Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi i am BigRig from brisbane northside. I am new to this forum and new to distilling.

I have been making limoncello for a few years so decided to take the plunge and start making my own spirit.

I am looking at a Turbo 500 but have been reading a Lot about the turbo yeast / carbon scam so now a little unsure.

Get ready for the questions and Thanks for having me.

Hey BigRig and welcome, another Brissie local here.

What sort of spirit are you looking at making?

Welcome BigRig :greetings-waveyellow:
I'd steer clear of the turbo stuff if your looking for a decent drop.

Welcome, BigRig!
Friendly, knowledgeable bunch of folks here who'll get you going correctly.

As a former turbo yeast user, I can assure you it's an inferior yeast that makes an inferior product.
Turbo is overloaded with nutrients that stress the yeast (stressed yeast creates off-flavors) to a
ridiculous ABV level (Alcohol By Volume). Why do you think it requires carbon filtering?
The reason it's pushed so much by vendors is it's a good profit maker. Save your $$$.
Rant done. :-B

Hope to see you around the forums, and best of success to you!

Welcome bud :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Welcome mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Welcome BigRig.

TheT500's are a functional still that will produce decent neutral however most people tend to outgrow them fairly quickly and they can be a bit fiddly to operate. There's no need to use the turbo products with it either, any decent wash from our tried and proven section will give you infinitely better results.

The first thing you need to decide is what kind of spirit you want to make. This will determine the type of still you need.
Other things to also consider are:

• how much time you have to run the still.
• how much room you have in which to run it.
• whether you want to buy off the shelf or whether you have the time and skills to go down the DIY route.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Hi there and welcome.

Take your time and have a read through the newbies section. There is heaps of info about different still types and what they are capable of producing. Don't rush in to buying something, not saying the T500 is no good, just saying it has limitations that you should be aware of before spending your hard earned coin on.

Best of luck mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Be careful what you put on internet.

Ah yes bugger. I see.

Mods please delete

Hi BigRig, I removed that post. Please understand that the buying or selling of home made (or “other”) alcohol is strictly against forum policy.
Welcome to the forum btw

I have been doing a ton of reading here and watching you tube videos so now I have dilemma and a few questions. Apologies If they are random and all over the place.

If I am only interested in making limoncello (neutral diluted to 20% with a ton of sugar and lemon zest) would I worry about cuts or would I be wasting my time?

Put my 1st wash in a barrel on Saturday arvo. Problem is it is not see through so I cannot see the wash and I don't have an airlock on it so don't know if it is still bubbling. On sunday night, about 30hrs in to ferment it spewed some froth out the lid but didnt appear to come off. Would this still be ok? Would it be likely to finished fermenting? Would it be ok to use? would i be ok to lift the lid to take a look ?
I am using a 10 litre Jerry can which I put bread yeast and 2 kilos of sugar and topped the water up to 8 litres.

Off topic but how often are you guys n gals distilling spirit? Is it daily or when needed?

Does anybody taste the wash before distilling?

always be worried about cuts. sounds complicated really not. start of run ditch offenive burning solvent acetone/nail polish remover/fake fruit smelling crud. end of run ditch offensive cardboard wet dog hair murky crap. keep the middle bit. results? drink 750ml wake up without a hangover. win win :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Yep always do cuts.

Put your ear against the fermenter and if you can hear fizzing it's still going. Do you have a hydrometer to check when its finished? Don't worry about the spewing it was just an active feremt it will still be fine to use.

woodduck wrote:Yep always do cuts.

Put your ear against the fermenter and if you can hear fizzing it's still going. Do you have a hydrometer to check when its finished? Don't worry about the spewing it was just an active feremt it will still be fine to use.

i will check for sound when i get home from work.

at this stage i don't have anything yet but this jerry can and another (empty) i wanted to get a head start. I was going to buy a still this weekend with the relevant bits and pieces.

I stopped by HBS on way home and picked up a alcohol meter. has a reading of 980-990 and No sound. Has a nice red wine smell. Put lid back on.

With a gravity like that you're either done or very close.

Sounds like it's done to me. Take another reading tomorrow or the day after and if it's the same, it's done.

Ok so now an update, the first wash I did was done by Saturday and run through a mates still, was happy with the result but thinking back I didn't put anything for nutrients in - his still was a fuselex super express I haven't been able to find much info online for this.

I still don't have a still but have invested in a few fermenters and currently have a 25L wbab, tpw and kale bubbling away.

Still Spirits Super Reflux knock off :puke-huge: