Hi all.
I have been brewing my own ginger beers and ciders for over 10 years now, started with kits and moved to known recipes before experimenting and coming up with my own. I keg mine in the 19L softdrink syrup cylinders and have a second fridge set up where I can keep 2 gassed up and on-tap at all times.
I have always enjoyed rum and many of the sweeter liqueurs and finally decided to have a go at making my own. For now, I just intend to make neutral spirit and try out different flavourings to see how they compare to commercial products. I'd like to find a blend that is as good as my current favourite, Royal Swan Spiced Rum.
As many of you have probably done, I bought a T500 still and boiler before finding this forum and discovering the issues with the whole TurboWash process.
I bought the 23L boiler and the copper T500 still and decided to grab a kit the shop had put together as a way to get a wash underway quickly. It is the standard 3x 2kg packs of dextrose/carbon mix, the Turbo Carbon pack, TurboYeast #6 and the 2 part Turbo-Clear stuff.
I followed the directions on the bags and the SG was 1.076 before I added the Turbo Carbon and yeast mix. It is bubbling away happily, but is sitting on around 18° most of the day. It’s still a bit cool down here and I have never bothered with a heating pad, as the cider I make seems to come out better if I keep the temp between 15° and 20°.
There’s so much that the Still Spirits mob don’t tell you in their instructions. No mention of cuts, other than to not drink the first 80 to 100ml. No mention of heads, hearts and tails. They actually tell you not to run the cooling water through the still until it’s been running for 45 minutes. I’m glad I found this forum, I just need plenty of quiet time at work to read my way through it all. :-B
I’m going to run this initial batch through the still, just as a practice run. I will have a go at making 200ml cuts and see how I go with trying to discern where the heads end and tails begin. No matter how bad it turns out, I can always use it in the camping stove. :angry-extinguishflame:
Later this week I will grab the ingredients for a TPW and set that up in a spare fermenter. I can’t get EC-1118 yeast locally for a week or so, so I will do the first batch with the Lowan’s Baker’s Yeast. The temperature in the fermenter, after pitching, is likely to drop to around 16° overnight, so would it be worth getting a heat belt or pad? If so, is one better than the other?
Looking forward to chatting with you all and trying different techniques and recipes.
Greg.