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Home Distillation Tips

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@casualtorture
casualtorture started a discussion

I recently got some distillation equipment and am looking at trying my hand at home distillation. Do any of you have any experience/tips? So far my plan is a 100% cracked corn mash with 48hr turbo yeast. If I start increasing yield, Jack Daniels will sell me some empty barrels. (I assume some of you may not legally be able to do this but in Tennessee we’re pretty lax on home distillation laws.) I watched a few instructional videos on Youtube and it seems pretty straight forward.

4 years ago

13 replies

@Hewie
Hewie replied

I made a small pot still with a copper worm condenser once. Made some fantastic triple distilled white rum with it. Why are you thinking of using thre turbo yeast? My understanding is that it is used to create higher ABV in the wash specifically for column stills making neutral spirit. I used bakers yeast for a bit more flavour but lots of ale yeasts to choose from too.

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@casualtorture

@Hewie ok good to know. Someone said use either DADY or turbo yeast. I’ll have to do a few runs I imagine to get it right.

4 years ago 0

@Hewie
Hewie replied

Is it a column type condenser on it? From what I know turbo yeast is generally used with a sugar wash to make cheap neutral spirit - to which people generally add an "essence" type flavour to replicate another spirit. From what I've tried of these made but others they are rubbish. If you're planning to use corn I'd use a different yeast. You know that you need malt for the enzymes to convert thr starch in the corn right? Sounds like a fun little project

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

@casualtorture

@Hewie yeah I was planning on getting malted barley and using 90/10 corn to barley.

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@casualtorture

Just make sure you (safely) discard the blue stuff that comes off the still first... we want you to ba able to see our posts for years to come...

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

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@cricklewood
cricklewood replied

I cannot confirm nor deny my involvement with any such distilling activity...

What kind of set-up are you using for your heat source and is you still a simple pot design or does it have a kind of small column type rectification head?

If you haven't already try looking into boil in a bag type homebrew set-ups in order to facilitate your mash/wort making process, you can ferment and distill the mash on the grains but honestly it will be a pain to deal with and you run the risk of scorching it during a long distillation. This will also allow you to eventually work with grains like rye without making cement (although look into using flakes).

Don't underestimate the importance of yeast in flavour, a lot of info will push you towards turbo type yeasts because of the yield and to avoid a stuck mash but as @Hewie pointed out, they provide little in the way of flavour. you could use a combination of yeasts either pitched together or staggered. There is also these new strains of Norwegian yeasts called Kveik that are adept at fermenting at high temperatures and provide little in the way of off flavours, they apparently chew through everything and provide a nice clean fermentation and can tolerate higher ABV, I have not used these yet so my knowledge is not firsthand.

The King's County guide to urban moonshining is an interesting read both for historical and distilling info, it's not a super technical manual but not as dry as those can be.

4 years ago 4Who liked this?

@RianC
RianC replied

@casualtorture - sounds like a great little plan. Best of luck I with it all relaxed

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@casualtorture

@Nozinan blue heads? What was she making??

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@casualtorture

@cricklewood it’s just a small stainless pot still with a coil. Nothing fancy, if I decide I like it then I’ll upgrade later once I kind of know what I’m doing.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

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@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@casualtorture That was the heads from a spirit still - single malt. Crazy, I know

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

@casualtorture looks like a very enjoyable project...but, if I were you, currently lax local law enforcement or not, I would be more private than you have already been about a project like this. Conditions change. Local heads of law enforcement change. One self-righteous zealot is all that it takes to give you a world of trouble.

4 years ago 4Who liked this?

@Hewie
Hewie replied

some great info there from @cricklewood and it looks like you're on the right track. It's been years since I did any distillation but when I did this was the best, most comprehensive resource I found. homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/… When I made and used my still my work colleague wanted to make some fruit wine. The only fruit he had a surplus of was grapefruit - so that was what he used. After many months the wine was undrinkable - so bitter! However, after running through my still we got some fantastic 'schnapps'.

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

@casualtorture

@Hewie I would compost grapefruit before I turned it into wine...

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

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