Pot still and sugar wash?

Reptile1 · Post by **Reptile1** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:07 am

Just been down the local "Home brew Shop" Where I purchased some "48 Turbo Yeast" I intend making a 18-20% sugar wash. I only own a pot still a present (intend getting a reflux some day)

The question is this to make vodka with the above combination would I have to make the cuts a lot earlier as no to carry taste through, what about filtering with active carbon would this be neccesary?
Its the wifes fault she said if you can make you whiskey(grain wash) then you can make me some B**dy Vodka

I have done lots of reading but a lot of the info is on reflux stills. I have also read the "Home distillation handbook"

All advice greatly received!! TA!!

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:20 am

You can't make successful vodka with a potstill. Vodka is flavourless (almost) neutral white spirit. It has to be distilled to a concentration of above 93% abv, then watered back to drinking strength. Potstills get no higher than 85% after 4 or 5 passes. Reflux columns can achieve 95.6% (azeotrope) in one pass.

.

Reptile1 · Post by **Reptile1** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:45 am

Thanks Harry, So it seems I'll have to purchase a reflux still sooner rather than later...to keep the wife happy

So say I was to put this sugar wash through my pot say 2-3 times what would I expect to end up with?

Thanks again

Post by **Husker** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:42 pm

Reptile1
Thanks Harry, So it seems I'll have to purchase a reflux still sooner rather than later...to keep the wife happy

So say I was to put this sugar wash through my pot say 2-3 times what would I expect to end up with?

Thanks again

I have a pot still (working on my reflux which I hope to have done by this time next week), and with turbo's, distilling about 3 - 4 times, you end up with about 1/3 of what you would "expect", and it is just "passable" as cheap rotgut vodka. Yes, it can be polished with a long soak in activated carbon (.3-.8mm stone carbon), to be not too bad. However, until you move up to a good column, that is probably the best you can hope for. A lot of time, and a lot of "wasted" product, simply trying to get it to purify.

Several things.

1. A pot still is not designed to make a odorless/flavorless neutral like Vodka.
2. The turbos seem to make a lot of off tastes, especially when you push them with a HUGE amount of simple sugar. Yes, they do advertise to make a "pure" distillate, but what I have seen (and read here), is the turbos produce a lot of off flavors.

I have heard of people using UJ Sour Mash recipe (see the parent site to these forums, then under wiki / recipes / Uncle Jesses Sour Mash recipe.). I have been running that mash, and it does make some flavorful stuff. I have not tried to make a vodka from it (yet), since I do not have my reflux done, but I do plan on doing just that.

Also, if you are handy, you could build your own reflux still, cheaper (well mine has not been, but I think a good enough scrounge could do it cheaper), and better than a "home quality" still you buy. Also, building it yourself, you will end up learning a whole lot more about what you are doing (and why).

H.

markx · Post by **markx** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:12 am

Certainly go for reflux when neutral alcohol is the goal. Pot stills will do no good as far as vodka goes. Husker pretty much made it clear in his post.

And I can't stress that enough......don't push the yeast by trying to squeeze the final % out of a wash. You will lose a lot of time and create a lot of crap....which in turn will consume even more time and effort to get rid of. The finished wash should contain about 10-12% alcohol, anything above that will put a strain on yeast and produce a lot of congeners. Plus it takes forever to finish fermenting. With that time you could manage two passes of unstressed fermentation.

Watershed · Post by **Watershed** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:25 am

I make vodka in a pot still quite happily - and neutral spirit from sugar, it's not difficult to do but you wil get large losses doing in so a pot still. From a specific vodka yeast I expect to loose around 30%-40%, turbo yeast adds a bitter component that I could only shift by discarding 50%.

When I say 'discard', that stuff can be collected and re run to squeeze out a bit more spirit but the losses increase with each sucessive run.

Using a decent yeast I'd hardly say the stuff is rotgut - it can be extremely fine if you're prepared to put the time in but you're talking about 12 hours of still time minimum to process a final volume of 1litre at 85%. I have passed off my own pot still vodka as Stoli at a party - drunk neat and in martinis.

