Search found 240 matches

by Yttrium
Fri Apr 15, 2005 8:51 am
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: Brass fittings
Replies: 4
Views: 2146

I've read that many commercial distilleries use brass fittings in their stills.
by Yttrium
Thu Apr 14, 2005 12:33 pm
Forum: Off-Topic Discussion
Topic: Operation Falcon
Replies: 5
Views: 1981

I'd be willing to bet that the one guy who got busted was selling his moonshine.
by Yttrium
Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:04 am
Forum: Research and Theory
Topic: What can I use?
Replies: 3
Views: 2023

How about distilling sea water into something drinkable? Add in a story about how limited the supply of fresh water is in some parts of the world to get bonus points in the class... :lol:
by Yttrium
Tue Apr 12, 2005 6:48 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: 20 die from bad liquor in India
Replies: 4
Views: 1905

A few weeks ago I remember a story from India where the alcohol being sold was 90% methanol. I wouldn't call that "contaminated liquor", I'd call that mislabeling an industrial solvent.
by Yttrium
Tue Apr 12, 2005 6:44 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: Pre-heating mashing water
Replies: 6
Views: 1766

Okay, thanks for the info. I did a bit more checking and it seems many Scotch distilleries typically heat their water to around 65C before adding the grain.
by Yttrium
Tue Apr 12, 2005 2:09 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: Pre-heating mashing water
Replies: 6
Views: 1766

Pre-heating mashing water

Last night in an inpromtu test mash, I ground up some corn&barley and poured it in some water. I then heated the mash to gelatinize the starches. As I was stirring the slowly heating mash I started to wonder if I could avoid alot of this stirring(and potential grain scorching) by heating the wat...
by Yttrium
Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:12 am
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: Malt Low Wine
Replies: 3
Views: 1177

Most Scotch cuts are made by ABV. I belive a typical collection range is around 55% and 75%.
by Yttrium
Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:10 pm
Forum: Off-Topic Discussion
Topic: baseball
Replies: 1
Views: 1254

Unfortunately Mackerel, goats have much more effective curses than old pinstripe wearing baseball players.
by Yttrium
Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:16 am
Forum: Yeasts, Enzymes, Fungi, Nutrients
Topic: Reusing Yeast
Replies: 11
Views: 3988

I've never tried drying the yeast after it was done fermenting. If its going to be more then a few days before I make another wash, I'll usually just throw out the wash and use new yeast.
by Yttrium
Wed Apr 06, 2005 6:39 am
Forum: Yeasts, Enzymes, Fungi, Nutrients
Topic: Reusing Yeast
Replies: 11
Views: 3988

Well, there are two ways to reuse yeast. The first is a labour intensive method used to preserve yeast strains which involves extracting and cleaning the yeast, etc. The second method is to simply leave a bit of the gooey stuff(technical term) at the bottom of the fermenter when you pour the rest in...
by Yttrium
Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:29 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: Problem with my Mash?
Replies: 15
Views: 4146

Or an even simpler method would be to buy some cheap box wine and try distilling that.
by Yttrium
Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:15 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: What do you have fermentin'?
Replies: 30
Views: 19904

I have four things fermenting right now, each is 5 gallons. 1. A bourbon wash made from 3 kg corn, 2 kg barley, and 300 g of malted corn. 2. A bourbon wash made from any remaining sugar I could extract from the first wash, with 4 pounds of white sugar added. 3 & 4. Two sugar washes made with 8 p...
by Yttrium
Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:16 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: Just Finished my First Run!
Replies: 4
Views: 1799

It sounds like you had a great first run. There are a few things you can do to to further change the taste: 1. Put the alcohol in the freezer for a while and then run it through a coffee filter. This is called chill filtration. 2. Use activated carbon as a filter. 3. Aerate the the alcohol for a lit...
by Yttrium
Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:02 pm
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: New guy here -- the question is build or buy?
Replies: 14
Views: 5608

Well...I read somewhere that for fuel ethanol to be economical gas prices need to go up to around US$4 a gallon. With the federal tax credit of around 50 cents a gallon, there is a definate possibility that it could become economical to make fuel ethanol this summer.
by Yttrium
Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:24 am
Forum: Research and Theory
Topic: Distilling Methanol
Replies: 6
Views: 3295

All the calculations for ethanol should work fairly well for methanol. Since the boiling temp of methanol is less than that of ethanol, the equations on this site will underestimate the purity of your product by a little bit. With a reflux still, I would imagine that you should have no problem achie...
by Yttrium
Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:18 am
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: mashing
Replies: 9
Views: 2989

