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Those white foamy bubbles on top sounds like a good lacto infection. I've never heard any one ever say a Lactos made it bitter. You might want to keep it. Good Lacto should smell like pineapple or like pineapple wine. Brewing beer and mashing grain for likker are two different things, although simul...

Like a Sour Mash whisky?

Sounds like one of mine. 4" modular column on an electric pot. I can just put a lyne arm on it and run it like a pot still or use the dephlemator for reflux to make neutral. I've got bubbler plates I can put on for whisky and I've got valves I can use to run it LM or VM. Can't beat building mo...

I'd be leaning towards a modular copper 3 inch CCVM or VM on a 80 L boiler Run it as a pot for flavour and reflux for neutrals Macerate botanicals in a neutral and forget about the gin basket In my opinion plated stills are good for producing large volumes of flavoured products quickly As Bill said...

Big differences in making beer and wine and making likker. No need for all that sanitation riggamaroo or airlocks. The last 40 years I've just put a sheet over the 55 gal barrels and tied a rope around it to keep the bugs out. First 2 days while your yeast are reproducing to build a big colony, you ...

I've let it sit for nearly a year and it didn't turn to vinegar. It was clear as wine from settling when i siphoned it out. Matter of fact it came out pretty damn good once I got around to running it.

I usually add the HTL or alpha on the way up to 190° so I don't wind up with a barrel of Corn-crete. Hold it at 180-185 for an hour. Let temp drop to 155-60 if using malted grains or 150 if using gluco amylase. Hold it there an hour. Starch test it and if everything converted good let it cool to und...

i think this is part of it (old post 2018 ) think from memory BB ferments at a rather high ABV, which is achieved by adding sugars in stages. This has the benefit of producing esters which give it a different characteristic to low ABV rums. Also, aged dunder will give it another "twist" a...

Doubt it'll work. Even if you put the basket inline and run vapor through it, you'll lose what little flavor comes out of the mini "gin basket" in your foreshots. You could run parallel lyne arms coming from thumper, with the basket on one arm. You'd also need a "one arm or the other ...

Salt's telling the truth.

Most that release an "Off the worm" white dog aren't worth a shit like LWTCS said. I wouldn't drink ANY of those flavored shines, I can either get vodka(or make neutral) and make my own. There's a few that aren't tgat bad but I don't want to promote any of them here.

With the cost of Saltines these days that would probably be one expensive flavorless vodka.

I agree with the previous post. You're trying to ferment a sugar syrup. Nearly 10 lbs sugar to 3 gals water? Using a super slow wine yeast? In winter? Go to 2 lbs sugar per gal water, and just use some red star or Fleishman s yeast. Yeast won't make a difference in flavor if you're making vodka, but...

If you're running a thumper be careful when you spray cold water into your boiler. You could get a vacuum that might make something implode. Not sure what you're doing but it's something to think about.

When the cashier looks at you funny for buying five 25lb bags of sugar and you tell her "Its for the church bake sale"... you might be a stiller!

Sometimes old yeast works, sometimes it don't. I'd try to make a yeast bomb with it, if that works, use it. Even if it doesn't work I'd toss it in the fermenter as a nutrient.

Ain't no damn telling what that is. But it's more than just one infection!
That's some funky ass, nasty looking stuff!
But who knows? It could be delicious after running its course. Like the baby puke that turns to pineapple smelling stuff.
There just ain't no damn telling!

"YOUR Yeast" also gets acclimated to your specific climate so it will usually be more vigorous. The weak yeast in your colony will go like dinosaurs, but the surviving ones will thrive and continue to get stronger over time. Plus they get used to your personalized abuse. If you run high gr...

I just don't get it. If you liked the way your last ferment tasted when you ran it, why add any yeast at all? When you get ready to run your beer/ wash/ mash DON'T DRAIN EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR FERMENTER! That spent grain in the bottom is your yeast colony! You don't have to keep it all, but keep som...

Hillbilly Popstar wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 1:31 pm People measure their yeast?

+1000%

Ps.
There are so many un-fermentables in a rum wash that your hydrometer can't be used for accurate points, only relative points once you've done enough rum washes and kept good enough records.

coming from a beer making background where peeking and tasting are frowned upon for contamination reasons, i will have to get my mind wrapped around being more "hands on" You beer guys are funny when it comes to hygiene........you can throw your sanitizer in the bin now that your distilli...

I'm way down south in Bama and it's been a cold winter. I can't handle the cold like you Canadians can!

Is the survey related to the post after it? I don't think those are the right questions. Smell what you have in the barrel. Does it stink like something dead? (Throw it away). Is anything growing in there? (Throw it away, or scrape off the top layer and repeat) It's unlikely spent grain without any...

Why would you put Rum ingredients in a sour mash ? Whoa! You just taught me something! I thought that dunder was a sugar/mole asses wash version using backset. And that rum relies on dunder/backset (though funky and possibly with pleasant infections for rum). I guess I misunderstood. I thought most...

I agree with SS and the other guy too on dry yeast. They've both got good advice. Where I live I may be lucky temp wise. I haven't had to buy yeast in years. But I never completely drain a fermenter and if I do, I always keep a couple gallons of the dregs/lees/spent grain and rinse them saving my ye...

From what I've read on the forum, some say they ferment AGs in 3 or 4 days. I just did a mash that was 1.065 and 36hrs later down to 1.01 I had a real hard time keeping the cap down during that time.( I used 15 grams rehydrated bakers) 48hr mark. Now 1. I was actually worried something went wrong b...

EricTheRed wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 8:54 pm Some of these kids claim they can run and make cuts by temp, but I've never been able to figure that one out.

Ha ha
Cuts by taste and smell only

100% +1

unfortunately, I need 20 amp. What kind of still do you have, how many elements and what wattage? Depending on the kind and size of your rig you may not need a controller, but you would need a well designed and balanced system. I built a controller but seldom use it. I've got a 30gal boiler with a ...

No, not motorcycles, though I do have a Roadking. My "GOOD" hobby which offsets some of my others, like making and consuming (alot) of Beer and Booze, Is Bicycling The road bike is a Specialized Tarmac SL4 With a full Dura-Ace group set, with Dura Ace tubeless rims and Schwalbe Pro-1 tire...