Home Distiller

Ran my neutral
4 x 28L strips at 10%
Resulting in 40L of low wines
Used 31L @ 39%
Low and slow to give 9.8L at 93%

Today is feints run

Also made grenadilla maceration

Bottling today the lemoncello, blueberry and some cornmeal and oats whiskey

Stripped my first batch of anything in a year, 25 gallons of oat whiskey using Angel yeast. Couldn't be easier!!! I have 3 packs left, will do 4 gens and a spirit run with some backset. Hopefully have a bunch to pass around by early October.

Spirit run on a 4 grain bourbon. This batch was done with micronised corn as the base grain. Very impressed with how easy it was to use.

Also kegged a batch of Munich style Dunkel for upcoming Oktoberfest do.

Stripped my first ever all-grain/corn mash after some laughs hanging the straining bag from a rafter. First half of a 50L batch. Smelled great, tasted great. Looked like the dog had spewed on the patio though.

Finally doing the second spirit run on a rum I started a while ago.

Next I need to make likker from 150#s of purple barley and 100#s of blue corn.

I may have gotten a little over excited down at the farm...

Also have 5 gallons of honey waiting to become a port style Mead. And 10 gallons of merlot juice to pick up soon. Going to be a lot of mashing, fermenting and distilling going on this fall and winter. I may need to take a break after that .

It has been a good weekend.

Saturday I ran a BWTP. First time I have run the still in over 3 years.
Had a couple of "bumps". Still trying to remember how to run the flute.

Today I ran Generation 1 of UJSSM, so I guess it was UJSM. I got Gen 2 started, it is a UJSSM, & it is bubbling away.

I did the laundry while I was runnin as well.
Only have to be about 10 feet from the still when at the Washer & Dryer. And I have FULL view if the still.
Can fold almost full load from dryer between jar changes.

hs9

Stripping a Rye fermented with Angel's magic yeast.
55% Rye, 40% Corn, 5% Malted Barley.
I'll be doing a Bourbon mashbill next, with some of the backset from this one.

Picked and wind-sifted and rinsed off this year's crop of Juniper berries.... I got 1.5Kg this time.

Ran an double batch oeg will go into 3L jar for aging
Bottled 2 x previous gins to make 4 bottles
Bottled 10 bottles lemoncello
Bottled 1 bottle grenadilla maceration
Decanted 3 bottles whiskey
Started another grenadilla maceration
Starting a beer

Made my first all peach brandy.fermented 5 gallon, strip then spirit run. Came off at about 75 %.Didn't really yield much? But it was my first all fruit. One small dominoe in each bottle split each and half and charred a small peice. Pears are next

Rrmuf wrote: ↑Fri Sep 16, 2022 3:15 am Picked and wind-sifted and rinsed off this year's crop of Juniper berries.... I got 1.5Kg this time.

Nice... Wish star anise were that readily available, as there seem to be a shortage of quality ones of late..

Mars

Bradster68 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:34 am Made my first all peach brandy.fermented 5 gallon, strip then spirit run. Came off at about 75 %.Didn't really yield much? But it was my first all fruit. One small dominoe in each bottle split each and half and charred a small peice. Pears are next

I was surprised at how low a yield I got from my pears and plums (for brandies).

CoogeeBoy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 3:04 pm

Bradster68 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:34 am Made my first all peach brandy.fermented 5 gallon, strip then spirit run. Came off at about 75 %.Didn't really yield much? But it was my first all fruit. One small dominoe in each bottle split each and half and charred a small peice. Pears are next

I was surprised at how low a yield I got from my pears and plums (for brandies).

My pears are on the way. I'll post my results as soon as I can.

CoogeeBoy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 3:04 pm I was surprised at how low a yield I got from my pears and plums (for brandies).

Taken from the site fairesagnole.fr (which is largely a French translation of an older version of the HD parent site) this is a list of the average yield of spirit at 52% for various fruits for 100kg of fruit.

Prune Ordinaire 8 l
Mirabelle 12 l
Reine Claude 10 l
Quetsch 10 l
Prunelle 8 l
Cerise 8 à 10 l
Poire 6 l
Pomme 6 l
Melon 10 l
Figue 10 l
Framboise 8 à 10 l
Groseille 8 à 10 l
Potiron-citrouille 8 l

Poire - pear
Pomme - apple
Framboise - raspberry
Cerise -- cherry

Milk and Honey.
A Baileys Irish Cream recipe from the net, but substituting white dog UJSSM and using honey to sweeten. Very nice.

NormandieStill wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 9:53 pm

CoogeeBoy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 3:04 pm I was surprised at how low a yield I got from my pears and plums (for brandies).

Taken from the site fairesagnole.fr (which is largely a French translation of an older version of the HD parent site) this is a list of the average yield of spirit at 52% for various fruits for 100kg of fruit.

Prune Ordinaire 8 l
Mirabelle 12 l
Reine Claude 10 l
Quetsch 10 l
Prunelle 8 l
Cerise 8 à 10 l
Poire 6 l
Pomme 6 l
Melon 10 l
Figue 10 l
Framboise 8 à 10 l
Groseille 8 à 10 l
Potiron-citrouille 8 l

Poire - pear
Pomme - apple
Framboise - raspberry
Cerise -- cherry

Nice

NormandieStill wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 9:53 pm

CoogeeBoy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 3:04 pm I was surprised at how low a yield I got from my pears and plums (for brandies).

