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Right so I ended up answering my own question, the little eBay cheapie is out somehow. Just ran down to the local brewery supplier and picked up a Still Spirits alcoholometer, while slightly smaller than the Alla, it's reading pretty much the same as the Alla (within 1-3%). WhatsApp Image 2022-07-27...

So these any good, they're expensive.

https://www.ibrew.com.au/products/preci ... 9103839330

I looked under a lamp but didn't notice anything .. :yawn: WhatsApp Image 2022-07-25 at 12.43.13 PM.jpeg Sorry, but judging by the photo's I would say one reads about 59 % and the other about 50 or 51 %. I often wondered how they make the hydrometers and fix the scales in the right place and make s...

Interesting , I’ve never bothered to look before , but on my Alla 0-50 and 70-100 , both have a spot of something at the top . Maybe it is wax . I dunno . Was thinking , maybe they could calibrate it then heat and seal in position . If it is wax , then we should be careful not to “rinse “ our Alc m...

They both read 0 fine. Don't expect lab grade measurements from cheap hydrometers that can read 0 - 100% The more accurate ones have narrow range that's only a few % wide. If you need to accurately measure 55% then a hydrometer designed for 50 -60% will work better. Physically, accurate hydrometers...

Okay with yummy, measure the water to get an idea .. 10abv is too many. . I have 3 alcohol meters of different types that measure slightly different but one of them was more distant than the others, it was very short type..I noticed that those with very short measurement scale are inaccurate You me...

I have 2 alcoholometers here which gives completely different readings, the short eBay cheapie one is 10% different than the longer more expensive Alla (France) Spirit Alcoholometer. The big one would read 50%, the little one would read 40% in the same test jar, both calibrated to 20c Which one is r...

7kg sugar in how much water? Do you measure the OG? Do you measure the FG? High gravity ferments also can produce a lot of congeners, especially if it’s a rapid ferment supercharged by a Turbo yeast. It’s hard to troubleshoot your mess if we don’t have all the data. ss This wasn't what I was talkin...

I do Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash , but with the addition of 1.88 cups of boiled yeast per 6 gal for added nutrients. I use Fleischmann's yeast for nutrients as well as pitching yeast. It's never failed me. Turbos are something to sell, not to buy. It makes me wonder though why some company doesn't d...

So you stripped with the alembic top and then did a spirit run with the T500 reflux column? Are you learning anything from your experience and the discussions here? I hope it helps. Remember, practice builds skills and your products will improve with experience. ss Yeah and that's the thing, this p...

Ok so I'm 1L into the spirit run and I don't know what's wrong but man it tastes horrible, a real off flavor like nothing I've experienced before… Did you strip before the spirit? Or, is this “one & done”? It has been said before that sugar washes will be harsh without a double distillation pro...

Ok so I'm 1L into the spirit run and I don't know what's wrong but man it tastes horrible, a real off flavor like nothing I've experienced before, I've had better cleaner results from a Still Spirits Turbo Pure wash compared to this. Will run it through a carbon filter and try distilling again, but ...

The local shop gave me 2 packets to try, (about $6 normally . Hoping you will buy more in the future.....fact is there are cheaper things that work just as well or better. Yeah Lowan Bakers Yeast, $4.50 for 280g, got some in the cupboard, grabbed it when I started doing TFFV, going to give Wineos s...

On the packet the listed ingredients are: yeast, yeast nutrients and vitamins. It did ferment down perfectly, probably the easiest I've done so far, it was kind of cloudy after leaving it 2 days, so I racked it off with a auto syphon with a filter on it, left about 1cm on the bottom where you can cl...

Ok I was given a couple of packets of Alcotec Vodka Star, so I gave one a go. Fermented down with no issues in 6 days, smells like a typical sugar wash, it was really cloudy, but I wasn't sure if you were meant to use one of the clearing agents like most packet yeast washes (Alcotec Turbo Klar, Turb...

Either would work fine Ended up getting the Watson & Williams, $10 for 1KG or $20 for 5KG. Will start the Wineos tomorrow. I had a Turbo Pure wash going which seemed to have stalled, threw 1/2 cup of washed shell grit in and within a few minutes it started going again, so I see why you're using...

I can't find any crushed Oyster shells, and the only one I did find was $150AUD for 2Kg's. Go to a rural supply store......or maybe even a pet shop, ask for shell grit. People feed it to chickens/ chooks / fowls so that the eggs have healthy hard shells. Its a couple of bucks for a KG or two. Eggsh...

That's the problem, I can't find any crushed Oyster shells, and the only one I did find was $150AUD for 2Kg's. I tried buying 2 large oysters from the supermarket, but they will only sell them as a dozen and no one I know eats them. I can get a bag of Calcium carbonate for $5. https://beerco.com.au/...

I was just about to give this a try, but I was reading where people were using oyster shells for ph management.
Now I can't find any, and I'm not buying a dozen fresh ones from Woolies seeing I can't stand them.

What else can I use if the ph crashes.

Thanks

I have a 100L fermenter, it does not mean I'm making 100L batches. Ted's basic recipe is for 23L, I usually just multiply by three let's say 69 litres, rounded up to 70 litres... In fact the maximum could be 4x so 92 L, could give it a try as I never experienced foaming neither in the still nor in ...

The whole point of the recipes on this forum is that they use less sugar , which in turn gives a better product. No one around here is busting to make quantity, they are all much happier making quality. Adding more sugar achieves one thing ......an inferior product. Its also why we all steer clear ...

Done, turned out well, did the stripping run, then spirit, yield was a little lower than expected, though I honestly didn't know what I was expecting, I managed to get 3L after diluting to 50% of good tasting neutral. This was with the base recipe and 4KG's of sugar, I figured that increasing the su...

i know the op says 3-4 days and FG's to look for. but the yeast is still active cleaning up around the end of a fermentation, and sometimes for a few days days after fermentation has 'finished'. sit back and relax, stop opening the fermenter. :) it will clear up on it's own with patience. TBH i don...

So I've mainly been running those Turbo Yeast Prue kits, but after reading through the forums and finding TFFV I thought I'd give it a go. It's been fermenting longer than the estimated time, around 6 days, it was still bubbling through the airlock last night, but today it's gone quiet, I checked th...

Welcome Monkey but I feel something nots right, followed the instructions to the letter, the instructions say "it takes off", but so far I've got a thin layer of foam on the top after 20 minutes Sounds like its doing just fine to me. Yeah I just checked it, it's taken off, big thick foam ...

Hey all. I'm kind of new to all this, started dabbling with a air still (I know), just wasn't happy with what was coming out of it, even with the extra effort refining (at the moment) sugar washes, moved up to the T500 Copper Reflux kit, I know the bad rap it gets, but everyone has been happy with w...