Distilling Advice

[Axdelmar]

I use a worm condenser, and worm box. And I do use a volume of water and ice blocks in the bottom of the ice and then loose ice on top in the water. The top gets hot and I keep swapping the top of the water that gets warm I either siphon the warm out and add a bag of ice to bring the level back up or I add cold water.

How do I tell if its huffing? I mean I think it might be doing that to.

What I wanna know is if once it starts running if I should leave the turkey burner wide open or should I back the flame down? and will it still run when I back the flame down?

I am very much a NOVICE...as the old timers say..read read read...I am on my 3 gen of UJSM and I read every friggin night!!!! Wife thinks I'm dead. DITCH the ice...start out slow and EASY...ya don't need ice unless you're nuke'n the boiler!!! Easy does it, as those 12 steppers say. I use a 5 gal full copper rig with the turkey burner and a blast plate to keep bottom from melting (Ha Ha). I NEVER turn mine past halfway, when it starts to piss, I turn my flame to low/almost off. This is for my STRIPPING run. As the run progresses and I know I'm past the good stuff, ( I've been rubbing and tasting and Smelling LEARNING all the while, I turn it up a bit and cook till my tails STINK.
It is SO important to FULLY understand this Art of cooking corn if you don't want to waste a ton of time and money, and possibly blow your house/shed to the next county. For a good condenser get 20-30 feet of 3/8 id copper and drill a hole in the bottom to run still product out bottom, another hole near the top and glue in a 3/4" copper pipe with a hose for waste water. I dump my hose part way in the HomeDepot bucket and keep the bucket full...NO ICE , No issues with blow outs from heat. TAKE YOUR TIME...this can be fun!!!!

[rad14701]

WHAT...???

[Tokoroa_Shiner]

WHAT...???

+1

[Bigbob]

I think what axdelmar is trying to say is what many of the senior members say, that it is frustrating to some of us that what appears so easy, is harder for some people to get. Don't over think things,it really is pretty easy. Start slow,make some easy recipe, run the still slow and easy. You will get good results! I make a sweet feed wash ,put it in the fermentor and leave it alone for 7 days, check the gravity and run if ready. Start the still hot and turn down when it starts to run . Ignore temp if it's a pot still you watch the stream, low and slow,broken trickle. Check your run by feel,smell and taste. If it taste bad toss it . Don't expect to be master distillers in a few weeks it takes years! But one thing you will notice is ,your product will get better and better so hang in there and keep trying

[Axdelmar]

Thanks Bob...Some days I'm not very good at explaining stuff...and THAT'S why I READ, rather than post. Many here are Far more qualified. I will post my RED NECK condenser and pot still soon. I do have a question for you all...need to look where to post it first. BUT...here it is.

UJSM...3rd gen. SS fermenter, water jacketed with temp control. It's a Honey tank (<Bee Keeper). I have never formed a "CAP" that you all describe. It's got a heavy cover, but no air lock. I'm getting a good ferment judging by my SG changes. I used RED Star EC1116. Temp stays at about 80 degree's. The batch is about 6-7 gallons. Comments? Suggestions?

[rpt124]

Thanks for the advice, I will give this a try, by the way I as well Read EVERY day for hours. The problem here is you have so many with different things that work. Its hard sometimes to narrow down which is the best way to go.

I also have a blending question and I may move out and ask this somewhere else to but, can I run and store what I run for a few weeks, make another run, store that then another run, and then place all of that together in one barell and let it sit together? Or does that have to be done run to run? Is it going to be bad if I use runs from 2 and 3 weeks with new run this week and blend that all together?

[Axdelmar]

I'll leave this one to the experts... nope..not touching this...

[SoMo]

Yes you can store finished product that way. I think the holes and such mentioned earlier referred to a flake stand, kinda all over the place. Keep reading especially on terms and their meaning, can be confusing when it's not used in common nomenclature "words "..

[thatguy1313]

Axdelmar, I never get a cap with UJSSM, just bubbling. Just did a peach brandy and that formed a nice thick cap. I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you start with sugar and end up with alcohol, the yeasties did their job.

[Axdelmar]

Finally got my alcometer...tested my strip..WOW...100 proof in a 5 gal carboy. Doing slow spirit run now...I may have cut my strip runs too soon. I'm putting out 160pr. thru the first 4 qt's, just now starting to drop off. Still smells good too. Waiting for the tails to hit...this is exciting..LOL And of course someone stops by as I'm running..wife freaked out. Wonderful...

[thatguy1313]

Sounds like you're doing everything right! Now you're hooked! The wife will calm down once she tastes what you're makin!

[Axdelmar]

And the tails have hit..tasted it, nope...that's going aside. Still 110 proof tho...Turning the heat up..been at this all friggin day! This part tastes like wrung out nasty month old socks...

[thatguy1313]

I don't usually like feints runs from UJ but I'd say save em up and try it yourself! Or just add em back to your next stripping run. 110 proof so still lots of good alcohol in there.

[RevSpaminator]

And the tails have hit..tasted it, nope...that's going aside. Still 110 proof tho...Turning the heat up..been at this all friggin day! This part tastes like wrung out nasty month old socks...

I gotta say, I've never had any urge to taste wrung out nasty month old socks.

[moosemilk]

I just had a description from a close friend who is also interested in distilling of his take on the smell of deep tails. It's a nasty reference, but I think he nailed it, at least on deep tails of UJ....damn near made me piss myself laughing...."that is horrid. it smells like bad pu**y". Being a very blue collar worker, his analogy didn't surprise me though. Everything with the mill workers, miners, tin bashers etc around here is compared to something of that category, good or bad.

[Axdelmar]

LMFAO!!!!!! And I was trying to be nice... BP it IS!

[Fermented1]

Hey Tatar, if everything in life could be explained that clear and simple it would be a easier life.

[sadie33]

this was a good read. I took my low wines I did last night, put it in a spoon and tried lighting it. As I'm doing it, I'm thinking my husband will walk in the room and be like-what are you doing? lol

[Uncle Jesse]

this was a good read. I took my low wines I did last night, put it in a spoon and tried lighting it. As I'm doing it, I'm thinking my husband will walk in the room and be like-what are you doing? lol

"I did this with my mind"

[sadie33]

The weird thing is, my low wines didn't light. Not on the spoon or on the plate.(that's not the weird thing, I didn't think they would) Later, I was showing my husband what I learned and the closest jar of low wines I had was the one I put a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and a whole all spice in. I put that on a spoon and it burned...

[Steve Broady]

Was that one of the early jars, Sadie? You’ll get some moderately high proof stuff off the still early in a stripping run. Most of us don’t bother to separate it out, but I seem to recall that you did. So some of them should be high enough proof to burn. Do please be careful with that, though. We don’t need you making Molotov cocktails!