Home Distiller

MichiganCornhusker wrote:I definitely find multiple passed are better than trying to stress the grinder and drill.
I can do passes fast enough and I tighten the plates in 1/4 turn increments.

A 5 gallon pail makes a fine hopper and holds about 25# grain.

MCH, you sound to be pretty well versed in the art of malting and grinding, Sir. Is your Corona mill right out of the box or have you done some tricks to it ?
Thanks .

TB: I bought these......
Havent looked back since!

http://www.nazko.com/corona_stone_kit.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

rgreen2002 wrote:TB: I bought these......

corona_stones.jpg

Havent looked back since!

http://www.nazko.com/corona_stone_kit.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I was going to contact you about that . Thanks for beating me to the punch .
Are you hand cranking or drill powering ?
We did some modest mods to our mill that we got for $50 with S/H . It's already paid for itself in flour ground corn that's converting extremely well . 3 grinds on whole kernel corn to coarse flour . 50# in about
40-45 minutes .
When the metal burrs fail they go to my machine shop hospital . Bore the frame for a brass bushing and turn the auger shaft and fit to the bushing as well as fresh the burrs on my mill . Or, just spend another $50 on a new mill because that will be cheaper and give us more time to make whisky .

Truckinbutch wrote: Are you hand cranking or drill powering ?
We did some modest mods to our mill that we got for $50 with S/H . It's already paid for itself in flour ground corn that's converting extremely well . 3 grinds on whole kernel corn to coarse flour . 50# in about
40-45 minutes .
When the metal burrs fail they go to my machine shop hospital . Bore the frame for a brass bushing and turn the auger shaft and fit to the bushing as well as fresh the burrs on my mill . Or, just spend another $50 on a new mill because that will be cheaper and give us more time to make whisky .

Drill power all the way... Same as in my corona mod build: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 34&t=62516
Originally i used both the auger and the mill piece... that was pure flour. It took a long time though so now I use the flat mill piece and the original corona auger. It allows the drill to grind faster with very good results... not quite flour....but darn close. I just finished 50# corn a few weeks ago... probably about 25-30 minutes...one pass. I wish I had a pic for ya to compare grind to crack! I would buy them again!

Today was one of those cluster fucks that started out with good intentions . We went to the still house with intentions of starting a new mash while we racked the last ferment . Got the mash boiler set up and kicked in the mixer . 23 gallons of water and 50# of flour ground corn . I lit the burner in a 58 degree shop and 3 minutes in to the cook the propane regulator froze to the point that all it was making was carbon monoxide . At my behest , SRD ran upstairs and snatched SOH's blow drier for a quick fix to the frozen regulator . That lasted about 30 minutes . Score -1 for me on SOH's hero list . I got to go to WallyWorld first thing in the morning to replace that . The electric room heater from my 'Man Corner' that SRD carried down the second trip worked better to keep the burner steady . That left SRD to racking and straining alone as I babysat the reluctant mash boiler .
Moving the speed controller and temp probe to my location to continue mashing I knocked the digital readout for the temp probe into the water bath the propane tank lives in .
Those devilish devices have less affinity for water than a house cat !
So that's why a BBQ temp probe is also on my early morning WallyWorld SOH shopping list . She get's so damned picky .............
I had to go to TSC for propane anyhow ..............
Anyhow , SRD got the last barrel racked and strained down to that really fine shit . We had put 2 5 gallon buckets of fine ground mash in this ferment . +/- 50# . The coarse strain in a paint strainer in a mop bucket recovered less than 5 gallons of pressed out grains . We'd racked off 11 gallons of clear liquid for a boiler charge .
This milky stuff from the pressings settles in a day . We been trying to strain all that out . Takes a lot of time and effort . I think that tomorrow I'm going to dump it all in the thumper to steam distill . There are no big lumps that can plug a drain line .
We'll see what we get from that strip .
Sunday I'm going to spirit run the first 2 strip runs of AG . About 5 1/4 gallons and SRD and I will thy to blend that on Monday .

rgreen2002 wrote:

Truckinbutch wrote: Are you hand cranking or drill powering ?
We did some modest mods to our mill that we got for $50 with S/H . It's already paid for itself in flour ground corn that's converting extremely well . 3 grinds on whole kernel corn to coarse flour . 50# in about
40-45 minutes .
When the metal burrs fail they go to my machine shop hospital . Bore the frame for a brass bushing and turn the auger shaft and fit to the bushing as well as fresh the burrs on my mill . Or, just spend another $50 on a new mill because that will be cheaper and give us more time to make whisky .

Drill power all the way... Same as in my corona mod build: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 34&t=62516
Originally i used both the auger and the mill piece... that was pure flour. It took a long time though so now I use the flat mill piece and the original corona auger. It allows the drill to grind faster with very good results... not quite flour....but darn close. I just finished 50# corn a few weeks ago... probably about 25-30 minutes...one pass. I wish I had a pic for ya to compare grind to crack! I would buy them again!

