logo                   
Welcome Guest! To enable all features please Login or Register.

Notification

Icon
Error

Login


Options
Go to last post Go to first unread
Offline vonknabe  
#1 Posted : Monday, February 13, 2012 8:10:19 AM(UTC)
vonknabe


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/12/2011(UTC)
Posts: 9

"Howdy! Just got my first distiller for Christmas, PS Extractor II, and we have not even put it together yet (trying to get a bunch of wine I started earlier bottled, first).

I have a juvenile question (or two!).....

If I want to make 1-gallon batches of product (end result), how much mash do I need, and what size fermentation vessel do I need? I already have 6 1/2 gallon buckets for my winemaking projects, but I read somewhere that to get enough mash to run through a distiller, I need 30, 35 or 55 gallon drums. Is that accurate? I was hoping not to have to go out buy buuy more fermentation vessels, when I already have a lot of money invested in what I have. On the other hand, I don't want to go to all the trouble of making my own spirits, and only end up with a half cup of product.

Thanks for any advice! Susan"
Offline mr. x  
#2 Posted : Monday, February 13, 2012 8:43:30 AM(UTC)
mr. x


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/6/2011(UTC)
Posts: 161

10% of your mash is about what you get hey you could always dump the unbottled wine into your boiler and make some brandy
Offline vonknabe  
#3 Posted : Monday, February 13, 2012 8:51:22 AM(UTC)
vonknabe


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/12/2011(UTC)
Posts: 9

"Awesome, Mr. X.... I found the following recipe - it appears I can use my 6 gallon fermentation bucket for the mash.....So, basis this, do you think it's safe to say I would get a half gallon of spirits out of this recipe?

SWEET FEED MOONSHINE # 5 gallon bucket of sweet feed (Sweet feed has several different grains and molasses making it a great tasting whiskey.) one package of yeast (using distillers yeast will increase quality and quantity) # 5 pounds sugar # water Put enough feed to cover bottom of 5 gallon bucket a good 4 inches deep Add 5 pounds of sugar. Fill 1/2 full with boiling water. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Let it set for 90 minutes and then finish filling with cool water. Add the yeast after it has cooled to the recommended temperature on the yeast label. Cover with lid--our lid has a little cap that screws on, leave it loose to breathe. 4-5 days later it's ready to run! This is an old-timer recipe and works quite well. My liquor is always 150-180 proof. I don't recommend this for pot stills unless you filter it by pouring it through a pillow case into a 5 gallon bucket after it has finished fermenting. Otherwise the meal will settle and burn in the bottom of your still. Some folks leave the solids in the pillow case and tie it off where it will not touch the bottom of the still.

Let's talk about this wine and brandy thing, too! Does it matter what ""flavor"" wine I am using? White, red, elderberry, peach, etc.?"
Offline mr. x  
#4 Posted : Monday, February 13, 2012 10:00:42 AM(UTC)
mr. x


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/6/2011(UTC)
Posts: 161

if it has alcohol you can make hooch out of it my plan was to try a bunch of mad dog 2020 the bling bling blue raspberry
Offline mr. x  
#5 Posted : Monday, February 13, 2012 10:03:26 AM(UTC)
mr. x


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/6/2011(UTC)
Posts: 161

and allot of peeps on here just do basic sugar wash i just started fermenting my first ever so im not the best for advice but my sugarwash is 13 gal of water 35 lb sugar and 2 packs distillers yeast supposed to be done fermenting in 2 weeks ill give 3 tho
Offline hawkeyewanabe  
#6 Posted : Monday, February 13, 2012 5:42:27 PM(UTC)
hawkeyewanabe


Rank: Junior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/13/2011(UTC)
Posts: 54

"Peach wine makes peach brandy, elderberry wine makes elderberry brandy, etc... As far as white wine or red wine, think in terms of sweeter or dryer. I think dryer tastes better.
As for bling bling blue raspberry mad dog,... um...I don't know what to say OhMyGod
35 LBS. of sugar seems like a lot! I use about 30% less then that and get over 10% ABV.
Just sayin' :)"
Offline vonknabe  
#7 Posted : Tuesday, February 14, 2012 2:49:09 AM(UTC)
vonknabe


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/12/2011(UTC)
Posts: 9

"
Originally Posted by: mr. x Go to Quoted Post
and allot of peeps on here just do basic sugar wash i just started fermenting my first ever so im not the best for advice but my sugarwash is 13 gal of water 35 lb sugar and 2 packs distillers yeast supposed to be done fermenting in 2 weeks ill give 3 tho


