"Sounds like you are off to a good start. I have been in this hobby for only a couple years and still learning but here's some basic advice that I learned from experience and this forum;

Looks like you're wanting to make vodka which by definition is a clear, nuetral spirit. Monitor your fermentation which can get a little crazy with Turbo yeast. Anything beyond 18% and you'll begin to pickup off flavors and yeast leftovers. Not a problem if you distill as below and then carbon filter but keeping an eye on your SG to TG math can really help.

Strip and spirit. Strip and spirit. The best advice I learned from here. First, during your stripping run always always dispose of the first 50 to 100ml. These are the lower alcohols and are deadly. Strip is quick and intended to separate as much alcohol as possible from the water. Stop collecting when percentage drops low, output slows, and it begins to smell yucky.

Spirit run is slow and careful. Don't get greedy or you'll end up with stinky booze. Other guys have used this low/stinky stuff in other runs but I stop taking or just dump it. During my spirit run I want the hearts only (the middle of the run). Every still is different and head temps vary so I am hesitating giving you my start/stop temps. You'll just have to learn your still.

Collect the high percentage distillate and proof it. I use a ss pot and add good charcoal filtered water. Chlorine is death to alcohol. I bring my vodkas down to 55 to 60% and then run it all thru a charcoal filter. Then I bottle it up and give it to friends.

Hope this helps. It's good to start learning on sugar wash. Going grain is a whole 'nuther brother. Tons of help there too on this forum. Good luck!!"

You're welcome. One thing I forgot to mention..I strip in the pot still mode and then spirit in the reflux for vodkas. For whiskys and rums I strip then spirit all in the pot still mode. I do sneak a little copper mesh into the pot still column during the spirit run. I'm sure I lose a little but I do a lot with the aging process to make the end product yummy. Have fun!

Hi Tom. I use glass jugs (carboys) and natural corks stoppers. They're like glass Sparklets bottles. You can get them at beer/wine shops or online. Never use plastic for your high percentage spirits, very bad. Brewhaus sells some outstanding toasted oak chips. Yes you can buy huge oak barrels and do the same thing but they take up a lot of room and I believe that the Angel's Share (the amount you lose through evaporation) is much higher. Plus the surface area of chips is much higher which means that your product will get its color and flavor much quicker. I never cut my whisky. I open the jug every other day or so and give it a good swirly. This introduces oxygen which naturally lowers the alcohol level. My whisky goes into the jug after the spirit run at about 70% or so and I won't bottle it until it gets down below about 55%. Regardless of what some people want, high percentage alcohol is no fun to drink. For me it's about the flavor not how high in percentage it is. When I'm ready to bottle I just run it through a clean cloth filter to make sure it is perfectly clear of any solids. One last thought, the longer you wait the better it will be. I guess that's why they call it aging. Nothing better than a splash of homemade grain whisky in a glass with an ice cube on a cold snowy night. Just make sure your ice cubes are made with good water too. Don't want to ruin all that hard work with an ice cube made from crap water. Hope this helps!

I just got done testing the alcohol levels in my first run they are in the mid to high 80% was hoping for low 90. What is the process of rerunning just add everything back in with some water and run it again a little slower?

I hear a lot of people say dilute it before re-running, what is the purpose of it? Also one more quick question, when aging with oak chips do you add anything else, or just the oak chips to give flavor?

I take 1/2x 3/4 x 8 inch strips of American white oak . place.in toaster oven at 350F ( cheaper than gas oven) for 4 hours. Brings out sugar and vanilla flavor. Char with a propane torch til it looks like gator skin, rinse an place in glass jar with likker at 70abv I use 1/2 gallon glass milk bottles. I sip in two months but had some age for up to a year might be to long so I keep a little clear just in case

That's awesome Tom. There is a lot of good info in other places on this forum on aging and setting up your own woods including some yummy stuff like cherry, peach, apple and other hardwoods. I still have a long way to go with trying other aging compounds. I am surrounded by conifers and oak trees so there's no shortage of material from which to experiment! I have a long way to go!!!