G'Day from OZ

[Tassie Tiger]

G'day to all reading, sublime you sound like the Plastic police, The plastic jug is for collecting the first 200 ml of fore shots or Metho which I plan to use in my Smoker burner. With regard to Alccotech Turbo yeast the two home brew shops in Hobart only sell the turbo 24 & turbo 48 so I don't have much choice unless I use small packs of wine or beer making yeast. As regard to the hoses I took the photo when I'd just turned on the Rig then realized I had the hoses back the front, the white one is the water input hose & the Green one is output which waters the garden. My Brew shed is 30 odd metres from the closest water tap so hence just the one line into it Rad but after reading your comments about two input lines I went & bought a hose T piece to split the lines before the next run. So that also covers your advise as well googe,thanks.
Now with the 2 hrs pre-heat of about 35 litres of the wash at 9 % ABV in the 50 litre Keg I am wondering about maybe changing the 1800 watt element for a 2400 watt element in the future.
With the 77 deg C constant temp on top of the tower I was worried about splitting the input water lines before I upgrade the element Rad but I think googe's idea of a needle valve/tap may allow me to control that temp better.
I use wine bottles to fraction my output sublime & each bottle has a 500 ml line painted on it as well as a number. The funnels I use have a bit of cotton wool in the neck & about a table spoon of reflux carbon for primary carbon filtering. The first two funnels that I use for the Head output get thrown away & repacked so I do not get any of the yucky flavour carrying through into my Head output.
My Head bottles numbered 1 & 2 come out at 92 % ABV, by the time bottle 2 has reached the 500 ml mark I can taste that the flavour has reached the start of the Heart stage. I use a teaspoon to taste test as that is more accurate than my sense of smell.
Bottle 3 is 91 % ABV & bottles 4 to 9 are constantly 90 % ABV.
Bottles 10 & 11 are 89 % ABV & starting to taste a bit sweeter but still good.
The start of Bottle Number 12 is the same as 10 & 11 but by the time output reaches the 500 ml mark the flavour has gone off & turned yucky to taste. ABV starts to drop down to 86% & tower temp starts to slowly creep up, I'm guessing that is the Heart to Tails cross over point.
So now you have it & the results are the same for all 3 of my 2015 Reflux Batches, now for some questions about Pot Still mode.
Would it work as a pot still If I was to strip out the marbles in the Tower, disconnect the water hoses & connect a copper Thumper to my output pipe & then run the Thumper output through a copper coil water cooled condenser ? ? ? ? Or would that be a try & see project ?
Many thanks to Sublime, Rad, HDNB & Googe for your valuable advise & help.
ps I think I'll have more than enough to drink once the 3 batches are carbon aged & blended to last me until I get time to drag out the copper pipe & TIG welder & make a Thumper, Condenser & maybe plan B or C & make a Pot Head.
Cheers to all TT

[Tassie Tiger]

Just found a copper Pot Head on E-bay & put a $100 offer on it. That's cheaper, easier & quicker than making one myself.
Fingers crossed I may be potting in a few weeks time after I try out some of the recipes on this site.
CHEERS to all TT

[Mikey-moo]

Plastic Police reporting for duty! Happy to be labelled as such if it keeps you safe

Most of the tried and tested recipes use regular old baker's yeast - available in most supermarkets and they produce liquor that tastes good without needing the carbon filtering.

Sounds like you're hooked TT hope that pot still head works out for you (assuming you win it). The seller used lead free solder right? Safety first and all.

[JayD]

please ask the seller if he or if it was made using lead free solder? remember all that glitters is not gold...long term health relies on only using tried and proven fabrication methods...no lead period! or plastic... I'm in Tas as I stated before, if you need help pm me your number I'll help you develop your skills. A Tasmanian looking to help a Tasmanian.

[Tassie Tiger]

G'day Guys thanks for your concerns regarding solder.
The seller says he was given it years ago as a present but he already had a Pot Still Head so decided to sell it unused.
It is identical to the short units in the Brew Shops that sell for $500 to $700 so I put a bid in for it.
If I get the Bid I may strip it down clean off all the soft solder & silver solder it Back together to be on the safe side.
Less than 3 hrs to go & I'm still the top Bidder, Fingers crossed.
Now with regards to Bakers Yeast, How much would I have to put in my Orange juice, Sugar & yeast starter to make up enough for a 20 Litre batch ?
The Turbo Yeast has 280 odd grams in a packet for 20 litre batch of wash.
The Bakers Yeast comes in 7 gram satchels & I'm guessing that I'll need more that that & I'm sure if I shopped around I could buy larger packets though.
Thanks for your Concerns, Help & Advice again Sublime & JayD
CHEERS TT

[HDNB]

you can prolly get a lead test kit from the health authority for free or from the hardware store for ten bucks.
all ya gotta do is rub a swab on it and check color.

make a starter for that 7 G and aerate a bit it will do 5 gallons just fine. give some nutrients. check tried and true for advice on a recipe that will work

cheers

[badbird]

Hey TT
Lowans bakers yeast is around 4$ for 280g from Coles or Wooleys, Its cheap so I use around 50g for a good fast 25l wash. Not sure about the OJ stater??, there are probably better sources of yeast nutrient around.
Its probably worth sticking fairly close to the recipes in tried and proven section for a start until you have a few non turbo ferments under your belt, Rads all bran is a good versatile one to start with though most in .au substitute Weetbix for the allbran. You can reflux for neutral / vodka or potstill and oak for a wheat whiskey style drink
bb

[fineline]

Just found a copper Pot Head on E-bay & put a $100 offer on it. That's cheaper, easier & quicker than making one myself.
Fingers crossed I may be potting in a few weeks time after I try out some of the recipes on this site.
CHEERS to all TT

Looks like you won it!