Taken from the site fairesagnole.fr (which is largely a French translation of an older version of the HD parent site) this is a list of the average yield of spirit at 52% for various fruits for 100kg of fruit.

Prune Ordinaire 8 l
Mirabelle 12 l
Reine Claude 10 l
Quetsch 10 l
Prunelle 8 l
Cerise 8 à 10 l
Poire 6 l
Pomme 6 l
Melon 10 l
Figue 10 l
Framboise 8 à 10 l
Groseille 8 à 10 l
Potiron-citrouille 8 l

Poire - pear
Pomme - apple
Framboise - raspberry
Cerise -- cherry

Thank you, that is a big help. In my case, I just used chopped up pears and plums with pectinase then yeast so no chance of measuring SG or having any idea as to what yield the fruit would give me.

The key takeaway for me is that you have to get your fruit for free or next to nothing to make it worthwhile, well, other than the satisfaction of making your own product.

StillerBoy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:16 am

Rrmuf wrote: ↑Fri Sep 16, 2022 3:15 am Picked and wind-sifted and rinsed off this year's crop of Juniper berries.... I got 1.5Kg this time.

Nice... Wish star anise were that readily available, as there seem to be a shortage of quality ones of late..

Mars

....You're drinking the wrong stuff, my friend.

Slacking on here of late on account of the tapatalk version not working.... Been busy with finally completing a spirit run of whisky, to add to the previous one which will fill my 10 litre barrel. Said barrel has been soaking in sherry for about 3 weeks now. I will remove the sherry into a jar and soak some oak staves in it. Waste not want not.

I have also stripped a rum ferment made with molasses, some sugar and saison yeast, with a second ferment on the go.

Final selection of whisky cuts tonight with some assistance from the wife

A condenser!

And a batch of Artos V3 gin.

Stripped gen 3 of an oak whiskey, pitched yeast on gen 4. I had planned on doing 4 gens before the spirit run, but might go for 5 just to have a little to play with after I pass most of it around. I'm making it for my co-workers. Also ordered a SS 2" x 30" spool to replace a copper one I made. I have soldered and re-soldered that SOB about 5 times and it keeps giving out on me!

Mashed in my next batch of maize - oats - rye
135 L
120 l water
18.6 kg maize meal
9 kg oat meal
2.5 kg rye flour

Recruited 3 buddies to help with picking and pressing apples yesterday. Got 15 gal juice that is happily fermenting away. The yield was lower than in previous years (usually 30-40 gallons), and the SG was a bit lower than usual at 1.048.

An acquaintance started a cidery some years ago about 40 miles from me. I spoke to him the other day about buying some apple juice from him, and he is willing to sell it to me for $4.25 per gallon off the truck. I may pick up 15-20 gallons so I'll have enough to make a decent apple brandy run.

Roasted two cacao pods that grew in the creek and currently doing my best at conching with a mortar and pestle.
Edit:#hand-winnowed

Made another Bourbon. I'll master this if it kills me. Started at 10am.7lbs crushed corn added to 190 water.at 185 added my hte (first time using them and wow did it thin things out )
(I forgot I got a bag of PAN pre-cooked white corn meal I'll be trying next time as per advice from TB.)I held that temp for 7 hours before I got conversion.( seems long to me,but it converted).In another pot had my oats wheat and rye at 140 to 150 held each temp for a couple hours hoping for some good conversion this time.also added enzymes to that pot. When corn cooled to 150 I mixed them together. Total 23 litres of water then let sit another 6 hours till temp was about 80. ph was around 5 so I left it. my OG was 1.059.
Pitched some bakers and an hour later it going like gang busters. Also hung some eggshells in their hoping to maintain ph a little.
I'll be going twice through my pot if it works out this time

Last weekend. 10 gallons of Red Wheat Whiskey. Second variation, the first one has to be my favorite thing I've made. Heavy apple notes, but overall a light whiskey, I changed up the bill some, and went with different malters this time. Ran two stripping runs, need to do a spirit run next time I'm on the farm.



I know, people won't like the weight ontop of the lid, and my burner needs a good cleaning because it put a solid layer of soot on my boiler. First time it's done that, but honestly it's not a "problem" because I havent been able to run this burner on a low enough setting, as it needs to be, for a spirit run. Now, with whatever has happened, it can run low enough, that I don't want to "fix" it, until I see how the spirit run goes.

Some homemade hardcider mixed with a splash of some free elderflower syrup.
A change from the usual blackberry syrup.

3 bottles of Odins Gin and now stripping Salty’s Molasses Rum

46 litres red wine. Luv the toasted brandy

BlueSasquatch wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 6:45 am Last weekend. 10 gallons of Red Wheat Whiskey... Ran two stripping runs, need to do a spirit run next time I'm on the farm.

Sounds yummy. Looking forward to your spirit run report with details. Great rig, btw.