Hey everyone I’m new to the craft and recently bought the 13.2 VEVOR alcohol still. I’m looking to upgrade in the near future but was wondering what route to go, I’m currently looking into getting the 17.1 Gallon/65L Digiboil would this be a good choice and if so what additional items would I need to complete the setup?

Hi all,

I've had a TPW that finished fermenting about 3 months ago, but haven't got around to distilling it.

Are there any concerns with this long delay producing any nasties?

Cheers!

A week or two ago I asked for suggestions on cleaning copper coils and the rest. I did what many suggested and soaked everything in vinegar and water solution and got a long flexible cleaning rod. That did the trick! Everything is coming out clear. Now, when I'm done it will all back in a bucket of vinegar and water till I'm ready to use it again.

I just finished my first batch of UJSSM (that's Uncle Jesse's Simple Sour Mash for us newbies).  Since this was my first time, I didn't have any backset to use.  I bought a 50 pound bag of Producer's Pride Cracked Corn from my local Tractor Supply location.  I heated up about 5 gallons of drinking water (not straight tap) in a stock pot and sort of cooked the corn (really just steeped it) for about 15 minutes or so.  I used about 5 pounds of the corn.  I didn't have any amylase, so I was just looking to get the corn flavors into the water and then sugarhead the batch.  I added about 5 pounds of sugar to that, and it gave me a starting gravity of 1.06.  My fermenter is one of those basic white food safe buckets from Home Depot.  I drilled a small hole in the lid and put a rubber grommet in it that a standard airlock can fit in.  The mash filled my bucket up so much that I didn't leave as much headspace for the airlock as I should have.  That's a lesson learned for next time.  After the mash cooled down, I pitched in about a tablespoon full of Red Star DADY yeast.  It fermented out dry in about 5 days, and then the real fun began.

I ran a double distillation.  Prior to the stripping run, I didn't bother with trying to separate out the lees.  I just removed the corn solids so that it wouldn't burn in the bottom of my still.  That worked out fine, but next time I will try to separate the lees to prevent cloudy distillate.  Also, I will start putting my grains in one of those nylon bags to make it easier to get just the liquid.  I had about 5 liters of raw distillate from the strip, and I save the corn and the backset in the still for the next batch.  I ended up with about 13 mini Mason jars (100 ml) after the spirit run, and did my cuts and blending from that.

I left out the first two jars. They had a very acetone smell to them and I was afraid to use them. I also left out the final two jars because they were very cloudy looking. Now I know what people mean by the wet cardboard or wet dog smell and taste deep into the tails.  After proofing the final blend down to 100 proof, the final yield was just shy of 2 liters of very good 🌙.

I'm proud of my efforts on this one and I can't wait to make more of it!. But, my next batch will be a "rumsky" batch made with some of the all grain feed with molasses.

I'm going to try to post about my adventures more often. I have to look for a job now because the project I have been working on for 16 years finally lost it's funding. But, I'll try to do at least one post a week.

I distilled some hazelnut schnapps- 1l Tito’s vodka, 2l water, and one lb of hazelnuts. I dropped a little bit of foreshots, then ran it until the heads/hearts were collectively at 80 proof. I ended up with slightly less than the original 1 liter of vodka. Is it safe to say that I didn’t need to throw foreshots or do a heads cut if it was already done for the original Tito’s?

Feel free to correct my numbers or assumptions.

Let's say I have a 50L (13gal I think) boiler with a 4" column, going down to a 2" shotgun condenser. How long would it take on average to do a stripping run and how long for a spirit run?

Let's assume full boiler for stripping runs and say 4 stripping runs worth of low wines in the spirit run.

Let's assume I'm running a 10% abv wash, so looking to pull out about 4.5L? of spirit out of the 50L strip.

For a stripping run, do I care about condenser temp or do I just look to knock it down as fast as possible and then worry about 20c in my spirit run?

Looking at 2x 3kw elements heating a jacketed boiler.

I've been doing ujssm at around 8% wash I'm wondering what others are getting on their spirit run?

Just in time for the holidays. I continue to just be super tickled by the little chemistry set I’ve put together, feel like it’s going to open up a ton of different directions to take my spirits in.

I have a question...

I have two 24L plastic bucket fermenters... this past Wednesday I started a 20L Rum batch with 5kg of molasses and 1kg of white sugar and the other was a straight sugar wash of 16L with 4kg of white sugar in it. Both were around 1.10 SG.

