BeverageCommander
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Just this last one.
Are you posting on the forum? You can’t reply to the emaila 75 gallon still sounds like a full time job. I now a few distilleries that are running 50 gallon stills- mostly for stripping.
PBW- pro brewery wash – it is a cleaner made for the brewing industry but works great on stlls… you can get it on amazon or any homebrew shop.
I heat it up in the still- boil it though the copper – then rise it well after
You are running your still way faster than I run mine.
I takes my 20 gallon about 1.5 hours to get up to temp. Once I am up to temp it takes me another 6-8 hours to run the still. I run mine pretty slow but I’ve had great results doing that.
I would just slow down the run- I like to see the individual drips out of the still– I keep right below a slow stream. Maybe try slowing it down by half the output- it will take longer but I’ve found that slower is better. Obviously there is a point where you can run it too slow- you don’t want to be sitting in front of the still for 20 hours- but for 30 gallon run I would have no issues hanging out in front of it for 8-10 hours. If you run it slower you will get a higher starting proof and should be able to collect more and cleaner hearts out of the run.
I’ve only noticed it in my tails- is it happening during the entire run or just towards the end?
I’ve heard that copper salts can cause this as well. How are you cleaning the copper? I use PBW religiously on my stills- I run it though all of my copper parts as well. I’m super paranoid about copper salts- they are nothing to mess with.
What are you heating the 30 gallon with? Do you have a large propane burner? How long does it take to heat up?
are you running a thumper or column?I’ve had this happen on my 25 gallon copper pot. I have only had it happen on stripping runs where I am running hot and fast. I normally do a stripping run (hot and fast) and then do a proper spirit run.
Is this happening on a stripping run or a spirit run?
I’m wondering if the parrot is just to big causing it all to mix before it can be in the jar?
A parrot can cause issues with a 1 gallon still– it is very difficult to make cuts with such a small still but the parrot will make it impossible– the parrot is going to be too large for the 1 gallon still.
The starting alcohol was low, and came off the still at 60 proof and held that for quite a while.
My 10 gallon clawhammer starts around 140 proof with an 8% ABV wash. What was the starting and ending gravity of the mash you made? It seems like you might have had a low ABV mash.
It seems like the only way to get it produce was to have the boiler temp at about 210F with steam rocketing to 190F. It wont seam to hold in the 170’s and gradually increase.
That sounds about right- don’t worry about the temperature. Just crank the heat on the still until it starts producing..once it starts producing dial the heat back until you have 3 drips a second. Go by flow on the output of the still- not by temperature.
I have 7.5 gallons of strawberry brandy almost ready to go and I can’t afford to lose it the way I did this one.
Do you know the starting and ending gravity of the wine?
You will only get about 3-5 cups of alcohol out of a 1 gallon run. 1 gallon stills work great for distilling water and essential oils but you might want to jump to a 10 gallon still if you are going to get into this hobby as it is very difficult to make good cuts with such a small still.
That is normal.
I used bread yeast and followed the instructions
What recipe did you make?this morning the air was flowing through the airlock and when I opened it to have a look there was no foamy head but it was fizzing away is this normal?
That sounds pretty normal- just leave the lid closed and let fermentation do its thing.
16 pounds of apples will yield about 1 gallon of cider. For a 5 gallon batch of cider will need roughly 80 pounds of apples. Since you are looking to do a 20 gallon batch you will need around 65 pounds of apples- you will need to press to extract the juice.
I’ve only made 100% rye whiskey in 5 gallon batches- I used 15 pounds of Rye Malt in that batch- it came out great:http://beveragecommander.com/blogs/beverage-commander-blog/14166207-100-rye-whiskey-moonshine-mash-recipe
If I were going to make an apple/rye mash I would do something like this:
75% apples
25% Rye55 pounds of apples pressed and juiced
15 pounds of Malted Rye (make sure it is malted)
Mash the malted grains for 60 minutes at 150F (use the brew in the bag method if needed)
Add enough water to get 21 gallons of total volume (for trub loss)
Take a hydrometer reading and add sugar until you reach a starting gravity around 1.065
yeast of choiceI only discard the foreshots.
I collect my heads, hearts, and tails in separate glass mason jars.8 liters is a little over 2 U.S. gallons
A 2 gallon run with a starting alcohol of 10%, a final proof of 100, and a collection efficiency of 85% will yield 5.44 US cups of alcohol or 1.3 liters of total product.
always ditch the foreshots-
2 gallon batch – discard the first 1 1/2 shot glasses worthIn terms of making cuts this is a good guide: http://www.clawhammersupply.com/blogs/moonshine-still-blog/12206385-making-moonshine-the-dummies-guide
Methanol is a by-product of fermentation- there will always be small amounts in your wash. Distilling concentrates the menthaol becuase it has a lower boiling point than alcohol. It will boil off first – come out of the still first.
I always ditch my foreshots for two reasons:
better safe than sorry
The first part of the run tastes terrible so there is really no reason not to ditch themDo another cleaning run with vinegar- just crank the heat until it starts producing and then dial it down to the drip rate you want.
When I’m distilling spirits I do it the same way- crank the heat until it starts producing- dial back the heat until I have 6-8 drips a second.
Give that a shot and report back
Correct
I personally use flaked maize- I use this recipe: http://beveragecommander.com/blogs/beverage-commander-blog/14191647-corn-whiskey-moonshine-mash-recipe
Sounds like it was a success! It will only get better from here!
