New Member from Tas

[Ravvin]

Hi all.
I have been brewing my own ginger beers and ciders for over 10 years now, started with kits and moved to known recipes before experimenting and coming up with my own. I keg mine in the 19L softdrink syrup cylinders and have a second fridge set up where I can keep 2 gassed up and on-tap at all times.

I have always enjoyed rum and many of the sweeter liqueurs and finally decided to have a go at making my own. For now, I just intend to make neutral spirit and try out different flavourings to see how they compare to commercial products. I'd like to find a blend that is as good as my current favourite, Royal Swan Spiced Rum.

As many of you have probably done, I bought a T500 still and boiler before finding this forum and discovering the issues with the whole TurboWash process.
I bought the 23L boiler and the copper T500 still and decided to grab a kit the shop had put together as a way to get a wash underway quickly. It is the standard 3x 2kg packs of dextrose/carbon mix, the Turbo Carbon pack, TurboYeast #6 and the 2 part Turbo-Clear stuff.
I followed the directions on the bags and the SG was 1.076 before I added the Turbo Carbon and yeast mix. It is bubbling away happily, but is sitting on around 18° most of the day. It’s still a bit cool down here and I have never bothered with a heating pad, as the cider I make seems to come out better if I keep the temp between 15° and 20°.

There’s so much that the Still Spirits mob don’t tell you in their instructions. No mention of cuts, other than to not drink the first 80 to 100ml. No mention of heads, hearts and tails. They actually tell you not to run the cooling water through the still until it’s been running for 45 minutes. I’m glad I found this forum, I just need plenty of quiet time at work to read my way through it all. :-B

I’m going to run this initial batch through the still, just as a practice run. I will have a go at making 200ml cuts and see how I go with trying to discern where the heads end and tails begin. No matter how bad it turns out, I can always use it in the camping stove. :angry-extinguishflame:

Later this week I will grab the ingredients for a TPW and set that up in a spare fermenter. I can’t get EC-1118 yeast locally for a week or so, so I will do the first batch with the Lowan’s Baker’s Yeast. The temperature in the fermenter, after pitching, is likely to drop to around 16° overnight, so would it be worth getting a heat belt or pad? If so, is one better than the other?

Looking forward to chatting with you all and trying different techniques and recipes.

Greg.

[woodduck]

G'day mate and welcome aboard :greetings-waveyellow:

Don't panic plenty of people run the T500. They are ok but have limitations and if you like rum I'm sure you'll outgrow it pretty quick but it will give you a feel for stilling.

I would run your turbo and do cuts like you said it will be a great way to see the difference between turbos and TPW. It should convince you to never bother with turbos again :laughing-rolling:

I would at least wrap your fermenter up to keep some warmth in. TPW will take longer than turbos and will be very slow at those lower temps. A heat pad might be something to consider later on if you feel you need it.

I hope you enjoy the new hobby mate and best of luck :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Ravvin]

Thanks for the welcome.
On my way home I called into the place I got my still, to have a look at heating pads and belts.
While there, I met a guy looking at the different essences. I mentioned I was just getting started and that there were too many options for flavourings. He agreed and I said I was about to start a second fermenter, to give me more to play around with. I said I was going to use a sugar-based mix, with tomato paste, expecting him to think I was nuts, but he looked up and said "Oh, your doing a TPW? Way cheaper and you'll get a better product."
I'm guessing he might be a member here. :-D

Greg

[dans.brew]

Welcome Ravvin! :greetings-waveyellow:
Sounds like you have a good bit of experince in the field of brewing. I too started with cider and ginger beer as i wasn't a big beer drinker.
Good to hear your up with it on doing cuts, one thing that is a must if you want a nice drop.
If your looking for a rum to rival a commercially bought one a pot still and 20ltrs of molasses is the way to go... unless of course you have the money for a bubbler. A trusty pot still is a great stepping stone to a bubbler.
Best thing you can do is keep reading on here and don't get stressed if it doesnt all sink in straight away... youll get there once you start putting it into practice. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Professor Green]

Welcome to AD Greg.

Bakers yeast will be fine for your TPW - the tried and proven version of the recipe uses it. The fermentation process will generate a certain amount of it's own heat so as woodduck said, wrap your fermenter in a blanket to keep it in. Don't sit the fermenter on a concrete floor either! Being in Tassie, you will need a heat pad or heat belt for the colder weather but it probably won't be necessary for summer. An aquarium heater is another option.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[Ravvin]

Thanks all.
The TurboWash is in one of those wide Mangrove Jack's fermenter drums with the press-down lid. It was on 18° when I got home so I put the heat belt on it, about a third of the way up from the bottom, for now. It has brought it up to 22° in the last 3 hours and the airlock is pretty active. It bloops once every 3 seconds, a few times, then lets out a long string of bubbles, like farting in the bath. :-D
I think it's just the wide, thin top gets pushed up with the pressure, then flexes back in a rush.

I just finished setting up the TPW in one of my 30L fermenters. This is one I modified and fitted with a submersible aquarium heater. It's already bubbling, after only 20 minutes. 5kg white sugar, 1/4tsp citric acid, 250gm of tomato paste, (as it comes in 500gm jars and I hate wastage), 70gm Lowan's yeast and 25L water which was at 32° when I pitched the yeast.
The initial SG was 1.060. I'll check the temps tomorrow morning and either move the belt up, if I need to lower the temp on the TurboWash, or plug in the aquarium heater, if the TPW drops too much.
Should I continue posting further reports on these 2 batches here or start a thread somewhere else?

Greg.

[Dick Jane]

G'day mate.

Another newbie here :handgestures-thumbupleft:

What part of Tassie are you from and where do you buy your EC-1118 etc?

