can you help me mcstill

[marbaker]

hi folks iv been distilling a few months now i have only used sugar washes.the sugar at our supermarket as gone up nearly 20% .is there any other way i can do other washes without sugar,ie mollases,corn.bare in mind im new to all this so could you advice me step by step on what to do please.many thanks marbaker

[MacStill]

If you do decide to go down the "all grain" path your going to need to learn about starch conversion and malting, it's something I nor anyone else will give you step by step instructions on without having to rewrite a novel :lol:

As for molasses :mrgreen: I can help :mrgreen: mmmmmmmmmmmmm rummmmmmmmmmmmm :mrgreen:

For ease and simple wash's to ferment for hooch your going to have to suck it up and pay extra for sugar, to do what I think your trying to, I reckon it'll end up more expensive.

[maheel]

depends on what your trying to make but white sugar is normally the cheapest (and easiest) to make into a neutral.

ask around at catering suppliers or wholesalers for bulk (20/25kg) bags of sugar you might find some cheaper per KG
try any Asian / African foodstuff shops in Asian community area's they are very price sensitive and the owner of the shop will be very competitive.

next step is to look for other things with sugar in them that you might get cheap or free
maybe fruit if you can get it free etc
but they all start to have other issues like preparation or conversion of starch etc to sugar.

as your only "new" to the hobby you should stick with sugar to you understand your still the best
the next step for you might be a bigger boiler, allowing a greater yield in each run
time wise this can improve the costs by lowering them

[marbaker]

thanks for the replies i will start looking around and try to buy in bulk.thanks again

[maheel]

forgot to mention more often not the big supermarkets are the cheapest....

[Brigand]

Fellas

What's the going rate for sugar at the moment?

I'm struggling to source 25kg bags around here

Found one place that stock 25kg of caster sugar at $59 :shock:

Another mob said they used to stock them but it was costing them $38 per bag so they've switched to 1kg bags at 1.79 per kilo - he did say he'd give me a 5% discout if I bought 25 1kg bags though...

He directed me to Aldi who have 2kg bags for $2

Is this in the ball park or should I keep looking?

Cheers

[MacStill]

2kg bags for $2 is pretty good I think, woolies used to be $1.89 for 2kg but has gone up since the floods.

[R-sole]

Used to be around 80 cents a kg a year ago. Now you're doing well if you can get it for $1 a kg. Supermarkets are nearly always the cheapest, although not the most convenient.

[Brigand]

Wollies stock 3kg bags again @ $2.89

Cheers

[SBB]

$1.98 for 2 KG last time I looked at Coles

[MacStill]

189c per 2kg @ woolies ova ear for raw sugar, not bad considering the nearest sugar mill is 4000km away :crying-green:

[SBB]

Never ceases to amaze me how it all works, here I am living 30km from the nearest mill and I pay more :( I know a truckie bloke who used to cart Tasmanian made butter in forklift pallet sized blocks from Melbourne to Northen NSW so that it could be cut into the little blocks you buy in a shop and wrapped in its packaging, as a back load he used to cart the same butter....only this time in the supermarket sized blocks and wrapped....destination Melbourne . Yup its a wierd wierd world we live in.

[Frank]

Yep SBB certainly is, VERY weird, at least you and I for sure live in a nice part of the 'weirdness'.

Marbaker, re sugar prices, between the collusive duopoly of supermaket chains and the sugar market futures trading behaviour, I reckon its beyond our smarts to deal with (no offence BTW, you are probably a far smarter operator than I). So..... 90c/tops $1 per kilo for home grown is good enough to buy lots if you can.

Afterall, the finished product will STILL :laughing-rolling: save you money and, if you ask a local (Australian) sugar mill employee, they will tell you that they aren't being over paid nor confident of future employment. True, ture and true, IMHO.

[The Stig]

Since marbaker is UK based I wonder where "they" get their sugar from?
Does it come from AU?

[Glow]

Most of UK sugar comes from beets (beet sugar) hence the term or vegitable sugar beet, well thats what my POM dad tells me. :D