Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

dans.brew wrote:

Oldhoon wrote:Hey Crikko

I put a rum wash down yesterday(first one) and with my TPW I have been wrapping the fermenter with a single electric blanket and a doona :music-deathmetal:

Its been working great and maintaining 30 deg C.

Bloody Perth winter! 4deg this morning.

OH

Sitting the fermenter next to a woodfire ticking away works pretty good!
I save my rum washs for the middle of summer when we get those weeks of hot weather, the hotter the better... plus its done in a couple days. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I've got a design in mind for a fermenting box out of scrap wood, insulation and various other bits i have around... but the effort i might be better to wait for an old fridge to come up. Got my stc1000 on the way too, and a sparky friend lined up to wire it for me.

This new hobby is going to be expensive...

crikko wrote:
I've got a design in mind for a fermenting box out of scrap wood, insulation and various other bits i have around... but the effort i might be better to wait for an old fridge to come up. Got my stc1000 on the way too, and a sparky friend lined up to wire it for me.

This new hobby is going to be expensive...

I've often thought about setting up a brew fridge, but it all comes down to a matter of priority. I've found doing different washs at appropriate times of year to easily control temp has got me by without too many problems. For me investing in a bubbler and getting going on AG was higher up the list.
Everyones list will be in a different order though.

:text-+1: on this hobby getting expensive real quick if you don't be smart about it. There is a lot of top notch ideas on this site to help limit this problem! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

dans.brew wrote:

crikko wrote:
I've got a design in mind for a fermenting box out of scrap wood, insulation and various other bits i have around... but the effort i might be better to wait for an old fridge to come up. Got my stc1000 on the way too, and a sparky friend lined up to wire it for me.

This new hobby is going to be expensive...

I've often thought about setting up a brew fridge, but it all comes down to a matter of priority. I've found doing different washs at appropriate times of year to easily control temp has got me by without too many problems. For me investing in a bubbler and getting going on AG was higher up the list.
Everyones list will be in a different order though.

:text-+1: on this hobby getting expensive real quick if you don't be smart about it. There is a lot of top notch ideas on this site to help limit this problem! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Excuse my ignorance, but AG?

Glossary of terms from the newbies corner

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=2857#p40594

woodduck wrote:Glossary of terms from the newbies corner

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=2857#p40594

Thanks woodduck! Still so much to learn

Sorry mate... All Grain mashs. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Woodducks onto it though. I found the glossary of terms very helpful at the start.

Got the stripping run going right now.

Edit: cant figure out how to upload the photo from my phone! A tomorrow job

Adding photos and links thread, from, yes you guessed it the newbies corner! :teasing-tease: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=3097

crikko wrote:

Oldhoon wrote:Hey Crikko

I put a rum wash down yesterday(first one) and with my TPW I have been wrapping the fermenter with a single electric blanket and a doona :music-deathmetal:

Its been working great and maintaining 30 deg C.

Bloody Perth winter! 4deg this morning.

OH

I know.. she was crazy today.. very mild night though... go figure.

I've been leaving my tpw on the kitchen bench (no longer married so can do as i please! Hense the new hobby). Luckily the tpw is very forgiving, bit leaving the heat belt on over night and off in the day has worked well. The most recent finished in 6 days doing that.

Where did you get the molasses from?

Got the Molasses from Mirco Bros Ptl Ltd out Wanneroo road just before hester ave turn off on ya left (between the 2 servos)

Take a container and they will fill it or buy one of theirs.

Cheers

OH

Gday all.

Thought I'd post an update.

Been running the t500 nicely, making some nice neautral that I've been flavouring with essences and also on chips.

The water warmed up here a bit lately, so the pot attachment wasnt knocking it down enough. I tried it with my voltage controller which worked brilliantly, but took a heck of a long time, so i made a worm bucket. Just finished a 5l cleaning run and worked adequately. The plan is to only use it for the fast stripping runs at the moment as i got a slight kink, but the liquid is still coming out it just surges a bit so i think cuts will be messy.

Also picked up some molasses yesterday to try a rum.

Just running the rest of the tpw now, sitting back and enjoying the sunshine

crikko wrote:
Also picked up some molasses yesterday to try a rum.

Just running the rest of the tpw now, sitting back and enjoying the sunshine

Nice mate!
What rum recipe are you going to use?

dans.brew wrote:

crikko wrote:
Also picked up some molasses yesterday to try a rum.

Just running the rest of the tpw now, sitting back and enjoying the sunshine

Nice mate!
What rum recipe are you going to use?

Gonna give MacStill's from the tried and proven a crack

crikko wrote:Gonna give MacStill's from the tried and proven a crack

Nice choice... makes a very nice drop.
If you can leave it on oak for at least 12 months.... you def wont drink bought stuff ever again.

dans.brew wrote:

crikko wrote:Gonna give MacStill's from the tried and proven a crack

Nice choice... makes a very nice drop.
If you can leave it on oak for at least 12 months.... you def wont drink bought stuff ever again.

Only time I've drunk store bought stuff since i started is when im out. Even just a neutral on chips is better than what i was drinking

Finally got around to putting my rum on yesterday morning.

Now I'm sitting at work stressing that I'll get home to a big black smear on the wall, because it didn't seem to take off the way I've heard they can (stirred the foam back in the start with, then only a small amount again about 3 hours later).

It was bubbling away nicely though, it's actually quite mesmerising to watch this one compared to the TPW.

I think they need a bit of heat to really go off. Mine are just steady steady at the moment.

DaveZ wrote:I think they need a bit of heat to really go off. Mine are just steady steady at the moment.

Heat definitely gets them going, but leaving a reasonable amount of head room in your fermenter helps. Leave the lid ajar for the first 6hrs or until the foam settles a bit works for me also... i dont really ever need to stir in foam.

I used my wide fermenter for it which i think will help (based on my limited physics knowledge). Came home and the wallz are intact, so happy days. I need to sort out a fermenting fridge to be safe.

Yeah its handy to have a stay at home wife who can just glance at them every now and again.
Pretty sure she wouldnt hesitate in getting me home if a fountain of molasses was brewing :laughing-rolling: