Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

It's just got the marble in there, no packing, I will put a SS scrubber in there next time though

I've done something which in time i'm sure i'll find funny in the future but right now am pretty pi$$ed over, i took my first 1.2 litres at 90% and accidently put the 50mls of heads into it. I really don't feel like doing a third still run, how bad is it for that 50 mls head to be there, can i carbon filter it out?
cheers for that

OK, I can't bite my tongue any longer :angry-banghead:
I have been reading this thread and wanting to contribute again for a few days now thinking that the others had been a bit hard on you :think:


I was halfway through typing a long winded response and then thought nah fukkit... and hit the delete button

I call troll :laughing-rolling:

but maybe I am wrong?

No troll but glad you got a laugh out of the thread and my f^%&ing it up :) , just new to distilling.
Is the 1.2L spirit ok to drink with 50 ml heads in it, i know theres some nasty chemicals in the head, I realise it's a small amount compared to the main body.

I did 2 TPW today, think i've screwed up one. I used the recipe from McStill, 5kg sugar, 200g tom paste, 1/4 tsp citric acid, 80grams yeast. But when i spread the yeast on the top at 34 degrees i went off for 1 hour doing a still run, came back to find a yorkshire pudding in the top of the fermenter. I stirred it into the wash but it isn't bubbling away like the other batch. I added another 20grams of yeast 2 hours after stirred it in a bit and sealed the drum, still no action on the airlock for 4 hours. sound like i've screwed up the batch?

is that 50ml heads or foreshots?

either way not great for drinking

cuts link>>>>>>>>> http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13261 <<<<<<<<don't poison yourself link

bundyftw wrote:No troll but glad you got a laugh out of the thread and my f^%&ing it up :) , just new to distilling.
Is the 1.2L spirit ok to drink with 50 ml heads in it, i know theres some nasty chemicals in the head, I realise it's a small amount compared to the main body.

I did 2 TPW today, think i've screwed up one. I used the recipe from McStill, 5kg sugar, 200g tom paste, 1/4 tsp citric acid, 80grams yeast. But when i spread the yeast on the top at 34 degrees i went off for 1 hour doing a still run, came back to find a yorkshire pudding in the top of the fermenter. I stirred it into the wash but it isn't bubbling away like the other batch. I added another 20grams of yeast 2 hours after stirred it in a bit and sealed the drum, still no action on the airlock for 4 hours. sound like i've screwed up the batch?

have a close listen with your ear, is it fizzing ?

It was 50ml Heads, i'll check that link tomorrow. cheers.

Maheel, just had another look, yer mate it's fizzing..

cool mate, hey I'm just a starter as well. I know It sucks trying to get answers but both Aussie distiller and HD have great google search functions that save you the frustration of posting a question and either not having it answered or having to wait.

The other bonus for using these tools is you learn so much more things totally unrelated to your original question. It saves having to ask later.

The heads won't hurt you, just taste like shit and give you a hangover.

I have read somewhere that there is no methanol produces in sugar based washes, it only appears in grain based. Should be safe to drink but like its been said it will taste less than average :puke-huge: and could cause a sever hangover.

I dunno if it's right that there's no methanol, there's trace amounts of a whole stack of compounds you'd rather not drink. But i don't think there's anything there that will hurt you short term.

Yer, not gunna risk it over 3 L, i'll just add it to the next spirits wash i do.

But my 2nd 25L TPW wash is still not bubbling on the airlock after a couple days, compared to the other 25l that's going nuts. it is fizzing slightly though, i've checked the seal on the fermenter.

Is it too late to add more yeast and stir it through or would that kill the whole batch?
cheers

I'm gonna take a stab, but wait until someone who actually knows what they are talking about answers you.

I reckon if your ingredients are all there and the temp is about 25-30°c it's not gonna hurt to mix some more yeast in. I would aerate the guts out of it first and then hydrate some yeast (although they say hydrating is not neccessary) and dump it in. If your having no movement after two days then why not try? better than having a tub of sweet tomato water sitting around doing fcukall.

Before you waste some more yeast just check the gravity over 2 days to see if it changes, if it doesn't pitch more yeast as Devotus suggested.
If it does change just let it do its thing. I never use airlocks since they made me stress too much when they didn't bubble but my beer/ washes were still working away merrily. The easiest way to do things is to tape cling wrap over instead of the lid and this way you can see it foaming away. And when the krausen/foam drops its time to party :D or let it clear lol
Cheers Jimmy

Thanks guys, i checked the gravity and it was way high, so i stirred the hell out of it, let it settle and pitched 100g yeast in, and gently stirred it in. we'll see how that goes.

it's been a sharp learning curve, I did do a bit of research on distilling and fermentation through google and here when i built my 2" boka but now i'm short on time need to get a bottle collection going before christmas!
cheers

An easy way to see if your fermenter is sealed properly and your air lock is working fine is to give the fermenter a squeeze and see if the water level in the airlock moves. If it doesn't then you have a leak somwhere.

I did the squeeze trick and it worked, seems after some investigation the oring is cactus, i ended up putting a house brick on the thing and it's airlocked and bubbling away.

cling wrap FTW you just look in and see whats happening :)

cheers maheel. Since this thread i've done that 50L turbo, did another 50L TPW (WOW what a difference in odour..you don't have to carbon filter it if it doesn't smell like tails right?) the cling wrap trick works well, i've got it on my current drum of UJSM.. now today got a Rum wash happening.. it's been a sharp learning curve, I wish i'd just started making UJSM and Rum from the start, but there you go..got some mower fuel now.. the turbo yeast can sit in the cupboard! cheers for the advice all.

Turbo yeast can and will get you out of a bind from time to time :clap: some commercial distillery's use it.