Hi there from Kapiti

[jabba_gts]

Hi there,
Currently running a T500 ( a few years old) - mostly just Turbo washes to date and a couple of TPW recently.
Looking to move into "proper" brewing of whiskey, bourbon, moonshine, etc. Have a mate who wants to ferment a few barrels of "waste" plums - so kind of want to have a handle on distilling for lavour before we get there.
Trying to find power controller, extra column length, etc as next steps

[HDNB]

welcome in, you and another new member potin sue have that t-500 in common....maybe you'll be able to swap tips and tricks.

flavour is pretty simple, there is lots of advice here. basically what i found is water carries flavour, so the lower abv you distill at the stronger the flavours. i also found plum brandy lost it's flavour after being bottled for a couple years, so drink up when you make it! (like anyone here needs encouragement) LOL.

have some fun, ask questions in the threads you research. helps keep things semi-organized so people with similar Q's in the future can find info.

[JustinNZ]

Hey man. I’m also from the coast. Good luck out there. Let us know how your product turns out. There’s a thread called My First… and then some very specific product related ones too. I’ve made two plum Brandies - and one was drinkable! The riper the fruit the better. I recommend trying UJSSM and a SBB All Molasses Rum for a bit of experience - then maybe one of the all grain bourbon or whiskey recipes like North Carolina Bourbon. Good times.

[Wildcats]

Welcome to HD man. Have fun and stay safe.

[Bradster68]

Welcome and

[jabba_gts]

Not sure what is wrong - whether it is technique or expectation

There seems to be not much "good" product vs "feints" from the wash - and less of both than I was expecting.

For xmas the olds got me a chinese T-clamp modular setup - looks fancy but still figuring out its quirks. So far modules are 5 plate glass column, reflux condenser, themometer, gin basket, product condenser, parrot. Running a "total recovery" water system with a pre-cooling coil (in a chilly bin with water and a frozen coke bottle full of ice) and a post-reflux "PC Radiator" with a couple of fans. Works ok in "pot mode" with only passive reflux and a couple of plates installed. Reflux mode the water heats up heaps through the reflux condenser to the point where the cooling can't keep up.

The plum brandy I mentioned in into came to pass. Ended up with about 5 litres of Brnady from a 60ish litre wash (that did get sampled and some of it taken off as "plum wine").

I then tried an "Apple Brandy/Schnapps/Shine(?)" where used a few buckets of apples, some oats, some feijoas and sugar to build a 120 litre wash that started at 1.075 and ended at 0.996. So, overall, should have been somewhere in the region of 10% (10 litres of "alcohol"). Did 4 stripping runs of 22 litres each that ended up with around 20 litres total of "low wines" - finishing the runs when the parrot reported 20% and the thermometer on the column went up to 100 degrees (from 84-ish when higher abv coming out). Assumng that the fruit and porridge were the ingredients of the other 30-odd litres that didn't get distilled.

My first "spirit" runs (done in 2 parts with fresh apple chunks in a "boiler" in the T500) yeilded a total of around 6 litres of "hearts" to around 2.5 of "feints down to 40%" - but it tasted a bit rubbish. I went back around with the "hearts" and re-ran it slower, making smaller"cuts" and adding a few litres of "still cider" (failed second ferment for bubbles, but 5%ABV) and "cider enhancer" to the brew. I re-blended, and ended up with around 4.5 litres of 85% "hearts" and 3 x 2.25 coke bottles of "feints" (at around 70%). So overall - just over 8 l of "alcohol" instead of the expected 10. And more of it in the "yuk bucket" than in the "yay-booze" bottles.

Is that other people's experience, that the output of fruit / grain washes is lower than what you would expect, and that most of that is not worth keeping?

When doing "free fruit" runs, that isn't so bad, but if I get into actually buying grains and doing big washes then I will be having to justify the cost vs outcome - would be good to know if I am doing it wrong or if it is just how it goes.

[NZChris]

You possibly won’t get many replies because this thread is in the “Welcome Centre”.

Try starting a new thread.

[JustinNZ]

Hey man, I’m up in Paraparaumu working a couple of times a week if you wanted to have a chat about the hobby over a beer. Just send me a pm. No worries if not.