Home Distiller

Observations/Questions: Is it possible that the heads were compressed enough that they were captured with my foreshots and I stopped before really getting into tails? I think you got your foreshot & heads in the 1st 500ml. How does the rest taste? If it tastes good, it's good. In feeling the distil...

According to a passing comment on a recent episode of "That Show", moonshiners used their caps to filter mash before it went in the boiler. Help prevent scorching. Would explain the funnel shape. Moonshiner cap.jpg Very interesting history of those hats here - http://adolphusconfederateuniforms.com...

Do they work?

I think you are going to find that pH is key.

How do you guys like the Brewzilla 9.5gal for mashing? It it worth the $$?

still_stirrin wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:34 am

I did make a dark rum using Buccaneer Bob’s method and it turned out OK. But it took years to clarify properly. ... And, you’ll need to forget about it for a couple of years. Probably not acceptable for you “get rich quick” youngsters.

Tough to do when white dog is so good!

Oh, and if you are gonna use backset, would you use the backset from the stripping run or the spirit run?

What would you use each of these on?
For instance, I assume one might use backset for Rum and water for Vodka.
Would you ever use anything other than water? So far, that's all I've used.

I assume this is all about opinion, what yours and why?

There's nothing to speak of pooled at the end of a shotgun at the end of a run, even if it was at an angle. You get more smearing collecting in 1/2pt jars.

Yep. That's right.
Where I'm at, a 1.75 liter bottle of Calypso rum is the cheapest alcohol on a $/unit alcohol basis. It's $10 and works out to $0.014 per ml. The cheapest wines I could find were all about 4 cents/ml.

You should try slipping a 2"x1/2" reducer over a piece of 2" sometime. The chance of it slipping off is about zero. It's tough to pull off. And I don't think it's just the pieces I happen to have. I'm also glad that I didn't mess with trying to get a 2" ferrule soldered into the 2 1/8" ID female red...

Good point about a bucket handling overflows. Another plus in it's corner. From what I've witnessed, vapor is fairly heavy so it sinks and as it fills the bucket, it rises up out of the bucket, like an overflow. If the bucket isn't there, it is going to immediately drop to ground level and spread. N...

It sure would be nice if we all had the capability to take PH and mineral analysis of our water when we publish a recipe. I'm getting the feeling that the water you start with makes a lot of difference in all the recipes.
The PH of my water can hit 8.

I find my massive liebig is slightly painful because of the length, however more painful is getting the output of a shotty away from my gas flame with zero chance of a vapour leak (sorry guys, a snug fit dosent cut it for me and forget an open end into a funnel), ends up being lots extra bits and $...

Over the course of 8 runs it has stayed tight. From 35F room temp to the end of the condenser being hot to the touch, it's been tight. They seem to expand together at the same rate.

With a Type L copper 2" shotgun body, I would not bother putting ferrules on the collection end. The 2"-1/2" reducer I have is a hand tight slip fit over the end of the 2" tube.

No good way to rub the roots & stems off while they are wet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malt

The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying...

Ah! Yeah, I wouldn't bother. Grind it up wet and toss it in the mash.

Newb question here - Why do you have to dry the malt? Couldn't you just mix it with a little water and whiz it up in a blender or food processor and then toss it into your mash?

I just feel the column. I can tell within a couple minutes when production is going to start.

LOL! You know I gotta futz with it!

Just curious how it's progressing.

Is it possible to get accurate wash gravity readings while it's fermenting?
I tried, but I think the bubbles are buoying the hydrometer.

I was under the impression that you couldn't distill beer because the hop oils would carry over and also it is pretty hard to clean out of your still. It depends. I probably wouldn't go distilling 3 Floyds Alpha King, but the less hoppy beers are definitely doable. As with many things, it's a matte...

Make sure you knock down the foam before you distill it. Decant it into a bucket, stir it to work the foam up and skim the foam off.

From that read it seems that unless conditions and use are 100% perfect the readings they give can be way off target. I have one of these, $20 USD on Amazon. I check it with calibration liquid every time I before I use it. Most of the time it tests within about .1 of what it's supposed to. Occasion...

I think the biggest problem I've been having is that the port is only ~1/2" away from the inner plate and about the same distance from a soldered repair I made to the shell.

Maybe nickel & silver bearing solder aren't good for that?

ShineonCrazyDiamond, any idea what the ph of your water is?

That's pretty expensive stuff to be distilling. I think I'd take Jstroke's advice and make a liqueur out of some of it.

Maple syrup - the darker the better!

Hey Twisted Brick. I finally got around to making my first shotgun using your plates. Went really well. 18” vapor paths. The solder up was fairly easy. I started by soldering up the 4 pipes and all the plates in one shot. After dry fitting the input and output fittings I soldered up one end all at ...

Here's a craft distiller that makes sorghum rum - https://athenswestend.com/blog/sorghum-rum/