Home Distiller

I may be a bit late to the conversation and I'm not going to touch on economics but as a fairly novice distiller myself, you are taking the hardest path. Neutrals are tough, it wasn't until last year (and thanks to members here) that I realized my water was causing significant off flavors in my runs...

My question was which I think has been misunderstood, is it worth putting the hearts I have collected through the t500 one final time and would it improve the product. This thread has bordered on hostile at times which is confusing but also probably due to confusion. I think this question brings it...

I'm not sure who you are referring to NZChris but I think I'll try your approach this fall.

I've been a Patron supporter of Jesse for awhile and reached out to him about this same topic as I posted here. Turns out he was ahead of me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GN-ZMFvgg My take away is that in bottle staves is definitely not the same as barrel aging. I've got a long way to go to con...

Ya, the scientist in me loves the idea of keeping controls. The pragmatist in me finds it difficult. The logistics is challenging, I'd love to hear y'all handle it. For example, if I do a 5 gallon mash at say 10% ABV (to make the math easy). That is 0.5 gallons potential output but after cuts and th...

Yup yup, that is good advice!
This barrel suggests ~3 months which is pretty similar to what oak in the bottle takes (For the amount of oak I've been using) so the match-up between the two should be pretty interesting.

Excellent feedback everyone! Definitely lining up with some of my suspicions. I have a small oak barrel I look forward to trying out this fall. I'll do a side by side with glass and sticks. Hopefully the fall weather has enough temperature fluctuation to really aid with the whiskey working its way i...

Hello greybeards of the craft, I humbly come to you with some questions on aging that I think represent a bit of a learning journey. I'm going to try and thread the needle of explaining said journey while also being direct in my questions. Question 1) Does Whiskey (or liquor of your choice) age insi...

My 2 suggestions:

1) Just get a stainless steel container ~10L and save up till you fill it and have another stripping run for a total of 15L.
2) Dilute your wash with filtered water and run.

Or do both.

"Esters are a fruity flavor produced during fermentation that can vary in taste and aroma between pears, roses, bananas or other light fruits. In very high concentration it can create a solvent-like flavor." I'd say that is a pretty accurate description. At first it isn't bad because it ha...

Update time! Thanks again to all that provided input. I did a simple molasses brew but only used distilled or spring water. No Chlorine/Florine in this water! Safale us 05 yeast was used instead of standard bakers or some of these "Rum turbo yeasts" I've used before. Temperature was a chal...

The problem is many cities are switching to Chloramine and that can't be removed as easily as Chlorine: https://www.commercialfiltrationsupply.com/education/how-to-remove-chloramines-from-water-when-brewing.html -- Some brewing sites recommend Campden tablets but sounds like I should stay away from ...

Even for a pre-boil before the mash to clean up chloramine? I'm not suggesting using it in the ferment. Honestly I've had 0 issues with infections so that isn't a big concern for me.

Hey everyone, thanks for the great responses. Sorry my follow up has been delayed, I got swamped. TLDR; Its probably yeast stress. I will try and respond to the possible points people raised. One clarification: When I said "I can easily hit 90%" I didn't mean that was my max, I mean I can ...

Hello, I've followed this forum for a few years but first time posting. I've been learning distillation techniques for a few years, made many mistakes, learned from them and kept on going. This site has been a big help/inspiration so thanks for that. I now feel like I have a pretty good handle on th...

Thanks! Nice tagline.

New to being a member but I've followed the board some for a few years. Thanks for all the information and inspiration!