Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Thanks for ya tips guys.
Ill look into the 200L barrel idea, it will cost more to get food grade quality 200L plastic barrels than one second hand IBC however it will reduce the infection risk which is more important.

Thanks for the piece of mind gang :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Don't throw out the prospect of olive containers. I'm using 4 of the 190L red ones. I'm pretty sure Mac has a few more than that set up. At ~$15 for the container, $20 for the ball valve (25mm philmac) and $10 for the flanged tank fitting its a pretty cheap set up totaling $45. This can be kept down if you go for 20mm or cheaper ball valves.

The smell was quite strong when I first purchased them. All I did was wash with a mixture of Napi-San and dishwashing liquid. This got rid of the smell and oil quite quickly. A little airing with the lid off also helps.

Grandvewe

Should have thought of it before. When we make wines and rack from one container to another,we add campden tablets .They are a form of Sodium meta-bisulphate I mentioned in an earlier post but you add it direct to the wine .It inhibits any bacterial growths . Normally in wine making we add 1 crushed tablet to 5 liters of wine .

There isn't any difference between a wine at @12% ABV maturing and a wash @ 12%ABV waiting to be distilled .

Now when you brake up your IBC into 5x 200l drums ,that is the time the infection will get in if it can .That is the time to add the Campden tablets .And also make sure that your 200l are scrubbed and sterilized with Sodium meta Bi-sulphate solution .

There's some serious thinking going into this thread...let's keep it going.

bt1

Bang! Yummyrum thats the info i needed :clap:

I was wondering what the wine industry might have as tricks up their sleeves.
Do you have any contacts/website to buy these products?

So I need to buy the IBC mainly for transporting the wash. With these tablets is there any need for moving the wash out of the IBC into other containers or could I simply drop a tablet in every time I siphon off a 40L run?

Is there a tablet quantity to liquid ratio?

I also had an idea last night - (as a personal situation) I actually have hundreds of 15L food grade buckets with liquid sealing lids. I was thinking of transferring the 1000L into 67 buckets and use them as I need. Maybe if I sanitise each bucket and drop a small amount of the campden tablets?

So bacteria aside, im assuming the best temperature I should store it at is the colder the better?

Thanks again for everyones help, im glad this is interesting to others besides just me :-D

Grandvewe wrote:I also had an idea last night - (as a personal situation) I actually have hundreds of 15L food grade buckets with liquid sealing lids. I was thinking of transferring the 1000L into 67 buckets and use them as I need. Maybe if I sanitise each bucket and drop a small amount of the campden tablets?

There is your answer! Transport in the IBC, transfer to the buckets with campden tablets to sanitise and strip in 30L batches.

one other thing, is there anything in these tablets that could have an adverse affect to a whiskey wash as opposed to wine?
Considering, yeast etc? Or does it make no difference?

First off I'm not in the wine industry but I have made lots of fruit wines over the years .

Here is a Quote from Gloria Oxfords book "Make your own wine" which has been one of my bibles .

"METABISULPHITE
Very often abbreviated to sulphite or bisulphite.It is sold in powder form as sodium metabisulphite or potassium metabisuphite .In compressed form it is known as Campden tablets .It is the winemakers principal protection against bacterial infection and has a number of other beneficial qualities, mentioned thoughout the book."

So I get mine from a Home brew shop .You can buy a bag of around 100 for about $5 or a whole kilo of metabisulphite powder (sterilizing solution)for about $10

Cool storage is definitely going to reduce infection taking off.

Dosage 1 Campden tablet per 5 liters 1.5 Tablets per 5liters if temps over about 25-30c

Personally for sanitizing equipment, sodium metabisulphate is an irritant to the airways.
Bad if you suffer asthma. I don't like using it.

Iodophor is good, iodine based and no odour. Something similar is/was used in the diary industry.
Starsan is another
Check the beer brewing forums for other sanitizing options.

When transferring wash you will want to keep airation of wash to a min.
All I can think of.

Yummyrum wrote:First off I'm not in the wine industry but I have made lots of fruit wines over the years .

Here is a Quote from Gloria Oxfords book "Make your own wine" which has been one of my bibles .

"METABISULPHITE
Very often abbreviated to sulphite or bisulphite.It is sold in powder form as sodium metabisulphite or potassium metabisuphite .In compressed form it is known as Campden tablets .It is the winemakers principal protection against bacterial infection and has a number of other beneficial qualities, mentioned thoughout the book."

So I get mine from a Home brew shop .You can buy a bag of around 100 for about $5 or a whole kilo of metabisulphite powder (sterilizing solution)for about $10

Cool storage is definitely going to reduce infection taking off.

Dosage 1 Campden tablet per 5 liters 1.5 Tablets per 5liters if temps over about 25-30c

On a side note, aren't sulphites in wine a large part of the especially bad hangover we get from getting drunk on wine?
It could be a necessary evil in this case, but personally I take great pride in the fact that my homemade liquor gives hardly any hangover. Adding sulphites may remove that particular quality of the finished spirit.

Canadoz
You may be right .But I thought that it was all the other crap in wine that gives you a head ache .

That's the advantage of Distilling and doing cuts is that we can remove all the fores ,heads and tales that ordinarily you would drink in wine .

I also would have thought that the trick is to add just the minimum recommended to stop infection.You could easily over sulphide to be sure to be sure .

Also ,the main reason we distill in these pretty Copper stills is so that the copper will remove the sulphides .I admit to not being a Chemist or having any great understanding of the subject . Maybe someone might like to chime in here.

And Grandvewe ,I forgot to mention that you have to Crush Campden tablets .I crush them between two dessert spoons .however with the number you might need ,you may have to find another way .

Hey just an idea if you use a heavy inert gas like argon??? I think... when used it will in theory sit on top of your wash not allowing o2 to get to your wash argon is used by a few winerys to stop their wine from oxidising eg after opening a bottle for tasting this allows them to keep an open bottle until its finished instead of throwing out every day they also use it on their big storage tanks
argon and co2 are both used argon more expensive there are several papers on the subject with mixed results argon seems more promising though
due to co2 being absorbed more easily and changing the chemical properties in doing so changing the taste.
just a very quick summary on a massive subject :teasing-blah:

Yep +1 on 200L menters, I have had a couple washes sit for... a little over a month now, and checking each week with non sterilised hydro, no infection and it's at 7%.

I believe you "should be right" but if you want to repeat the process then I'd be looking at other options than a IBC, 5x200L would allow each ferment to remain airtight until it's needed and only -4 strips to have one tub done

Or hook into it and strip the shit out of it in a STRIPPING MARATHON :handgestures-thumbupleft: