Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Following the recipe i forgot the part about dumping the 100ml fores on the stripping run. With 5 x stripping runs, am i to assume there will be 500mls of fores to collect and dump on the spirit run?

Probably wont be that much, I would throw at least the first 200ml, you will still have a heap of heads to cut anyway :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Need some advice from the rum guys please.

I did my first spirit run this arvo (30L) and collected 32 jars of approx 250ml which are now airing. I actually ran out of the smaller jars so collected another 3 or 4 litres in larger jars.

Jars 31 & 32 plus the 3 bigger jars had a smell like butterscotch / caramel so assuming it was tails but it wasnt the unpleasant wet dog smell i am accustomed to with TPW. If i kept running it will it eventually get to wet dog smell ?

I ran out of time and jars so shut the still down, the spirit was still coming off @ 68%abv.

I have almost 10L of stripped wash left over so i was gonna add this to the boiler with the caramel jars and finishing running the still tomorrow. Otherwise i will keep it for next run and just finish running whats left in the boiler (i didnt empty it).

Am i on the right track ?

Yes on the right track and yes will eventually turn to funk.
I quite often get a choc type flavour at start of tails..
Usually switch off well before wet dog..

Thanks bluc. I ran the rest with the additions and ended up with another 15 jars.

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

I need some advice regarding ph values for macrum recipe.

I use 60l fermenters so do a 50l wash doubling everything in the original recipe.

I am using sprengers stock feed molasses and lowans yeast, and run an aquarium heater at about 30deg c.

I use about 10l of backset in each following generation cooled to 30 deg.

Now my problem is I have done a batch of 5 gens then a spirit run, and now up to gen 3 in my second batch, and every time I have to add new yeast. Even after leaving a couple of them 24 hrs, no action.

I did a 5 gen batch of ujsm and never had to add more yeast.

So I have just bought a digital ph meter and tested the 3rd gen rum wash that is 2 weeks old and ready to run. It reads 3.7.

So should I be adding a little baking soda or something to raise the ph?? Or what else may I be doing wrong?

Thanks for any advise , Beato

Are you tipping hot dunder sugar mix on yeastbed? Cause that will kill it.
Could be ph. Some use calcium others use bicarb. Personally think bicarb leaves a flavour..
No set rule you just have to add it in little bits and test between additions..

Read about a method where you can get a thick rich buttery rum by slowly warming up the wash to 135f / 58c then holding it there for 2 hours before switching off and letting it cool to room temp. Next day run the still as normal. Supposed to be awesome for oaked and white dog.

How do i do this on an electric boiler ? Power controller maybe ? Would think even with the power controller it would still get to boiling temp and be too hot ?
Anyone tried this and had good results ?

You would need a thermostatically controlled heater

BigRig wrote:Read about a method where you can get a thick rich buttery rum by slowly warming up the wash to 135f / 58c then holding it there for 2 hours before switching off and letting it cool to room temp. Next day run the still as normal. Supposed to be awesome for oaked and white dog.

How do i do this on an electric boiler ? Power controller maybe ? Would think even with the power controller it would still get to boiling temp and be too hot ?
Anyone tried this and had good results ?

not tried that, but my brewzilla could do that automatically i suppose.
why i'm interested is, my next rum spirit run, i was going to hold the wash in 'reflux' for an hour, before continuing in pot still mode.
apparently this releases more esters?
so are we talking about the same effect?

(when i say reflux, i mean just have the usual 3 rolls of copper mesh in the 2" SS column, but have the RC running without the full 1.1m of packing that i use for neutrals. then turn the RC off)

The Stig wrote:You would need a thermostatically controlled heater

Just reminded me i have the digiboil boiler, will do the job.

howard wrote:

BigRig wrote:Read about a method where you can get a thick rich buttery rum by slowly warming up the wash to 135f / 58c then holding it there for 2 hours before switching off and letting it cool to room temp. Next day run the still as normal. Supposed to be awesome for oaked and white dog.

How do i do this on an electric boiler ? Power controller maybe ? Would think even with the power controller it would still get to boiling temp and be too hot ?
Anyone tried this and had good results ?

not tried that, but my brewzilla could do that automatically i suppose.
why i'm interested is, my next rum spirit run, i was going to hold the wash in 'reflux' for an hour, before continuing in pot still mode.
apparently this releases more esters?
so are we talking about the same effect?

(when i say reflux, i mean just have the usual 3 rolls of copper mesh in the 2" SS column, but have the RC running without the full 1.1m of packing that i use for neutrals. then turn the RC off)

This was mentioned and whilst the results were similar they werent the same apparently, interestingly there was a bit of discussion as to the cause but nothing could be pinpointed other than "magic happens".

