Upcoming first wash

[Shifty]

Hi there,

I am days away from my first wash, and I was wondering what the average amount of ethanol one should expect to distill from a 5 gal. corn sugar mash, using a reflux still??? (Pro Series II - sorry about the store bought still, but I will look into making a custom still as I get more runs under my belt!)

Thanks!

Shifty

[LeftLaneCruiser]

Can't say what to expect as you don't give the appropriate info..

To calculate the amount of alcohol in the wash you need a reading of the starting SG (before fermenting) and one of the final SG (after fermenting).

The SG (specific gravity) is a number wich tells you how much sugar is in the wash, and hence the potential amount of alcohol. When the fermentation is done you check the SG again and the difference between the two numbers tells tou the amount of alcohol formed.

If you don't have an hydrometer you can roughly estimate the amount of alcohol by figuring out how much sugar there was in the wash. (grams / ounces per liter / gallon) There are tables on the homedistiller website to determine the alcohol content of the wash.

KJH

[Shifty]

LeftLane,

Thanks for the reply. The mash should be done fermenting within a day or two, and I will take the final at that time (I too initial before pitching yeast). I will post results when I have the final.

Thanks again.

Shifty.

[Shifty]

Hi there,

Have an update on first mash - final ABV netted out at 18.6% and 5 gallons.
Using a reflux, what quantity of distilled spirits should I hope to net? 1 gallon?

Thanks.
Shifty

[Grayson_Stewart]

If you watch foreshots, heads, and tails....and have very good high % product...you might get 3/4 gallon max....probably slightly less.