Easy Weetbix / All Bran Wash Recipe Discussion

[bluc]

Feints into next wash?

[chipboy]

NO, what was in the boiler after distilling, back into the second wash, fermented with it. Probably never repeatable. But I am about to try it!

[Wellsy]

What was in the boiler after distilling is called backset chipboy and it really enhances the flavour.
When you do this the first time the wash is known as second generation and then third etc etc.
Many recipes rely on this and some can get up to 7 or 8 generations, acidity can be an issue as it gets higher
WBAB Iam told by some on here makes a great whiskey if you add generations.
In a 60 litre BWKO wash I will use 24 litres of backset
Apologies if I am telling you what you already know mate

[bluc]

:text-+1: or sourmashing :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[globalmark]

Hi everyone
great forum thanks - i am very new to distilling and was told about the weetabix wash by a 3rd generation distiller so i had a google and found this forum and page
i have only done a couple distills/ferments with the turbo yeast and still spirit kit (inc cabon and clear etc) however keen to try this one.

My question is - can someone give me a simple step by step - how to handle the wash after ferment has completed .
i have a still spirits airstill - so can only distill 4 litres at one time which gives me 700ml of approx 60% abv which i water down to 40%

i have read this forum and i see its usually distilled twice - can someone give me a quick step by step what to do next with approx ml and mixing with water -
ie - do i distill this weetbix wash to 700ml and water to 1liter and after get 4litres rerun in the still at 40% or do i dilute it more - i have no idea what to do and how much will a 25litre wash make in neutral spirit finished as from 25itres (turbo kit) makes me like 5litres.

thanks guys much appriciated .

[BigRig]

I will let someone else chime in with this particular wash as i don't use it but with any of the tried and true recipes i usually estimate about a 10% return of useable spirit from the wash.

Using cuts, from a 25L wash i would expect 2.5L of good spirit. This is about half of what you get off the turdbo washes.

Quality over quantity as they say.

[globalmark]

Thanks BigRig - i will wait for someone else to chime in - had no idea you got less vodka then turbo yeast this way so learned something her .

[iOnaBender]

I will let someone else chime in with this particular wash as i don't use it but with any of the tried and true recipes i usually estimate about a 10% return of useable spirit from the wash.

Using cuts, from a 25L wash i would expect 2.5L of good spirit. This is about half of what you get off the turdbo washes.

Quality over quantity as they say.

:text-+1: :text-+1: :text-+1:

Intially it's hard to stray from a turbo due to quantity, just keep in mind all tried and proven sugar washes posted on this forum DO NOT require "filtering". Just ask yourself what nasty shit is in "turbo clear" when it turns the whole wash black when mixing it into your finished ferment? It's hard to get away from, but believe me it is most definitley for the better quality product. Ingredients for recipes here are sourced from the supermarket, not the local HBS (Home Bullshit Shop). Yes they take longer to ferment, longer to clear/settle, but the quality far surpasses the shit a HBS can serve up.

Quality over Quantity, damn right!!

If you want to match the quanity of a turbo wash, buy more fermenters and distill more often, you'll get used to the looks from other shoppers when walking out of Coles/Woolworths with bulk sugar :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Cheers

[Wellsy]

Hello Global
With 25 litres of wash and 4 litre capacity I would suggest you just run 4 litres at a time and collect everything you can from each run. This will process your wash and leave you with a collection of what we call low wines.
Take your low wines and dilute it back to 40% with water and run this through the air still 4 litres at a time. It will take a lot of effort but if you can collect it output in 50 ml lots. It will take a lot longer to run the low wines. 2 possibly 3 times as long as running the wash. This is simply because there is more alcohol to distill. Once the second run is done do cuts as per the newbie section
The effort will be worth it.
As to volumes I can’t help you there sorry I lost the notes I took when I did this with another members airstill. You could also try collecting straight from the wash to taste test to see if the effort is worth it
Good luck

[globalmark]

Hi wellsy

thanks for the reply - i have read all the newbie stuff so understand but not sure with this StillSpirits pot still so much -

1. you recommend when the wash has finished fermenting - just distill everything until the still turns its self off - 4litres wash - but wouldnt that make 4litres of distilled wash come out (as this still also can distil water and when i distil water it turns off when basically dry) so i put in 4litres wash i get out 4litres of Low wines ?? is that correct ?
2. dilute it back to 40% (ok there) , then run it again with 50ml lots ? -- do you mean get lots small glasses and set up like cuts so i can eliminate the foreshots heads and tails and just keep the hearts ??

3. i read in newbie section discard approx 150ml of forshots from 25l of wash - so thats approx 25ml from each 4litre run - hope thats correct , but i also get rid of the heads and tails ( keep only the middle portion using taste and smell ) - does that sound correct ???
thanks for your help Mark

[Wellsy]

Hey mate, I don’t know why but I thought the air still turned off sooner than that but can’t remember. The whole point of the stripping run is to extract the alcohol and not the water. If you know the starting gravity of the wash, (SG) and the final gravity of the wash (FG) you will have a rough idea of abv of your 25 litres. If you use the calculator in the newbie section you should be able to calculate how many millilitres at 40% your 4 litres of wash at your abv will give you.

