Birdwatchers sugar wash recipe

[gwgw45]

Buy this book, it explains all. http://www.gin-vodka.com/making-gin.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Build or have someone that you can trust build your stills. You're missing out on the one of the pleasures of this wonderful hobby.

I have no idea of the workings of your still, but I presume it is a reflux still. I presume you have to convert it to a pot still by removing the copper/stainless steel scrubbers from the column. Run your wash through, then replace scrubbers and follow the instructions that came with the still.

Someone on this site that owns a Turbo500 will assist you with this.

Good luck and keep us posted.

G

Hi BW.
Thanks so much for the prompt reply. Regarding the books, I ordered them this morning, went for the bargain pack and bought all three. I am so keen to do all I can to produce a top quality Vodka, but am limited by what I can obtain over here in the UK and the lack of being able to build my own still. However, once I have recieved the book I may feel that I can give it a go. I am determined to get there eventually.

Yes, the Turbo 500 is a reflux still. If all that is needed is to remove the copper/ceramic saddles to carry out a stripping run then that would be the best news I have had all weekend:-) Can anyone confirm this please?
Assuming this to be correct, do I run it without using the cooling water or do I still use the cooling system and if so, what input and output temperatures should I strive to achieve?

Again, sorry for all the dumb questions, all I can do is promise that I will return the favour in the future once I have been there and done it

Just wish I had found this place before I purchased my Turbo 500

Going off at a complete tangent, I currently have 2 Still Spirit brews going, 1xClassic and 1xTripple Distilled, would there be any benefit in doing a stripping runwith these washes?

Thanks
Gareth

[gypsymanz]

Hi gwgw45

I have a turbo500 and use birdwatchers recipe, I just do a single run though the still as per the turbo500 instructions and the results are a clean clear neutral alcohol.

Cheers

[gwgw45]

Hi gwgw45

I have a turbo500 and use birdwatchers recipe, I just do a single run though the still as per the turbo500 instructions and the results are a clean clear neutral alcohol.

Cheers

Hi Gypsymanz

Thanks so much for the confirmation, I am now getting really excited. Any other info specific to the T500 would be really appreciated. In reality I suspect I am over analysing the whole thing and should just accept that this is really quite straight forward.

Cheers
Gareth (paranoia r us)

[gypsymanz]

Hi gwgw45

A bit off topic but watch out for water supply pressure changes with the t500 as it will send the temps all over the place.

Cheers

[gwgw45]

Cheers Buddy

[JDWhite]

Going to throw one of these together tonight. As with the others, I have always used the turbo's, so this will be my first steps outside the brew shop realm. I am doing a 25L wash, so 1/3 of the original recipe with 6kg sugar, 1 lemon and 1 cup of paste.
What sort of yield should I expect? I am keen to try this out, and need to get my stocks of alcohol up before summer really hits and I cant ferment (we have heat waves of 40 degrees plus here), so I need to know how many batches to start! Running my turbos, I was getting about 4L of 93% per wash. Should I expect a little less considering there is less sugar?

Really looking forward to trying this, have been waiting for a week of cooler weather.

JD

[Bushman]

Great information, thanks for all the input!

[JDWhite]

Righto folks! I put together a wash in my 30L fermenter of 25L, left it for a few hours and went out to the shed to check on it....

Holy froth! The airlock has released about a litre or so of liquid froth, and the thing is running away like a demon. Never seen a turbo behave like this! I think I will reduce it by 5L or so, or maybe get another fermenter and split it in 2 next time. SG before I started was 1.09.

For interests sake, and apologies if this is elsewhere (I didnt read all 19 pages, I skipped to the end after about page , but for those here in Aus, I used the Lowans yeast from Woolies and 75g is about 150ml on my measuring cup. 2 of the Leggos Tomato Paste 140g tubs (they come in a 2 pack) is 1 cup of paste.

Home brand sugar was about $2 for 2kg, the 2 pack of Leggo's was about $2, the yeast was about $6 and should do 3 washes (so $2 a wash) and the lemon I stole. I reckon this should be done and dusted for about $10. This is about 1/5th the price of the turbos I had used. Very impressed so far!