I used EC1118 in both with some DAP. The yeast was from the same block which I keep in the freezer. Each fermenter got 2 x tblspn of yeast and 1 x tblspn of DAP for nutrients. I had hydrated the yeast beforehand.

Now, being Saturday, I took another reading just now... the rum was down to 1.03 but the sugar wash was only down to 1.09. O_o

Same yeast, same amounts of everything done the same way. Any ideas?

I’ve ordered one of these for beer brewing and whiskey mashes; have any of y’all tried fitting either of the T500 condensers on this?

The tank has 30 liter capacity . I have no idea how I'm gonna use it though. I'm thinking to make plum moonshine Balkan style. I will try adding champagne yeast into my mash , I don't trust the wild fermantation. Could you guys explain the basics little bit about mash making and how the cold bucket should be , what degree the I should get the tank etc. I would be so happy.

I had this figured out a few years ago but the mind is a terrible thing to waste. At the time I was thinking about going 1.5" as seen here but now I'm thinking about getting a 2" x 20" shotgun condenser from North Stills:

https://www.northstills.com/product/2-x-24-stainless-shotgun-condenser/?srsltid=AfmBOorYaDtncuYER355txsJ9y33u4jzfasvNJjwkvz3sx9CZ2Ycpfyg

That plus a 2" 90 degree elbow, 45 degree elbow, and perhaps a 2" straight extension from the boiler. Thinking I may be able to put it in reflux still mode in the future.

I want to make rum mostly. That and anything over 150 proof to make THC extracts.

Thoughts?

New here, wondering what the absolute most simple form of still I could buy/make is? Out of curiosity more than anything else

I have found that corn that is boiled and either had barley or enzymes added to break it down often has a different flavor than raw corn added just for the flavor in conjunction with cane sugar or molasses. I was wondering if anyone else has experimented with this and what you found. I kind of prefer the raw corn flavor but my methods may be different than others, making my boiled corn way worse, although people usually prefer it over any store bought "shine"

I’m working on a 5-gallon cranberry-orange wash for distillation and considering swapping dextrose for golden sugar (raw cane sugar). I’ve done some research and adjusted the recipe to account for the differences in fermentability, but I’d love some feedback from the community before diving in.

Here’s the plan:

Key Adjustments

•	Golden sugar has about 95-97% fermentable sugars, compared to dextrose’s 100%.
•	To hit my target SG of 1.075, I’m increasing the sugar weight by about 7-8%.

Modified Ingredients for a 5-Gallon Wash

•	12.5 lbs cranberries
•	4 cans orange juice concentrate
•	6.75-7 lbs golden sugar (instead of 6.25 lbs dextrose)
•	5 gallons water (target volume)
•	pH stabilizer (keeping pH around 4.0-4.5)
•	Yeast: EC-1118 and D47 (1 packet each)
•	Yeast nutrients: Following package instructions (~1 tsp per gallon)

Steps to Ensure Accuracy

1.	Dissolve the Golden Sugar:
•	Aware it may take a little longer to dissolve due to molasses content, so I’ll use warm water.
2.	Check SG:
•	Planning to test with a hydrometer and adjust sugar if necessary to hit 1.075.
3.	Fermentation Notes:
•	Expecting the golden sugar to add a subtle molasses-like flavor, which might complement the cranberry-orange profile.
•	Aware of slightly longer fermentation times due to impurities compared to dextrose.

Questions for the Community

1.	Has anyone swapped dextrose for golden sugar in a wash like this? Did you notice a significant difference in flavor or fermentation speed?
2.	Do you think the molasses-like notes will enhance or clash with the cranberry-orange profile?
3.	Any other tweaks or suggestions you’d recommend?

Appreciate any insights or tips before I move forward with this batch! Cheers! 🍷🍊🍇

Let's say you start a distillery, have stills but aren't serialized. Do you let the feds know and they serialize it? Or do you engrave it with a specific number and go from there. Just curious.

Sorry for posting 3x but for some reason when I cross post, it just shows the title. So, I posted the image here for discussion. Sorry for the people who answered already!

I’ve read so much mixed stuff on homedistiller and Reddit and want to get to the bottom of it.

I’ve made some AG vodka from my reflux still, and my cuts are good, but I want it to be smoother. It’s not even for the purpose of hiding bad cuts.

In my vodka, there’s no astringency or heads burn. There’s still a little flavour in my vodka. But I feel like there’s not a lot of mouthfeel and I feel the alcohol in my mouth after swallowing. It’s very smooth despite this.

I don’t want to add glycerin. What’s the consensus on active carbon filtration to polish up vodka or neutrals?