I'm impressed . haven't opened the links yet . Finding a better pony is critical to winning polo matches .

Blarney Stoned wrote:MCH, you sound to be pretty well versed in the art of malting and grinding, Sir. Is your Corona mill right out of the box or have you done some tricks to it ?

No tricks, really. Standard Corona, standard plates.
I did remove the crank handle and put in a hex bolt that I can run with a drill motor.
I do occasionally break off the head of the bolt and need to replace it, but the mill has held up amazingly well.

I also attached a 5 gallon bucket to the top as a hopper with a small conical insert to guide all the grain to the grinder.

Other than that I just have it clamped to a sturdy table with a hole in it under the grinder for the grains to fall into a collection bucket.
25# in under 3 minutes per pass. Has been working great for years, corn, barley, rice, rye....

Thanks. Not always necessary to reinvent the wheel but it can be fun. I'll order a Corona .

Blarney Stoned wrote:Thanks. Not always necessary to reinvent the wheel but it can be fun. I'll order a Corona .

You won't be disappointed unless you hand crank it .

Truckinbutch wrote:Today was one of those cluster fucks that started out with good intentions . We went to the still house with intentions of starting a new mash while we racked the last ferment . Got the mash boiler set up and kicked in the mixer . 23 gallons of water and 50# of flour ground corn . I lit the burner in a 58 degree shop and 3 minutes in to the cook the propane regulator froze to the point that all it was making was carbon monoxide . At my behest , SRD ran upstairs and snatched SOH's blow drier for a quick fix to the frozen regulator . That lasted about 30 minutes . Score -1 for me on SOH's hero list . I got to go to WallyWorld first thing in the morning to replace that . The electric room heater from my 'Man Corner' that SRD carried down the second trip worked better to keep the burner steady . That left SRD to racking and straining alone as I babysat the reluctant mash boiler .
Moving the speed controller and temp probe to my location to continue mashing I knocked the digital readout for the temp probe into the water bath the propane tank lives in .
Those devilish devices have less affinity for water than a house cat !
So that's why a BBQ temp probe is also on my early morning WallyWorld SOH shopping list . She get's so damned picky .............
I had to go to TSC for propane anyhow ..............
Anyhow , SRD got the last barrel racked and strained down to that really fine shit . We had put 2 5 gallon buckets of fine ground mash in this ferment . +/- 50# . The coarse strain in a paint strainer in a mop bucket recovered less than 5 gallons of pressed out grains . We'd racked off 11 gallons of clear liquid for a boiler charge .
This milky stuff from the pressings settles in a day . We been trying to strain all that out . Takes a lot of time and effort . I think that tomorrow I'm going to dump it all in the thumper to steam distill . There are no big lumps that can plug a drain line .
We'll see what we get from that strip .
Sunday I'm going to spirit run the first 2 strip runs of AG . About 5 1/4 gallons and SRD and I will thy to blend that on Monday .

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Wore out . 11 hour day at the still house . Got started late due to WallyWorld shopping . Finished cooking in low temp enzyme on the last mash and left it stirring to drop the temp while I got the boiler and thumper loaded with the last mash .
Charged the boiler with 12 gallons of clear mash and loaded the thumper with the remaining 6 gallons of 'corn custard' . Since this was all an experimental strip run I decided to take a page out of Rad's book of suggestions and actually do a strip run .
Cranked the 60k btu burner wide open and sat back until the thumper started playin it's music . When the first drips started is where the game changed . I ysually cut the fire back and balance it with water flow to maintain the temperature gradient in the condenser and a steady product flow .
Today , I left the burner alone wide open . Once the gradient was established I just increased water flow to match the increasing product output and climbing temperatures and changed jars .
Than you , Rad . Wish I had applied your advice earlier . Same for MCH on running 'dirty'.
Collected low wines at a rate of one gallon every 52 minutes for a total of 3 1/2 gallons down to 20% . Used between 35 and 40 gallons of water . A higher btu burner would have cut the time even more . Had lots of throttle room left on the condenser to handle more output .
I drained the boiler and thumper as soon as I shut down . All the dirty shit was still in suspension . Had I waited until morning I would have had 'corncrete'(as Jed termed it) imbeded in the boiler and thumper .

Truckinbutch wrote: You won't be disappointed unless you hand crank it .

Our small mill will custom grind but I've not asked if they will grind down to flour. Either way it sounds like great day in the shed as I've been receiving requests for corn likker for many years. Just got hung up on what you guys refer to as UJ.

How many gallons of low wines are yall up to now?

BayouShine wrote:How many gallons of low wines are yall up to now?

10 +/- with 2 mashes fermenting . Gonna spirit run 6 gallons tomorrow and blend Monday .