[birdwatcher]

Hi All,

Happiness is 750 ml. of vodka, better than you can buy at the liquor store, for Cdn. $2.00.

Just follow the recipe to the letter.

JD. I would start future washes at SG 1.07. At SG 1.09 on some occasions I found the wash either did not quite finish or if it did, it took too long.

In John Stones book mentioned above, he recommends starting at SG 1.06. Over a 20 year period, from my experience, starting anywhere between SG 1.06 to SG 1.09, made no noticeable difference in the finished product.

Have fun guys and enjoy.

G

[JDWhite]

Thanks BW. I guess start with 5kg of sugar instead of 6?

Checked it this morning, the frothing has stopped but the bubbling is still going strong! Doesnt have the nasty smell of the fermenting turbos either.

JD

[JDWhite]

UPDATE!

As mentioned in another post, the SG is dropping .01 a day. Started at 1.09, day 2 1.08 and tonight 1.07. Still fizzing away nicely and has turned a peachy colour. I am hoping to be done by next weekend so I can run it through, but I think I will have to be very patient with this one. Would be nice to get another one done by Christmas, I may just do this back to back!

JD

[oynutter]

Thanks for this recipe, simple and effective, it makes a good neutral even in the simplest pot still--- just one tweak I made to get it going faster-- I put a couple of tablespoons of malt extract per gallon, seems to make it ferment out a bit faster too-- only a couple of spoons, or you will change the flavour, but it's definitely worth trying--thanks guys

[JDWhite]

I have just been patient with this, let it run its course. It has hit just over 1.0SG this morning, probably due to the increased temperature here. Seems to be slowing down, and no longer tastes sweet. Still bubbling away slowly though. I think I will let it run another 24 hours and see. 10 days from 1.09 to pretty much 1.00.

I am very keen to see what sort of yield I get out of this. I am so happy I can make this out of the supermarket, now all I visit the brew store for is essences!

JD

[JDWhite]

The wash finished up at .995 a couple of days ago, so I threw it in the still this arvo. Beautiful clean fresh spirit! I got about 2.5L of 93% in about 3 hours. It was still going, but very slow so I shut'er down.
Very impressed so far. I was getting about a litre more from the turbo packs, but at AUD$10 vs AUD$50 I think I am in front!

While the still was running, I collected the hot water and started another pot of Birdwatchers. Couldnt help myself!

JD

[Bushman]

Hi All,

Happiness is 750 ml. of vodka, better than you can buy at the liquor store, for Cdn. $2.00.
G

Birdwatcher I know what your saying your GST is unbelievable in Canada. I go up to the remote areas to fish where you need a satellite phone to reach the outside world and have paid as much as $75.00 US for a case of beer.
I am going to start a batch tomorrow. I am substituting the fresh bakers yeast for the dry yeast per the conversion chart. I have not been able to find fresh bakers yeast at our large stores or the health food store (plus the refrigerated yeast is a lot more expensive). Will let everyone know how it goes!

[maritime]

i am looking forward to warmer temps this spring. i may pick up a aquarium heater to start a little earlier this year. i normally ferment in the shed in the summer. but i would like to start in the basement for spring runs.
this wash is so simple to make. it puts out a nice sweet note netrual.
i have been taking baking extracts and adding to 40%, lemon, orange, cocunut, ect.. my wife likes the flavors. i am a lemon and tonic fan.
very happy with this wash and hobby.
a little age helps smooth out. i want to try the freezer trick this year, can't hurt.

just had to walk over to the stash. the lemon and orange smells great. but straight 94% smells the best. just a faint sweet note, but clean. i do make a "rum" with extract. nobody can tell , if it goes into a mix drink.
i would like to figure out how to make a gin essence one day. gin is my favorite in the summer. but buying and shipping essence is too pricey.

[maritime]

just finished making some 40% with flavor for the holiday.

first two are straight up, 94%
lemon-yellow
orange-orange
vanilla-amber
coconut-blue
feins jar

i always color my 40%. everything clear is either 94% or feins=not ok to drink straight. my little saftey.

[maritime]

in my area of the word the sweet tea vodka is the latest and greatest.
my wife asked me to see if i could produce something close to store brand.
i made 750ml of 40%, birdwatches
added two tea bags for 48 hours
then added 1/3 cup of white sugar, just kept shaking it up till it dissolved.
it is dead on.

she is very happy. a happy wife is a happy house.

