to drop to 15...

acfixer69 wrote:Looks nice What's the Liebig a 2 stage thing or what the valve and take off mid way

The take off mid way is strictly support for the condenser. Valve is to regulate the flow in the condenser.

My first build. 13 Gallon SS pot. 5500 watt with Still Dragon controller. 2" riser 22" high 3/4 over 1/2 X 42" Liebig Condenser. All PTFE Gaskets subject to Vapor. I reluctantly tried a weld less Triclove fitting for mounting my heating element. When I ordered it I had a feeling it wo...

Welcome here :) Both look fairly easy to make (unless I'm missing something) so I thought that would be a good place to start. We'll see where it goes from there. Well... easy maybe, but you have to take time. It's always a matter of time and patience :) That's the plan... slow and steady wins the ...

First and foremost thank you. After wasting money on a couple books that very lightly touched on most subjects, I found this site. After weeks of reading here, I now have a solid understanding of what to expect in almost every aspect. I brewed beer about 20 years ago and had a good grasp on that, bu...