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Got this new at a local auction for 55 USD[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202104 ... 4d9e03.jpg[/IMG]

I got a 16gallon brewers beast pot on sale

Two for 16 dollars

Founds a source for juice concentrates, direct from the farms apparently, with no preservatives in them. They're being sold for ZAR12 per kg, which is under USD1 for over 1lbs of the concentrate. It's a 'bring your own container" type deal but not far from my office, so I'm going to be grabbing a bucket and paying them a visit. They've got a few good flavours like mango and apricot I'd love to give a shot to turn into a nice brandy.

Lately I have been raiding the bottle dumpster near my work hopping to get enough liquor bottles to put my apple brandy in and enough beer bottles for Christmas cider. I figure I need enough for 10-15 gallons which is actually a lot of bottles. The other day when I looked in the dumpster I discovered someone had thrown away 5 cases of beer bottles. Then I picked them up and discovered that they were unopened

So now I have 121 slightly out of date 12oz bottles of IPA which I need to empty. I tasted it and absolutely hate the stuff...but I was always taught not to be wasteful so... ...

cranky wrote: ↑Tue Jun 08, 2021 4:11 pm Lately I have been raiding the bottle dumpster near my work hopping to get enough liquor bottles to put my apple brandy in and enough beer bottles for Christmas cider. I figure I need enough for 10-15 gallons which is actually a lot of bottles. The other day when I looked in the dumpster I discovered someone had thrown away 5 cases of beer bottles.
FREE BEER #4A - C.jpg
Then I picked them up and discovered that they were unopened

So now I have 121 slightly out of date 12oz bottles of IPA which I need to empty. I tasted it and absolutely hate the stuff...but I was always taught not to be wasteful so... ...

I bet that would taste just as bad distilled. Not sure Id even want to try distilling an IPA.

Got an aquaintance with pigs?

Or an acquaintance who is a pig?

I can taste the good in it, it's just overpowering but it smells nice, almost like a gin. I think it could actually make a decent whiskey, I just don't know if I want to go through the trouble of cleaning the still afterwards. The main thing is the bottles. 12oz bottles are $15 a case (24) locally and for 15 gallons I need 160 bottles with these cases and the 20 or so bottles I got last week that's 140 bottles which along with the 12 or so 22oz bottles in the shed it should be enough to hand out plenty of Christmas Cheer when the time comes. It's also a savings of $90. Of course then there is the 10 gallons of the pink stuff that will also need bottled so that is another 106 little bottles or 58 large ones. I have been finding a lot of Champaign bottles as well but they tend to be a little more of a pain to deal with.

Of course then I have to talk Mrs Cranky into cleaning and de-labeling all those bottles but that woman is a saint...Have you ever been hit with a bunch of beads?

Are hops hard to get cleared out of your still?

I’ve run (expired) IPA’s through my potstill many times and I’ve found it not too difficult to clean the stillhead. But, the hop oils do carry over somewhat to the distillate making it unpleasantly hoppy (“unhappy hoppy”?).

Go ahead and run it Cranky. And rinse your still good after the run. The foreshots from a follow on run will finish cleaning out your stillhead and product condenser. After stripping the beer, I found that a 2nd distillation through the reflux condenser cleaned it up significantly (acceptably???).

It would work for making a gin, although I didn’t care for a salvaged IPA as a spirit base for a whiskey. Other “hop heads” may like it a lot, but it isn’t my preference.

I’ve run a lot of “salvage beers”, and the Bud Light / Miller Lite do give the most “neutral tasting” distillate although they are both low alcohol beers: only 3 to 4% ABV, regardless that their package says, “not to exceed 6%”. The distillate yield is quite low….but it is better than dumping it down the drain.
ss

p.s. to add - The empty bottles can be cleaned in the dishwasher for your brandy. Scrape the labels off first. Then wipe the glue off using a soft cloth soaked with lacquer thinner (be sure to do this in a well ventilated area tho). The bottles will be clean on the outside. Then, put them into the dishwasher for a good wash. If you dry them in the dishwasher with the heater, they’ll be ready to use.

I’ve done this with many, many cases of beer bottles.

If oils carry over would it be worth letting the beer stand in a container for a short while then draw off the liquid from below the top?
Before distillation of course.
Even with a bit of hot water with it to encourage the oils to rise??

Geoff

The Baker wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:20 am If oils carry over would it be worth letting the beer stand in a container for a short while then draw off the liquid from below the top?

Geoff

I don't how much hop oils reside in IPA's, but the oils from tails in my strips are easy to remove. I collect my low wines in a carboy carboy to 1" from the top and after all the oils have naturally risen to the surface use a paper towel to soak them all up. Use whatever container fits your volume.

Seattle area barrel deals: 5 and 15 gallon

I cross posted this under the Resources topic, but I thought I'd spread the word.

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... =6&t=83662

Best price I could find on:

Sugar (granulated table): 50 lb bag for $22 at WinCo in the Seattle area. 50% less than Costco.

