[Wingmanalive]

Sure did. Some things just elude me. I am currently fermenting 10 gallons of sugar wash using a turbo yeast and boy when they say NOT to use an airlock with turbo yeast they weren’t kidding. Within an hour I had yeast head all over my table. I’d love to use turbo yeast all the time but the $10 price tag my brew store charges for it is too high. It sure does the job however. As for the stalled washes I’ve been experiencing I’m still at a loss. I’ve given up using baker’s yeast as this only yields me a paltry 5%-8% max. Champagne yeast will get me 10%-13% and I’m hoping to get a solid 15%-18% off my turbo yeast this go around. I hate running my still so hot with low % washes just to get the ethanol out. It’s such a pleasure running my 2nd run shine though. Still produces at 180 degrees and my condenser keeps up nicely. Even my tails are crystal clear and still 120 proof. Leaves me with a solid 3/4 gallon of 155 proof spirit on a 3 gallon run, perfect for my extracts and essence. I’m in no need to run a 3rd time. Carbon filter it and she’s ready for the shelf. Good stuff.

[Wingmanalive]

I did not check my starting gravity but I sighed a little when I checked afterwards. It was at or a tad above 1.00. That to me tells me it’s done. Yet after only 24 hrs? Regardless I just ran both 5 gallons batches I made through a stripping run on my still and sure enough I got a solid 3/4 gallon of low wines. Holds a flame too. Amazingly I have 2 other corn washes that are still fermenting after 5 weeks! It should NEVER take that long but both started out strong and have taken this long to finally start settling down. I don’t see much settled yeast at the bottom of my carboy either. Yet it’s been active the whole time. I find it ironic that 2 washes of sweet feed fermented in 24 hours yet I have 2 corn washes going on a month and a half. Talk about a wide spectrum!

[Wingmanalive]

just adding my $.02. I’ve had great success in filtering my product using an activated carbon filter. You can make one yourself with coffee filters and activated carbon but a cheap solution is picking up a Brita water filter pitcher. They’re like $10 at Walmart. Run a couple pitchers of water through it to activate the filter first and then run your product through. My shine went from slightly hazy and having a mild off taste to crystal clear and a sharp spirit flavor. I couldn’t believe the difference a simple filter makes. I wouldn’t use a homemade filter with a plastic pitcher on very high proof spirits as it has been known to leech nasty things out of certain plastics. The Brita water pitcher however is obviously food grade so I would assume it’s safe.

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