Mr. X, I have 2 questions:

1. What size container do you use for the wash you listed above?
2. What quantity of end product will this wash produce?"
Offline vonknabe  
#8 Posted : Tuesday, February 14, 2012 2:52:28 AM(UTC)
vonknabe


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/12/2011(UTC)
Posts: 9

"
Originally Posted by: hawkeyewanabe Go to Quoted Post
Peach wine makes peach brandy, elderberry wine makes elderberry brandy, etc... As far as white wine or red wine, think in terms of sweeter or dryer. I think dryer tastes better.
As for bling bling blue raspberry mad dog,... um...I don't know what to say OhMyGod
35 LBS. of sugar seems like a lot! I use about 30% less then that and get over 10% ABV.
Just sayin' :)


Awesome. I have 9 peach trees, and way too many peaches to know what to do with (the original reason I started making wine, which led me to an interest in distilled products!). Looks like I will become an expert (hopefully!) in peach brandy!"
Offline hawkeyewanabe  
#9 Posted : Tuesday, February 14, 2012 3:28:18 PM(UTC)
hawkeyewanabe


Rank: Junior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/13/2011(UTC)
Posts: 54

I'm not Mr. X, but for a sugar wash with a 6.5 gal. container, I'd use 13-15 lbs. sugar. Depending on what proof you want your end product to be, you'll get about a gallon of about 70%ABV. With 6.5 gallons, you'd only need one pack of yeast.
In my experience.
Offline mr. x  
#10 Posted : Tuesday, February 14, 2012 7:33:40 PM(UTC)
mr. x


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/6/2011(UTC)
Posts: 161

im going for the yeasts full potential i want the most product that will get me at 18% and i hope after cuts and proofing around 3 gal but this is my first
Offline mr. x  
#11 Posted : Tuesday, February 14, 2012 7:34:40 PM(UTC)
mr. x


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/6/2011(UTC)
Posts: 161

in a 15-20 gal fermenter but you can use 2 7.5 gal ferment buckets
Offline ericg0729  
#12 Posted : Saturday, January 12, 2013 10:01:56 AM(UTC)
ericg0729


Rank: Junior Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/4/2013(UTC)
Posts: 28

"I got the brewhaus bronze starter kit. It had a 8.5 gallon fermenter with it.
It is bigger around than a 5 gal bucket. How much sweet feed should I use. I want to make
A 5-6 gallon mash"
Offline mr. x  
#13 Posted : Saturday, January 12, 2013 12:14:08 PM(UTC)
mr. x


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/6/2011(UTC)
Posts: 161

i would just look in the recipes and find out i just do sugar washes myself just convert it to 1 gal or .5 gal and multiply by how many gal you are doing so say it was 15 lb for a 5 gal batch divide by 5 and get 3 lb per gal thats probably your easiest way at least in my opinion and no im not saying the3 lb is what to use just a hypothetical to show what i would do
Offline muadib2001  
#14 Posted : Saturday, January 12, 2013 1:50:37 PM(UTC)
muadib2001


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/4/2012(UTC)
Posts: 303

Originally Posted by: mr. x Go to Quoted Post
but my sugarwash is 13 gal of water 35 lb sugar and 2 packs distillers yeast supposed to be done fermenting in 2 weeks ill give 3 tho

A wash with those specs would produce a final wash volume of 15.6 gallons and have a SG of 1.107 and have an alcohol potential of 15.8%.

I hope your yeast are eating away at that wash. I thought the osmotic pressure would be too great at that SG. Keep us posted on how it turns out.
Offline mr. x  
#15 Posted : Saturday, January 12, 2013 4:40:55 PM(UTC)
mr. x


Rank: Advanced Member

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/6/2011(UTC)
Posts: 161

"i dont know where you get 15.6 gallons it was 13.5 gallons total after mixed and it was great
over a year ago as well"
Offline Crypt  
#16 Posted : Sunday, January 13, 2013 3:10:02 PM(UTC)
Crypt


Rank: Newbie

Reputation:

Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/13/2013(UTC)
Posts: 9

Thanks: 6 times
Anything over a 14% abv is going to have some off tastes. The yeast has trouble with anything above 14% and starts puking out bad tasting stuffs. Think of it as the yeast working way too hard, sweating really badly and all that yeast sweat ending up in your product. Don't do it! Just say no to yeast sweat!
Users browsing this topic
Guest (2)
Forum Jump  
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.