I rarely produce neutral ( you can guess why ) - I'm set up for doing small runs to produce eau de vie from local fruit.

As an intermediate step, would a fractionating column be any use?

riff42 · Post by **riff42** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:38 am

but what WILL you have when you run a sugar wash in a potstill, and after 2 more runs? No one really answered that besides "you won't get vodka"

just wondering what I should expect...

Rocky_Creek · Post by **Rocky_Creek** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:09 am

You get a good wash, put it through a pot with enough copper exposure and run it three times. Don't discard anything but foreshots, cut tails at the end. It might be called flavored vodka, but it's better than most store vodka which taste like rubbing alcohol to me. BTW you don't have to be into reflux to have a tall column. Mine range from 4 to 5 feet packed with structured mesh.

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:00 am

I'm going to disagree with some of the posters here on this one. I have both a reflux and a pot still. I have made vodka in the pot still that was excellent. It took 4 runs. Not nearly as efficient as the reflux still, but every bit as good a product in the end. The best I could get out of my pot still was 89% but it was totally tasteless and odourless.

IMHO the trick to making good vodka (or any product for that matter) is to make a good mash in the first place. The first step to making a good vodka wash is to toss the turbo yeast in the trash can. Use EC118 and some yeast nutrients and only push the wash to about 12%.

pothead · Post by **pothead** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:08 am

I totally agree with UncleRemus on this one.
Pushing a wash over 12% will create more off flavors that are tougher to get rid of.

And I have made vodka with a potstill that was just as good as the stuff I made with a reflux. But it took me 4 runs.

Reptile1 · Post by **Reptile1** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:42 am

What feedback...great I knew you guys could do it...A BIG Thanks!!

So who's going to provide me with a vodka wash recipe I can put through my pot...PLEASE!

The 12% sounds good but no idea what nutirients etc to use, quite happy to run it through 4 times though...anything to shut the wife up!!

Turbo yeast put to one side untill I can afford a reflux... Good advice

Kind Regards.

Post by **theholymackerel** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:47 am

Let me push this trend even further: If ya keep the abv of yer wash/mash to the 4-8% range yer product will automatically have HUGE improvements in taste and smell.

This does mean more work and time, but this is my hobby. If it took less time I'd need more hobbys than the too many I allready have.

pothead · Post by **pothead** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:26 am

theholymackerel wrote:Let me push this trend even further: If ya keep the abv of yer wash/mash to the 4-8% range yer product will automatically have HUGE improvements in taste and smell.

This does mean more work and time, but this is my hobby. If it took less time I'd need more hobbys than the too many I allready have.

And if I had more fermenters that is how I would do it all the time(especially with the fruit wash).
I have experimented with that myself. And I totally agree HUGE difference.

jmc91199 · Post by **jmc91199** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 11:23 am

I just read an article recently that there is a small commercial distillery that is making vodka with a pot still. It said that he makes 6 runs and leaves a lot in the pot. He seems to have a fervent following. I'll have to try to find that again cuz i can't remember the distilleries name.

Enlikil · Post by **Enlikil** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 11:55 am

I am going to agree with Uncle Remus too.

being an owner of both reflux and pot still.
The wash is the biggest Factor, Even with a reflux column.
In my experiance

CoopsOz · Post by **CoopsOz** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:14 pm

Smirnoff can make a "pot-still Vodka".

Who knows what it really is.

Actually, it is now my very own rotgut

nanosleep · Post by **nanosleep** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:38 pm

but what WILL you have when you run a sugar wash in a potstill, and after 2 more runs? No one really answered that besides "you won't get vodka"

just wondering what I should expect...

If you run a sugar or molasses based wash though a pot still, I would call that rum. If it's distilled at a high proof and the flavors are reduced enough, I would call it vodka regardless of what the fermentables are. My $0.02

riff42 · Post by **riff42** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:29 am

CoopsOz wrote:Smirnoff can make a "pot-still Vodka".

Woo...we don't have THAT here!!!

and that is why I asked my friend going back to S. Africa for vacation to bring me back, "anything and everything WE don't have"

possum · Post by **possum** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 6:45 am

jmc91199

The vodka in question is called Tito's, and it is from Texas.