Yep lots of small glasses and do the cuts, makes it hard in such small quantities but it can be done. Small glass eye dropper to measure small amounts can be handy for diluting to taste cuts.

Don’t worry too much about the fores mate as they are always in the heads and you won’t be keeping them anyway

I hope that makes sense

[globalmark]

Thaks for the info

i tried doing a Gin run last night while my weetabix wash is still fermenting which calls for take 1litre neutral spirit at 40% dilute to 4litres and put back in the still with a botanical basket and some botanicals in the top - so i did that and found 6 small jars (all i had at time) threw away first 20ml then had
1st jar 100ml at 48%
2nd jar 200ml at 41%
3rd jar 200ml at 35%
4th jar 200ml at 27%
5th jar 200ml 17%
6th jar 100ml at 12%
7th pot left over 220ml was 4%
8th just let still run made 2.6litres and just comes out ar 0%

i have a refactometer i think its called gives me this measurements

so yes it seems the airstill continues to distil until its dry
questions - with above quantities as this has all been distilled once and i threw 20-25ml of foreshots away already on both distilling runs - what would you do to make the gin in this case (or vodka or whatever for a double distil) - i am presuming i either take jars 1-6 mix them to make 1litre of gin at 60% abv or i would maybe throw 5, 6, 7, 8 jars and keep 1-4 and make 700ml 37.75% abv , or what would you suggest
i also did the smell test with the wife and yes it is more chemically (like acetone in pot 1 going to more cardboard in last then in jug 8 its basically water so no smell again there ..

whats your suggestions - how to mix and is this approx what i would do with the weetabix wash when i get there ?
Thanks so much guys for your help

[howard]

Thaks for the info

i tried doing a Gin run last night while my weetabix wash is still fermenting which calls for take 1litre neutral spirit at 40% dilute to 4litres and put back in the still with a botanical basket and some botanicals in the top - so i did that and found 6 small jars (all i had at time) threw away first 20ml then had
1st jar 100ml at 48%
2nd jar 200ml at 41%
3rd jar 200ml at 35%
4th jar 200ml at 27%
5th jar 200ml 17%
6th jar 100ml at 12%
7th pot left over 220ml was 4%
8th just let still run made 2.6litres and just comes out ar 0%

i have a refactometer i think its called gives me this measurements

so yes it seems the airstill continues to distil until its dry
questions - with above quantities as this has all been distilled once and i threw 20-25ml of foreshots away already on both distilling runs - what would you do to make the gin in this case (or vodka or whatever for a double distil) - i am presuming i either take jars 1-6 mix them to make 1litre of gin at 60% abv or i would maybe throw 5, 6, 7, 8 jars and keep 1-4 and make 700ml 37.75% abv , or what would you suggest
i also did the smell test with the wife and yes it is more chemically (like acetone in pot 1 going to more cardboard in last then in jug 8 its basically water so no smell again there ..

whats your suggestions - how to mix and is this approx what i would do with the weetabix wash when i get there ?
Thanks so much guys for your help

there are many airstill users around who can probably advise you.
imho your main problem is getting a clean neutral from a small pot still and the amount of time it takes.
25l wash - strip 6 x 4 litres?
there are plenty of suggestions on the internet.
people use a power controller (on the base unit only?)
i read of people putting copper in the botanical basket during the stripping runs.


once you get clean neutral, maybe try Odins gin masceration method.
you'll only need juniper berries, coriander seeds and citrus zest to start off.
4l in the airstill and collect 1.6l after the first 10ml.

[globalmark]

HI Howard

thanks for the reply -

yes have to do 6 batches of 4litres and i save 700ml of that minus first 20ml i bin and end i bin -
but i am unclear on a 2nd distill what to save there

RE - gin making , that was my post above i have already some neutral spirit which i was using the gin basket above and those were the % i got out of the airstill but my problem is what do i mix back together ? all of it or parts of it ?

I bought a couple gin mixes (juniperberries and other botanicals) put them in muslim bag and they go in a small metal sieve basket that clips inside top of airstill - flavours it that way .
thanks mark

[howard]

HI Howard

thanks for the reply -

yes have to do 6 batches of 4litres and i save 700ml of that minus first 20ml i bin and end i bin -
but i am unclear on a 2nd distill what to save there

RE - gin making , that was my post above i have already some neutral spirit which i was using the gin basket above and those were the % i got out of the airstill but my problem is what do i mix back together ? all of it or parts of it ?