If you look around you should be able to find a 20L stainless steel stock pot for around US$15-20. A few months ago I bought one for US$7 when they were on sale at a local supermarket. Also, if you use a cheap stockpot, it is likely that the steel will be rather thin, so you may want to use a heat d...
by Yttrium
Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:54 am
Forum: Flavoring and Aging
Topic: Coffee Liqueur Essence
Replies: 26
Views: 12746

I've tried making a Kahlua type liqueur with instant coffee. It was okay, but I used cheap instant coffee and it really hurt the final product.
by Yttrium
Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:49 pm
Forum: Off-Topic Discussion
Topic: Mail Question
Replies: 15
Views: 5510

We've had some problems with people who don't register in the past :lol: , so there is a bit of pent up hostility on this forum. Anyway, I'm not sure if you can send high proof alcohol through the USPS, but I know that you can send it through FedEx so long as you declare that it is high proof. There...
by Yttrium
Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:52 pm
Forum: Boilers
Topic: New used copper pot
Replies: 21
Views: 5811

Well, to get an airtight seal between the lid and the stock pot, I split a piece of tygon tubing lengthwise and cover the lip of the stock pot with it. Next, I have 8-10 little clamps that I made that press the lid and the pot together. The clamps work fairly well altough I have had some problems wi...
by Yttrium
Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:33 pm
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: random question
Replies: 19
Views: 5106

As soon as the alcohol gets to your stomach, it mixes with whatever you've eaten recently, so the effects of drinking a shot of 190 proof stuff are the same as drinking two shots of 95 proof stuff. Of course, on the way down you'll certainly get a burning feeling in your throat and mouth.
by Yttrium
Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:41 am
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: Containers
Replies: 11
Views: 3390

According to Whisky Technology, Production and Marketing There was a study study done on the effect of PET plastic leaching into high proof ethanol. Supposedly after about a year, there were sup-micro gram per liter concentrations of the plastic in the ethanol. Whether or not that level is detectabl...
by Yttrium
Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:39 am
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: Sand bath heat diffuser
Replies: 3
Views: 2201

I tried using a sand bath this weekend and I was quite happy with the results. My boiler is a 5 gallon stock pot that is 12 inches in diameter so I bought a 12 inch pizza pan and filled it with about a quarter inch of sand. The amount of surging in the boiler was reduced a fair amount and the heat l...
by Yttrium
Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:25 pm
Forum: Sugar
Topic: sugar in malt wash?
Replies: 12
Views: 4147

David, all single malt scotch whiskies are 100% malted barley by law. Blended scotch is a mix of single malt whisky and alcohol from fermenting and distilling any grain grown in Scotland.
by Yttrium
Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:10 am
Forum: Mashing and Fermenting
Topic: Does distilling smell?
Replies: 6
Views: 4486

I typically do 5 gallon runs and I'm in a 900 square foot apartment. There is a definate smell to distilling, although its not really an unpleasant smell. Opening a window a little bit helps a lot.
by Yttrium
Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:53 pm
Forum: Forum Rules, Notifications and Helpful Hints
Topic: New WIKI - USE IT
Replies: 124
Views: 128132

Although Sherman was vicious in war, he was extremely kind in peace. He is one of the main figures who can be credited for the soft terms of peace the South received.
by Yttrium
Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:48 pm
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: Glass pickle jar boiler
Replies: 91
Views: 35576

The first still I ever made was similiar in design to that one, except instead of a jar I used a half gallon whisky bottle as a boiler and a wine bottle with a hole punched through the bottom as a condenser. About a foot of copper tubing connected the boiler to the condenser, a house fan blew on the...
by Yttrium
Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:32 pm
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: making a hydrometer
Replies: 34
Views: 11805

Is the vodka you have flavoured in anyway? Also, for the readings you have done are they in alcohol by volume or alcohol by wheight? Finally, are you reading specific gravity and then converting to proof or are you reading proof straight off of the hydrometer?
by Yttrium
Mon Mar 21, 2005 12:25 pm
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: Glass pickle jar boiler
Replies: 91
Views: 35576

Glass can handle really high temperates well, it just doesn't handle rapid changes in temperature. If possible, put a spacer between the bottom of the pickle jar and the pot. That way, the heating of the jar will be more even.
by Yttrium
Mon Mar 21, 2005 7:10 am
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: making a hydrometer
Replies: 34
Views: 11805

If the sample is above the calibrated temperature, the sample wil be less dense than it should be. So you will get an errounously high alcohol reading.
by Yttrium
Sun Mar 20, 2005 8:45 pm
Forum: Still Related Hardware
Topic: making a hydrometer
Replies: 34
Views: 11805

If you're interested in making your own hydrometer, it can certainly be done. With a bit of practice, and a bit of luck, you can set the range over which the hydrometer works for whatever you want. The smaller the range, the more precise it will be. Here's a link to a few hydrometers I made myself. ...