I have been to the Brewery Supplies shop in Launceston but wasn't that impressed so get my stuff online. I would rather buy local if I could tho.

[woodduck]

You can keep posting the updates here mate that's fine :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Ravvin]

Hi, I'm just outside Devonport.
I have been getting my yeast from The Health Nut shop in East Devonport for about 8 years, mostly Safale 05 fir ciders and a few others that I used in making mead and ginger beer.
They have a pretty good range of stuff for home brewing and distilling, and while the staff may not do it themselves, they are willing to try getting in whatever you want.
I was going to use the EC-1118 for this TPW batch, but I just missed their order from their wholesaler for that yeast, so I would have to wait until the end of next week.
I may get some ordered anyway, as it will keep for future batches, but the Lowan's baking yeast seems to be really going off. It's bubbling so loudly and constantly that the cat won't go near it and is sitting at the far end of the room glaring at the fermenter. And that is with just the residual heat from pitching at 32° a few hours back. It's making the lounge room smell good though. Almost like a warm sourdough smell.

Greg.

[Dick Jane]

Hi, I'm just outside Devonport.
I have been getting my yeast from The Health Nut shop in East Devonport for about 8 years, mostly Safale 05 fir ciders and a few others that I used in making mead and ginger beer.


Greg.

Cheers mate, I will look them up :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Ravvin]

Ok, I ran the Turbowash last night. It stopped bubbling 16/11/2018. I left it a 2 days and the FG was steady at 0.990 corrected.
From the calculator, I get an alcohol content of 10.58%, which sounds low, but I did have a bit more water than they suggested as I misread the instructions and added 25L of water when mixing, rather than making it up to 25L. Only noticed there was a scale marked on the fermenter when I washed it before putting another TPW in it. Its on the back of the fermenter. I stuck the thermometer strip on the front, above the tap, which made sense at the time. Oh well.
I started the water flowing and turned on the boiler. The temp on the column sat steady at 15.5° for an hour and a quarter, before starting to creep up. I could actually hear the condensate dropping back down into the boiler when it started refluxing. I left it alone and eventually it started to drip into the fores jar. I adjusted the cooling water flow until I got something like 3 drips and then a small trickle. It was a constant battle as the temp crept up and I had to adjust the water flow to keep the stream constant. I took off 200ml of fores and then slowed down the flow and collected 200ml cuts, all numbered.
I ended up with 200ml fores and 12x 200ml cuts. Just after I switched to Cut 9, I noticed the wet cardboard smell, but kept going.
Around Cut 5 the temp of the outflow water sat between 45 and 46. It stayed like that right through to Cut 9, then started creeping up again. I controlled the still based on the condensate flow, not the temp, but made notes of the differing temps to compare it to the TPW I will do shortly.
By the end of Cut 12, the temp was up to 49° and the flow had dropped right back. I had 2.6L of distilled alcohol, and this was pretty close to what I expected, going by the SG readings.
I turned off the boiler and opened the cooling flow up to speed things up. After about 10 mins the dripping stopped and the column was cool, so I popped the clips on the boiler top and gave the condenser a rinse under the hot shower. I flushed it out a few times and saw a dozen or so flakes come out but wasn't quick enough to catch them to see what they were. It had to be from this wash though, as I had given it a good soak and flush when I first assembled it.
From turning the boiler on to washing out the condenser was just over 6 hours, so I think I need to back the cooling water off a bit so I have more trickle and less drips. Will see how it goes when I do the TPW run.
Something you forgot to mention in the T500 threads is that it is not a good idea to try smelling the pure distilate straight from the still. I recall reading that you could tell when the tails started by the cardboard smell and that the heads had a sweet smell. I only tried sniffing that once. Its like someone stuck a red-hot screwdriver up my nose and wiggled it around.
Anyway, I left the cuts sitting out with paper towel over them to stop anything falling in. Tonight, I started with Cut 6. I put a teaspoonfull in a clean glass and added the same of purified water from Woolies, in case the tap water added its own tastes and smells. I gave the mix a swirl and a good sniff. It still made my nose burn, but I couldn't smell anything noticeable. I tasted a small sip and it burned my tongue a bit, but had no really nasty taste.
I worked down the Cuts until I got to Cut 4. I couldn't smell anything, but I could just taste something. It wasn't a bad taste, but I remember reading that the heads were the nasties that gave you the headache and other hangover effects. I checked Cut 3 and the smell was there, fairly strong. I tasted a tiny amount and it was really noticeable.
I worked back towards the tails and found that although Cut 8 was odour and tasteless, Cut 9 was instantly recognisable as wet cardboard with a side of something that made the underside of my tongue sting. That got spat out pretty quickly.
So, in the end, I have 200ml of fores that I can use for cleaning or setting things on fire, 1L of hearts made from Cuts 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8, and 1.4L of heads and tails, which I have labelled and put away. I'll compare it to the TPW heads and tails and if there is much difference, it gets dumped.
The hearts tested at 92% at 15°, which corrects to 95% at 20°, so I did something right. I used the dilution calculator and watered it down to 40%. From this, I made a 700ml bottle of Ouzo and 1.125L of the QLD Golden Rum that came in the initial kit. With the rum, the colour is right, but it was a bit of a worry when I poured it into the clear bottle and saw lots of fine bubbles forming. Must be some sort of chemical reaction. I'll leave them a few days and see how they come out.

I think I followed the directions from the forum properly. I can't imagine how people could drink the stuff made by following the Pure Spirit directions.

Comments very welcome.

Greg.

[RC Al]

I have no experience with a t500, but to get things happening quicker:
Insulate your boiler - even cotton towels will work well
Ditto for the column (not the plastic bits)
You may have to remove either or both during the run depending on how the still handles it

Can the t500 hold full reflux??

Get a voltage controller :handgestures-thumbupleft: