TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Sugar wash info and questions

TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby R3dRanga » Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:15 pm

Hi All,

I’d be curious to know which (or “other”) is your preference and why.
If you’re producing neutral/voddy, what’s your go-to or seasonal wash and for what reason?
Is it based on price, taste, convenience, availability, better result, time, weather/temp??? (all of the above?)

If this has been covered in a previous topic please post a link.

Thanks,
RR
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby BigRig » Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:55 pm

For me it's tpw. Cheapest and easiest. 2 ingredients + yeast.

I have never had a tpw wash stall but have heaps of times with wbab.
Tpw is a little sweeter with wbab being a little drier.

Another neutral recipe is wineos sugar wash.

I haven't tried FFV.
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby The Stig » Mon Jul 12, 2021 6:49 am

Hi Red,
One more question you should add in there is “what type of still?”
For me , it’s weet-bix over a plated still because the plates still carries a small amount of flavour and mouth feel
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Dude » Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:11 am

I have been using the TPW for its ease in a pot still stripped then run slow. I will be trying the others when more neutral is required.
I might even try a second slow run to see if there is any difference.
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Carol » Mon Jul 12, 2021 8:30 am

Hi Ranga
I have been using TPW as it easy and I always have the ingredients on hand. Produces a nice neutral with a very slight sweetness which works well with the fruit gins, liqueurs etc I like to make. I have made FFV and that had a very slightly wheaty flavour. Haven't made WBAB yet.

Cheers
Carol

ps your limoncello looked very nice.
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby R3dRanga » Mon Jul 12, 2021 9:54 am

One more question you should add in there is “what type of still?”

Excellent point Stig. If only I could edit! (feel free if you have access)


For me, it’s weet-bix over a plated still because the plates still carries a small amount of flavour and mouth feel

Good to know. I think I'll go back and give WBAB another try for comparison.


(TPW) Produces a nice neutral with a very slight sweetness which works well with the fruit gins, liqueurs etc I like to make. I have made FFV and that had a very slightly wheaty flavour

That's really helpful feedback Carol. I've been using FFV lately with some success, but it does have a very, very faint wheaty flavour. I did a TPW on my 2nd ever wash (straight after Turbo!) and it was pretty good but a) I was using the air/pot still, which produced more of a tomato liqueur, and b) I found it slightly harder to clean up - everything was pink! (any tricks, tips or advice there?)


your limoncello looked very nice.

Thanks Carol! I now need to create some fancy-pants labels. The plain bottle just doesn't cut it.


I will be trying the others when more neutral is required.

Dude, come back and let us know how you think they compare if/when you try another wash


Keep the feedback coming folks!
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Carol » Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:19 am

Ranga
I try to leave the TPW to clear for a week or so when fermentation is finished. I refill the fermenter while I am minding the still for the stripping run. It is easy enough to wipe down the fermenter - flannelette squares from old sheets seems to work particularly well. I rinse it out and fill it up again so the fermenters are always full.

Cheers
Carol
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Amberale » Mon Jul 12, 2021 6:42 pm

Using a 6 plate Neitraliser+.
I tried TPW and my attempts at it had a tomato flavour that I didn’t like(only 5 plates at that stage).

I have made many batches of FFV and I get the cleanest neutral from it especially over 6 plates.
Then I also double distil a heart of hearts just for fun.
It is like a mountain Naiad’s mid stream pee poured over glacial melt.

I have done a WBaB for neutral over 6 plates but it was no better than the FFV for me and a bit more faffing around.

I am waiting for the shed to defrost enough to spend the hours down there to process 200 litres of 2nd gen WBaB over 4 plates.
The first gen seems fine and I plan to take it to 5 gens(I’m only sniffing, sipping and spitting out at the moment).
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby GINKING » Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:16 pm

If you added copper mesh on top of each of the bubble plates of the Neutraliser would that make any difference to the final flavour?

Has anyone tried this?
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Amberale » Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:58 pm

GINKING wrote:If you added copper mesh on top of each of the bubble plates of the Neutraliser would that make any difference to the final flavour?

Has anyone tried this?


I don’t know that it would make much difference.
Much easier and not too exxy to put a 500mm packed section on top and fill it with $20 of SS scrubbers or $100 of copper mesh.
You can always empty it and run it instead of the bubbler as a stripping pot-still for dark spirits, it’s easier to clean.
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby R3dRanga » Sun Oct 03, 2021 5:53 pm

It’s been a little while since I’ve be been on here… thought I’d post an update to my original question.

I’ve been busy experimenting with TPW, with lots of success. It’s now my go-to for neutral. Both WBAB and FFV had a very, very feint (weird) taste - which could very well be related to my cheap reflux still. I’ve gotta agree with Carol, TPW is super easy and cheap. Great for neutral run through my reflux still, but I reckon I’ll go back to other recipes for trialling whiskey at some point.

I initially tried Carol’s bulk fermenting approach and loaded 4x 25-30L barrels, which wasn’t a bad method, but I’ve since worked out that my still yields better quality with smaller volumes. I’m now just running one at a time and staggering washes. The plan is to now do one every week or two, rather than a mega batch every 4-6w (which takes a good week to run all batches, double distilled).

As always, I’m double distilling (strip, then spirit run) and filtering through carbon - mostly because the filters etc came with the still, but I do think it makes a very subtle but noticeably cleaner result.

My hubby has a much more acute sense of smell/taste than me, and his review was “Not too bad. That’s actually ok”. He’s a very harsh critic, so that was a massive thumbs up.

I think I’m ready to face the next level critics - a friend who won ‘brewer of the year’ a few years back ((he owns a brewery and also loves gin/vodka), and another friend who distils professionally. I’m not expecting them to say it’s the best vodka they’ve ever had, but hoping for at least drinkable. Wish me luck!

I also had my first wash fail. I have a wide-topped fermenter, which I’ve used previously with success. I took a hyrdro reading and all was good but needed more time. I then got busy and left it for a couple of weeks. Knowing it was ready to run (also, final hydro reading was all good), I noticed white floaties on the surface. Sort of like flakes. I searched this forum and Google for answers and from the little I learnt I thought it was ok, but the run didn’t go well. It overheated early (several times) and tasted bad. I now assume that I didn’t seal the fermenter properly after the first hydro reading and it went bad. I will now deploy the rubber mallet for sealing that fermenter next time, and I only use it when the other 3 are occupied. A good lesson, grasshopper!

Dude, did you experiment with a slow run?
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Carol » Sun Oct 03, 2021 6:13 pm

Hi Ranga
It looks like you have worked out a system!
Onwards and upwards!

Cheers
Carol
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Wellsy » Mon Oct 04, 2021 5:41 am

Good to hear things are going well red. If your distilling friend gives you a hard time just ask how much his gear cost and compare it to how much you spent :)
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby R3dRanga » Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:52 pm

** FURTHER UPDATE **

I've now (very selectively) handed out samples to friends who have a good snout and are professional brewers and/or distillers. I was expecting some constructive criticism but I got the thumbs up. The report was: nice mouth feel, very neutral smell (pretty much no odour) and better than various other commercial vodkas - including one from a 'boutique' distillery. I am very chuffed! They were all amazed when I told them the ingredients - basically tomato paste, yeast and sugar.

Thanks Carol, Stig, Wellsy, BigRig and others for answering my many questions over the past 11 months since I started this journey; and for your informative posts. I still have a long way to go but so stoked with how much I've learnt to produce vodka/neutral that is not just drinkable but pretty good. A far cry from my earlier output which was (sometimes) 'just' drinkable with a mixer.

I'm now excited to start experimenting with flavours. I can't wait to do another limoncello batch, and I'm also keen to experiment with gin. Also have a couple of litres on oak chips.

:dance:
Last edited by R3dRanga on Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TPW vs WBAB vs FFV (for neutral)

Postby Carol » Sun Nov 07, 2021 7:54 pm

Hey Ranga
You go girl!
It is great fun! Heaps of things to try.
I have just made a couple of test batches - 66 spotted gin ( like 40 spotted only I am older) and a rose gin (with rose petal flavoured gin extract and rose wine).
My roku gin went down well ( too well for one taste tester who downed half a bottle in one sitting!)

Cheers
Carol
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