I am a Newbie.

[olddog]

I am a Newbie. I have just put down my first UJSM. I first dissolved my sugar in boiling water, added my corn, topped up to the required quantity of water reducing the temperature to 26 degrees C, then sprinked my yeast, it seems to be bubbling away, about 2 bubbles per second and has been like this from the start, no volcanic eruptions. Is this going to be OK?

Secondly, I only have an "Still Sprits Air Still" which is basicaly a electrically heated 4litre tub with a condensing coil in the lid with an inbuilt fan for cooling. I have no way to measure temperature, or varying heat, to do stripping runs, it will only distill one way which results in about one drip per second. Will I be able to get a result with this? or am I wasting my time?

[junkyard dawg]

I don't think your wasting your time...

learn, learn, learn...

Lots of folks here have those... I'm sure you will get some good advice here. welcome and good luck.

sounds like your ferment is ok....

(I can't believe I'm gonna recommend this, but try a turbo yeast, just to learn. Thats what the still spirit is designed around... You can always take what you learn and apply it to making a corn likker.)

[rad14701]

While I may not totally agree with trying a Turbo wash I do agree with the concept or trying a sugar wash... Any of the sugar washes in the Tried and True section will yield good results and offer plenty of cheap and almost fool-proof experience... Death Wish Wheat Germ (DWWG), Wineos Plain Old Sugar Wash (WPOSW), or Birdwatchers Sugar Wash are all good choices... No need for Turbo yeast as they all work well with cheap and easy to find standard bakers yeast...

[olddog]

I have used "Still Spirits" turbo yeast many times, but I found I had to tripple filter it with a Z filter to get rid of the chemical taste.

[junkyard dawg]

Good, then you've already learned that chapter.

Try what rad said when you can. You'll be able to retire that z filter in no time...

edited to add....

the reason I recommended a turbo is that they will easily ferment to 15% or more... thats essential to the design of the still you have. Lower % washes and stripping/spirit runs present their own issues when you have no heat control.

That said, you are well on your way. Keep us updated with how it goes.

[big worm]

welcome olddog

[CoopsOz]

You can also split your turbo over 2 washes to minimise the funk.

[Hack]

If you've already messed with turbos and have moved on to UJSM there's no good reason to go back. UJSM is a simple ferment and it sounds like yours is doing fine.

I'm not familiar with your still. If it is truly designed around a higher gravity wash to work right there's no reason you can't add extra sugar to the UJSM recipe to bring up the gravity. Before I did that though I'd just try the standard recipe first and see how it works out.

[theholymackerel]

Howdy, and welcome, olddog.

It sounds like ya have things well in hand.

Yer aircooled still is a bit small for proper cuts on a spirit run, but plenty of folks here use that type of still for strippin' runs.

I suggest ya look at the different still designs and think about buildin' one. I suggest a boiler of at least 5 gallons, 15 or 20 gallons would be even better.




I wish ya luck.

[olddog]

Thanks for the reply Guys, My wash has now slowed down form 2 burps per second to 1 burp every eight seconds.
Should I syphon off now or wait until it completely stops? as the mash is going to be used for the second ferment I don't want the yeast to die.

[Dnderhead]

let it finish . yeast running out of sugar will just take a nap.

[olddog]

My "Airstill" takes 4litres of wash, according to the instructions which came with it, it takes about one hour to get up to temperature, then take 50ml of forshots, it then takes about a further hour to produce 700ml of alcohol.
Would this be taken as a stripping run or an alcohol run?
If this is regarded as a stripping run could I take more than 700ml?.

BTW Does anyone know where I can get some 2" copper tubing for a riser close to Peth Western Australia

[theholymackerel]

Howdy olddog.

Strip all yer wash first. This involves runnin' batches through yer air still, takin' NO cuts (collectin' everythin' down to 30 or 20 abv%) untill you've stripped yer entire wash. Yer airstill is great for strippin' washes as it's one of the few stills that can be semi-safely run unmonitered. (Place yer still inside a BIG pot or roaster pan and place the pan on a safe surface like a stovetop. A safe overhead surface is good too... like an overhead ventillation hood.)

Now ya take yer stipped wash (which some folks call "low wines") and do yer spirit run. This is where ya make yer cuts. This is where yer gonna run into trouble with yer airstill. I suggest ya look up some of the previous airstill posts to see how folks tried to work around the problems. One of the biggest problems is skanky booze from poor cuts. The smaller the boiler on a still the harder it is to make cuts... they come too quickly and blend into each other. Somewhere around a 5 gallon boiler the cuts become WAY EASIER to make. Larger boilers, to a point, help with the cuts a little. Fer example: a 4 litre boiler will be much, much harder to do cuts with than a 5 gallon boiler, but a 15 gallon boiler will be just a tad easier to make the cuts with compaired to a 5 gallon.



Just some stuff to think about.


I wish ya luck.