Home Distiller

I wasn't sure where to post this so please don't have a fit if you would have placed this somewhere else.

I have a few questions about leftovers from the fermenting and distilling process. I’m not sure if I’m using the right name or terms to call these things as I’m not in any moonshine ring, clan or gang so I don’t know a lot of the lingo and slang that makes the hipster in us all smile … but I will try to explain what I’m referring to and perhaps you can do your best not to fly off the flame handle and just mention what the correct term is if I miss it and refrain from comments about tea bagging my mom …

Ok so my first question … I’m fermenting basic washes in a 6.5 gallon bucket (multiple buckets to be precise … please don’t flame me if you think the correct size bucket to use is 6.6 gallons or 18.32 gallons or whatever it is) and when I rack it after putting in some cleaner stuff and letting it sit to clear, I get about 6 gallons for distillation, the last half gallon has a lot of particulate matter, dead yeast, etc (please don’t flame me if I let yeast die off in the fermentation process or don’t have some kind of yeast resuscitation chamber) … what is this fermentation remains good for? Do the old timers use it as fertilizer? Do you use it to make vitamin pellets for livestock? I’m just curious if there is any use for it other than dumping it out.

Ok second question … after all the distillation takes place and the wash has been distilled 2 or 3 times to get it to the 180-190 proof I like, I usually end up with distillation remnants that has been distilled many times (after collection, distillation, collection, etc) and cut many times. So my first distillation will yield 1 QT of 120 proof (tastes nice) and the stuff left in the pot (I call distillation remnants) is about 80 proof (it isn't very good tasting however). I save off both batches and keep distilling until I have 2 distinct batches one 120 and one 80. I then distill the 120 proof to get about 160 (tastes even better) … collect all the 160 runs and throw the distillation remnants back in with the 80 batch … I then run the 160 to get 180 or so and collect that … that is my keeper (I filter it 2-3 times and it is nice a smooth). I keep distilling the distillation remnants until I have run it all off to the 180 keeper. This eventually leaves me with a few gallons of 40-50 proof (watery not very good tasting) alcohol liquid that distilling to get to 180 just isn’t worth it as the volume is so low. What do you guys do with that leftover, no longer want to distill, distillation remnants? Again … please don’t go apes in flame thrower mode if you distill 2.6 times and get a 184.34325 proof or I used a wrong word or you’re just mad at the world. Simple clean answers would be great for what you do with the leftover bits and such. Thanks for those who help.

A little paranoid, aren't we (or sarcastic)?

Trub can be used in compost or whatever you feel led to do with it. Many times I rinse grains and feed it to my chickens.

Backset gets unceremoniously dumped out back somewhere.

tp

T-Pee wrote:Trub can be used in compost or whatever you feel led to do with it. Many times I rinse grains and feed it to my chickens.

Backset gets unceremoniously dumped out back somewhere.

tp

My Chicken's LOVE that stuff. I just throw it in the grass as scratch feed.

Trub and backsets ... I knew there were specific names for the stuff ... you shinners nickname everything.

My Trub can be 12-18% alcohol ... just wicked yucky ... does it get your chickens drunk? Because if it did that would be amazing and I would actually have to go buy chickens.

I dump everything in the back yard. Most times it's gone by the next day. Deer, squirrels, and other wildlife love this stuff (even un-rinsed). In fact, I had a bucket with a thick layer of corn and yeast in the bottom that some squirrels chewed their way into through the lid to get at... and completely cleaned it out. They must have been farting up a storm.

ac_rhino_lfl wrote:My Trub can be 12-18% alcohol ... just wicked yucky ... does it get your chickens drunk? Because if it did that would be amazing and I would actually have to go buy chickens.

Naw. I rinse it. SWMBO gets annoyed enough when I get hammered much less getting her chickens tipsy.

tp (now curious though)

We don't rinse it or anything, just dump it out in the yard...we end up with some pretty loaded deer that evening and there's not even a stain on the ground where we dumped it out the next day...I wondered why we have so many in the yard the days we distill...

I throw the lees in the composter or throw out to the chickens an goats. (Never even thought of the drunk farm animals concept... Gotta check that out... And the dunder gets partly used with my thumper runs or sometimes spirit runs, and the rest gets tossed in the grass.

I feed the grains to the catfish in the local pond and pour the remaining backset out into the woods as it has killed my grass before but probably because it was still hot. By the way, the catfish put on a show after a good "buzz" feeding when followed up with float feed! Kinda a show of appreciation I guess.
Ga Flatwoods

I feed the grains to the critters in the back yard, save a gallon or 2 of backset for future use and pour the rest down the sump.

ac_rhino_lfl wrote:Trub and backsets ... I knew there were specific names for the stuff ... you shinners nickname everything.

My Trub can be 12-18% alcohol ... just wicked yucky ... does it get your chickens drunk? Because if it did that would be amazing and I would actually have to go buy chickens.

Ok so this may be construed as flaming. But damn.

There is a good glossary of terms in the must read new distiller reading lounge. That many would consider mandatory reading. You must have missed that memo.

Trub is 18% ABV. You will find most around here don't recommend fermenting above 14% potential abv. For distilling. 10% to 12% would be better. And personaly I think 8% is the best.

Now what is left in the fermenter. This is many times referred to as trub, and or grain bed, All depends on what your fermenting. This trub and or grain bed can be used for many things. Again depending on what you are making? You can use it to start another generation. By adding more liquid and sugar. See UJSSM recipes in the tried and true recipes section. Another must read section. You can pour it out in the garden, compost pile, hog pen, chicken coop, or the toilet. You could use the dead yeast as a nutritional supplement. Google brewers yeast. It's dead yeast sold to health nuts.

The stuff left in the boiler after the first run is called backset for most everything except rum. Rum backset is called dunder. This stuff is usually tossed out in one way or another. But if making a whiskey or a whiskey sugarhead. A portion or the backset can be added to the next batch. To make a sour mash. Usually around 25% backset is used. Same goes for rum. But many used aged dunder. Search for dunder pits.

Now that you have some good tools. Use them to learn what you need to. The search functions work really good. If you can't figure out how to best utilize the HD search function. Use the HD Google search tool. All your answers can be found using all these tools. Thats if you want to.

.

...and don't go around pronouncing "trub" like it rhymes with tub, or rub. Say the word "true" and add a "b" to the end.

Otherwise, the guys at the local home brew store will roll their eyes, nod knowingly amongst themselves, peg you for a n00b (rhymes with trub ), .....and then foist a bunch of Turbo Yeast and a carbon filter on you, just to bump up their profit margin!

After making this year's brandy, I put everything back in the fermenter with water and sugar and made the best grappa I have ever tasted. After that, the trub and backset went into the compost and will end up back under the vines it came from.

Grains go out on the lawn one scoop at a time and keep birds happy for weeks.

Backset, dunder and whey go into the compost and get spread under the bananas, or the lawn. Hot backset is good for killing weeds.

The only sure fire way to not get flamed on this site for questions such as this is to answer them yourself by doing the reading we expect of you.

If you spent less time worrying about the inevitable flaming and more time doing the MOST basic of research you could be here asking intelligent questions that would garner no flaming.

Trub, backset, dunder. These are not nicknames. Just names so we do not have to call it all "leftover stuff". Time in the Distiller's Lounge would have told you that.

Leftover Stuff?