A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers

[cranky]

thanks Cranky, You provided direction when I was directionless.

You don't know me, but when left directionless, I tend to meander aimlessly looking for direction
Bad things happen at times. If no direction is given with in a certain amount of time.
I start acting like "I got this" which can lead to the proverbial "here hold my beer"
And "watch this"
these are not good things

I know what you mean, I start doing goofy things myself.

[ljermontov]

Excellent and very,very helpful compilation .Thanks Cranky!

[JG762]

Thanks for going to the effort Mr.Cranky!
Spoon feeding/road maps are a great help!!!

[SAS777]

Great info. Thank you!!

I am one of those new beginners that you mentioned, with more questions than answers. I have been wanting to distill for along time, way before the show "Moon Shiners" aired.

I got the bug from one of my uncles that lived in KY, who use to run a still way back when. Unfortunately, he is unable to mentor me.

Anyway, Thanks again for all the info.

[moosemilk]

Cranky, just want to say thanks for the fantastic post. Even after a couple years, It's always good to come back occasionally and do some refreshing. More times than not, something else that was missed the first, second, umpteenth time through is noticed, or finally "clicks". Sometimes when you do something so often, you start to miss things, and a little refresher to stay on track is a good idea. The information you typed out serves more than just new and novice!

[cranky]

Thank you ljermontov, JG762, SAS777 and Moosemilk, I'm always happy to hear good things about this thread. I don't always respond to every post because I try to keep the total page count down but bumps to the top are always good. When I don't respond I do try to send a PM to the poster to thank them, even though sometimes I miss that.

[The G]

Thank you, and I'd like to just tell you that you did a great job of giving us all the links to us, I thank you on behalf of all those who will take some time to read the information that you we suggests

[cranky]

Thank you, and I'd like to just tell you that you did a great job of giving us all the links to us, I thank you on behalf of all those who will take some time to read the information that you we suggests

Thank you. I'm glad this thread could help people learn and enjoy this hobby.

[Beedles]

This is awesome... it has become my go-to guide for when I'm stuck and don't want to ask a dumb question. I view it as my 'Distilling 101' text book!

[Essayons]

Still reading... Making mashes and taking notes on EVERY STEP WITH SG/Temp/Process/times.
I'm up to 3# different recipes all 6 gal a piece.
The ol' lady is getting pissed.... But hey, she said "I swear if you get into this and don't do anything by x-mas? I'm using your pot for target practice".

She can't get that mad.

[frodo]

Thank you, and I'd like to just tell you that you did a great job of giving us all the links to us, I thank you on behalf of all those who will take some time to read the information that you we suggests

Thank you. I'm glad this thread could help people learn and enjoy this hobby.

when is the paper back version coming out ?

[Mikey-moo]

Thank you, and I'd like to just tell you that you did a great job of giving us all the links to us, I thank you on behalf of all those who will take some time to read the information that you we suggests

Thank you. I'm glad this thread could help people learn and enjoy this hobby.

when is the paper back version coming out ?

+1 or an ebook. Proceeds to keep the site running

[cranky]

It took me a year just to write that, If somebody wants to tackle an ebook they are welcome to it but I just don't have the time

Thinking about it an ebook that puts all those links together in order and adds in a few extra threads that have come out since I wrote that could really be a useful resource.

[HDNB]

She can't get that mad.

You can't have been married very long. Trust me, she can get that mad, and a whole bunch more. heheheh.

I wish i had some time for the ebook idea, with the millions of customers they have i'm sure it would open up a whole generation of home distillers, pointing them in the direction of HD would be a great way to get them started.

[Essayons]

This is like a condensed version of the Brewers bible lol.


THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!


Essayons.

[Shine0n]

Cranky, I applaud you for this thread even though I've read it when I first joined HD I felt the need to brush up on some things and reread it again while I'm running my 4gen sf. (Not every link but close) exactly what I needed though.
I do read alot on HD have learned quite a bit and still pick up things I've missed on in the past. Sometimes I go through my posts and see where I've grown and where I haven't then look up stuff I don't even do just in case I switched to ag ect ect.
Congratulations on this #1 seller (freebie)
Definitely opened my eyes!!!

[raptor402]

Thank You

These words are becoming etched in my brain as a second language.

Thank You

raptor 402

[goudekim]

Hi all,
noob here. I am a software engineer by day and hobbyist offtimes, one of which is (trying) to make whiskey.
Started several months ago after skimming this web site, then diving in. Making mistakes right and left, but
gradually getting the hang of it, I think. Sugar washes were hit or miss, until I found out about pH, alkalinity,
nutrients, yeasts, temperature. Here's a epiphany - water is important.

