Apricot brandy

[crow]

Nup it doesn't work the sediment will block up the sheet and make it water tight. This is how it will go, In the first half an hr you'll get say 30% but buy the end of the hr you'll be lucky if its over 35%. Then by the end of the day it might be 40%, by the end of the next day it will be say 45% and after a week say 48% after 2 weeks 50% . I've tried it and it just gets less and less the longer it drains

[crow]

Don't know about elements bust that fig custard didn't burn

[BackyardBrewer]

Nup it doesn't work the sediment will block up the sheet and make it water tight. This is how it will go, In the first half an hr you'll get say 30% but buy the end of the hr you'll be lucky if its over 35%. Then by the end of the day it might be 40%, by the end of the next day it will be say 45% and after a week say 48% after 2 weeks 50% . I've tried it and it just gets less and less the longer it drains

So you're a beach towel ringer fan then ?
;-)

[BackyardBrewer]

Don't know about elements bust that fig custard didn't burn

Custard? Sounded more like jam buddy:-)

[emptyglass]

eh.

You'll get a bit of solids in there, might stick to your element, but it wont scorch. No worse than what will happen anyway. 2400 watts on a perf plate might be a little on the slow side, but should work ok. Mr E can tell you if I'm up the putt there, he knows the still best.

[BackyardBrewer]

eh.

You'll get a bit of solids in there, might stick to your element, but it wont scorch. No worse than what will happen anyway. 2400 watts on a perf plate might be a little on the slow side, but should work ok. Mr E can tell you if I'm up the putt there, he knows the still best.

I'm putting in two 2400w elements, so both running to get to temp then one off for the run. Might consider the 3000w for the run element if its not enough curry.

[emptyglass]

4800w should do it well

[BackyardBrewer]

So I'm a few weeks at least from running this and the wife wants the 200L fermenter out of the laundry:-) the apricot is well and truly finished fermenting by a long shot.

Reckon I can rack off the 100+ litres and squeeze out the pulp into a few sterilised cubes and let it sit or should I be trying to convince her to let me leave it as-is in the laundry?

I've left beer wort for weeks and weeks after a ferment but that's with much smaller headspace that's filled with co2 keeping out any nasties.

Any thoughts on how I can split and store this finished wash for a few weeks?

[emptyglass]

Well mate, if you are working from orders from a higher authority (yeah, I'm married too),
Leaving it alone will be fine, for months if you want. But with your marching orders in place you could rack off what you can into cubes, that will lighten the drum enough to roll it out. It will obvously stir up the sediment in the drum, but the cubes should come out pretty clear.
You could then squeeze the remianing stuff out at your lesure. If say, you squeeze it off into more cubes, you will notice a heap more sediment in those cubes than the cubes you rack off now (assuming you give it time). You can rack them all off again if you want, and if you were using a pot it would be the way to go. A bubbler will handle not-so-clear wash a lot better.
I like to use open top buckets, cos I'm lazy and like to just pour it out on the second settling, cubes need to be syphoned or the bubble action stirs it up if you pour. I just pour out untill I see the sediment stirring the last litre

I have never had a problem leaving ferments for a while, other than the fact you might loose a bit of hooch to evaporation. Seal it up good once stopped, and your all good.

[BackyardBrewer]

Thanks Empty - I was kinda keen to leave it on the stones for as long as possible too, so I might cube up half and see if I can drag the 200L barrel out without scratching the wife's floors up too much:-)

As it gets closer to the run I might mix things back together so I get a consistent flavour, as I easily have about 100+ Litres and won't get it done in two runs.

Might be a very small 3rd run...

[emptyglass]

Remember to save some pulp for a second soaking, if you wish.

Just lay those egiptian sheets on the floor and drag the drum out on them. Tell her its the floor, or the sheets.

I just wanna see if someone else has got the guts to do what I wouldn't!