[Braz]

in my area of the word the sweet tea vodka is the latest and greatest... it is dead on.

Here too. I'm going to give this a try. Thanks.

[Hammck]

I'm new to this site and distilling in general. But I must say, I've done 1 run with Turbo classic and 1 with Birdwatchers recipe and the difference is night and day... Well that was also one of the observations from a taster of both. I unfortunately had already ordered a bunch of turbos and finings, so I'm currently using them up (somewhere on this site recommends half a turbo packet at a time) and it does work fine, and I'll be stripping the bejesus out of them now. What I have noticed though is that the tails from a Turbo run smells so bad, I almost wanna chuck... The smell from BW is fine. Also noticed the actual wash with BW recipe is good enough to drink just about.... Turbo could make me shit razor blades...
So is it fair to say, and I've just started on this excellent hobby, that if the beginning wash is tasting good and clean, the resulting distillate will be better? Provided cuts are done right of course...
So my advice for any turbo user readers, ditch them quick. I currently have another BW wash started this time with raw sugar. Will there be a difference in taste from white sugar?
sorry, too many questions....but very happy with this recipe

[grizzlypee]

I love this one. I just knocked one out while the wife went out for groceries. She never knew. Not that she minds but my New Years resolution is to lighten up on the hooch work. I'm only fooling myself.

[Paul1453]

I will try this recipe exactly as outlined soon. I have a question about a slight modification. I have excess cooked rice that goes to waste at my house regularly. I have added the rice to a turbo mash that I put 1/2 the sugar and 1/2 the turbo packet in for 5G ferment. It seemed to turn out well. Could my waste rice, and some enzymes be added to the BW recipe and reduce the sugar amounts for an even cheaper and still clean mash.

[grizzlypee]

Paul1453,

Rice is my favorite grain to make spirits with. I'd throw them in for sure. At the least they will add a little character. Enzymes are important and necessary. There are a lot of references here in the forum and in the main site for conversion amounts. Let us know how it goes for you.

[Bushman]

in my area of the word the sweet tea vodka is the latest and greatest.
my wife asked me to see if i could produce something close to store brand.
i made 750ml of 40%, birdwatches
added two tea bags for 48 hours
then added 1/3 cup of white sugar, just kept shaking it up till it dissolved.
it is dead on.

I think I'll make a 1/2 a batch and give it a try!

[Bushman]

Maritime, I just tasted the sweet tea vodka, kind of warms the inners...great in a shot glass. I will make a larger batch to take this weekend up into the mountains and snow (my wife and I are staying at a condo).

[maheel]

5kg sugar
23L water
150 gms tomato paste
juice one lemon
pinch epsom salts
bakers yeast (maybe 3 table spoons ?) started before pitching in 500ml water and tsp sugar

how easy is BW....

[Bushman]

Nice Maheel, looks pretty clear....That is my next recipe when I get back from the mountains next week!

[maheel]

Nice Maheel, looks pretty clear....

and that sample was from the bottom of the barrel after i had tipped it a bit to get the last bit to take the pic
i had stirred it up a little but there a big yeats cake on the bottom

if you can let the wash sit for while it clears up perfect it had sat about 3 weeks after ferment finished but, stripped it last night

got another to run and then fill those fermeters back up again

was just posting the pic so new people can see a picture or old hands who like pics....

[britincali]

Ive done 4 WPOSW washes and am now on my second birdwatchers and Ive gotta admit birdwatchers has it!

Its gotta be the tomato paste giving it the edge, it just seems the yeast has something to get a hold of and run with

Beautiful neutral with a no fuss no mess-with ferment

[Bayou-Ruler]

Ive done 4 WPOSW washes and am now on my second birdwatchers and Ive gotta admit birdwatchers has it!

Its gotta be the tomato paste giving it the edge, it just seems the yeast has something to get a hold of and run with

Beautiful neutral with a no fuss no mess-with ferment

I think ur right about the tomato. I have always fermented WPOSW. decided to add 15 ounces of tomato sauce to it and it did indeed take off like a rocket!