I bought a couple gin mixes (juniperberries and other botanicals) put them in muslim bag and they go in a small metal sieve basket that clips inside top of airstill - flavours it that way .
thanks mark

1)those abv's suggest that you diluted 1l of 40%abv down to 4 litres?
i don't think that is the correct way.
usually you would only collect the earlier jars (odin's is 400ml for every 1 litre), but i don't know what you've got, if your charge was only about 10%abv.
i think the charge in the airstill needs to be 40%abv to get the high abv vapours going through the botanical basket.
you're first jar should be coming out at about 75-80%abv
2) if you do a 2nd distill you will still get fores/heads /hearts/tails.
you will have to collect in small quantities and only use the best product.
putting copper in the botanical basket sounded like a good idea, it will help to remove some sulphates.(on the strip and spirit run)
after that, you can always try to clean it up through your fuselex filter, see what that does.
3) when the airstill is on full power, does it make the contents boil vigorously?
is that why people run the base unit through a power controller.
a vigourous boil would probably smear the heads through the spirit run.
4) i watched a youtube of someone doing everything correct, mascerating juniper/coriander/citrus etc, putting the 4l in the airstill at 40%abv.
then he collected the whole run together :think:
i'm not sure what that would have tasted like, the later stuff can be pretty horrible, hence the 400ml per litre is a good collection guide.

[globalmark]

HI

yes thanks for that - the normal instructions for a run in the still spitits is make wash then put it in the still 4litres start it and collect first 700-800ml turn off still and throw away rest (as airstill runs till finished) and they say dont need throw away any foreshot but i was told by someone always good idea so i throw the first 20ml away and keep 700ml this comes out at approx 60% (think thats strongest you get from airstil) they then say dilute to 40% filter and drink
or
if making gin (instruction bit confusing here) says take the 700ml dilute to 40% (makes 1 litre), filter this - then dilute to 4litres should make 12% (that doesnt add upto me also) the run through still with botanicals in basket) - thats all it says doesnt say if keep all , 700ml , 1 litre etc - i have emailed still spirits airstill and asked .

either way should help understand this airstill 2nd distilling .

NB- not sure what you mean by running through a power controller ?
dont know whats going on in airstill as lid is on and cant see but think boils at 75-80 degrees or something

you tube guy - if he collected all not sure how that works - as per my measurements above the last 2 litres was just water - and so would make a very weak gin so not sure how that would work - as 4litres in airstill 4litres out ?
let alone taste

Mark

[howard]

HI

yes thanks for that - the normal instructions for a run in the still spitits is make wash then put it in the still 4litres start it and collect first 700-800ml turn off still and throw away rest (as airstill runs till finished) and they say dont need throw away any foreshot but i was told by someone always good idea so i throw the first 20ml away and keep 700ml this comes out at approx 60% (think thats strongest you get from airstil) they then say dilute to 40% filter and drink i think the original airstill instructions are confusing you, seeing as you're trying to make a non-turdbo wash
or
if making gin (instruction bit confusing here) says take the 700ml dilute to 40% (makes 1 litre), filter this - then dilute to 4litres should make 12% (that doesnt add upto me also) the run through still with botanicals in basket) - thats all it says doesnt say if keep all , 700ml , 1 litre etc - i have emailed still spirits airstill and asked .i don't understand either, that sounds wrong. just follow odins easy gin method, the airstill should be good for that (with good quality neutral obv).
mascerate in a separate jar and then run through the airstill

either way should help understand this airstill 2nd distilling .

NB- not sure what you mean by running through a power controller ? i have read that some people run the base through a simple power controller that adjusts the voltage and hence the power to the base. but i think the lid still needs to be connected to full power.
reducing the power to the base should reduce the rate of boil and in turn, reduce smearing the heads through the run
dont know whats going on in airstill as lid is on and cant see but think boils at 75-80 degrees or something you cannot control the boiling temp of a liquid, only the power input which changes the rate of boil

you tube guy - if he collected all not sure how that works - as per my measurements above the last 2 litres was just water - and so would make a very weak gin so not sure how that would work - as 4litres in airstill 4litres out ?

let alone taste
have a look in the 5-star online shop (link at top), they sell good quality copper mesh and power controllers.
i suppose you could put a few metres of copper mesh in the airstill while distilling as well.
this might get rid of the sulphur/meaty aromas, the acetone aromas are usually removed by cuts.
i came across this diagram while looking around.
but hey, this thread has gone off topic a bit :smile:
and no replies from airstill users, maybe you should start a new topic with any more questions and i'm sure you'll get more help


Mark

[globalmark]

HI howard
thanks so much you been super helpful and that diagram you found is awesome -
yes more questions i might make a post - i did write here as have the weetabix wash in the fermenter at the moment and in a few days need to put through the airstill so thought this was a good place to post..
that diagram gives me a lot of answers so thanks for that .
Mark

[howard]

no worries mate, it was just turning into airstill thread :-D
i'm glad if i can help (?), at least you're trying do do a decent wash and not a turdo.
good luck

[globalmark]

OK next question on Weetabix wash

Backset question - recipe recommends keep 25% backset back in fermenter - so after i have distilled the wash whatever i left in the still after turning it off is the backset right ? so in my airstill i run 4litres at a time - 25% backset would be the total of 25% from all my runs yes ?? -
or does it mean the slurry thats in my fermenter before i put that in my still and reuse some of the slurry ?
- sorry to ask guys i thought backset was after first still run but not so sure now - as wouldnt the yeast die after heated in the airstill ? as you dont need to add more yeast or so much more yeast correct .

hope that makes sense Thanks