First fermentation was a failure - sugar shine

[HappyHighwayman]

I tested my still which is a .5 gallon stainless steel stove top kind with some 1.5L dry red wine and successfully turned it into eau de vie.

Then according to a recipe that came with the still, I mixed several lbs of white sugar with water and added turbo yeast. I made 1 gallon, and put it in a 5 gallon bucket with an air lock.

Now, I've made been about 40-50 times, and making moonshine is similar, basically yeast eating sugar = alcohol. When I distilled it, it made very very weak moonshine like 5-10% alcohol, leading me to believe that the initial fermentation failed? It was venting carbon dioxide all week so I know SOMETHING was going on. Was it bad putting 1 gallon in a 5 gallon bucket?

[MDH]

Please do all you can to ignore recipes from the major "home" still suppliers. They are interested in your money and want to sell you the idea that making moonshine is extremely simple.

Start a new mash with this recipe:

8lb Sugar
5 Gallons Water
1 Bag of Wheat Bran or Germ (should be about 1/2lb at least) gently boiled in 1 gallon of the water
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Wine, Baking or Brewing yeast

Tell me how this goes.

Turbo yeast is bad. Don't use it.

[HappyHighwayman]

Thanks a lot, I'll get right on it.

While I was failing to distill that, I made a new mash of 15 lbs barley, 1/2 lb peated barley, and proper brewing yeast. I'm fermenting it now. I'm trying to get a single malt whiskey I can then barrel age.

ALso once I do your recipe, is it good for Vodka like liquor if I filter it? What do people mostly do with it?

[MDH]

Depending on your type of still, you will recieve a spirit that has a mild whiskey-like flavor, or if you are using a very tall column and make conservative cuts, you will receive something more like a Vodka. If you really demand a flavorless spirit you can proof it to 45% alcohol, chill it to temperatures just above freezing, and filter it through carbon.

[HappyHighwayman]

Thanks! It's a small pot still.

[robb]

+1 MDH. 10% means you were running too fast probably or way to long into tails. Take your OG and FG for proof of fermentation. Max sugar 2lb/gal

[cob]

Thanks! It's a small pot still.

1/2 gallon still will be very hard to produce good spirit regardless of recipe.

[HappyHighwayman]

Will upgrade soon

[HappyHighwayman]

What's the best kit for a beginner for a 5 gallon still?

[Bigbob]

That's like asking how long is a string, you'll get a dozen answers. Please read the spoon feeding post that has been suggested. It will give much needed advice and knowledge.

[corene1]

Please do all you can to ignore recipes from the major "home" still suppliers. They are interested in your money and want to sell you the idea that making moonshine is extremely simple.

Start a new mash with this recipe:

8lb Sugar
5 Gallons Water
1 Bag of Wheat Bran or Germ (should be about 1/2lb at least) gently boiled in 1 gallon of the water
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Wine, Baking or Brewing yeast

Tell me how this goes.

Turbo yeast is bad. Don't use it.

Just an quick addition. Don't confuse a brewing yeast with the brewers yeast you will find in the stores. A brewers yeast is an in active form of yeast used as a nutritional supplement, but it is a great nutrient for and active brewing yeast like bakers yeast.

[HappyHighwayman]

Don't worry from now on I get my yeast at the brewshop.

[corene1]

What's the best kit for a beginner for a 5 gallon still?

I recommend building one from a 7.5 gallon stainless steel beer keg. A simple pot still is quite easy to build and you will save some money also.

[corene1]

As for yeast , It is hard to go wrong with Red Star bakers yeast. $4.95 a pound at the local market.

[HappyHighwayman]

Does a 5 gallon have an advantage over a 2.5 gallon other than not having to refill it as often?

I think 5 gallon is the right size for me as it's the size of my fermentation buckets.

[Monkeyman88]

Easier to make cuts on a bigger charge.

[HappyHighwayman]

My 5 gallons of single malt wort is bubbling nicely. I'm headed to Canada next week so will need to order the 5 gallon for the next distillation.

[corene1]

Something to think about . I mentioned a 7.5 gallon keg because you cannot put 5 gallons of wash in a 5 gallon boiler, you MUST leave about 20 to 25 % head space to prevent a puke from foaming.

[HappyHighwayman]

Makes sense.

[Halfbaked]

Easier to make cuts on a bigger charge.

Good advice. I recommend that you get you a 15.5 keg. If you are using a 15.5 keg you can get 10-12 gal of mash/wash in it. Do 3 or 4 stripping runs and then do a spirit run and have something good to drink when you are finished. You are looking at about the same work with a little more time and better likker because of cuts and 3x more with a 15 gal over a 5 gal.

[HappyHighwayman]

I'm not very handy...I keep trying to find proper step by step building instructions, but might just buy one outright...

[HappyHighwayman]

1. Do you distill the yeast too? My recipe says to.

2. If I don't have time to distill once fermentation is complete, what's the best way to store the wash for future distillation?

[Halfbaked]

If you are making a pot still it can't get much simpler. I will prob get smacked for suggesting stainless but you can buy every piece except the liebig for beans and it will connect to any sankee keg. If you go that route I do suggest getting copper in the vapor path. If you start looking for say 4 ft of 3/4 and 5 ft of 1/2 you could prob find that on craigslist for say $10-$15 and have say $10 in fittings and another $10 in a triclamp ferrule and you are pretty much done. Less than $100 and you can put a very nice still together. You can distill yeast if you want to. Honestly if it doesn't come from here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=14 I would not do it until you get a little more runs under your belt. There are some really good vids on soldering. If you want copper above your keg you can do that very cheap also. Soldering is really easy and anyone can do it.

[corene1]

+1 On Halfbaked post. Also it is so easy to get copper in the path of an all stainless setup. Myself I just finished making a pot still head for a friends keg so she will have a reflux column and a potstill column. I simply put a screen in the bottom so the column can be filled with small pieces of cut copper tubing or pack it with some copper mesh or pure copper scrubbies. Another plus is the stainless is very tough and durable. I can post a picture if you are interested

[Halfbaked]

If he is not interested I am Corene. You don't ever have to have permission to post pics of anything you build. I am right now giving you an open invite and a pretty please to post to more pics please. Corene what you suggest for HappyHiwayman to build. Lets say your budget is $400-$500

[HappyHighwayman]

Post photos

[corene1]

A friend of mine wanted a still to make neutrals with . She makes herbal tinctures for home medicines. So this is the least expensive setup I could come up with to make good alcohol. It is basically a keg with a packed column and reflux condenser on the top. and a 36 inch liebeg condenser. I also just finished a section to do stripping runs in potstill mode. It is a 15.5 gallon keg I took out the 2 inch ferrule in favor of a 4 inch for easier cleaning but a 2 inch would work fine. I made a six inch long section of 4 inch with a perforated screen on the bottom to fill with short pieces of copper tubing, I used 1/2 inch copper cut 1/2 inch long. This is plenty of copper for pulling out the sulfides. that reduces down to a 2 inch column with a triclamp set up with either the pot column or the reflux column then I have the top section with the reducer to the liebeg . The liebeg is 36 inches long with 1/2 inch copper inside of a 1 inch stainless tube. The whole thing is modular . I have about $250 dollars into it minus labor. If I were to just make a pot still column I would have less than a $100 dollars in it. It is pretty simple and makes a good whisky in pot mode and makes 95% at a quart every 20 minuets in reflux mode using a 40% low wines charge.

[HappyHighwayman]

Want to send me one?

[corene1]

Want to send me one?

No problem.