Page 6 of 7
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Jul 16, 2018 9:42 am
by davesims
Hi guys
I have left the second gen lemon wash ferment for just over 2 weeks and there has been no activity for about 3 days, i just checked the gravity and looks like the wash might have stalled, i got a reading of 1020
What is the best way to kick-start this off again?
Add more yeast?
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Jul 16, 2018 11:10 am
by davesims
More to the above post, i checked the PH and its sitting on 3.3
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:01 pm
by db1979
What temp is it at?
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Jul 16, 2018 2:12 pm
by woodduck
3.3 is low. Try get it up a bit.
viewtopic.php?f=57&t=11307
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:21 am
by davesims
db1979 wrote:What temp is it at?
lowest it will go is 24.5 highest is 26
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 9:36 am
by davesims
I finally got around to distilling my lemon vodka wash over the weekend
I have already stripped the wash and then on Sat I ran it again through the pot column using a voltage controller keeping the output to a drip drip dribble (took forever)
The end product has no lemon flavor at all for some reason
Can anyone shed some light on that?
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Sep 10, 2018 6:03 pm
by Wobblyboot
davesims wrote:I finally got around to distilling my lemon vodka wash over the weekend
I have already stripped the wash and then on Sat I ran it again through the pot column using a voltage controller keeping the output to a drip drip dribble (took forever)
The end product has no lemon flavor at all for some reason
Can anyone shed some light on that?
Using backset will lower the ph, i don’t think this recipe was made for doing generations. How many lemons did u use 2nd time? When u say pot column, u mean u took packing out of t500 but left the water connected same way to run it?
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:51 am
by Professor Green
I think he’s using the 5 Star 2” pot not the T500.
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:40 pm
by davesims
Wobblyboot wrote:davesims wrote:I finally got around to distilling my lemon vodka wash over the weekend
I have already stripped the wash and then on Sat I ran it again through the pot column using a voltage controller keeping the output to a drip drip dribble (took forever)
The end product has no lemon flavor at all for some reason
Can anyone shed some light on that?
Using backset will lower the ph, i don’t think this recipe was made for doing generations. How many lemons did u use 2nd time? When u say pot column, u mean u took packing out of t500 but left the water connected same way to run it?
Hi, I have not run the 2nd fermentation, i kept that separate from the original
The initial fermentation was with 60 small to medium lemons (pulp and juice)
Column is the 5 Star 2" pot
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Fri Sep 14, 2018 5:48 pm
by Wobblyboot
davesims wrote:Wobblyboot wrote:davesims wrote:I finally got around to distilling my lemon vodka wash over the weekend
I have already stripped the wash and then on Sat I ran it again through the pot column using a voltage controller keeping the output to a drip drip dribble (took forever)
The end product has no lemon flavor at all for some reason
Can anyone shed some light on that?
Using backset will lower the ph, i don’t think this recipe was made for doing generations. How many lemons did u use 2nd time? When u say pot column, u mean u took packing out of t500 but left the water connected same way to run it?
Hi, I have not run the 2nd fermentation, i kept that separate from the original
The initial fermentation was with 60 small to medium lemons (pulp and juice)
Column is the 5 Star 2" pot
How many peels did u use? I simply cut them into quarters and throw everything in. The peels contain a lot of the flavour.
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Sat Sep 15, 2018 6:33 pm
by davesims
Wobblyboot wrote:davesims wrote:Wobblyboot wrote:davesims wrote:I finally got around to distilling my lemon vodka wash over the weekend
I have already stripped the wash and then on Sat I ran it again through the pot column using a voltage controller keeping the output to a drip drip dribble (took forever)
The end product has no lemon flavor at all for some reason
Can anyone shed some light on that?
Using backset will lower the ph, i don’t think this recipe was made for doing generations. How many lemons did u use 2nd time? When u say pot column, u mean u took packing out of t500 but left the water connected same way to run it?
Hi, I have not run the 2nd fermentation, i kept that separate from the original
The initial fermentation was with 60 small to medium lemons (pulp and juice)
Column is the 5 Star 2" pot
How many peels did u use? I simply cut them into quarters and throw everything in. The peels contain a lot of the flavour.
Hey man i did not use any peels at all
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:51 pm
by Wobblyboot
davesims wrote:Hey man i did not use any peels at all
There is the answer to ur original question :handgestures-thumbupleft: iv made similar from limes, oranges, bananas. The peels add most of the flavour :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:40 pm
by Professor Green
Well the recipe does say to peel the lemons!
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Sat Sep 15, 2018 9:09 pm
by Plumby
The last time I made it I got a very subtle lemon flavour. Even after adding the skins and doing 2 generations.
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:36 am
by Wobblyboot
I run on gas. No straining and throw everything in boiler, maybe that’s the difference :think:
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Oct 01, 2018 7:53 am
by davesims
Professor Green wrote:Well the recipe does say to peel the lemons!
Yeah i know but it didn't say put them in lol, makes bloody sense now :angry-banghead:
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Mon Oct 01, 2018 7:55 am
by davesims
What do you guys use the bring up the Ph? and how much of it for this recipe?
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:40 am
by JayTee
Hi - I'd appreciate some guidance please from anyone who has managed to get a reasonably strong lemon flavour out of the recipe based on a single distillation on a 4 plate column. My first attempt was bit disappointing - it tastes nice, but it's only very mildly tasting of lemon. If you add tonic, the flavour is lost. Here are the main points:
- I noticed Mac calls for a "25kg fermenter full of lemons". He said this equates to about 25 or 30 lemons. I bought 9kg of lemons which was approximately 80 lemons; although it was probably about half to two thirds of the fermenter. The recipe calls for half a dozen lemon skins. I put in 3 times as many. I made sure the lemon flesh was broken up sufficiently by pulsing a food processing a few times.
- My single 4 plate run was full reflux for about 45 minutes, then foreshots dripping then heads little bit quicker and a thin "toothpick" stream as I was progressing through to hearts. After making my cuts, I ended up with about 3.5L @ 88%abv. The problem is when diluting to 40% abv, I feel the flavour is extremely subtle.
- After reading about EC1118 pH preferences and reading pH at about 2.75, I decided to raise the pH to a starting level of 4.0. The fermentation was solid and steady and finished after a week to 10 days approx.
Any ideas why my flavour was so weak please? It's a lovely smooth drink - fab as a beer chaser, but it would benefit from a stronger lemon carryover. I thought about reducing perhaps to 2 plates next time, but the vodka would be rougher I imagine? Thanks in advance for any opinions :-)
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Wed Feb 20, 2019 3:53 pm
by baznkez
Hi JayTee ,
I made it a few months back and found the same issue, i make limoncello its as strong as i think it needs more rind in it to be honest to get the b flavours to carry over , or soak the distilled spirit for 7 days on rind
regards Barry
Re: Mac's Lemon Vodka discusion topic.
Posted:
Wed Feb 20, 2019 8:06 pm
by db1979
I've made it twice now and same problem. I think woodduck has had some success with running it faster than you normally would run a neutral through 4 plates.