Home Distiller

CoogeeBoy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:23 pm How about this: your pipe running to your collection pot had dipped into the low wines.
As the still cooled, it created a vacuum and sucked the low wines back into the still.

Clever, but not possible. The pot was completely empty, and the hose was not on the bottom.

Yeah, someone swiped it; doubtful it's another stiller, and they'd probably want to chat instead. Short term, I would suggest packing up your gear and putting out a couple of empty commercial liquor bottles. If anyone does come asking, the commercial stuff was taken. I may do this. I do have some h...

Slow leak in the collection vessel, which happens to be set right on top of the patio drain? Collection vessel sat in a 10 gallon waterproof rubber-made bin with a small amount of water to aid cooling. Any kind of spill or leak would put the product in the bin, which I tasted as clean water. I agre...

I do not have kids. I have neighbors that have kids.

I live in an isolated, rural upper class neighborhood, and have been distilling on my patio with confidence no one can see me. I never leave an open flame unattended, but after spending a good part of my day stripping 6 gallons of not good enough to bottle wine into just under 2 gallons of low wine ...

I'd like to try making Brandy from grape juice. But I have no idea what type of grapes to use. I am surprised how little there is on the Internet and would be curious if anyone on this forum tried it.

I've considered buying blueberries, as they grow here and I can buy in bulk cheap. Should I crush them? If so, how?

Consider Sugar Daddy's Panela instead of Sugar in the Raw - a far superior product, and probably well under half the cost. Molasses and panela rum are completely different, and I wouldn't mix them - at least not when learning. Panela (and sugar in the raw) will give you something similar to a rhum a...

Today I tasted for the first time since putting it in the barrel. It is definitely not over-oaked, the oak is perceivable, but subtle. I am amazed how dark the color is, I assumed anything commercial this color was caramel colored unless it was extra old, so clearly that is not the case. Anyone who ...

My first rum - also my first product of any quantity and my first attempt at barrel aging. I purchased 10 gallons of Golden Barrel molasses - 5 blackstrap, 5 supreme baking, at a reasonable price with a fairly expensive cost to ship. I can drive to pick it up for free, but can't seem to find any qua...

I thought I had enough rum for a 5 gallon barrel. I am about 1/2 gallon short. Should I add commercial white rum so I have a full barrel? Or am I okay leaving it underfull?

Aren't taxes only on liquor that gets sold? Tighten cuts and taxes stay the same. 10% less off the heads in a product completely changes the product, especially a column still product. I can't imagine there is any successful commercial product that cutting the equivalent cost from marketing to pay f...

One of the biggest gains (or losses) from home distilling has been the ability to taste heads in commercial products. In some ways this is a loss, as I can be very excited to try something new/rare/exciting and immediately get punched in the head by heads worse than my stripping run. Has anyone else...

Has anyone tried making a mash over multiple days? Since rum mash is just molasses and water, I can quickly mix as much as I want. I've been fermenting it 30 gallons at a time in (clean) garbage cans. Since I use expensive yeast, I make a 5 gallon starter. If I wanted to scale up, I could just as ea...

They did try to talk me into a 10 gallon barrel, saying it was far more economical, but not to buy it for quality as the end result would come out very similar.

Can this happen without solids in your mash? I've gone really fast on a few stripping runs, and that's over a direct flame. I never had this happen, but now I am worried.

I bought a brand new 5 gallon oak barrel at my homebrew shop. I was surprised they told me to begin tasting my product almost immediately, that it can become over-oaked quickly, and that about 3 months is usually the sweet spot. I know 53 gallon barrels age a lot slower than 5 gallon barrels, but th...

Obviously a loaded question, no one would use any other still if they were all around better. But most of the high end commercial products are pot still based, and lots of people swear it leads to more flavor. A pot still is all I've ever used, both based on my budget and what I like to drink commer...

Diacetyl is highly toxic so the butter flavorings i would believe to have other components to achieve the flavors. There are some concerns to inhaling it, especially on an industrial scale, but I can't find anything on harm from ingestion. This is one of those chemicals where 1 part per million is ...

Coming from a beer brewing background, diacetyl taste is something we try hard to avoid. It certainly might go better with rum than beer, but too much is disgusting and I would worry I'd get too much. Has anyone tried to 'cheat' and just add diacetyl? You can usually find cheap butter flavoring in g...

When I was younger, less educated and poorer, I drank Bacardi 151, an over 75% abv brown liquid. How is this aged in wood at that abv? Wouldn't it over extract the wood and taste like paint thinner (ok, maybe it does). Or is this straight off the still and carmel colored? I've heard aging in a tropi...

I'd bet that grainbill recipe and yeast would make something really tasty when distilled, but my question was with regards to rum. I've done lots of Belgian beers before, and the bubblegum, estery and phenolic yeast flavors and aromas do not take 10 months to develop. Beer with these flavors tastes ...

I am new to Rum and relatively new to distilling. If money were no object, what is the best yeast and pitching rate? Most people seem to be using bread yeast, which besides being extremely cheap is well suited being supposed cultured on molasses. Bread yeast did well in one comparison test https://w...

When I do a spirit run, I am supposed to save all or some of the heads (not foreshots) and tails to redistill later, either mixed into the next batch or an all feints run. But either way, when I do that, I have feints from that run too. So won't all the esters and fusels and other things that I eith...

I am new, but if you like lots of peat, I'd mash only peated barley. I have done a few runs this way and while it is strong, it isn't as peaty as Ardbeg or Laphroaig is, and I am sure I will lose peat as it ages. You can always make a batch of each and blend the two, although this might not be pract...

I have not cracked a bottle or jar as a collection vessel yet. I have cracked them doing other things, and from experience, it doesn't take much to crack untempered glass. I picked my speed based on visible steam, any time I saw any, I turned down the heat. But the liquid coming off was well above r...

I had 2 separate 5 gallon batches on peated wash waiting too long to distill that I finally got to do a stripping run of today. One was infected with acetobacteria, but I ran it anyway just for curiosity and learning. I should have dumped it - the product wasn't bad and has some potentially interest...

I’m certainly no expert but I’ve been around here long enough to know you’ve been given excellent advice from some of the most knowledgeable members on this site. Reading the responses, I agree with everything here that members took the time to suggest for you. It may be difficult to sort good info...

Mendel he meant you have been part of the forum 4 months I'm sure, I have sent you a message explaining the temperature aspect and how it is a unreliable way to run the still but there is still more reading to be done. just from reading your post's it seems you should spend some time in the Novice ...

Mendel, you've been with us 4 years. Have you read anything here about proper distillation? Cuts can't be done by temp, sacrificial runs, stripping and spirit runs? I almost think you're pulling our leg here. I've been alive longer than 4 years, if that's what you mean. But I've only been on this f...