Hello from Seattle... I'm New

[gtig]

Hi,

I am new here and as per request of the welcome center post... this is a bit about me.

I am just under 30 in the Seattle Area... a big fan of drinking and thus the interest that brought me here. I ordered something from a wine website... cant remember what it was... maybe a cognac snifter or something but I saw this little glass still... and so I ordered it. (got heavily ripped off... it was like $200 and only makes a few oz's of distilled spirit.) But having this little glass mini still made me want to make larger quantities. I stilled wine into cognacs... beer's into whiskey and so forth but got tired of the tiny amount it produced. After many visits here... and talking to another member... I finally ordered a 32qt pot still... and all the fixins. Until that shows up and I am up and running... My only still right now is this...

I can't remember all the stuff that I am supposed to put up here... but I do know that I am pretty much just getting started. So my first questions will be on setup... sanitizing... recipes that are best for a n00b... where to buy corn bushels... enzymes... storing and ageing... best practices... and so forth.

I look forward to this hobby... since I just dropped about $1300 into it. My biggest goal here is to replace various bottles on my wall... with equally (or better) tasting product with similar flavor. Here is a picture of my wall...

thank you for such a resourceful website... I look forward to learning... making all sorts of mistakes... and maybe making a friend or two.

Greg

[Tater]

Welcome to hd

[LWTCS]

I'm not getting your images

Welcome.

May take a life time to render some top shelf rated likker (what with color and smoothness and such). But you will be able to render a very clean and headache free bit of likker pretty quickly (with good conservative cuts).

I am now thankful that my likker doesn't taste like store bought.

Good luck with your new set up.

[blanikdog]

Welcome gtig. This is a very addictive hobby, but a hell of a lot of fun and this is the place to mumble about your 'failures' and brag about your successes.

blanik

[kiwistiller]

Welcome mate. Can't see the pic of your wall, but most of mine turned out to be replicable or improvable. The one thing I can't do is tequila, and the all grain whiskies are a work in progress. Meh, I pretty much live in the sub antartic, cacti aren't too good with the local conditions.

Sanitizing isn't too hard, just get yourself some bottle sanitizer for beer brewing and you're away. As far as recipes go, the tried and true section is your friend. Best to start off with sugar washes, to learn your still's little individual quirks.. Wineos plain ol sugar wash is a good start, as is birdwatchers sugar wash. I hear Rad's gerber is good too, but can't comment personally as we don't get gerber down here. After that, some UJSM will give you some flavours.

Good luck, stay safe, and if in doubt, ask first!

KS

[rad14701]

Welcome to the forums, gtig... As kiwistiller mentioned it might be easier to get the hang of the fermentation and distillation process by starting with a sugar wash... Once you have the process nailed you can venture into grain mashes... Several sugar washes can yield flavorful spirits depending on the ingredients... Other sugar washes are best suited for neutral spirits...

Can you supply us with a link to the still you ordered...??? 32L should serve as a good sized starter still... I say starter because, as you've already discovered, one still is never enough...

Take your time to study up and ask questions when things don't make total sense... There are thousands of years of experience here to help you along...

Good luck...

[Hawke]

Welcome,
I'm just a ways over the hill from you. You will find the corn at any farm supply. May have to head over toward Monroe, or up north a bit. (Not much call for chicken feed in the city)
Your malts will be found at a home brewing shop. For enzymes, I would look at Mile-Hi Distillers.

[Hack]

Wlecome, I'm just a ways south of you down I-5. Since you're getting yourself a pot still I have to disagree with the sugar wash being the best to start with. I'd recommend you try Uncle Jesse's Simple Sour Mash, or abreviated as UJSM. You'll find it in the tried and true section. It's nearly idiot proof and a great one to start with for a whiskey type of drink.

[blind drunk]

Hey Greg, welcome to the board. Great place this. Nice wall. Cheers, bd.

[Hawke]

Since the price at the bottle store went up about $4.00 a bottle as of Aug. 1st, and the feds are looking at adding more, now is a perfect time to start in the hobby.
Good thing that crack whore can't run again.

[gtig]

Thank you so much for the warm welcome.

The still I ordered is from Mile Hi... it is their only 32qt pot still flat bottom (non milk can). I am doing the 1500w hot plate controlled by a johnson digital thermostat. I bought a Manatowoc ice machine that makes 150lbs of ice a day... so that is what I will use to facilitate cooling the condensor. The original idea was ethanol for our cars and convert them... but that hasn't proven on paper (re: money or time) to be the most economical unless I go BIG... I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on yield per dollar (forgetting setup costs).

