Home Distiller

I had the same kit, bought in 2020 and quickly found that the condenser pot was not nearly big enough - blew steam a few times. I went down to the local Goodwill and found an old aluminum pot, bought a 20 foot coil from home depot and built a new condenser using the parts from the OG. Works perfect....

cob wrote: ↑Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:44 am

Walshie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 23, 2022 11:06 am here's the residue on the glassPXL_20220621_225956337.jpg

Are those silicone seals??

I believe so.

Everything cleaned with a citric acid wash. I had one run into it previous without the stained glass issue, the following wash was a water immersion. The glass on the right was closest to the still, followed by middle then left. We ran it hot on an all-corn mash (liquid 205) and there was a pretty g...

here's the residue on the glass

better photo tomorrow

Yea 3 issues
copper discoloring the glass
dephlag operation
cloudy distillate.

I came across this thread and thought I'd throw my 2 cents in re Oak Stills. Which lead to the potential quality concern about the copper throwing stuff to the glass. Likely need to passivate it thanks.

I ordered a 3" bubble plate and dephlag back in Feb from them, $400 cdn all-in, finally started running it this month. First batch ran real well but had issues with second batch of all-corn going cloudy. I'm not sure if its a plate issue that caused it but the copper seemed to bleed off and ont...

Yes, I used both a high and low temp enzyme. The high had a dosage on the bag, the low didn't.

Sent an email a while ago to North Stills without response so I thought I would try here.

Sorry Lads, I can't find it on here. I am using powdered glucoamylase from here: https://www.northstills.com/product/glu ... zyme-500g/

How much of the powder do I use per lb of corn?

The first attempt I used about 4 tbsp for 12 gall H2O/18 lbs corn and only got about 3.3% abv.

Thanks for the thoughts lads.

on a different note, You might want to check that little ball valve on the lid for rust, my cheap still came with a bunch of those and they all started rusting and it was spreading into the stainless. I got pure brass plugs to replace them. I never used them anyway. I exercise them quite a bit as I...

I have a kit I bought off amzn 2 seasons ago, 8 gallon pot with thumper and condenser. The condenser was way too small so I built my own. See pic for entire unit. I've also sweated together 3 parrots (2 for sale hint hint) as the continuous sampling with a hydrometer/cylinder was a pita. My strippin...

Hi guys - I'm trying to get away from using sugar, just cracked/milled corn. So you didn't use sugar, but you also didn't use an enzyme to break down the corn further?

How did the ferment turn out? How long did it take? What was the start abv?

Thanks,
KW.

Congratz on your first ferment, but you should recheck the math. If this is just a cider with no added sugar, it can't be close to 16 ABV. Given your SG 1.05 or 12.4 BRIX it should go up to something like 7ABV maximum. Yep, rechecked on this site and you are correct. 7% https://www.northernbrewer.c...

Congratulations on your first spirit run! Now get to work making more. Too cold. But I assure you, as soon as temp is reasonable in the spring the corn is going back in the bucket. Don't wait for good weather to start. Ferment now, and store the wash in buckets for fair weather days when you can ru...

tombombadil wrote: ↑Sun Dec 13, 2020 7:09 pm Congratulations on your first spirit run!
Now get to work making more.

Too cold. But I assure you, as soon as temp is reasonable in the spring the corn is going back in the bucket.

SassyFrass wrote: ↑Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:02 am You let that likker rest for a few months and taste again. You might be suprised at the difference.

Tough to do but I've set 3 qts aside for a while.

I know exactly what the Plains Drifter speaks of for a mind blowing experience watching the proof on a spirit run. My first ever was in November, the proof by quart jars was 148, 155, 156, 156, 156, 156, 152, 148, 142, 134, 120, 102, 90.

Over the summer I ran UJSM and ended up with 5 gallons of low wines through stripping runs only. On sample, some were OK in flavour, some were horrible. In mid November, I did a second distill through my new parrot (wow is copper expensive these days) and ended with 13 quarts front to back. Proof ra...

One week in: 15 litres of Presidents Choice apple cider + 1 heaping tbsp of DDAY; og Brix 12.4, SG 1.05. Its been bubbling hard all week and seems to have slowed down yesterday. I checked the science today - Brix reading 1.04 which converts to a SG 0.996 and ABV around 16%. Its still bubbling a litt...

What a waste. I crushed 2 bushels of ripe and bruised Niagara peaches on August 7 to get 8 gallons of mush. I added 5 gallons of water and a further 2 gallons of hot water to get 15 gallons of mash at 94 degrees, SG 1.01. Immediately added 2 kg white sugar to bring SG to 1.03. No pits and very litt...

You should strip all the ferments till total ABV of low wines is about 30% then combine low-wines (output of your strip strip runs) and do a spirit run collecting spirit run output into about 25 equal'ish fractions. Then air for 24h (covered with cloth or coffee filters) and test/blend your cuts to...

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:52 am Did you do a strip run and a spirit run?

I would have put the skins in as well.

Cheers,
jonny

No, just the strip.

What a waste. I crushed 2 bushels of ripe and bruised Niagara peaches on August 7 to get 8 gallons of mush. I added 5 gallons of water and a further 2 gallons of hot water to get 15 gallons of mash at 94 degrees, SG 1.01. Immediately added 2 kg white sugar to bring SG to 1.03. No pits and very littl...

Update - My last two runs of UJSSM have been without a thumper; distillate is coming out crystal clear with a great flavour.

I'm reading that you're using about 30% backset which is pretty high and after some generations can contribute to low pH issues and stalled ferments without pH control. I'm a big fan of KISS so I'd specifically like to ask why you're using a thumper? Good luck! -jonny Jonny UJSSM says anywhere from...

You're all a riot. I'll let my buddy know about his phalanges. Flowers are fake. I've run at temp until the dripping stops. Its usually around 38% or so. My cook temp is correct then as the output sputters between a pencil lead and very fast drips. Boiler lid and washers under the flex tubing nuts a...

My first mash was 13 gallons of UJ in a 20 gallons food grade garbage can with 18 lbs cracked corn and 18 lbs white sugar. Unknown original SG, final was 1.00. Note all distillate is being collected for a stripping run. I will be combining all collected so far to do a second distillation so errors a...

From my new Brix refractometer that just arrived SG is 1.02 ABV 5.0. I was expecting more alcohol. That 5% is about right.. 18 lbs sugar in 13 gal of water give a 1.38 lbs per gal which I estimate to give about the 5 you are getting as the corn provide nothing sugar wise.. To get a high abv sugar w...

I mentioned in a prior post that a refractometer will not read correctly on a fermenting / fermented wash, this is why a regular hydrometer is useful. Unless you knew your exact starting gravity with the refractometer you can not now determine the final gravity with it. Calculations are required to...