Home Distiller

My impatience got the best of me and I started running this wash at 11pm. It's now 1:30 and I've collected 140 ml foreshots, and 200 ml of 94%. I was running very slow (1 drop/second) so maybe I compressed the heads with the fores. I don't know, but it's gonna be a long night.

Got another 200ml of 94% now at 3 drops per second. I'm going to open it up a little more and see if I can maintain that abv.

Well Due51, Ya finished yet ? Let's see you started Saturday and it's Monday now should be about right at 3 drops a second. Should have some fine hearts if you could wait it out, let us know, that sounds awful slow.

OlympicMtDoo wrote:Well Due51, Ya finished yet ? Let's see you started Saturday and it's Monday now should be about right at 3 drops a second. Should have some fine hearts if you could wait it out, let us know, that sounds awful slow.

Yea, I finished. I shut it down at 3:30am and started back up at 10:30am. My last collection was about 3:30pm Sunday. I opened the take off a little more and got 6/7 drops per second while still keeping the temperature and ABV stable. I pulled out about 3000ml of 92-94% in 16 different mason jars (200 or 300 in each one). I didn't like the flavor/smell of jars 1-6. 7-12 are good. 13-15 went into a feints jug. I did a smell and taste test on every jar, starting in the middle, with 2.5ml of liquor and 3.75ml of water, swirled around, and spit it out.

Jars 7-12 are going to be diluted to 40%ABV and left as-is. Jars 1-6 are either going in the feints jug or I'll try flavoring them with something.

It was an eye-opening experience and am glad I did it. I hope to refine my skills and improve my technique and product as time goes by.

Sounds like you have made good cuts, I often take like maybe jars 4,5,6 and oak them for a month or so and they come out pretty nice.

OlympicMtDoo wrote:Sounds like you have made good cuts, I often take like maybe jars 4,5,6 and oak them for a month or so and they come out pretty nice.

I absolutely want to oak some. I just did a little research on making oak strips but I need to secure some oak strips first. Bass Pro shops sells a bag of oak chunks for smoking/bbqing. I could also go to the local lumber yard and see if they have any white oak scraps that I can split into strips, dry, then char.

Thanks Doo.

Look on ebay for charred white oak, it's where I get mine.

OlympicMtDoo wrote:Look on ebay for charred white oak, it's where I get mine.

I saw the guy on Ebay who sells a pound of hand cut and charred sticks for $20. However, I also noticed I can buy Jack Daniels smoking chips made from barrel staves for $5 at Bass Pro or Sears. I'm going to get a bag of those because I'm Mr. Impatient.

Due51 wrote:

OlympicMtDoo wrote:Look on ebay for charred white oak, it's where I get mine.

I saw the guy on Ebay who sells a pound of hand cut and charred sticks for $20. However, I also noticed I can buy Jack Daniels smoking chips made from barrel staves for $5 at Bass Pro or Sears. I'm going to get a bag of those because I'm Mr. Impatient.

Welp. This site never ceases to amaze. Just after typing the previous post, I stumble up a thread detailing premium oak sticks vs chips. Turns out the chips are too thin and won't provide the complex flavors necessary for good oaking.
Here's the thread... http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6597

You can also get the JD barrel "chunks" which are roughly 3.5" chunks of the barrel staves. I get these and split sticks from them. Some will say that the used barrel wood already had some of the tannins leached out by the previous alcohol so it is more mellow and not so easy to over oak. I don't claim to know the science behind it but it seemed to work well for me.

Hound Dog wrote:You can also get the JD barrel "chunks" which are roughly 3.5" chunks of the barrel staves. I get these and split sticks from them. Some will say that the used barrel wood already had some of the tannins leached out by the previous alcohol so it is more mellow and not so easy to over oak. I don't claim to know the science behind it but it seemed to work well for me.

I like the oak sticks that I get but I have noticed that I have to be careful not to over oak, it's all just a personal taste thing I think.

Finished my first half of my BW wash last night. I didn't realize that one of my 3 hydrometers was NOT an alcometer so I'll have one Thursday. But this stuff is clear as can possibly be, extremely neutral tasting but it is WAY too hot to even think about drinking. Just doing the shake test I get nice big bubbles and they are gone in like 2.5 seconds. But I have nothing to compare that to so I cant tell ya what it is. Its gonna air out til Thursday while I run the second half. Then once I can proof it I'll decide whether to throw it all back in and clean it up again before I knock the proof down. I was not expecting something this warm on a first try.

