Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Sugar, and all about sugar washes. Where the primary ingredient is sugar, and other things are just used as nutrients.

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Sjay
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Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Sjay »

Hello, I am somewhat new sugar washes. I have keg based pot still which we have used to distill freshly squeezed apple juice with great success. I recently acquired an Air Still cheap so i decided to try it out with a basic sugar recipe. My recipe was as follows: - Costco Sugar Organic Cane Sugar 4.54 kg bag - 4 pieces of jaggery melted and turned into syrup - one packet of ec1118 (my preferred yeast) - all in added to boiled then cooled water of 25L The fermenter fermented well and I let it sit for about 25 days. Now to distill I added about 3.5 Litres to the Air Still and let it run. I did not add any boil enhancers, conditioners, etc. I let it run for about 2 hours and collected about 500ml of some horrible off-tasting yeast smelling product. I have read that product made in an air still needs to be filtered... But im wondering whether my recipe was an issue or is this how Air Still stuff works? My Keg Pot Still is currently in storage. Given that I have about 20ish Litres of wash im wondering whether I can improve the distilling in the Air Still? Any tips, feedback welcome. Considering adding copper rings to next run and maybe racking although i had only taken 3.5 litres from atop and it was a clear wash.....

My preference is to try to get a half decent product from this Air Still just given the ease of use and being that it is a simple recipe.
Sjay
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Sjay »

I will ofcourse try a" tried and true recipe" next however I did try to work based off one of them and used a regular yeast not a turbo yeast ( as suggested on the forum). I did not take a gravity reading as this was a quick simple recipe that I wanted to do.
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NZChris
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by NZChris »

You don't say what your OG was, but if it was too high, that would stress the yeast and cause off flavors.

It had jaggery in it, so it is a type of rum and shouldn't be neutral.

Did you put any copper in the pot? [url]http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 0450.x/pdf[/url

I would not expect a single pass through any type of pot still to produce anything I would want to drink. Ferment enough for at least three stripping runs, strip them, then do a spirit run. Do your homework on how to do the cuts before you run it.
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Sjay »

Sorry I had not taken an OG and my goal was to create a rum with undrlying flavor. Definitely was not going for a neutral.
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still_stirrin
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by still_stirrin »

Run it through again, as NZChris suggested. You’ve got a lot of reading to do….
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rubberduck71
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by rubberduck71 »

I started this wonderful hobby over a year ago on the Air Still, but have since upgraded to a larger system.

You CAN make good product on it, but it requires time & patience (where have we all heard that before???).

I recommend you get the infusion basket that fits on the underside of the top part. You can put copper mesh in there or even some of those copper rings you mentioned, if they fit. I also had ceramic rasching rings that I used as boil enhancers to help prevent puking in the boiler.

As Chris mentioned above, with any pot still it's very difficult to get anything palatable on just one pass. So with a 5 gallon/22L fermenter I would recommend you consider your 1st batch as the "stripping run." Keep everything & you'll end up with ~1.25L of low wines after a 3 hr run (it'll start ~60% & take it down to ~15%). From there, you have 2 options:

1. Keep doing stripping runs until you're out of wash. Then combine them for a 4L spirit run. Make cuts & save your feints for the next batch.
2. Add that 1.25L of low wines into boiler, top it up with 2.75L of wash, and run it as a spirit run. This is what's known as the "1.5 technique." It works well for products you want to carry over some of the wash flavor. I did several batches of Odin's Rye Bread recipe with this technique. So you'll make cuts for hearts on batch 2, then toss feints into boiler & top up again for batch 3. Rinse, repeat until your fermenter is empty of wash. Combine all your heats & oak/age as you like.

Obviously, the 1.5 technique isn't meant for neutrals. You may have to distill 3x to get something approaching a vodka. Just remember nothing over 40% ABV in the boiler! And also what Chris mentioned, for quality over quantity, try not to go over 1.080 starting gravity on your washes. With batches this small, your hearts cuts are small, so you want to make sure to get the best you can. Else you're just making bad tasting hooch.

If & when you get your larger system out of storage up & running, you can use the Air Still to make smaller experimental batches or to make a gin. It's a great plug & play rig.

Enjoy the journey,
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by kimbodious »

The yeast needs some added nutrients in a sugar wash.
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Sjay
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Sjay »

The web made it seem like a half decent product could be made in one run. Given the small capacity it distills at one time, it may be more sensible to pull out my actual Still, do a stripping run of the entire wash and a spirit run in one day vs. 4 litres at a time of stripping run then a spirit run.

My still makes a drinkable stripping run. So I wasnt sure if its the sugar wash at issue or the Air Still
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Sjay wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:45 pm The web made it seem like a half decent product could be made in one run.
The web ? , or do you mean the sales people who sold it to you? , or the manufacturer?
Its not a new story and why we always encourage people to research and ask questions before buying.....or even better research and build your self.
Sjay
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Sjay »

Nope, the web/forums, like I said I did a fair bit of reading on them, I did not get a sales pitch as I bought it second hand and cheap enough to experiment with.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Saltbush Bill »

I bet it wasnt here that you got that advice.
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Trapped-in-Oz
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Trapped-in-Oz »

I’ve no idea what question, issue or problem might be………… but can say that the 340W Air Still is good equipment…….. however their instructions are rubbish and expectations misleading.

Large surface area copper discs are helpful…... and tomato paste etc…..
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Stonecutter »

Sjay wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:06 pm I recently acquired an Air Still cheap……
My preference is to try to get a half decent product from this Air Still just given the ease of use and being that it is a simple recipe.
There may be some underlying reason you were able to acquire this device at such a “bargain” rate. I wonder why its previous owner was so keen on letting it go? Nothing valuable comes easy. Try running the same recipe through your “big still” then compare your results.
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Sjay
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by Sjay »

I got it at a bargain as the seller was getting out of the hobby. He had it listed for higher I made an offer and he accepted. Machine seems to operate fine there are no issues. I will perhaps try to run the balance of the wash through my actual still.
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NZChris
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by NZChris »

Sometimes I strip a wash in one still, then do the spirit run in a still the next size down.
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rubberduck71
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Re: Sugar Recipe issue or Air Still?

Post by rubberduck71 »

NZChris wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 5:10 pm Sometimes I strip a wash in one still, then do the spirit run in a still the next size down.
+1 on this. I was an idiot & didn't make 3 buckets of Irish Whiskey wash because I didn't order enough Golden Promise. Stripped 1 bucket on my 35L still & then did the spirit run through the Airstill. Hearts are aging/oaking now in glass.
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