Another Newbie + Question.

[Grump3]

Hi,
I'm a retired sparky on the NSW Mid North Coast.
New to distilling but have been making fruit based wine as well as beer for over 10 years & now mainly looking to make liqueurs from a neutral alcohol base.
About 5 years back a friend offered to make me a stainless pot still so I prepared a 20 L wash from sugar & some kind of special yeast (not Turbo) after which I stored it in flagons in my wine cellar. Unfortunately the friend then moved interstate & never completed my still.

On a recent visit to a local home brew store I spotted a complete T500 reflux kit selling for $750 which renewed my interest. but the price a little too steep for my pocket.
A search on Ebay that evening produced the same kit for $599 + $40 delivery so I took the plunge.

First run was completed using that 5yr old wash which to my surprise turned out OK & produced acceptable results from the essences supplied in my kit.

Have now done a 2nd wash using turbo yeast & the supplied carbon additive but find that too messy for my liking. Is the carbon additive a requirement when using turbo or can it be omitted?

[Kimbo]

Hi Grump and welcome to the forum.
To answer your question, Yes. What the Brew shops do is sell you a bunch of stuff to clean up a crap product.
We here at Aussie like to make a decent product which doesn't require cleaning up....and therefor costs a lot less ;-)
try This
good luck mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[haze]

Yeh turbo yeast on a t500 still you will definently need to carbon filter to get something close to neutral. I make neutral too and i only make TPW (tomato paste wash) using Lowans bakers yeast (from woolworths) and it works great for me.

I still filter though, just to clean it up a lil more. Someone on here reccomended using coconut activated carbon so im trying that now. Its like $30 for 2kg which will probably last me 10 years.

Being good with your hands you will probably want to keep an eye out for 50L kegs.. you will probably end up building your own. Otherwise they are great for booze storage

I'm still a noob and ive gotten plenty good advice here so stick around :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Bushy]

Hey Grump :greetings-waveyellow:
Welcome to the wonderful world of home distillation. Enjoy the ride mate.

[Dominator]

Welcome mate. As above, the TPW is a great place to start, cheaper and will give you a nice clean result. Also have a read through the Newbie section, there is plenty on info there on double distilling and 'Cuts' that will help you produce an even better product.

[Yummyrum]

Hi Grump.
Good to have another MNCoaster :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Definitely cave a go at the Tomato paste wash....as a wine maker you will appreaciate the clarity of the product...don't get hung up on the tomatoe flavour.
It comes out absolutely tasteless....definitely no carbon filtering required

Pm me if you want...you are more than walcome to come around and sample some of my neutral .

[Grump3]

try This
good luck mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks Kimbo.
Yes, the TPW sounds promising. Have already started 2x25 L batches this afternoon.

[Sam.]

Hi Grump.
Pm me if you want...you are more than walcome to come around and sample some of my neutral .

Thanks for the offer but I'm well south of you near Taree.
My T500 kit came with a carbon filter cartridge/twin container setup that I've used on my first 2 runs.

[Grump3]

Hi Haze,
Yes, I've been using my carbon filter on the end product but wasn't too happy in using the satchel of black messy carbon wash additive supplied in my kit.
My initial turbo wash had started with a vengeance, frothed up & spat black sticky muck out through the air lock making one hell of a mess over everything within range (me included.)
The T500 is presently nearing the end of it's final turbo wash run as I type. It's likely to be only TPW from here on!

[SBB]

My initial turbo wash had started with a vengeance, frothed up & spat black sticky muck out through the air lock making one hell of a mess over everything within range (me included.)

G'day Grumpy,Welcome to the forum
Ferments don't always go exactly to plan,If you find that upsetting best you stay away from rum washes and molasses :laughing-rolling:

[haze]

Yeh i know the carbon satchels you are talking about. Im using granules and i pour my neutral through it leaving the granules in the filter. They can be used again and again.

This is similar. Mine is a bit coarser though.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5kgs-Activat ... 19d9dd5460

My filter rig is ghetto spec. 2 metres of 3/4" copper tubing with one end bashed flat and i drilled a 1mm hole to let liquid out. Other end is a stainless cooking pot with a hole drilled in in an soldered on to the copper. Just filled the tube with carbon and pour my booze in the pot.

But yeh, TPW does come out clean if you do your cuts right. Its not really necessary

[Sam.]

This is similar. Mine is a bit coarser though.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5kgs-Activat ... 19d9dd5460

Thanks for this link. Will keep it in mind for future experiments.

[CH3CH2OH]

Here is a good quick read about carbon filtering

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1888