Dry Yeast, new still.

[Fermentanator]

Hi there, great forum, I love it. Have been reading alot.

I have a "pure distilling" still on laybuy. I also have a friend who gets me cheap dry yeast. I was wondering if I can use dry yeast in my still? The guy at the store says its different to other stills. I don't really know what he means by that because to my knowlege it's just a highly effecient reflux condensor. Ive been tol I wil get upwards of 90% alcohol from it.

Anyway, I want to know what is a good procedure to use for dry yeast, preferably a 25L size wash.

I've been looking around but just getting confused....

Cheers!

[Dnderhead]

Do some reading on tried and true recipes.
most are sugar +water+somthing for nutrients and yeast.

[scarecrow]

Don't believe the tripe they tell you at the brew shops. They want your hard earned reddies, nothing else. I was told to buy a 25 litre fermenter because the Turbo yeast packet can't be used in a 20 litre fermenter, it won't work properly.

Depending on what you want to make you can add grains or just make a straight sugar wash.
Grains add a bit of flavour and sugar with a bit of wheat makes a nice vodka.

Like Dnderhead said, have a good read through the tried and true. If you can't get all the ingredients, ask and I'm sure someone will have an alternative way to make it.

scarecrow

[Fermentanator]

Thanks very much guys. I did wonder if the store guy was just talking BS. I'm still glad I'm paying off the one I am, as I want to get the most I can from each wash.

I'll have a more of a look around, see what recipies I can find.

Also, is $600 dollars an OK price for a top of the line 25L still?

[rad14701]

Define "top of the line" for us... Are you looking at on on the internet or are you considering building...???

[Fermentanator]

Ok, by top of the line, I mean a highly effecient reflux still, bought, with a good reputation for high % alcohol, and very popular.

Heres a sugar wash I've found, called victors econo wash. I'll write the original 120L recipe and then my 25L calculation, to see if anyone can find any potential problems/errors, I am substituting dry yeast for fresh. He reccomends dropping sugar to .25g/ltr. There is a confusing part I will mention at the end.

Ingredients 120L wash;
36kg white sugar
1kg fresh bakers yeast (I'm using dry)
600g Arthur yates Gro Plus Complete plant food
100-200g sodium decahydrate (common, know as foot soaking salts)
2 tablets blackmores Multivitamin and minerals
1 tablet of folic acid (for iron requirements)

My revised 30L wash;
9kg white sugar ( I will have to change this to 0.25g/L)
250g dry yeast
150g complete plant food
25-50g sodium carbonate decahydrate
half a tablet of blackmores multivitamin and minerals
1/4 tablet of folic acid

My questions are, should I revise the sugar to .25g/L? Also he says this, "If using dried yeast, adjust the quantities as follows- 60g dried yeast for the fermentation, 10g of dried yeast killed for protein requirements, reduce sugar levels to 0.2-0.25g/L." This confuses me. Does he mean to reduce the yeast amount to 60g of dried yeast instead of 250g? Also, will I have to make a 25L was given that my container will be 30L? Will I have to adjust these ratios again or just add a little less water? Finally, is tap water ok, or will I need to let it stand for it to lose the chlorine?

Thanks so much everyone.

[olddog]

Also, is $600 dollars an OK price for a top of the line 25L still?

I just built the Evil Twins still for less than $200.

[Fermentanator]

Far out $200! I just dont have the time or knowlege of still to be building things. Once I've got this baby paid off it will pay for itself.

I should mention, what I want is to end up with a very clean pure tasteless spirit, which I will then flavour to my liking. Will I need to carbon filter? Being a reflux still I should be able to get the product I'm after, which is why I avoided the pot stills. Acording to alot of folk, mine is one of the best on the comercial market.

Cheers folks

[rad14701]

Ok, by top of the line, I mean a highly effecient reflux still, bought, with a good reputation for high % alcohol, and very popular.

If you're thinking about purchasing, whose claims will you be going by...??? Every site I've visited has boasted their equipment as the best, but we all know all but one of them, or all of them, must be lying... Build a simple pot still or a Bokakob as a first still and you won't be disappointed...

[quote'="Fermentanator"]Once I've got this baby paid off it will pay for itself. [/quote]
Sure hope that statement means you won't have to buy liquor and not that you'll be selling... It reads somewhat ambiguous and open to speculation...

As for your recipe, when you bring in a recipe found on the internet you're breaking new ground... We know about the Tried and True recipes but beyond that we can only speculate on whether nutrient proportions are optimal... You're entering the experimental recipe realm... You are better off sticking with a Tried and True recipe if you are new to this so you have better support... Once you have the whole fermentation and distillation process down you can experiment...

Don't think we're singling you out here... We're just trying to make your venture into the hobby as smooth as possible... We've seen enough folks struggle by complicating things more than needed from the get go...

[Dnderhead]

that recipe has two strikes sodium and iron yeast does not cair for either.

[kiwistiller]

Acording to alot of folk, mine is one of the best on the comercial market.

If it only gets 90+, it isn't... nor is it top quality. Most of use here are aiming for aezotrope (95.6%) from our columns, which is a LOT harder to get than 90%. Still hoping to see some details or pics of the still. It isn't too late to return it is it?

[Fermentanator]

Hey guys. WHen I said it would pay for itself, I meant not having to buy spirits, not planning on selling it. Some of the guys Ive spoken to with my still get very close to the azeotrope, if not right on it. But yes I will take your advice and go with tried and true methods, rather than complicating things.

Thanks for the tips. I'll go and dig up a tried and true recipe for dry yeast.

Cheers

[kiwistiller]

I've found some info on it online. it's actually better than I thought it might be, but no way it's going to produce 'top quality' neutral. It is essentially a tiny bokakob / inline LM or some description, but with only 25cm of packing.

[Fermentanator]

Cheers Kiwi. I'm going to keep paying it off as I'm almost done. I guess I'll just have to use activated charcoal for a while.

Ive heard some people tweaking them to get better results too. I just have major major time issues at the moment.

What I'm planning on doing is getting this still up and running, then in the mean time, making my own as I have the time, a bit here, a bit there. Will take me a while.

I'll do my best at distilling the wash, then run it through charcoal. I know its not Ideal, but for now I'm happy with 90% alcohol. I cant wait to taste my own!!