My first still

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:23 am

I bought two halfgallons of takka brand vodka and mixed with 4 gallons water. Carlos rossi wine in gallon jugs works at 10$ gallon get 4 or 5 and as a bonus youll have 4 or 5 glass jugs. If you do that though, keep the jugs and ditch the lids and get corks as pressure buildup makes them suicidal.
Be safe
Jbt

GABrew · Post by **GABrew** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:18 pm

Yeah .. the cheap wine / vodka water mix will work from what I've read. I actually ran my first ujssm as my initial sacrificial. At least that way my 2nd generation / first sour mash will theoretically be drinkable. Although I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled with the smell / taste of the sweet run that came out of my still. I don't think it was bad, but it certainly wasn't good. Maybe it was because it was the "sacrificial cleaning run" and had picked up too many impurities. Who knows. I do believe my wash smells a lot better this time around, so maybe the product will too. The weeks go by pretty quickly so I may take all the product from this first sour run and add it to my 3rd generation run and see how that goes. I've read that this UJSSM doesn't really start to shine until about the 3, 4th, 5th generations.

Maybe I'll start a birdwatchers too. I'm really anxious to get several of these under my belt, cause I'm ready to mash me some rye. I hear it's 'difficult' and everyone says to start with the ujssm or birdwatchers to get some stillin' under my belt. So that's what I'm doing. Hopefully I can produce something I want to drink before too long.

GA

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:26 pm

GABrew wrote:Yeah .. the cheap wine / vodka water mix will work from what I've read. I actually ran my first ujssm as my initial sacrificial. At least that way my 2nd generation / first sour mash will theoretically be drinkable. Although I have to admit that I wasn't thrilled with the smell / taste of the sweet run that came out of my still. I don't think it was bad, but it certainly wasn't good. Maybe it was because it was the "sacrificial cleaning run" and had picked up too many impurities. Who knows. I do believe my wash smells a lot better this time around, so maybe the product will too. The weeks go by pretty quickly so I may take all the product from this first sour run and add it to my 3rd generation run and see how that goes. I've read that this UJSSM doesn't really start to shine until about the 3, 4th, 5th generations.

Maybe I'll start a birdwatchers too. I'm really anxious to get several of these under my belt, cause I'm ready to mash me some rye. I hear it's 'difficult' and everyone says to start with the ujssm or birdwatchers to get some stillin' under my belt. So that's what I'm doing. Hopefully I can produce something I want to drink before too long.

GA

Ga, that birdwatchers is good for cleaning a pot still but unless you triple distill it it tastes like tomato brandy. Try the gerber or all bran or odins cornflakes recipes. They are more pot still friendly,taste wise.

GABrew · Post by **GABrew** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:31 pm

Thanks JB!

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:34 pm

GABrew wrote:Thanks JB!

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:48 am

jb-texshine wrote:I bought two halfgallons of takka brand vodka and mixed with 4 gallons water. Carlos rossi wine in gallon jugs works at 10$ gallon get 4 or 5 and as a bonus youll have 4 or 5 glass jugs. If you do that though, keep the jugs and ditch the lids and get corks as pressure buildup makes them suicidal.
Be safe
Jbt

So I can use the takka vodka and water or use the Carlos vodka? Or use all together?

Thanks for your continued input from the beginning JP. I wish I could help you out as well but I'm a noob. Haha

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:14 pm

Either one or the other is fine.
As for the help,pass it on.
Jbt

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:28 pm

Just ran the vinegar through, rinsing and about to start the vodka and water! After all the time I have invested it feels so good to have a flame under this keg! So to be clear I just need to run this once through then rinse and I'm good to put my wash in?

Post by **Still Life** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:41 pm

You got it, chief.
The first one goes away to prosperity -no tasting!
All the rest are yours to enjoy.
Salute!

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:51 pm

What he^said. It is fun aint it!
Dont forget to swipe your girls little makeup compact mirror to check all the joints for leaks. Just hold it close to each joint to ckeck ,itll fog the mirror if its leaking.
Stay safe and keep an eye out for the revenoors!

Jbt

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:36 pm

Thanks guys, should I be concerned if I'm not getting much product? I'm keeping it right at or near 122-125 degrees Fahrenheit?

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:39 pm

jb-texshine wrote:What he^said. It is fun aint it!
Dont forget to swipe your girls little makeup compact mirror to check all the joints for leaks. Just hold it close to each joint to ckeck ,itll fog the mirror if its leaking.
Stay safe and keep an eye out for the revenoors!
Jbt

It is fun, I knew I would enjoy this hobby. So far I love it and I haven't even ran my first wash yet! And yes I did check for leaks with a mirror.