At this pace, you and SRD are going to fill those Gibbs barrels in no time.

BayouShine wrote:At this pace, you and SRD are going to fill those Gibbs barrels in no time.

these are just strip runs . At max expected spirit recovery of 40% it will take a while . Don't forget that we also have our maintenance requirements to meet as well . That can cut into the barrel stock .
We are only pushing this hard to try and have something for show and tell at S3 17 .

Singling on a simple pot prolly be more like 30% if ya lucky with tails and a bit of backins in there.

This is a great thread . It's nice having a stillin' partner. SCD and I have our adventures making beer and whisky as well and, I've gotta say, it's helped me immensely. My next steps are, thumper build, some kind of reflux head and, all grain. Tho, we made beer yesterday and I swiped the grains for a easy sugarhead - can't beat t.

thecroweater wrote:Singling on a simple pot prolly be more like 30% if ya lucky with tails and a bit of backins in there.

+1. I take my 45 gallon ferment down to 9 gallons of low wines, and take that down to about 1.5 to 2 gallons of keeps, cask strength. So, I keep about 20% of low wines. But I'm a tight bastard.

panikry83 wrote:This is a great thread . It's nice having a stillin' partner. SCD and I make our adventures th beer and whisky as well and, I've gotta say, it's helped me immensely. My next steps are, thumper build, some kind of reflux head and, all grain. Tho, we made beer yesterday and I swiped the grains for a easy sugarhead - can't beat t.

Really nice to have someone watching your back.

"Shit, i forgot to..."

..."Done." Boom.

And makes the day more of an adventure, not just a task.

Well , I spirit ran that 3 1/2 gallon dirty run a couple of days back and aired it for about 30 hours . Capped it off then until SRD could get here to share blending . 39 half pints down to 20% .
We blended 5 liters and enough extra to get me stupid tonight at 70% .
We took turns kicking each other's asses for not listening to good advice and starting all grain a year ago .
It's a whole nother world concerning taste and smoothness . Even SOH remarked about how smooth this 2 day old white dog is .
Since we are spending so much time together we are making identical shops and are following the same protocol . Something unexpected comes up at one shop ; the other guy could step right in and finish whatever part of a run that needs to be addressed .
Tomorrow I'm running low wines that we filtered to the max . We will do blending and comparisons on Monday .
I close my eyes at night and dream of malted and mixed grains in our near future .

Well you guys have got me in a experimenting mode. I ordered a 100 pounds of corn from the feed store on Tuesday and it is supposed to be in this weekend. It is already fine ground. I have used fine cracked and steam rolled corn before but this will be something new,. Anxious to see what it looks like. Also have some malted barley and malted red wheat coming .

Truckinbutch wrote:I close my eyes at night and dream of malted and mixed grains in our near future .

If yall are having this much fun with just corn, you're going to flip when you start adding malts and mixing flavors. The possibilities are almost endless.

BayouShine wrote:

Truckinbutch wrote:I close my eyes at night and dream of malted and mixed grains in our near future .

If yall are having this much fun with just corn, you're going to flip when you start adding malts and mixing flavors. The possibilities are almost endless.

My wife would tell you that we do not need encouragement But , what does she know .....................................

SRD was at TBs @ 0900hrs when he called this morning. THAT'S freaking hardcore but then I'm retired.

No alarm clock required .

Didn't get jack done at my shop today . Company all day that has no 'need to know' about what goes on in my shop . SRD and I built him a new condenser to match mine a few days back . He used it for the first time today on a strip run and called me to bitch about it .
Seems that he had planned to hide from his wife for the whole day in the shop strip running . Worked himself out of that job in less than 3 hours . He's happy and it's his story . I'll let him tell it .
I'll try to get that spirit run finished tomorrow . Got 2 more mashes that are going to need attention this coming week .

Did the spirit run today . Impressive to say the least .
Won't bore you with all of it . 6 1/2 gallons of strip that had an abv of 45% cut to 30% and a few feints thrown in . 2-3 gallons of water in the thumper . Past the 2 1/2 gallon mark collecting in halfpints I sampled a jar at 65% .
Damn ! Sweetness and buttered corn flavor
I never hit that mark before .
First spirit run we made wasn't so good .
We kinda fell off on the blending . Got too deep in the tails . We'll do better on this one .
It's much harder to blend a good drop than it is to still it .

We gonna blend tomorrow and get going on another run . Today was kinda fucked because TB was out of propane and there was a 2 hour early school dismissal for both of us .
Restocked and reloaded and ready for tomorrow . Them younguns got to pull a full shift tomorrow

Good skill with the blending tomorrow.

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Blending went great today . Got 2 gallons and a house bottle at 73% .
That first run got turned into blackberry . A cook covers mistakes with gravy . We use flavorings .