Anyway, trying grains now. Got whole corn, wheat from Honeyville - good stuff. Malted some corn (difficult),
malting wheat now. Had some barley and that seems to work best for malting (2 row, from what some say for
liquor). Best results so far but still way below expected yield.

Just wanted to say there are SO MANY variables to this part science, biology, art that I want to send a big, hearty
THANK YOU! to all who share their info. I'll try to remember to share my results which, are more science-based.

Cheers!

[NCmechanic]

Thanks for taking the time to make this post.

[Essayons]

Love this thread, Basic condensed information.
I got a 10gal set up thinking "this can't be too hard"......
After I found this site and was directed here and to rads all bran?
I abruptly changed about 75% of my materials and developed habits. Also started playing with other yeasts and some nutes.

[cranky]

Love this thread, Basic condensed information.
I got a 10gal set up thinking "this can't be too hard"......
After I found this site and was directed here and to rads all bran?
I abruptly changed about 75% of my materials and developed habits. Also started playing with other yeasts and some nutes.

It's real easy come into this thinking things like "this can't be that hard" and it really isn't that hard to distill something, the hard part is to do it safely and make something that's drinkable. Fortunately after a while it all seems to fall into place and begins to feel easy. I'm always happy to hear when this thread helps people along their journey.

[twrigley37]

This is so useful - thanks so much for setting up this thread. I'm already now tweaking a couple of approaches in my plan from the info in here.

[Bushman]

This is so useful - thanks so much for setting up this thread. I'm already now tweaking a couple of approaches in my plan from the info in here.

+1, we have some great information spread throughout this forum. Cranky did a great job putting it in one place with easy access to all of it. One reason many of us put a link to it in our signiture page.

[Hilltop]

Thanks for making the links in one place!

[grainfarmer]

I have been searching for literature and trying to research for a year now. Feel like I was spinning wheels. Reading is not a problem for me and want to do it right. I am thankful for this site and the directions.

[grainfarmer]

I am a newbie. Thanks for this info. I plan on reading the "Material For Newbies" probably twice through. Then decide whether to purchase small pot still or attempt to build my own.

[cranky]

I am a newbie. Thanks for this info. I plan on reading the "Material For Newbies" probably twice through. Then decide whether to purchase small pot still or attempt to build my own.

Your welcome, and thank you. Going slow is a good way to go about getting started. Back when I got started the information was much harder to find even though it was largely regarded as mandatory to find it before asking questions. Some attitudes were much harsher too. Things have really changed around here in 4 years. Now the information is becoming much easier to find and the parent site has been cleaned up so it no longer contains the bad and downright dangerous information it once did and with the help of some dedicated people improving the wiki this thread seems to be becoming less and less relevant. I think it is still a good place to find the beginning information even though some of that continues to evolve over time and I'm glad it continues to help people

[Lucazzu]

Awesome job guys , appreciate all the job! my eyes are almost bleeding! but i keep working and reading!
Thanks a lot! really a nice job!

[Spriit Tisler]

What I nowadays do:

50l barrel w/ plywood top and carbon airlock, 10kg of invert sugar, 500g of tomato paste, 250g of yeast and balance of water, aerated, let to ferment dry which usually takes about a week, and I nowadays let it stand 2 weeks for full clarification, or even longer if the times are cold.

I then use my boiler and vacuum cleaner to suck the contents into the boiler, strip it with column on to get about 50-60% of strippings, dilute it with equal amount of water, usually combine 2 or more strippings into one fractioning run and run it at azeotrope or near azeotrope, collect in 2dl glasses, let it stand overnight with paper towels on and the next day separate fractions and discard foreshots, heads and tails and recover hearts based to smell and taste.

Then I dilute it to 40% and pour 1dl of activated carbon per 1L of liquid and let it stand for 4-6 weeks, occasionally stirring, decant large solids and filter through paper filter to remove small carbon particles.

Finally I bottle it, boil the used carbons for 15 minutes and then dry them in oven at 300C for 2 hours so it becomes reuseable when all the impurities from alcohol boil away.

The resulting procedure is somewhat efficient and also foolproof to extent that any side odors or tastes that can overcome will be depleted by carbon. For my needs, I need to do this process about twice a year and I have a good supply of very potable alcohol, better in odor, taste and mouthfeel than (at least) the general grade stuff sold in liquor store.

[hoot]

Bad link in original post about the blue tinge danger

https://ww.homedistiller.org/forum/view ... 33&t=16667" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=16667

Doesn't work with ww. or www. in it.