"First time trying this after making wine for many years. Using sugar, water, turbo yeast and some nutrients, I would like to know what SG I should shoot for. Will have to provide any carbon filtering, since the wine I distilled dribbled out crystal clear and tasted like rough brandy. Help the beginner.

Thanks
Michael in Oregon:"

"Thank you both for the info. Coming from long wine masking, I guess knowing the SG tells me what the potential alcohol of the sugar water should be. This then tells me the amount of distilled spirit I could expect. Or am I just blowing bubbles? In any case, I gunna try.

Thank you
Michael in Oregon

I'll post my experiences"

You are correct about the specific gravity soil tester. I suggest that you start with a SG of 1.080 which 10% ABV. The ending SG should be around 0.990

The biggest mistake most make when starting out making alcohol is greed. Maintain patience and don't be greedy when making your wash. If your wash is too rich in sugar it will stress the yeast and produce more off taste.

Excessive nutrients can also cause off taste in the distillate. This is the Problem with Turbo Yeast. They are great for making ethanol fuel, but not for ethanol you plan to consume. The high sugar content washes and large amounts of nutrients and the high temperatures that they ferment at all cause off taste.

I suggest that if you go over to The Home Distillers Forum and do some research, there is a ton of information over there concerning all aspects of ethanol distillation:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/


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Thank you for the clarification. effective communication is very important."

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No sir as long as its tomato pulp and nothing else it will work fine. I use the Great Value Brand from Wal-Mart"

Yes you can use Lalvin EC-1118 (Saccharomyces cerevisiae bayanus) it is a Champagne yeast and will work just fine, just about any yeast will work. Bakers yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) gives the most bang for the buck,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, its cheap and effective

when i used EC-1118 I pitched 60 grams (12) packs

One packet per 5 gallons works just fine.

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I use 1118 for many things. When i do a sugar wash at 14% potential, i do a starter bottle with 2 pks I probabley could use one ; but i read about a starter bottle on some site with 2 pks and it always ferments dry. Naturally the needed ingredients and oxygenation too."

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Bakers yeast is the preferred yeast of those who make rum"

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I'd like to jump in as a newbe to the art of making home spirits. The past couple of entries are referring to tomato sauce??? I'm not sure how to address this. What is the ingredients in tomato sauce that would have to do with assisting the fermentation of a sugar/wash and yeast. Is there something in tomato sauce, as I have been using as yeast nutrient in wine making? Or are you guys just having fun with me. Please explain."