[crow]

Thanks Empty - I was kinda keen to leave it on the stones for as long as possible too, so I might cube up half and see if I can drag the 200L barrel out without scratching the wife's floors up too much:-)

As it gets closer to the run I might mix things back together so I get a consistent flavour, as I easily have about 100+ Litres and won't get it done in two runs.

Might be a very small 3rd run...

Better still would be to go for 3 35ltr runs (or get a bigger boiler :twisted: )

[emptyglass]

Oh, your just nasty crow.

[BackyardBrewer]

Chatting with E he reckons the still runs best with a 45L charge in a 50L keg, hoping I can rack and filter today( if I get a chance) so then I'll know better what the actual yield is... I do like the idea of three even runs though.

But if you wanna point me at a 100L keg... I'm listening :-)

Thanks Empty - I was kinda keen to leave it on the stones for as long as possible too, so I might cube up half and see if I can drag the 200L barrel out without scratching the wife's floors up too much:-)

As it gets closer to the run I might mix things back together so I get a consistent flavour, as I easily have about 100+ Litres and won't get it done in two runs.

Might be a very small 3rd run...

Better still would be to go for 3 35ltr runs (or get a bigger boiler :twisted: )

[crow]

you might be able to get an old wine storage vat from there somewhere that you could get cut down and altered to a boiler or a copper HWS boiler from the scrappies. Another thing is a lot of German beer is in 18 Gal kegs and these are not returned so scrappies in SA are more likely than any other state to have them or maybe some of the pubs from the Barossa or Hahndorf area. I think there is one in Tanunda,Nuriootpa or Angaston called something like the BrauHaus that specializes in kraut beer on tap long with a few others as does (I think) a restaurant in Tanunda called the Heidelberg inn owned by a bloke called Heinz has/had german beer and maybe able to sell you one of them kegs

[BackyardBrewer]

Well I racked off the wash today. I really should not have used a hand blender, this is like apricot juice/nectar and impossible to strain. I spent hours in the laundry trying to pass it through bed sheets and towels but like Crow said they quickly become water tight with pulp and squeezing is an exhausting nightmare. Next time not so juicy!

I gave up and fed the wash gradually through a bloody kitchen strainer and it was still pulpy. But now it's racked and can clear up for a few weeks and I'll filter again on the way to the boiler.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1360390943.008860.jpg

My take was close to 100L

Here she sits racked into cubes.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1360391047.047821.jpg

I kept 5 kgs of pulp to add to backset and sugar for one more run.

[crow]

Far canal blackwood cupboards in the shed , bit flash yeah the towel squeezing is a bit of work but when its all said and done I found that was by far the best way. I found strainers either blocked up or let to much crap though but if it clears up for you problem solvered :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

Far canal blackwood cupboards in the shed , bit flash yeah the towel squeezing is a bit of work but when its all said and done I found that was by far the best way. I found strainers either blocked up or let to much crap though but if it clears up for you problem solvered :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Geez I'd be careful using towels, ya never know what additives or chemicals have been used in their production... make sure they're food grade :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[BackyardBrewer]

Far canal blackwood cupboards in the shed , bit flash yeah the towel squeezing is a bit of work but when its all said and done I found that was by far the best way. I found strainers either blocked up or let to much crap though but if it clears up for you problem solvered :handgestures-thumbupleft:

We re did our kitchen last year and I managed to salvage the old one for the shed! So cupboards are a second hand recycle.

The towels and sheets that I trashed were freshly washed in a long hot rinse and free of any chemicals.

I'm treating it like a clearing beer and waiting for it to drop.

[emptyglass]

I'm treating it like a clearing beer and waiting for it to drop.

No good rushing now mate. Good approach. It will tell you when its ready. It will whisper to you quietly in your sleep.

Nothing lost if you get a little mush in the boiler, the bubbler will sort it out.

Its a bitch of a job clearing the stuff, but it will taste delicious, I recon. When I do the plum stuff, the shed smells fantastic, a smell to remember.