My first.

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 8)

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Zeotropic
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

Durhommer wrote:Oats will make it very smooth imo I did a batch remind me of bowl of sweet oatmeal
I hate oatmeal so I hope the corn hides the oatieness. I wanted a really smooth corn whiskey and I wanted to work with the grain I can get easily so corn and oats it is.
I plan to get some wheat and barley for the next couple batches. I plan to add at least one grain per batch just to learn what I like and what everything tastes like.
Currently I cant bear the thought of spending $50+ on a bag of malt so I am going to have to work on malting this summer as I can get seed quality grain easily.
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Re: My first.

Post by Justinthunder »

Geeze where do you live? I just bought 10kg of malted wheat and 10kg of malted barley for 50$ and that’s Canadian lol
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Re: My first.

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Justinthunder wrote:Geeze where do you live? I just bought 10kg of malted wheat and 10kg of malted barley for 50$ and that’s Canadian lol
That's to many conversions for me. [emoji16]
My problem is that I would have to order off line and it seems that is not the cheapest way to buy.
I was referring to a 50 us pound bag.
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

I just checked SG and this one is a bit better 1.04 which is supposed to be about 5% potential alcohol.
It is sweet but I still haven't got iodine so I couldn't do a starch test.

Also I used one gallon of backset to adjust the pH for the second enzyme. Assuming my junkie Amazon meter is anywhere near accurate it should have been right at the optimal range.
One thing I've been wondering with regards to checking pH is I generally check it at whatever temperature the liquid happens to be because I haven't found anything to tell me I need to cool it down. Is there any temperature range that I should try to keep it in when I'm testing ph?
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

IMG_20210124_141450478.jpg
I am making a 2 gallon starter for the mash. I have been slowly adding mash a few cups at a time to the initial 500 ml of water and 2 tbsp of yeast and using a metal straw to blow bubbles in it to stir and oxygenate it. The yeasties seem quite happy and are not producing any alcohol smell so I assume they are reproducing aerobically.
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Re: My first.

Post by ismbardbrunel123 »

If your blowing bubbles in it by mouth, then your introducing carbon dioxide, not oxygen....? EDIT...PH does change with temp....100c would give a neutral at 6.14.....
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Re: My first.

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ismbardbrunel123 wrote:If your blowing bubbles in it by mouth, then your introducing carbon dioxide, not oxygen....? EDIT...PH does change with temp....100c would give a neutral at 6.14.....
Yeah I know my breath contains a lot of carbon dioxide but I also know my lungs aren't that good at removing all the oxygen and I mainly tried to use my cheeks to Puff air. Much less effective than an air stone but it's what I've got at the moment. I also used a whisk some but I got tired of rinsing the whisk a dozen times.

That is good to know that pH would change my reading. I will start cooling it first.
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

I think next batch I will go up to 3 lb per gallon because that should get me closer to 7.5% potential abv. At least i think. [emoji848]
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

IMG_20210128_175921762.jpg
My first keg!
Soon to be my first keg still.
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

IMG_20210131_185546098.jpg
30 Dremel cutting wheels later..
I finally have a big mash pot and with a mixing bowl and a few other parts I will have a 15.5 gallon still.
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

With that keg I was able to mash 20lb each of corn and oats in one pot so it seriously reduced my mashing time.
My OG was 1.04 so using an online efficiency calculator it looks like I got about 54.79% efficiency. This time I weighed my water so that I would know accurately how much I have.
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Re: My first.

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I had ph problems on this batch. When I added backset the ph would not drop so I checked the ph of the backset and it was a a ph of 5. I have no clue why the ph was so high. The previous batch of backset was around ph 3.5.
I might have been able to get a little better conversion if I had been able to get the pH down to the optimal range for the enzyme.
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Re: My first.

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Zeotropic wrote:
IMG_20210110_154555432_HDR.jpg
IMG_20210110_152207888.jpg
I am running the still and mashing at the same time. With help of course.
I sure have come a ways in the last two runs. [emoji16][IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202102 ... 3cc651.jpg[/IMG]
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Re: My first.

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Zeotropic wrote:
IMG_20210123_181712612.jpg
27 jars. I used mostly 6 oz jars but some of those are up to a quart.
I also ground 40lb of corn in the magic bullet blender while running the still.
I am finally getting around to making cuts and this stuff is so good I could keep it all and it would be better than commercial.
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

IMG_20210213_220550878.jpg
IMG_20210213_220557932.jpg
IMG_20210214_164242523.jpg
Final cuts and I finally have product from the start of this thread.
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Re: My first.

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1/2 gallon from 50lb of corn. I put all the heads and tails minus a generous foreshots cut in with the low wines from my 50/50 corn oats and added some strained mash. It is amazing how good that smells after a day.
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Re: My first.