Wheat Germ: 50 lb. bag for $23 at WinCo in the Seattle area. Cheapest I could find elsewhere was from Canada, listed on ebay. Cost was $100 a bag delivered.

I found and bought two 55 gallon white used food grade barrels for $30 each. They are all out of them now, but will have more in stock later next week.

Before I bought them, I told them I needed them for drinking water. I was assured that they are safe, and nothing toxic was stored in them.

After buying the last two white ones, I cut the tops off and rinsed them out really good, and currently have them baking in the sun for the next few days just to be safe.

I don’t trust anyone that I don’t know.

Before rising them, I smelled the inside of the them, and they smelled fine Again, just want to be safe.

I was told they came from a water treatment plant.

Anyway, they’re the least expensive I could find.

I wouldn't bake plastic in the sun, wash it, then come back with star-san and rinse it, then let it dry in the shade maybe, but UV exposure to plastics of any kind, should be avoided, IMO.

BlueSasquatch wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:44 am I wouldn't bake plastic in the sun, wash it, then come back with star-san and rinse it, then let it dry in the shade maybe, but UV exposure to plastics of any kind, should be avoided, IMO.

I have half of a blue barrel covering/protecting a pump outside 24-7 for 20+ years now.

might replace it someday if I see deterioration.

Broken Jug wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:34 am I found and bought two 55 gallon white used food grade barrels for $30 each. They are all out of them now, but will have more in stock later next week.

Before I bought them, I told them I needed them for drinking water. I was assured that they are safe, and nothing toxic was stored in them.

After buying the last two white ones, I cut the tops off and rinsed them out really good, and currently have them baking in the sun for the next few days just to be safe.

I don’t trust anyone that I don’t know.

Before rising them, I smelled the inside of the them, and they smelled fine Again, just want to be safe.

I was told they came from a water treatment plant.

Anyway, they’re the least expensive I could find.

Just be careful. The place I buy from will only sale food grade to the public. And the stickers from shipping are still on them. I guess more importantly its legible and a recent date. I buy the same white or blue HDPE barrels for 15.00 contained vinegar. Threaded top barrels (pickle barrels) with a top are 20.00, great for grain storage. No top pickle barrels are 5.00, and labels are usually pickles or jalapeños.

I bought a 275 gallon ibc tote that had cooking oil in it for 75.00. Guy on Craigslist sells them for a dollar a gallon, ridiculous.

Moral of the story. The longer a barrel sits empty, the greater the likelihood somebody is going to put a non food grade something in them.

Thank you SmokyMtn,

I greatly appreciate your concern. If I have any doubts, I won’t use them.


That’s awesome you can get used ones that had pickles in them for $15!
Unfortunately where I live, I have very limited access.

The nearest town to me is ~14 miles, and the city that’s closest to me, is ~45 miles. What I call a city, people back east would call it a big town instead.

Until I found the barrels mentioned above, I searched everywhere. Everything I found ether new or used cost more to ship it then the cost of the barrel.

Thank you again for the warning/concern. I be safe.

Coke Zero can for reference. There's a pop-up store up here that has bins full of Amazon returns.....a huge pile of junk, and some hidden gems. Today I found a gem....and Monday's are $6 CAD/ item, so that's what.....$1.25 USD?

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Have been slowly collecting the parts to built a plate stirrer and found this one and a 2L flask on Craigslist for $20.
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Nice score Twisted!

So I have been searching Amazon, and I can't seem to find my latest buy posted above. Just curious as to what it is from:
So two fittings in the top, silicone gasket, and some kind of valve inside the cover going to one of the fittings. Gin basket? Essential oils? Something completely unrelated?

Have forgotten where to buy Amylase enzymes on pints or quarts…anyone know of a source?

BoomTown wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 8:23 am Have forgotten where to buy Amylase enzymes on pints or quarts…anyone know of a source?

I get mine from ferm solutions

Ha ha ha ha.....I just figured out where my milk can contraption from Amazon is used. And yes, it IS a milk can. lol

Just got 2500 ft of 8 to 14 ft (6" to 12+" wide) and approximately 1 and 5/8 inch thick barn lumber, mix of white and red oak all band saw run for $500. Should finish up the inside of my shop. Plus make some nice tables.

Oh my!

【Silicone Inner lining】Inner the silicone lining, food grade silicone lining, healthy environmental protection, non-toxic and tasteless, soft and comfortable, has a certain massage effect on cow and sheep, so that they are squeezed out under comfortable conditions.
【High Efficiency】Equipped with high-power speed-regulating vacuum pump and adjustable power switch, the power can be adjusted according to the different thickness of cow and sheep's milk eye, to protect the breast. Milk stops automatically when it is full, saving time and effort, with vent hole, convenient for heat dissipation.

Scored this for free last week. Saw it lying around the job site. Asked the HVAC foreman if he would mind if I took it off his hands and he said he wouldn’t. Ask and you shall receive. The Finns were in worse shape at the time but he kicked in a Finn comb and I skipped around giddy as hell the rest of the day.

Walked into work this morning and one of the guys told me he had something for me and gave me this Which is over 16 lbs of cherries But I had to return the pot