I just recently tried my first distilling adventure and it was a complete flop. My mash consisted of 8.5 lbs of cracked corn and 2 lbs of malted light barley and 5 gallons of water and 2 tablespoons of distillers yeast . I heated the mixture to 175deg and shut it down and added the yeast like the book recipe I read. I sealed it and put a vapor lock in the pot. It bubbled nicely for about three days making sure to stir and aerat a few times. The out gassing slowed to a stop and I just let it sit for a few more days. The grains had settled to the bottom and left a clear layer of fluid. The hygrometer read 0. I figured it was done fermenting so I distilled it. The temperature got up to about 210 deg and started distilling. I reduced the heat, but it still required me to keep it at 205 - 210 deg in order to get a steady drip. I threw out the first pint and ended up with 8 quart jars. I did have difficulty keeping the coils cool and often they got too hot to touch. I was using a circulating pump in a 5 gal bucket of cold water, but had to keep replacing that water because it got hot. Anyway, the first quart tested at 75% alcohol on the hygrometer, all the other 7 jars tested at 0.
Where did I go wrong?
No alcohol in my distillate
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