Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

:text-+1: to what the doc said. And he knows his stuff. More info in your equipment list and location will helps also :handgestures-thumbupleft: more info = better help. Very helpful bunch around here.
Also. Check this out if you haven't already http://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=2859

Thanks so much for the advice and comprehensive answer so quickly - amazing! If only the real world operated this well.

Main reason I was wanted to shortcut by only using "hearts" in the spirit run was i didn't want to be too arsed with all the jars...

But - I will do as I'm old from those in the know first up :handgestures-thumbupleft:

BTW - the still is a Keggomax glass "FM" still
Cheers again

One thing that you will learn quickly in this hobby, is that if you take just a bit more care you take at every step of the process, your end product will be miles ahead. Every time you try to take a shortcut, you are digging yourself deeper into a pit of less-than-top-shelf booze...

The keggomax is a capable still...If you will take the extra time to collect the jars you will have an opportunity to learn the very essence of distilling...cutting. Get that one down then you will always know just by smell if you are doing it right...best of luck friend...although I feel this one will work out fine. Take care.
Doc

Strip runs from this wash should be clear, if they are anything but that put it through on the next run :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I did my first strip run last night and decided to split into 250ml portions in pint glasses, and I ran the the off-take rate kinda slow (just for practice). The middle product is clean and smells sweet - bit floral almost. It tested on the alcometer at 95% - product was still a bit warm so prob not totally accurate but still pretty pure.
Next run I'll try a little quicker as no need to be getting this purity in a strip run I'm sure.

I did a cleaning run with weak vinegar solution, rinsed column with bicarb solution, then did a just water run. After rinsing column after that run I noticed plenty of rust in the scrubbers so pulled them all out and replaced but that's another story! :angry-banghead: .... (I took pics of the dodgy scrubbers). Sure its been covered elsewhere but I would not trust the scrubbers in these shop bought stills! Def a low quality stainless steel if it rusts

All my gear is sitting idle at the moment...since a TPW takes such a long time now is the right time for me to test it out.
I'll put down 5 x 25L batches tonight and report back on my progress in a 2-3 weeks.

Thanks Mac for the recipe.

Cheers,

Mech.

How nasty does your TPW dunder smell?

I think I've been getting more sensitive to smells lately and have been thinking that my TPW dunder really stinks.

Is it just my nose or do others find their TPW dunder doesnt smell too good!!!

CH3CH2OH wrote:How nasty does your TPW dunder smell?

I think I've been getting more sensitive to smells lately and have been thinking that my TPW dunder really stinks.

Is it just my nose or do others find their TPW dunder doesnt smell too good!!!

Are you referring to backset/stillage, as in what's left in the boiler after distillation?

How come you're keeping TPW backset? :think:

yup leftovers in the boiler

I never keep it.

I have just been noticing that mine has quite a stink to it and wondering if others find theirs a bit rank too

Oh gotcha, I was thinking you had some kind of TPW dunder pit going on :))

Yeah I reckon all stillage stinks, but it all depends on what the wash was too. I'm just dumping backset from an apple wash at the moment and it's a nasty vinegar-like smell. I guess all the sugars have been eaten which removes a lot of the pleasant smells, and then any sweet smells left are in the character of the alcohol that you would have just distilled off. I don't remember TPW being that bad, but it has been a while since I've run one of those...

I agree it stinks bad, especially straight after with steam still coming off :puke-huge:

I actually don't find it that bad.
It smells like hot beer to me and i really like that.
Mind you i grew up in a pub.
Im used to the stink of beer troughs.
Anyway my nose can handle some manky shit

jrad wrote:I actually don't find it that bad.
It smells like hot beer to me and i really like that.

+1 :text-+1:

What happens if I use too much yeast? I need to buy more sensitive scales, what came out of the packet didn't seem to match the weight?

Too much yeast won't cause any problems.

Cheers

Beauty, thanks mate

Brigand wrote:Too much yeast won't cause any problems.

Cheers

yeah, not much can go wrong from putting to much of any of these things in, perhaps the acid.... but I acidentally put in a full teaspoon and it made no difference

Guys I have a whole HEAP of DAP at my place. I was wondering whats the best way to integrate that into a TPW? I undertand the paste is just nutrient, so can i leave that out and substitute for DAP? does that mean no more acid?

Or should i just use existing recipe and plonk a bit of DAP on top?

Scales82 guess your just making Winos sugar wash if you dont use tomato paste. I am in the same bucket, bought 5 kg of DAP, that should last me till my liver dies. :D