Cheers

[Mikey-moo]

Post a link so we can all see?

[Tassie Tiger]

Morning all, Yes I got the Pot Head but had a bit of competition it ended up costing me $ 152 + $ 14 postage but for sure Quicker than making one.
When it arrives later in the week I will post a photo then start my first Tried & True recipe. Yeast starter I make for wine has Sugar, OJ, Water & selected Yeast so thought that was a standard starter recipe Badbird that's all. I also use a yeast Nutrient in wine & Beer.
CHEERS TT

[badbird]

Fair enough, Have to admit to knowing nothing about wine making.
Most of the point to using bakers yeast that it is cheep enough to just pitch the required amount and not need to mess with a starter, though most of the manufactures recommend rehydration in warm tap water for 15 minutes prior to pitching.
bb

[Tassie Tiger]

Started out making wine using fruit from a few friends fruit trees, thought if it makes crap wine, run it through a pot still & make fruit Brandy, etc, depending on the fruit used. Plus gave me a bit more experience at fermenting some thing other than Beer & Reflux wash.
By using the OJ & water in equal amounts about 50 ml of each & about 3 to 4 teaspoons of dissolved sugar then tossing the yeast in for a few days before using. Then at the time you need to add it use about 3/4 of it. The remaining 1/4 you add a little sugar dissolved in water & OJ every few days & you now have a never ending yeast farm making your own yeast supply. Then if you find it's building up faster than you can use it divide it in half & you now have two yeast farms as such. Either give one away or toss it out. I used this system for my first three wine batches then found more specific wine yeast strains that did not require rehydration.
I WOULD BE VERY AMAZED IF THERE IS NOT A THREAD ON THIS SITE ABOUT A SIMILAR YEAST SAVING METHOD
CHEERS TT

[Zak Griffin]

You COULD do that, or you could pay $3 for a tin of baker's yeast every now and then?

[Andy Capp]

Welcome to the forum TT
Pop down to Nature's works shop at top of Cat and fiddle arcade near the crossing lights and get a 500g block of mauripan yeast for about $4.50
Works on everything i have made no probs at all.

[Tassie Tiger]

Geez they are poping out of the woodwork all over Tassie Andy Capp.
I must admit I prefer to use a fresh batch of yeast each batch but the recipe on the first few wines I made called for rehydrating of the yeast in this way but then I tried a different Brand & stains that didn't require rehydration.
Thanks Andy I'll grab some next time i'm in Town.
CHEERS TT

[thecroweater]

Most bread yeast (in Oz anyway) is no good for fruit. If you're propagating a white wine yeast this would make sense, I also use to keep a "Safmalt" strain that was very HSrd to get hold of for my all grain mashes but no longer root around with it as I found buying ale yeast easier, more consistent and cheaper in the long run

[Tassie Tiger]

G'day to all, I went to Mitre 10 & bought a lead test kit $ 23.95.
Not as cheap as I thought it would be but I thought worth it to test the Pot Head when it arrives.
Not sure yet but looking at the dimensions of the unit I may have to make an extension tube underneath as the output tube or lyne arm may not clear the side of my Keg.
That will be the First thing I try when it arrives, but I may have to make an adapter so it fits my Keg thread anyway so just have to make it a bit longer by a few inches.
CHEERS TT

[thecroweater]

Well worth it for piece of mind, hope it tests all clear for ya

[Tassie Tiger]

G' day to all, Thanks Andy Capp. I went into town y'day so I went & got the Yeast & some Powdered Dark Malt while I was there.
At 500 grams it will be years before I have to get any more, Put it in an air tight glass Jar in the fridge so it will keep.
Still no sign of the Pot Head yet but it was sent by post mid last week so I expect it today or tomorrow.
Planning on a Wheat Bix Whisky as my first wash so will hunt about the site to see if I can find a recipe.
If not I'm thinking a few boxes of it with some Powdered Malt, a little sugar & try out my new Bakers Yeast about 20 grams.
CHEERS TT

[Tassie Tiger]

G'day to all, well at last I've made my first mush for Pot Stilling.
It's a Wheat Bix & Ryvita porridge with some Leatherwood Honey & dark powdered malt.
It tastes good as a mush so can't wait to see what it's like once I run some of the 40 litre batch through my Keg & Pot Still Head.
I'll save what's left over for the next Generation batch.
Been two weeks & it's still bubbling nicely about every 5 to 10 seconds.
Give it another week to settle down then do a stripping run.
CHEERS TT