Introductions

[dantehicks]

Hi All,

This is my first post, let me start by saying thanks to everyone for contributing to such a great resource for us newbies. Usually I lurk ok forums for ages but figured I would jump straight in and introduce myself. I am based in Launceston and have just recently added the Alembic Pot still to my grainfather. I have been all grain brewing beer for years and in the interest of loosing weight I have gone Keto and decided to start making spirits rather than beer.

So far I have run a sacrificial alcohol run through it, an old apple cider that after 2 weeks is now what I call drinkable but May age out OK. Is it OK to drink the first run after the vinegar run or should I dump it?

I have also done a 60L whiskey run with 30kg Gladfields distillers malt and 5kg prayed malt, OG1.1110 and after 2 weeks is down to 1.030 using Ec1118. Do you think this will ferment out any drier than that?

Just last weekend I also put down my first rum wash following the hook rum recipe. I am not much of a rum drinker, I hate Bundy. Not berry Australian of me I know but it is what it is. I used Ec1118 on that as well fermenting nicely at 25* apart from the mess it made of my germ fridge. I know people say it can be fermented at 35* using bakers yeast, can I push the Ec1118 higher than 25 without causing off flavours? Coming from a beer background I am used to low and slow to accentuate the hop characteristics so high temps are a bit foreign to me (apart from the odd Belgian or saison).

Sorry for the long first post and thanks again for this great source of knowledge.

Cheers,

DanteHicks

[woodduck]

Hey mate welcome :greetings-waveyellow:

I wouldn't drink the first alcohol run, that's why we call it a sacrificial run. It will have some nasties in it from the still. Better to be safe than sorry.

They say hot fermented rum is the best it creates certain flavours that are great in rum. Not sure ec1118 is the best for rum but I guess it can't hurt to try.

Best of luck

[dantehicks]

Thanks Woodduck,

Would you recommend sticking with the bakers yeast then? As a beer brewer this is a bit of a strange concept for me. If that is the general consensus I will do that on the next batch, mixing the low wines until I get a full spirit run.

Cheers,
Dante

[Sam.]

Welcome here mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I don’t put bundy in the same category as rum :puke-huge:

[woodduck]

I would go to the bakers yeast or look for a specific rum yeast. Sorry I don't know these off the top of my head. There would be some recommendations in the rum chat thread somewhere but I'm sure some of the rum guys will soon tell you here shortly.

You will find quite a few shocking things here going from beer to distilling like the lack of cleaning and sanitation some of us have will blow your mind :laughing-rolling: . you have good habits so keep them up and you will make very good spirits :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bluc]

Edv493 is a speciality rum yeast sold by a few different manufacturers distimax comes to mind :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[dantehicks]

Thanks again woodduck, thanks bluc, all great advice.

[Professor Green]

Welcome to AD mate.

I hope that's not your real name that you've used as your username, this is not a hobby you want to advertise to the world. :law-policered:

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[dantehicks]

The name is from the movie clerks mate, and about that, I know it is not something to advertise but as any product is for personal consumption I figure the risks are low. Any advice on keeping said risks to a minimum?

[woodduck]

Yep, don't sell it!

Don't tell every man and his dog and don't do anything that would encourage the police to come to your house. Pretty simple really.

[Professor Green]

The name is from the movie clerks mate, and about that, I know it is not something to advertise but as any product is for personal consumption I figure the risks are low. Any advice on keeping said risks to a minimum?

Goodo, just checking!

:text-+1: on what woodduck said. Keep it low key and you'll be fine.

[RC Al]

The name is from the movie clerks mate, and about that, I know it is not something to advertise but as any product is for personal consumption I figure the risks are low. Any advice on keeping said risks to a minimum?

That movie was rather poignant to me, i was working a similar job at the time

Welcome mate

[mattyb]

Be careful where you leave your gear. I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere and had my rigon the porch getting ready for a run. All of a sudden cop car rocks up, the neighbouring farm was broken in to and they were door knocking to see if anyone had seen anything suspicious. You never know where or when or why they may turn up. Am sure he saw it but probably couldn’t give a toss especially as we are rural, but could have easily gone the other way