Those JD chips at about two handful per 1/2 gallon jar of 110-120 proof for 20 days comes out real nice. Give it a shake now and then. Blind taste tests with commercial brands I have 100% success rate at people choosing mine. Sometimes I throw a split vanilla bean in for about 4 days to give it a little diff flavor. I usually do ujsm or sweetfeed though save the birdwatchers for fire piss or other mixes.

Main question:
**I know he says to check it everyday but I am worried about checking it. I don't want to add any bacteria to it. I will probably open it up on day 2 and add some Epsom salt because I just read that he "modified" his recipe with Epsom salt. I am guessing there will be no harm in leaving it undisturbed most of the time... OR is stirring it really that important?

Thanks,

Joe

Superfluous info:

My wash experience so far if your bored and want to read it

I am trying Birdwatcher's sugar wash recipe:

{birdwatchers modified}
5 gal Water = 18 liters (22.5% of 80)
tomato paste (.5 cups) $.50
Juice lemons (.5 lemon) *A couple squirts $?
Approx. sugar (8 lbs) $4.00
PH: 4’ish?

Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast (3 packages) $1.50
Water (boiled)

Procedure:

-Mixed 8 lbs of sugar, 6 oz. tomato paste (probably only need 4 oz.) and a couple squirts of lime juice (no lemon in the fridge) in pre-boiled water approximately 180°F. (Birdwatcher says you are aiming for 1.09 specific gravity)

My specific gravity adjusted for temp was 1.075(OG)

Online calculator:
The online calculator says it should be 1.074(OG)
*Potential ABV% 11.3 with 0.989(FG)

Activated 1 package of yeast and added to mash (temp was 130°F *kind of high). Let it cool down and added a second package of yeast (temp was 120°F *Still high) Worried I killed my yeast, activated the last package of yeast and waited until the mash temp was 110°F before I added it.
Poured the mash back and forth from the stock pot to the fermenting bucket several times to mix, aerate and cool.

Placed lid on and twin bubble lock. Not much activity at first. About 5 hours later after it seemed to cool down the bubbles start going pretty good about every 10 seconds.

I duck taped a seed starter mat to the side of the bucket and wrapped the bucket in a blanket about 6 hours after pitching the yeast.

A little over 24 hours so far and it is bubbling about every 5 seconds or so.

I open mine regularly to check how it's bubbling away. This recipe seems really hearty compared to others I have done. I have never taken precautions, nor have I had a problem.

Also, I never stir or agitate it in any way and it has always run fine. I do use the tiniest amount of Epsom salts though.

Good luck. You should be fine.

Thanks for the reply

Scarfinger,

I would let your wash cool down to 90-95 degrees F before pitching your yeast. If you have aerated it well and it has proper nutrients for the yeast it will take off like crazy and generate a fair amount of heat even in an uninsulated bucket. At 120 degrees you are flirting with damage to the yeast and possible off flavors.

cheers
stilly

Stilly wrote:Scarfinger,

I would let your wash cool down to 90-95 degrees F before pitching your yeast. If you have aerated it well and it has proper nutrients for the yeast it will take off like crazy and generate a fair amount of heat even in an uninsulated bucket. At 120 degrees you are flirting with damage to the yeast and possible off flavors.

cheers
stilly

I didn't know it may give it off flavors.

I rushed it a little thinking it had cooled down more than it did. I will watch the temps better next time. This wash will be my first run and pretty much for a cleaning run after a vinegar run.

Just added a table spoon of Epsom salt and it foamed up very fast. Looking good so far

Thanks for the advice

I open and stir mine every day until it's about finished then I leave it alone so it will clear.

Re running my BW which was my first ever wash. Diluted and kept two quarts. Tastes good mixed but not so hot on its own. Had that BW Furst run through pot still taste some of you have told me about. This Re running is producing a great product. Collecting in 300ml increments. Filling jar 10 and still pulling 176 proof. Just tasting in on your finger it's great. Smooth too. Clean. Obviously you don't want it going down your throat at this proof.

wildernessmedic wrote:I love this recipe. Flavorless and tasteless near pure ethanol. If I love it so much is there a reason to try Wineos? What's the difference? This one seems a bit more simple.

WPOSW is more prone to have fermentation problems than Birdwatchers due to the chemical nutrient composition...

