Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

After making a couple of sugar washes using Samuel Willards 48 hour yeast packs I’ve put together my first Birdwatchers TPW.

So far I’ve only done a couple of sugar washes. The first was a bit bitey & the second one wasn’t too bad. I have a third wash to distill this week and plan to triple distill, along with some faints from the previous two runs. The main reason for doing this is to practice my cuts and to see if I can tell the difference is between the original run and the final run.

I’ve used a dry gin, and Southern Haze flavoring to get some alcohol on the shelf but after everything I’ve been reading a TPW is the best place to start to get a good neutral spirit, especially as I’m using a pot still.

Anyway, hoping for good things (if I’ve done it all correctly).

The wash started with a Ph of 4.1 & a SG of 1.070.

Should be night day between turbo and tpw. What was gravity on samual willards?

bluc wrote:Should be night day between turbo and tpw. What was gravity on samual willards?

The first run was at SG 1.12 & finished at 0.994
Second run was at SG 1.1 finished at 1.001
Third run was at 1.092 finished at 0.992

Do these numbers say anything?

I would never run a TPW let alone a turbo through a pot still.
Nothing worse than alcoholic tomato soup :laughing-rolling:
Try a WBAB

The Stig wrote:I would never run a TPW let alone a turbo through a pot still.
Nothing worse than alcoholic tomato soup :laughing-rolling:
Try a WBAB

Didn’t know that. Am I wasting my time even waiting for it to ferment?

I was going to try a Teddy Sad FFV next, is it any use running that in a pot still?

GrantB wrote:

bluc wrote:Should be night day between turbo and tpw. What was gravity on samual willards?

The first run was at SG 1.12 & finished at 0.994
Second run was at SG 1.1 finished at 1.001
Third run was at 1.092 finished at 0.992

Do these numbers say anything?

16% & 2 x 13% roughly.
SG minus FG, multiplied by 131.25 is what i use. (1.12 - 0.994 = 0.126, 0.126 x 131.25 = 16.5%)
a bit like the cheese, strong and bitey. :smile:

what did you intend to produce with the still?
TPW & FFV really require a reflux still.
can you get at those ceramic balls, does that bit unscrew or something?
i was thinking you might be able to add some copper in the vapour path and just use it as a pot still.

howard wrote:

GrantB wrote:

bluc wrote:Should be night day between turbo and tpw. What was gravity on samual willards?

The first run was at SG 1.12 & finished at 0.994
Second run was at SG 1.1 finished at 1.001
Third run was at 1.092 finished at 0.992

Do these numbers say anything?

16% & 2 x 13% roughly.
SG minus FG, multiplied by 131.25 is what i use. (1.12 - 0.994 = 0.126, 0.126 x 131.25 = 16.5%)
a bit like the cheese, strong and bitey. :smile:

what did you intend to produce with the still?
TPW & FFV really require a reflux still.
can you get at those ceramic balls, does that bit unscrew or something?
i was thinking you might be able to add some copper in the vapour path and just use it as a pot still.

Thanks for the feedback Howard.

I bought the still for combined Father’s Day/birthday present for myself, not knowing anything about distilling, looking for another hobby to do in the shed. To be honest I knew nothing about what this still could do and didn’t know the difference between a pot still and a reflux still and what they could do.

Initially I just wanted to make some drinkable spirit’s that could be mixed with essences and have been learning along the way. I haven’t wanted to get into mashing grains just yet and was looking to produce as neutral a spirit as possible. After reading about issues with turbo style yeasts I thought I’d try what everyone else seemed to be having success with e.g. TPW not realizing it was suited to a reflux still rather than a pot still.

To answer your question, I do have the ceramic balls that came with the kit and I did use them on my second run. The spirit was “less bitey” but I put this down to having a lower ABV to start with over the first run.

As the still has a 75mm (aprox) dia clover fitting I was thinking about whether I could put an extension piece under the vapour chamber (football) and pack it with either copper or stainless?

