Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper
So I started my first ever wash 2 days ago and it is bubbling away nicely I followed Kentucky shinners sweet feed recipe to the t and love the turn out so far. Since I'm a newbie I didn't have a hydrometer to check my sg Good news though it will be in my mailbox today when I get home from work. 1st question is can I open my fermentation bucket today to check it to see what is in now? I know it won't be my sg but I just want to check on it. I have a small 1 gallon still and my wash is only 5 gals, so my 2nd question is how should I run it low and slow(spirit run) or fast and hot(striping run)? i have done a lot of reading and have a lot more to do, But I haven't found a lot of info on small stills. This will be my first run on my own wash, I have ran all my cleaning runs and am anxiously awaiting my airlock to quit bubbling so I can run it!! Thanks in advance for any help and sorry if my terminology is off. Remember I am a newbie
Did you do a sacrificial run with mash or wine yet?
A spirit run is done after your stripping run. Strip all 5 gallons dilute down to 20% and redistill it low and slow with careful cuts (baby food jars). If you haven't put any likker through it yet you need to buy some wine distill it and dump it out if you don't want to waste your mash. Hence sac run. Yes you can open the vessel but the more ambient air that the ferment is exposed to the greater the risk of bacterial infection. I would just wait til it's finished. Give it 24-48hrs after bubbles stop. Active airlocks are NOT the only indicator of active ferments. Patience in this hobby is a must!
Read read read read read...and then...read some more.
Rain Distillate
I also siphon off the grain and yeast and allow to sit for 3-7 days somewhere cold, to allow the floating yeast to finish settling. Everyone's got their own ways of doing things though.
Rain Distillate
Thanks for the quick response!! Yes I've already done my sac run with some cheap wine . So how much foreshots should I throw out since I have a small still? I plan on racking it off when finished and starting my 2nd gen of this wash. The thing is I probably won't be able to run it before I start my 2nd gen so do I just remove the spent grains replace them and add more sugar and water to get things running again?
Bootlegger wrote:Thanks for the quick response!! Yes I've already done my sac run with some cheap wine . So how much foreshots should I throw out since I have a small still? I plan on racking it off when finished and starting my 2nd gen of this wash. The thing is I probably won't be able to run it before I start my 2nd gen so do I just remove the spent grains replace them and add more sugar and water to get things running again?
I personally keep 250 ml for lighter fluid, it's probably excessive but better safe then sorry. I'm using a 15.5 gallon keg usually with around an 8 gallon charge. Id toss or save (for lighterfluid do not redistill the foreshots) roughly 75ml to be safe? Not too sure on that small a scale.can't imagine your gonna get much off a boiler that small. Saying that you can only charge your 1 gallon still with about a half gallon of mash to avoid puking.
Do your run. when your finished, dump the hot likker from the boiler over the new sugar and the old batch with your new ingredients (add necessary hot water for conversion because you won't have very much backset from a 1 gallon boiler) normally you'd have plenty to work with but a one gallon boiler doesn't give you very much backset to work with. Once cooled to malt Temps add malt/enzymes and insulate. Let sit til it passes the starch test(pull mash sample and hit it wit iodine). Aerate the shit out of the mash. Then, Use double the yeast. boil half of it toss it into fermenter and then add hygrated new yeast. The hydrated new yeast will feed on the boiled dead yeast, increasing your chance of a healthy yeast colony.
Hope this helps.
Read read read
Rain
Ok rain that sounds good to me and that's what I will do. The story behind my "small" still is my girlfriend knew I was thinking about getting into making likker so she surprised me with a still for Christmas. So I have to use this for a while so I don't hurt her feelings...
So today is day five and since I started my wash. I'm getting a bubble in my airlock about every 7 seconds. So I popped the lid on my fermenter and tested it. It was around 72 degrees f. It checked in at 1.000. So I tasted it, It is very dry and not sweet at all. So I'm thinking it will be ready to run by Wednesday? Again thanks for the advice. And I'll keep reading and reading and reading...
P.S. I have a short video of the wash from today but I'm not sure how to upload it...
Bootlegger wrote:Ok rain that sounds good to me and that's what I will do. The story behind my "small" still is my girlfriend knew I was thinking about getting into making likker so she surprised me with a still for Christmas. So I have to use this for a while so I don't hurt her feelings...
So today is day five and since I started my wash. I'm getting a bubble in my airlock about every 7 seconds. So I popped the lid on my fermenter and tested it. It was around 72 degrees f. It checked in at 1.000. So I tasted it, It is very dry and not sweet at all. So I'm thinking it will be ready to run by Wednesday? Again thanks for the advice. And I'll keep reading and reading and reading...
