Home Distiller

Ran last Friday 4/5 and I can't recommend this nastiness! Taste like an unsweetened fig newton. I tried a toasted oak coil in one of the quarts and let sit all week and that didn't help, I've got some on ice trying to choke it down and it has even more of a pronounced fig newton taste. I will say t...

I have found that the best stuff for removing gummy labels like those is Liquid Wrench and a terry cloth rag. Then a wipe down with a jar of heads and a rag.

The only reason I've been so adamant on having heat control lately is because a beer brewing buddy has been hounding me on how one or two degrees of fluctuation can greatly impact the ferment. I'm sure I'd have successful ferments without it, in fact I did for years, but is that going to give me co...

Spirit run on my usual 75/13/12 Mash bill. This one will fill my last empty Badmo Barrel. I had a slow season, I only filled 4 Badmo barrels, all planned for 2+ year aging. Fortunately, I have plenty to keep my whistle wet while these age.

Blue HDPE plastic drums can be had all over the place for cheap. That's what a lot of folks use.
Just make sure you can verify the previous contents were food grade.

I manage my still using my senses, but monitor the progress of my stripping runs with a probe in the vapor path at the top of the riser. On my rig the probe will read 205°F when the vapor is 5% abv. If my collection pot ABV is 30% or less it's time to kill the power, drain the boiler and start the n...

All I've ever used, making beer or spirits, is tap water. That said, I know my city water source is an artesian well fed from glaciers on Mt Rainier, the pH is consistently 7.0 and minimally treated with chlorine but by the time it reaches boiling temps for mashing, what little chlorine they treat i...

Yonder wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2024 9:37 pm Believe what I taste not what they claim.

This.
There is a plethora of "top shelf" bourbon on the market that isn't worth the price per bottle.

Twisted Brick wrote: ↑Sat Mar 30, 2024 5:08 pm

Deplorable wrote: ↑Sat Mar 30, 2024 4:34 pm I installed a 2nd AC on my 5th wheel, and when SWMBO finishes cooking this wonderful bacon I'm smelling I'm going to make a 5th of bacon washed bourbon. Today is day 4 of no alcohol for me.

Your homemade bacon?

I installed a 2nd AC on my 5th wheel, and when SWMBO finishes cooking this wonderful bacon I'm smelling I'm going to make a 5th of bacon washed bourbon. Today is day 4 of no alcohol for me.

You can make a sugarhead, or feed em to the hogs, or compost them.

sadie33 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2024 1:51 pm

Bolverk wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2024 9:51 am I tend to stop at 5-10% coming off the still.

that's where I usually stop. I went down to 4% and still not cloudy. I guess maybe a tint. Oh well.

That's a sign of a happy ferment if you ask me

For those of you making mezcal / tequila... AgaveBat.jpg These bats are apparently threatened by the excessive demand for agave, which leads to plants being cut down before they mature enough to flower. Which means the bat gets no food. There are apparently responsible growers who leave a percentag...

The Booze Pipe wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 2:20 pm I just purchased a 26 gallon milk can for striping. Can it be modified to strip on steam?

Can you buy an agitator for it?

The infection (if it is one) would come on the grain. But that doesn't look like an infection to me. It just looks like the co2 is bubbling up through the grain cap.

I did a 2nd fill barrel mill of 50/50 2 row pale and Marris Otter that I left for 18 months, and it was phenomenal. (Still hoarding a half gallon of it) You must really like Vanilla if you're thinking of adding beans to a 2nd fill barrel. I still got plenty of Vanilla on my 3rd fill of that barrel w...

Wait till you have them try the CROW after a year or two of proper aging. IMHO, CROW is better than HBB. It's just a tad more work and Oats make the mash a suck to squeeze and clear.

I'd use it, with enzymes of course, and I'd make a single malt with it. Age it for at least a year on oak. If it didn't show promise, I'd turn it into vodka.

Finally made time to strip a ferment of 75/13/12 bourbon for a Badmo fill. I'm just about through the first boiler charge. The weather is getting warmer, and I have a lot to do outside this spring. Hopefully I can get in at least one more fermentation of HBB to age for a year on sticks on its way to...

I've been toying with the idea of trying 10mm marbles in my 2" column, but haven't pulled the trigger. I need to figure out how many I need to fill 43 inches.

I currently have a 2.5" column and use a 2.5" - 2" conical reducer to mate if to the keg top. It doesn't appear to cause me issues at all. But if you're going to a 3" column, 42" length is going to be a much bigger concern than a slightly narrow opening at the base. If I wa...

True words.

Congrats on your first all grain spirit run. Nice work. Quick question, did you determine the hearts cut by abv or taste and smell? Your numbers don’t seem too crazy, but I suspect that you’ve cut a bit on the wide side if everything under 80%abv automatically went in the hearts cut. On the contrar...

Welcome. There is a healthy contingent of PNW enthusiasts here making some really good products, with a wealth if knowledge. Sounds like you've got a lot of reading to do. Grab a scratch pad, and start taking notes. You can start acquiring all of the other necessary items while you wait on your stil...

My boiler sits on the work bench. I drain boiling water straight into my drum while I mix in the corn.
I start with about 10 pounds of corn in the bottom of the barrel before I open the drain on the boiler.
I gell my 32 pound of corn in 20 gallons of water.

I did a pale, and C-75 caramel that's currently in two different badmo barrels with a little under a liter in glass on new charred American oak. Time will tell, but the mashes smelled fantastic. Its only been a couple months since they got put up, and I dont expect to get into them for a couple of y...

Booze, if it makes you feel any better, my average OG is about 1.065 at just under 2.2 pounds of grain per gallon of water. Using the Gluco, you should finish at 1 or below. If it gets down to .990 you'll end up a 9% wash for the still. The bourbon I just squeezed started at 1.063 and finished at .9...

Thanks for the math higgins. :thumbup: Booze Pipe, the gluco will help by continuing to converts starches to sugar during fermentation. I assume you are mashing in the 50 gallon kettle over a flame. How is it that you cant reach temps over 165F? If I pour 212 degree water into dry corn meal in a pol...

squigglefunk wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:52 am malted grains do actually expire

Yes, but liquid enzymes will do the work.

You can always ease into it if you're unsure, and start off with say 70# of grain in 35 gallons of water and see how much room you have left in your 50 gallon pot.