Hello

[Minijcw]

Hi all
Just want to drop in and introduce myself. I experimentented about 10 years ago making homebrew beer nothing special just homebrew shop kits. Always wanted to try distilling but didnt know how to start.
After some big changes in my life resulting in me selling up my business to be a full time care giver to my wife i needed something to do as a 'me time thingy'. I have spent countless hours scouring the internet reading watching you tube and spending a lot of time reading through this forum to see how this distilling thing works.
Dont hold it against me but i did purchase a ready made pot still, maybe one day i will grow a set and give a pelican pot build a go and mount it on my boiler. But right now i am enjoying playing with my cornflake whiskey and am just a couple of strip runs short of my first spirit run.
Ageing this first run will be a challenge there is no way i can wait for months to sample something i made, it is hard enough waiting for my 2 fermenters to finish so i can go play in the shed again.

Thanks for all of your advice that has been shared on this forum i am now holding you all responsible for my new found addiction.

Cheers

[bluc]

Welcome bud. Have a look at the cuts guide here http://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=874 it is a good read while doing your strip runs. And your right this hobby is very addictive :D

[woodduck]

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

I would take a bottle or two of white dog (unaged spirit) and use that to keep you going. I still use CFW white if I've run short of supply. It's very tasty with lemonade or soda if ya can drink that stuff. Not a huge flavor but nice and light and slighty sweet. That way you've got something to drink while you wait for the other stuff to age.

[Sam.]

Welcome here mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[hillzabilly]

G-day mate ,gotta take my hat off for people that are full time carer's,did that myself after my partner hit the emergency ward with a 5-10% chance of pulling thru,she made it back to pretty normal after a couple a years ,was a hard slog with a lot of sacrific's,my brewing gave me a break every now and then ,and allowed me ta carry on with out going crazy.Once you manage to build up a little stock ,then go for the long proper way ,worked for me,now I have a 25lt demi or two stashed and no chance of running dry.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

[Professor Green]

Welcome Minijcw.

Enjoy your new hobby.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[Minijcw]

Thank you for the welcome

I will def give the lemonade mix a try thanks.

The smell from the cfw threw me off at first i thought i had buggered something up. It wasnt until i had a smell of my bottle of Blantons that i could pick up a similar smell.

With the excitement of what came out in the stripping run for the next one i consulted the cfw thread and added some weetbix and 500g of LME. smells great in the fermenters. The first fermenter i got a reading of 1.075 it concerns me a little because i am using bakers yeast and dont want to stress them out.
Second fermenter i left out some sugar and added the 500g of LME to it. I got a reading of 1.065

Will LME increase the available sugars?

What would be a comfortable ballpark figure for an initial gravity for bakers yeast.

[Mattq71]

g'day.
from my homebrewing experience, substituting sugar for the same amount of LME will result in a lower gravity.

[Mattq71]

g'day.
from my homebrewing experience, substituting sugar for the same amount of LME will result in a lower gravity.

just to clarify the sugar will have the lower final gravity and thus slightly higher alcohol.