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:52 pm

Ryan17 wrote:Thanks guys, should I be concerned if I'm not getting much product? I'm keeping it right at or near 122-125 degrees Fahrenheit?

Played around with the heat. I'm at 175f now and it's much better.

GABrew · Post by **GABrew** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:54 pm

I used a mirror on the end of a flexible wand that I had in my automotive toolbox to check for leaks. Worked really well for me.

I can't comment on the temperature, as I don't have a thermometer in my rig anywhere.

I slowly increased the heat until product came out. If you check my post from my first run of ujssm I think I put the times I completed each Mason jar..I think each jar is a quart. I also definitely noticed that the further into the run I had to keep increasing heat. I don't think I ever had product coming out faster than a thin pencil lead stream.

Let us know the final result.

Post by **Still Life** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:59 pm

Don't worry about thermometer readings. You'll drive yourself nuts.
Run that dog and you'll get to see what comes out.

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:02 pm

Ignore the thermometer. Pencil lead size stream is what your looking for,down to smallest SOLID stream you can get.

Post by **Truckinbutch** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:52 pm

jb-texshine wrote:Ignore the thermometer. Pencil lead size stream is what your looking for,down to smallest SOLID stream you can get.

He's right and you are fucked . You done fell down the rabbit hole . Now , it's up to you whether you want to go deeper or try to climb out .
Hold what you got until you get comfortable with that and then begin trying 1 different thing at a time to find what works for you .

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 7:43 pm

Running my wash! Threw away the first 100ml just to be extra safe. First bit is 130 proof! This is very rewarding

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:07 pm

Very clear also! Still going strong

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:16 pm

Tasted any yet?

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:19 pm

jb-texshine wrote:What he^said. It is fun aint it!
Dont forget to swipe your girls little makeup compact mirror to check all the joints for leaks. Just hold it close to each joint to ckeck ,itll fog the mirror if its leaking.
Stay safe and keep an eye out for the revenoors!
Jbt

I realize this question may be very researchable as I remember reading it.... but I want to understand it correctly while I'm doing this. I started at 130 proof and now about 1/4 gallon I'm down to 100 proof. To achieve higher do I just dump all of my collected alcohol back into the keg and wash and redo? Or do I clean the keg first I can't remember. Only asking because I'm in the process. Thank you

Post by **Truckinbutch** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:34 pm

You got me confused . You want to shoot your boiler with what you have already drawn off or do a back to back run with collected low wines ?

jb-texshine · Post by **jb-texshine** » Fri Feb 17, 2017 10:56 pm

Keep running till you hit 20% dump keg, check proof of low wines and proof to 20% total with water, add to keg and rerun.

GABrew · Post by **GABrew** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 5:14 am

Ryan17 wrote:Running my wash! Threw away the first 100ml just to be extra safe. First bit is 130 proof! This is very rewarding

How much wash did you run? I did a 5 gal wash and tossed the first 250ml. I am pretty sure I read the safe amount is ~50ml / gal of wash. Just making sure

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 6:13 am

jb-texshine wrote:Keep running till you hit 20% dump keg, check proof of low wines and proof to 20% total with water, add to keg and rerun.

Thank you again for being so helpful. Doing this now

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 7:44 am

[img]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201702 ... b30af1.jpg[/img]

GABrew · Post by **GABrew** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 7:53 am

That rig looks almost exactly like mine. Right down to the hose!

Just fyi, when I uploaded a photo with Tapatalk, I got reamed .. maybe they'll be nicer to you ..

Post by **rad14701** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 7:54 am

Ryan17, please upload your images directly to the HD server rather than linking to externally hosted images... There is an Upload Attachment or similar button below the box where you compose your messages... Use it... Please refer to the Tapatalk Ad Removal and Image Uploading and Posting Etiquette topics...

Posted with GABrew...

Ryan17 · Post by **Ryan17** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 8:02 am

rad14701 wrote:Ryan17, please upload your images directly to the HD server rather than linking to externally hosted images... There is an Upload Attachment or similar button below the box where you compose your messages... Use it... Please refer to the Tapatalk Ad Removal and Image Uploading and Posting Etiquette topics...

Posted with GABrew...

Sorry, for some reason that doesn't work on my phone. Not sure if that's a common problem. Another member told me to use that to upload pictures

GABrew · Post by **GABrew** » Sat Feb 18, 2017 8:05 am

I'm not sure what the story is .. but yeah, another member told me to use it too, and I was pointed to the same threads as you for uploading attachments.

It's kinda a huge pain for me since I take the photos with my phone .. then have to copy them to my computer and then batch resize them using irfanview, then upload them, then link to them in my posts.

Home Distiller

My first still

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