Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hello All,
I'm new into the Spirits Hobby, interested in making beer - wine and cordials.

At first got a "Chemical Smell and Taste" from BWTP wash. Can get 95% ABV at the parrot for most of the run. But allot has gone down the drain, not getting a tasty product that I would drink! Using the Birdwatchers Sugar Wash as per the recipe with E-1118 yeast.

Cheers Tuner

Welcome!

Fancy looking bit of kit you've got there - did you make it?

Does ellie have bubble caps or perf plates?

Pot still trying to make neutral, not the best idea.
Bad cuts maybe
Welcome :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Your in the right place for the right answers :happy-partydance:

1, 2, 3 :-B

Welcome mate, does the top of Ellie above the pot come from Ballarat?

Welcome Mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Welcome Tuner.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Welcome,
What is your normal take off rate.
And i think i have seen those coolant lines before.

welcome bud... nice bit if kit... you say a fair bit ended up down the drain??? ever tried to re-distill... with cuts (as mentioned) you will have NO waste.

Oops...PS... is it your first run? if so, did u do cleaning/sacrificial runs?

Like the alembic dome :handgestures-thumbupleft:

New to the hobby and his gear is nice looking then mine :laughing-rolling:

Welcome mate lots of good info here

Minpac wrote:Welcome!

Fancy looking bit of kit you've got there - did you make it?

Does ellie have bubble caps or perf plates?

All the parts from China - Bubble Caps - 4" - Four sets .. Onion gives a lift to the bubbler - with the Onion I can run just as a POT by removing the Bubbler T's

Pugdog1 wrote:New to the hobby and his gear is nice looking then mine :laughing-rolling:

Welcome mate lots of good info here

Been reading till my eyes bleed .. just have to get to it ..

Kenster wrote:Oops...PS... is it your first run? if so, did u do cleaning/sacrificial runs?

Yes did the Vinegar run and simple wash cleaning run - Will see how the next runs work out - had a good re-still with the onion filled with SS Scrubbers - been doing a few stripper runs ( With no Bubbler T's ) looking at a Spirit run soon ... lets see how well I do on the cuts.

copperhead road wrote:Welcome mate, does the top of Ellie above the pot come from Ballarat?

No didn't come from Ballarat

She is, 30 gallon (120L) Pot belly Kettle with a 4 plate 4 inch bubble cap column and an Onion Kit. I liked the idea of a "Meccano Still" with CM. It was easier for me to work over time - then burn my fingers building one.

Tuner wrote:

copperhead road wrote:Welcome mate, does the top of Ellie above the pot come from Ballarat?

No didn't come from Ballarat

She is, 30 gallon (120L) Pot belly Kettle with a 4 plate 4 inch bubble cap column and an Onion Kit. I liked the idea of a "Meccano Still" with CM. It was easier for me to work over time - then burn my fingers building one.

Hi tuner, I totally agree I do not have time due to work nor the tools and metal working skills to come up to anything even close to what you can buy.
I'm sure if you had the tools and know how it would be much cheaper but at
Least you got a quality rig without all that rooting around.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

Ellie the Stripper .. Doing a UJSM run ..

I was asked the other day, how Ellie was doing!
She is doing great! Only one complaint - Hard to do small runs, they have to be over 25 liters of wash.

I put stainless steel pot scrubbers in the helmet, as packing – WOW, did that ever change the neutral run’s! Kept Ellie in “reflux” for about 30 minutes, and slowly open her up for production. Water temp out from the Delph was kept at 45 Deg C for the first 30 minutes, then up to 50 Deg C for another 15 minutes, slow start of a about a drip for every 2 seconds, then a slow run of about 2.5 liters per hour. Allot of nasty stuff came out on each run. Kept the 'jars' at about 300 ml, which made the cuts simple to do.

Did 5 stripper runs of uncle Jesse's sour mash and one spirit run with just the Copper Helmet ( no bubbles) – That White Dog is in a 23 liter oak barrel at this time – sampled it the other day, and it is coming along great!

Working on doing an all grain – 50% Wheat and 50% barley malt will do this in a few weeks, as the Mash Tun is finished, and have a big 130 Liter primary fermenter now. Will try the first batch, fermented on grain. Thinking of using a Mash/Grist ratio of about 3:1 Liters water to a Kilogram. I also have a farming friend who has Triticale - thinking of a Triticale 70% barley 30% batch.

Cheers

Ref: https://byo.com/aging/item/1110-managing-mash-thickness

PS: my all grain BIAB, Red Irish Ale has turned out great!