Any suggestions what type of wash I should do would be appreciated. I’ll have a look at Stig’s suggestion of the WBAB wash (had to search for that one to see what it was).

Cheers

i would just strip the TPW and keep it at 40% until you improve the "football" somehow.
i would look at getting some of the 5-star copper mesh and find a way to fit some/lots in the football.
you could try anything from the 'tried & proven' section that requires pot stilling without mashing, like cornflakes whiskey.(zaks cornflake or my preference odins cornflake whiskey)
even rum by macstill is only molasses and sugar.

i looked at the still online, the condenser is unusual, but if it works, what the hell.
with the 2200w just strip as hard as the condenser can handle, then spirit run slowly with the power controller.
the 75mm connections- are they 3" tri-clover type?, if so they can be added to with whatever you want.
i'd like to see the instructions that came with the still, but i don't understand the 2 x valves on the football. ("methanol discharged")
i would probably keep these closed all the time, and on the spirit runs, just collect in small samples (150-200ml) throughout the run, using many jam jars.
this will let you sort out the fores,heads, hearts, tails yourself (without letting volatile vapour escape?)

don't forget the copper :smile:

Gidday Grantb
:text-+1: To what Stig said about the weetbix all bran (WBAB) wash through the pot. That is what I use to make my vodka and it still has a little of the wheat flavour.
You are definitely not wasting your time letting it ferment just look at it as an experiment and you can always add some of the stronger essences to it.
It is always good to have a couple of bases for comparison, just label it well you will never remember what is what, please don’t ask how I know that %-(
Just remember the biggest advantage of a pot still is it does not strip,out all the flavour, having said that the biggest disadvantage of a pot still is that it does not strip out all the flavour.

howard wrote:i would just strip the TPW and keep it at 40% until you improve the "football" somehow.
i would look at getting some of the 5-star copper mesh and find a way to fit some/lots in the football.
you could try anything from the 'tried & proven' section that requires pot stilling without mashing, like cornflakes whiskey.(zaks cornflake or my preference odins cornflake whiskey)
even rum by macstill is only molasses and sugar.

i looked at the still online, the condenser is unusual, but if it works, what the hell.
with the 2200w just strip as hard as the condenser can handle, then spirit run slowly with the power controller.
the 75mm connections- are they 3" tri-clover type?, if so they can be added to with whatever you want.
i'd like to see the instructions that came with the still, but i don't understand the 2 x valves on the football. ("methanol discharged")
i would probably keep these closed all the time, and on the spirit runs, just collect in small samples (150-200ml) throughout the run, using many jam jars.
this will let you sort out the fores,heads, hearts, tails yourself (without letting volatile vapour escape?)

don't forget the copper :smile:

Yeah the football is a bit weird and you’re right the top valve is for releasing the methanol. I’ve tried it a couple of times and it seemed to work. As for the lower valve the best I can work is when I was doing a spirit run I held the temp at around 70c, opened that valve and bled off what I can only assume to be foreshots. Stinks like hell of acetone and metho. (Note that I still took more foreshots off during my spirit run.) There’s a tube that runs up the inside that allows anything that doesn’t go out the hole into the condenser, to be captured and drained off with that valve.

I double checked the dia of the tri-clover and it is 2 1/2” not 3”, but I think I found a supplier that can sell me an extension piece 400mm long.

As for the copper packing I’ll need to get some, in the meantime I have placed the ceramic balls back in the chambers as well as stuffed a couple of SS scourers up the hole.

Cheers

Wellsy wrote:Gidday Grantb
:text-+1: To what Stig said about the weetbix all bran (WBAB) wash through the pot. That is what I use to make my vodka and it still has a little of the wheat flavour.
You are definitely not wasting your time letting it ferment just look at it as an experiment and you can always add some of the stronger essences to it.
It is always good to have a couple of bases for comparison, just label it well you will never remember what is what, please don’t ask how I know that %-(
Just remember the biggest advantage of a pot still is it does not strip,out all the flavour, having said that the biggest disadvantage of a pot still is that it does not strip out all the flavour.

Thanks Wellsy I’ll definitely give the WBAB a go as well as Sri pit run the TPW, even is just for practice.

Cheer’s

Yeah the football is a bit weird and you’re right the top valve is for releasing the methanol. I’ve tried it a couple of times and it seemed to work. As for the lower valve the best I can work is when I was doing a spirit run I held the temp at around 70c, opened that valve and bled off what I can only assume to be foreshots. Stinks like hell of acetone and metho. (Note that I still took more foreshots off during my spirit run.) There’s a tube that runs up the inside that allows anything that doesn’t go out the hole into the condenser, to be captured and drained off with that valve.

I double checked the dia of the tri-clover and it is 2 1/2” not 3”, but I think I found a supplier that can sell me an extension piece 400mm long.

As for the copper packing I’ll need to get some, in the meantime I have placed the ceramic balls back in the chambers as well as stuffed a couple of SS scourers up the hole.

Cheers[/quote]
you cannot 'hold' a temp of a run, the temp is the controlled by the liquids boiling point, not you. :smile:
you can only control the amount of vapour by altering the power.
read up on the methanol myth.
a pic of the inside of the football would be good, sounds strange.

The Stig wrote:I would never run a TPW let alone a turbo through a pot still.
Nothing worse than alcoholic tomato soup :laughing-rolling:
Try a WBAB

Could be the start of a "Bloody Mary" :))

Moonshyner wrote:

The Stig wrote:I would never run a TPW let alone a turbo through a pot still.
Nothing worse than alcoholic tomato soup :laughing-rolling:
Try a WBAB

Could be the start of a "Bloody Mary" :))

Never thought of it like that :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

howard wrote:Yeah the football is a bit weird and you’re right the top valve is for releasing the methanol. I’ve tried it a couple of times and it seemed to work. As for the lower valve the best I can work is when I was doing a spirit run I held the temp at around 70c, opened that valve and bled off what I can only assume to be foreshots. Stinks like hell of acetone and metho. (Note that I still took more foreshots off during my spirit run.) There’s a tube that runs up the inside that allows anything that doesn’t go out the hole into the condenser, to be captured and drained off with that valve.

I double checked the dia of the tri-clover and it is 2 1/2” not 3”, but I think I found a supplier that can sell me an extension piece 400mm long.

As for the copper packing I’ll need to get some, in the meantime I have placed the ceramic balls back in the chambers as well as stuffed a couple of SS scourers up the hole.

Cheers

you cannot 'hold' a temp of a run, the temp is the controlled by the liquids boiling point, not you. :smile:
you can only control the amount of vapour by altering the power.
read up on the methanol myth.
a pic of the inside of the football would be good, sounds strange.[/quote]

I couldn’t find an image so I did a sketch, but don’t know how to upload it :angry-banghead:

Hopefully this upload will work.

Moonshyner wrote:

The Stig wrote:I would never run a TPW let alone a turbo through a pot still.
Nothing worse than alcoholic tomato soup :laughing-rolling:
Try a WBAB

Could be the start of a "Bloody Mary" :))

I wonder what a tomato brandy would be like :think:

Thought I’d report on the results on my “Bloody Mary” wash :teasing-tease:

Put the TPW through my pot still 3 times. A stripping run and 2 spirit runs. Finished with 1.25L at 71% ABV and I’m pleased to report back that it turned quite good. No taste of tomatoes at all & pretty smooth to boot.

This was my first non turbo sugar wash and very happy with the results.

Welcome to the bright side :)

Seriously mate most objection to the turbo is the way it is pushed on those who don’t understand there are options as well as the cost. You can get better or equal results at a fraction of the cost.

The weetbix all bran wash is a good one for us pot stillers as well so that can go on the to try one day list

Thanks for the update and glad it worked for you