I have 100L of 4th gen ready to be run this weekend. I will give some this treatment so i can compare side by side.

BigRig, re: buttery flavour and feel.
that's the nature of chemistry sometimes.
You need to get the conditions right and it will work correctly, change conditions and you get a different result.

:text-+1:
Diecytl butter rum is done for a spefic ester.
Full reflux cool re heat promotes "esters" flavours and balance of rlavours will depend on balance of acids. Different acids when boiled in prescence of alcohol create different esters. More of a lucky dip..

Tip: if you do a whiskey/rum and the mash/wash smells of puke reflux 20-40mins depending on severity of infection and it will change to a pineapple flavour which mellows with age. Much better then puke burbon/rum or tossing it out.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

bluc wrote::text-+1:
Diecytl butter rum is done for a spefic ester.
Full reflux cool re heat promotes "esters" flavours and balance of rlavours will depend on balance of acids. Different acids when boiled in prescence of alcohol create different esters. More of a lucky dip..

Tip: if you do a whiskey/rum and the mash/wash smells of puke reflux 20-40mins depending on severity of infection and it will change to a pineapple flavour which mellows with age. Much better then puke burbon/rum or tossing it out.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

back after reading up a bit :?
looks like the buttery method is used on a wash that has just finished fermentation?
maybe i will try that that next time.
is the 'hold in reflux' method for a rum wash before stripping, or for a spirit run on rum low wines?

Spirit run. Low wines or wash..

...so I'm first time at trying a Rum and have accidentally forgotten to buy more molasses.

I've just stripped 2nd gen and was about to use backset to dissolve the raw sugar and molasses when I realised my stuff up, thinking I had some on the shelf.

My question is if I've dropped a few litres of filtered water into the fermenter to keep the yeast happy, will this last, and would the backset still be OK to be allowed to cool and kept airtight for about 48hrs until I can get some more molasses?

Cheers,

Chocko

Chocko6969 wrote:...so I'm first time at trying a Rum and have accidentally forgotten to buy more molasses.

I've just stripped 2nd gen and was about to use backset to dissolve the raw sugar and molasses when I realised my stuff up, thinking I had some on the shelf.

My question is if I've dropped a few litres of filtered water into the fermenter to keep the yeast happy, will this last, and would the backset still be OK to be allowed to cool and kept airtight for about 48hrs until I can get some more molasses?

Cheers,

Chocko

the dunder will be fine, i keep mine for weeks in airtight cubes.
by saying you were keeping the yeast happy, i assume you were going to re-pitch the old yeast.
i'm guessing a yeast infection would be your biggest threat.
i would at least be putting the yeast trub in a clean airtight container with little or no air. (maybe keep it coldish/cool?)
worst case is that you will have to pitch new yeast and/or add the old trub to the hot water you will dissolve the sugar/molasses.
maybe someone will have a better idea regarding the yeast.

howard wrote:

Chocko6969 wrote:...so I'm first time at trying a Rum and have accidentally forgotten to buy more molasses.

I've just stripped 2nd gen and was about to use backset to dissolve the raw sugar and molasses when I realised my stuff up, thinking I had some on the shelf.

My question is if I've dropped a few litres of filtered water into the fermenter to keep the yeast happy, will this last, and would the backset still be OK to be allowed to cool and kept airtight for about 48hrs until I can get some more molasses?

Cheers,

Chocko

the dunder will be fine, i keep mine for weeks in airtight cubes.
by saying you were keeping the yeast happy, i assume you were going to re-pitch the old yeast.
i'm guessing a yeast infection would be your biggest threat.
i would at least be putting the yeast trub in a clean airtight container with little or no air. (maybe keep it coldish/cool?)
worst case is that you will have to pitch new yeast and/or add the old trub to the hot water you will dissolve the sugar/molasses.
maybe someone will have a better idea regarding the yeast.

I managed to get my hands on 2kg molasses so did the next gen with that, but I appreciate the answer, good to know.

Chocko.

I started drinking this last night... and it is delicious. I did two gens and fermented warm and it has been on oak for two months @ 55%. been drinking it at that strength too

I am tasting a lot of chocolate, some coffee and a very pleasant hazelnut flavour and it is quite sweet

I I have another ferment that I racked to secondary yesterday to help clear but I fermented cool, at about 18 degrees to try to develop more of a fruity profile with the plan to ferment second gen warm to try to get those other flavours described above


I fear this may be a mistake though. Do any others have experience with blending like this?