I made a very tight hearts cut because I wanted the cleanest vodka I could make.

Starting at 8pm tonight through tomorrow, all barrels will be 25% off.

Discounts should automatically apply through checkout.

My greatest thank you to the community for all the support through the years.

Hi all

Anyone know roughly what the expected size of the Heads should be for an airstill standard? The manual says 30ml.

I'm aware that the actual amount may vary on various metrics (alcohol content, etc) but in general is that a reasonable amount to draw of before I start dipping my finger in?

Don't want to waste anything.

Olly

Hi all

I'm about to do the flavour run of my Gin where I add the botanicals.

Normally I go for savoury notes with things like star anise, fennel, cloves. Yum.

However I want to go for light fruitiness, but here in the UK, it's not really the time of year to use stuff from the garden or veg patch.

So what can I use to add fruity light notes to my gin that may be accessible from either shops or the cupboard?

Clearly there's Lemon, Orange, Apple. I have some mint (fresh and dried). I have some fresh fennel.

Any other suggestions or recipies I can look at?

Olly

I'm a fan of high ester runs but I've never actually attempted to make one. The process is complex but a practice that gets mentioned repeatedly is the use of sulfuric acid in the wash and/or thumpers during distillation. HD has several threads on it, like this:

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=70947

I have no background in chemistry past 10th grade and I've never handled sulfuric acid. Has anyone here used it for rum production? Am I crazy for wanting to buy a liter and use it in some molasses fermentations?

So I figured this might be a good place to ask this question or get direction on where to ask.

A little over a year ago I made a couple of these jars and just found one I forgot in the back of the closet and wanted to make sure it's still safe. It's a Mason jar filled with pitted frozen cherries, a cup of sugar, 1/4 of of 190 proof everclear, then topped off with gentleman's jack. It's been sitting in the back of the closet for a little over a year now.

So is it safe to drink?

Has anybody tried stacking yeast? I brewed a batch of all grain last weekend. SG 1.12. I made a starter with two packs of US-05. It’s still rolling at 1.042. Im thinking this yeast is probably going to die around 1.035. So I’m kicking around making another starter with EC-1118. Will that dry it up? Has anyone tried this?

Hi there, from eastern Europe fellow colleges! Its nice to finally find a forum where people share interesting ideas!

Anyway i got itch to buy something bigger and better for next season, thats why im asking to help me a bit. Last season was my first season making something little spicier than wine. Started with pretty simple 30l (8 gal) second-hand still. Used electricity stove what i already got, it has only 1kw, it took some time, but get job done. Only tried sugar wash and old jams from cellar (from my grandma like 5-10y olds...). As my still couldn't be simpler, 2x distillation wont help and still got aromas and pretty strong taste - thats why i destined 1time, kept only good stuff (last part of hearth and tails destined 2nd time as collected lot of them) and filtered trough coconut coals 2times. And for my surprise it was good - for moonshine it was very good if you compere old generations local shiners. Then i ordered lot of essences, like black currant, rum, visky and others and got realy bussy to try new stuff, becouse got stuck in orders from friends and family... I was shocked that i made like 300l(80gal) 40% (80proof) from which 250 (66gal) was with these essences...

Okey, thats enough about me, now that im committed to this, and bit saved up i would like to upgrade my stuff. My primary goal is to get clean, smooth and highest abv what i can get like 95% (190abv). I tried one local shiners shine, who has still which can get to 96% and with essences what i used it was sooo great and smooth. But its only 40l and its kind of slow. - its called Dropper Mini 40.

I want something bigger - like 60l (16gal) and i really dont know if i want with inner heater, i liked my old still a lot that i dont need to worry about something sticking in heater and i play to but ceramic heater anyway to use my old still with it as well.... As i buy all stuff from company called browin, i found there 60l Perun XXL whitch can be bought with and without inner heaters, but i dont know can i be able to get these high abv from it... Thats why im asking maybe others have opinions or stills which you recommend. And maybe some of simplest recipes to get to that smoothness.

P.S. Soory didnt tell my budget is ~500eur (~550$) - of course i can increase if its worth it....

60l Perun XXL - https://browin.com/shop/product/343006/60-l-modular-electric-convex-still-perun-xxl

Dropper Mini 40 - http://dropper.lv/index.php/lv/produkti/dropper-mini-40

My old trusty shiner I salut to him, i dont know even this model!

https://preview.redd.it/sz2n8u5p2i3e1.jpg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf25747f8d576fcffc2f6e2b1658c562bc6c42de