I ran my first run as well on Sunday in a stock pot.

5 gallons, 9.7% ABV

I got 3.5 quarts. One quart was 55%ABV. I ran it down to 20%ABV and decided to stop. I took 200ml cuts for practice. I think I am going to do 400ml cuts next time.

I added some of the cooked wash back in the new product. I honestly don't know the terms. By added it back into the new stuff it is maybe a sour wash/mash.

Oh well...onword

Cheers! I`ve made the BW twice, and I have a couple of questions.

The 1. time, I made a 25L batch, scaled down. 5kg sugar, used tomato purè, since I`ve never seen tomato paste in Norway. For the yeast, I used 60grams of dried bakers yeast. This worked well.

Next time, last summer, I made 150L, scaled up. 30kg sugar, tomato purè and lemmon (6pcs) and 450g fresh bakers yeast. This one stalled at 1.015 apx.

Now for my questions:
1. I`ve read that you shall multiply the doze of tomato paste by 3, IF you use tomato purè. This because of the water content in the purè. True or false?

2: When I used dried yeast, everything was rocking! When I used fresh, well. Slow, slow, stop. Here I wonder: is the receipt made by dried yeast? I read on the yeast pack that 12g of dried yeast = 50g fresh yeast. Whats your point of view regarding this? I will make 2x25L now next weekend or so. Wonder if I`m gonna try 1 with fresh yeast and 1 with dried, and if I`m gonna scale down the amount of dried yeast acc. to what I just wrote..

Shoot!

Ormlår wrote:Shoot!

This is a "tried and true" recipe. It has been honed very well, and works beautifully every time - as long as you follow the recipe.

If you deviate from the recipe (such as using fresh yeast, or tomato puree), you could be in uncharted waters. That said, I'm sure others have made the same changes to the recipe, and found solutions, so let's sit here and wait patiently.

I always thought fresh yeast to dried yeast was 3:1, not 4:1.

Finally, here is the calculator to help you work out the amounts... http://shuggo.com/birdwatchers/

I'm sipping on a glass of spirits I made from Birdwatchers about a month ago and I have to say, it tastes pretty darn good. This was my very first wash and distillation. Goes down smooth with just the slightest zing on the very first swallow. After that, it's easy going. I'm very pleased. Thanks for the recipe.

Undies wrote:I open mine regularly to check how it's bubbling away. This recipe seems really hearty compared to others I have done. I have never taken precautions, nor have I had a problem.

Also, I never stir or agitate it in any way and it has always run fine. I do use the tiniest amount of Epsom salts though.

Good luck. You should be fine.

What color is your wash near the end? More of a whiteish beige, or pinkish red?

dendog33 wrote:What color is your wash near the end? More of a whiteish beige, or pinkish red?

It's pinkish/red - closer to red, but I let it settle for a few days (or even a week) afterwards. It's still fairly red, but much clearer.

Undies wrote:

dendog33 wrote:What color is your wash near the end? More of a whiteish beige, or pinkish red?

It's pinkish/red - closer to red, but I let it settle for a few days (or even a week) afterwards. It's still fairly red, but much clearer.

That has been my experience as well, the latest wasn't stired after day 3 and didn't rack till day 6. When racked it was more whitish or beige. Smells fine and taste fine. Very little sweetness left and a bit sour... any ideas?

After 4 generations of UJSSM with a 5th in the fermenter that has turned out much better than I could have hoped for, a pretty good idea on cuts and how my CM runs, I figgered it's time for a BW run for a nice neutral. I'll also use get to use the Prairiepiss mods to the reflux system too. Up until now I've been using a packed tower and no reflux for starting ABVs of ~75%. Hopefully putting the reflux into operation will get me to my target of 90%+.
This is a 9 gallon batch following the recipe exactly for the scale. SG at 1.090 and temp at 92 degrees for start. A half hour in and the fermenter already has a foam cap on it. Should be a fun run!

tp

I've ran this recipe a number of times, it's always turned out fine. Like a good little distiller, I've been saving the heads and tails in a separate container for future use, and I've got nearly a gallon at this point (I work on a very small scale due to my constrained living situation). I've been thinking about using these for an apple pie recipe, but my question is: Should I dilute and re-run these "leftovers" before I add it to the apple pie recipe? Would it make the final product taste too strange if I did not re-run them?