P.S. I have a short video of the wash from today but I'm not sure how to upload it...
If your wash is testing 1.000 it is essentially done but wait for airlock activity to cease and to at least partially clear so you don't end up with excessive yeast and solids in your still...
You cannot upload videos directly to the HD server... You can, however, upload them to YouTube and either supply a link or use the utube tags with just the video code between tags to embed it... Just make sure nobody can learn who you are through your YouTube account and don't film yourself or anything that could lead to you...
Have I neglected my wash?? I racked it off to clear lastly Saturday... then got lucky and got some kind of parasite and have been sick since. It's not what your thinking It wasn't the wash because someone else handled it and tasted it as well lol. Anyways I'm going to do my 3 stripping runs tomorrow... damn this small still haha.
My questions are, Is it ok to run this wash? From what I've read it is How hot do I run this on my small 1 gal potstill for these 3 runs? I've read So many conflicting stories haha. I've kept the wash in my pantry since I racked it. It's around 70 degrees f on my temp gauge. Should I leave it there tonight or put it in my outside shed?? It's gonna be around 30 degrees f Sorry for the newbie questions... I'm excited and nervous about my first runs haha
Bootlegger wrote:Have I neglected my wash?? I racked it off to clear lastly Saturday... then got lucky and got some kind of parasite and have been sick since. It's not what your thinking It wasn't the wash because someone else handled it and tasted it as well lol. Anyways I'm going to do my 3 stripping runs tomorrow... damn this small still haha.
My questions are, Is it ok to run this wash? From what I've read it is How hot do I run this on my small 1 gal potstill for these 3 runs? I've read So many conflicting stories haha. I've kept the wash in my pantry since I racked it. It's around 70 degrees f on my temp gauge. Should I leave it there tonight or put it in my outside shed?? It's gonna be around 30 degrees f Sorry for the newbie questions... I'm excited and nervous about my first runs haha
It's working for you . You are not a slave to it . Still it at your convenience . With such a small still be mindful of head space to not puke it . You're good to go .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
If you want to run as a stripping run, you run your still as hot as you can without vapor coming out. I run my sweet feed in a single slow spirit run. Check my post in running a small still below.
Read the thread Bigbob referred you to . If you can match him ; you done kicked ass !
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
Well I did my stripping run and ended up with about 3.5 quarts of low wines. I then went back and did my spirit run and ended up with 13-4oz baby food jars of some good tasting whiskey.
This is my breakdown
Jar 1 and 2: 155
Jar 3 and 4: 155
Jar 5 and 6: 150
Jar 7 and 8: 140
Jar 9 and 10: 120
Jar 11 and 12: 90
Jar 13: ???
I had to add the jars together to proof them. I didn't get a proof on jar 13 because I didn't have another jar to add to it, but it had a oily residue on top and smelt like wet cardboard so I stopped there. I am now letting them air out with coffee filters covering the jars. I tasted a little after each proof. Jars 3,4,5,6,7,8 tasted the best but time will tell. I let a buddy taste some from jar 6 and he said he wasn't going to the likker store for his booze anymore So I guess I did something right . I'm so thankful for this forum and all the help everyone has given me A few more runs on my "baby still" and then it's time to go big or go home...
I followed Kentucky shinners sweet feed recipe to the t and love the turn out so far. Since I'm a newbie I didn't have a hydrometer to check my sg 
Good news though it will be in my mailbox today when I get home from work. 1st question is can I open my fermentation bucket today to check it to see what is in now? I know it won't be my sg but I just want to check on it. I have a small 1 gallon still and my wash is only 5 gals, so my 2nd question is how should I run it low and slow(spirit run) or fast and hot(striping run)? i have done a lot of reading and have a lot more to do, But I haven't found a lot of info on small stills. This will be my first run on my own wash, I have ran all my cleaning runs and am anxiously awaiting my airlock to quit bubbling so I can run it!! Thanks in advance for any help and sorry if my terminology is off. Remember I am a newbie 
. So how much foreshots should I throw out since I have a small still? I plan on racking it off when finished and starting my 2nd gen of this wash. The thing is I probably won't be able to run it before I start my 2nd gen so do I just remove the spent grains replace them and add more sugar and water to get things running again?
It wasn't the wash because someone else handled it and tasted it as well lol. Anyways I'm going to do my 3 stripping runs tomorrow... damn this small still haha.
So I guess I did something right 
. I'm so thankful for this forum and all the help everyone has given me