Thanks for the response so far on some of those vague questions. I am a bit of a city slicker so I am a yuppie and have OCD... so I will warn ahead of time that my sanitizing and cleanliness will be over the top... probably enough to roll eyes later... so I will apologize now.

Again... thank you for the kind response... and I look forward to many posts in frustration and smiles.

I am on IM programs... (AOL, MSN, Yahoo) and other sites... hit me up if you want details.

thanks again

Greg

[LWTCS]

I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on yield per dollar (forgetting setup costs).

Bout $12 per three liters finished (Gerber,All Bran, Cornflake, Graham Cracker)sugarhead.
$25 to $28 for rum.



Thats based on 20 liter washes.

Amoritize (5 yr schedule) the equipment into the operation and its just pennies more.

[HookLine]

Hello and welcome.

I am guessing by your wall of bottles that you don't live in a serious earthquake zone.

[rad14701]

That's an impressive personal bar stock you have there considering how I usually only have some beer in the refrigerator, a jug of wine, and a flask of scotch on hand... And, of course, some spirits tucked away in the closet...

[kiwistiller]

WOW quite a wall you've got yourself there my friend, you're going to have a lot of fun working through that trying to match products. good luck!

[LWTCS]

WOW quite a wall you've got yourself there my friend

Party at gtig's house

Sure do like the color of the likker in some of those top shelf bottles

[LWTCS]

Working on my color (taste) too

[rad14701]

LWTCS, you must have been drooling when you took that picture because the bottle is breaking out in a sweat...

[LWTCS]

Ha ha ha.
Yep.

Just pulled it from the fridge.

Thats a portion of the Metimucil run. The other 2 liters are sleeping.

I can not say for how long though

[gtig]

Thanks so much for the compliments everyone.

LWTCS... any details you can share on your aging process? Wood Type... duration, temperatures... etc?

[Husker]

There are many threads on aging.

Most is done with charred or toasted oak. the preferred oak is limousine oak over in europe (cause it grows there), or american White ok over here in the states.

Oak makes a FINE aging wood. It is very complex in certain volatile chemicals. White oak, is a closed pore wood (I think). It makes good barrels. Barrel aging is traditionally used, and is a very good way to age. There are other techniques using charred/toasted oak sticks with also work remarkably well.

As for time, usually, the longer the better. Most barrel aging for a full sized barrel will take at least a couple years, and 5 to 10 is not 'too' long. Smaller barrels are much faster. 3 to 6 months 'might' be a minimum on a small one (say 1 gallon), but even on a small one, going longer will get better results. Sticks in a bottle can age even faster, especially if you shake things up frequently.

For aging, there is the interaction with the wood (charred or toasted), and also the interaction with air. There is a thing we call the 'angels share'. It is literally allowing a small part of the distillate to evaporate away. This greatly improves the quality, as the most volatile stuff will evaporate most easily. This is a natural process in a wooden barrel, the angels share will slowly pass through the walls of the wood. If you age in glass containers, you may have to keep them open for a while, or bubble some air through, to 'simulate' the same process.

However, there are many threads about this. Note, that some will contradict what other state. Some of this, is due to people wanting to achieve different things with the aging and with the wood. Some of the variables are whether to user charred or toasted or a combo. What ABV to age at. Should this ABV be kept constant. How long to age. What temp. What type and size container, etc, etc, etc.

H.

[LWTCS]

Husker has paraphrased everything very nicely.
Tons more info here. Much better than what I could offer. But I'm practicing the heck out of it.

I am just now getting some time under my belt but I do not produce near what I need to get enough product for long term aging.

Presently I have been obsessing over chared (dried) fruit. Dates, appricots and the like. Tater posted comments about a chared peach one day and I just can't stop thinking bout chared fuit in the rum.

Color on this batch was rendered from a newly alligator chared single stick (3/8 x 3/8 x 6") and 2 used sticks, Chared (5 or 6 big seedless) dates, a couple of strawberries to insure a red hue and a 3/4 by 6" wedge of pineapple.

This bottle (pic) was drawn off of a 3 liter glass aging vessel.

It is still so young compared to other Gents aging capabilities. But it is really good now and I expect would be fantastic if I could just let em sleep longer.