Post by Justinthunder »

It’s weird but to me no matter what kind of mash or wash I run, off the still smells like bananas to me, mind you I’ve only made sugar washes and grain mashes but fresh off the still is always bananas.
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

Justinthunder wrote:It’s weird but to me no matter what kind of mash or wash I run, off the still smells like bananas to me, mind you I’ve only made sugar washes and grain mashes but fresh off the still is always bananas.
That is strange. I love the smell of early heads fresh off the still. It is one of the few smells that I can smell from across the room. I can usually tell when the still is about to start running because I can smell it.
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Re: My first.

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Zeotropic wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 6:23 am
Justinthunder wrote:It’s weird but to me no matter what kind of mash or wash I run, off the still smells like bananas to me, mind you I’ve only made sugar washes and grain mashes but fresh off the still is always bananas.
That is strange. I love the smell of early heads fresh off the still. It is one of the few smells that I can smell from across the room. I can usually tell when the still is about to start running because I can smell it.
Yep, that smell of ripe banana and green apple means it's about to get busy.
Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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Re: My first.

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IMG_20210220_230042001.jpg
I just got some oak ready for a booners all corn experiment. I am going to age 4 jars with 2 sticks each of oak at different char levels. All the oak was toasted at 375°f before cooling and then charring.
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Durhommer
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Re: My first.

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Zeotropic wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:04 pm IMG_20210220_230042001.jpg I just got some oak ready for a booners all corn experiment. I am going to age 4 jars with 2 sticks each of oak at different char levels. All the oak was toasted at 375°f before cooling and then charring.
Nice wood lol what a way to break it up and experiment a bit with the same batch! Let us know which you like better
You have two ears and one mouth for a reason....
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Re: My first.

Post by still_stirrin »

Deplorable wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:09 amYep, that smell of ripe banana and green apple means it's about to get busy.
And during the summer, the fruit flies show up too. They can smell the acetylaldehyde, amyl esters, and ethyl acetate long before you can. Just watch for them.
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Re: My first.

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still_stirrin wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:39 am
Deplorable wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:09 amYep, that smell of ripe banana and green apple means it's about to get busy.
And during the summer, the fruit flies show up too. They can smell the acetylaldehyde, amyl esters, and ethyl acetate long before you can. Just watch for them.
ss
A half pint jar or a saucer of cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap is an effective trap for fruit flies in the distillery.
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Re: My first.

Post by Durhommer »

Deplorable wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:27 am
still_stirrin wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:39 am
Deplorable wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:09 amYep, that smell of ripe banana and green apple means it's about to get busy.
And during the summer, the fruit flies show up too. They can smell the acetylaldehyde, amyl esters, and ethyl acetate long before you can. Just watch for them.
ss
A half pint jar or a saucer of cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap is an effective trap for fruit flies in the distillery.
I do that too in the summer I thought the wife was crazy doing it but it works!
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Re: My first.

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Durhommer wrote:
Zeotropic wrote: Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:04 pm IMG_20210220_230042001.jpg I just got some oak ready for a booners all corn experiment. I am going to age 4 jars with 2 sticks each of oak at different char levels. All the oak was toasted at 375°f before cooling and then charring.
Nice wood lol what a way to break it up and experiment a bit with the same batch! Let us know which you like better
I think it will take several batches but I will blend all the cuts before splitting it between the jars. I don't know how much corn it will take to make 2 gallons because I want to use 1/2 gallon jars.

That wood is the dirty sticks that I posted the other day. My step dad ran them through the table saw to clean them up.
Last edited by Zeotropic on Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:58 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

Deplorable wrote:
still_stirrin wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 6:39 am
Deplorable wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 9:09 amYep, that smell of ripe banana and green apple means it's about to get busy.
And during the summer, the fruit flies show up too. They can smell the acetylaldehyde, amyl esters, and ethyl acetate long before you can. Just watch for them.
ss
A half pint jar or a saucer of cider vinegar and a few drops of dish soap is an effective trap for fruit flies in the distillery.
I wonder if a bit of heads would make it work even better?
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Re: My first.

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Not in my experience. I've tried just leaving the lid off a jar of fores, and the vinegar attracts more fruit flies.
Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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Re: My first.

Post by Durhommer »

Deplorable wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:31 am Not in my experience. I've tried just leaving the lid off a jar of fores, and the vinegar attracts more fruit flies.
So deplorable do you mind showing me how you twisted your reflux condenser or did you already take pics
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Re: My first.

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Durhommer wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 9:06 am
Deplorable wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2021 8:31 am Not in my experience. I've tried just leaving the lid off a jar of fores, and the vinegar attracts more fruit flies.
So deplorable do you mind showing me how you twisted your reflux condenser or did you already take pics
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Re: My first.

Post by Zeotropic »

IMG_20210312_235101641.jpg
Zeotropic wrote: Final cuts and I finally have product from the start of this thread.
At basically 30 days on oak my first all corn is getting surprisingly good. I can tell I used too much heads though. I will do better next time.
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