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Hey Old Timers can you help?
 Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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I am new to this and just made my 1st run didn't perform as expected can anyone advise? My mash was 2.5 lbs of corn meal, 6lbs of sugar, 2 packs of highly active yeast and 3.5 gallons of distilled water. I had only very min movement after 72 hrs so I pitched another pack of yeast. It being to work but never did get real vigerous. hydrometer showed a potential of 10% alc. I got the newbie jitters and ran 2 gals through my 12 qt pot still that I built with a 45 degree angle and a cooling tower. My final product was about 3/4 of a pint of 140% or 80 proof does this sound right. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Fatboylo
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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sorry that begin to work, and not too vigerous.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/4/2012(UTC)
Posts: 303
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So the hydrometer showed a reading of 1.075 (10% PA = 1.075 on my hydrometer) before the ferment started?
What was the reading on the hydrometer after the ferment ended and before you ran it?
Did you include any nutrients for the yeast?
Did you aerate the wash after pitching the yeast?
You can use the formula (OG - FG) * 129 to calculate the alcohol in the fermented wash. Say your final gravity was 1.000, then you would have 9.675% alcohol in your 2 gallons of fermented wash. That would mean you had about a fifth of a gallon of alcohol in the 2 gallons of wash. You're not going to get ALL of the alcohol out of the wash, but you got some.
Did you separate the output into small jars and cover them with a paper towel and let them air out overnight? Did you sniff the jars to see if any were foul smelling?
140% is 70 proof.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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Thanks Muadib2001, no I made a lot of beginner mistakes. lol you are correct on my hydrometer readings my finished was just under 1.00 I did not add any nutrients (what should I have added?) I did not also aerate I just simple pitched the yeast and stirred. Thanks I noticed that I had mad a mistake on the percentage.....My proof trialas showed 80 proof. I did seperate small amounts but didnot let it set over night. Took a shot I thought it taste like JD.....roflmao. Thanks so much for you help I am really having fun with this and would like to get good at it.
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 Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/24/2009(UTC)
Posts: 39
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"Just keep on going !!
Also what helped me a lot was the web site homedistiller.org.
they have more info than even I can ingest.
Also keep reading on this forum,lots of info.:)
docmj"
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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Thaks Docmj, let me ask this......the corn meal I had in the bottom of my mash.....can it be reused......it smells good......
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/4/2012(UTC)
Posts: 303
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Originally Posted by: fatboylo  I did not add any nutrients (what should I have added?) I use FerMax yeast nutrient. You can also use DAP and other ingredients. Check out some of the recipies on this forum and you'll see what people add to their wash. Originally Posted by: fatboylo I did not also aerate I just simple pitched the yeast and stirred. When you boil water, you remove the oxygen from it. Yeast need oxygen at the start of the ferment so they can multiply. Once they run out of oxygen, they stop multiplying, but they start making alcohol. Walmart has a cheap air pump in the pet section. Originally Posted by: fatboylo I did seperate small amounts but did not let it set over night. There are volatiles still in the distillate that we want to let air out. And I assume you threw out the first part that came out of the still? Known as the foreshot? For your batch size, I would have thrown out about 50-75ml. Maybe a touch more. Keep reading and you'll get better.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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Great info Thanks, I am still somewhat leary of the foreshots....lol I threw out about a 1/3 of a pint......lol could explain my low yield huh!!!!! hahahah or what I thought was a low yield.....great info keep it coming....... nothing like experience!!!!!!!!!
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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"Thanks big wheel for the great info......This is where I am at and where I been.....had that pint of 80 proof I drawed last night and about 1.5 gal of mash left....decided to throw the pint back in with the 1.5 gal and run it again.......WOW! went from 1 pint of 80 to almost a full pint of 110.....yipie-ki-a and thats with shitty mash.....I'm sitting here haveing a whiskey coke right now and feeling kinda proud.
Does the tom paste affect the taste?"
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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Big Wheel, if I understand you It's Ok to use tap water for the mash? If so I am glad to hear this because I wanted to go to like a 30 or 40 gal ferment but had not figured out how I was going to get out of the grocery store with 30 or 40 gal jugs of distilled water. I used distilled water because I read someone post that you had to. If I don't that would be great.....please advise....Thanks:)
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/4/2012(UTC)
Posts: 303
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Originally Posted by: bigwheel I was taught to discard the first 1/2 cup of distillate for refluxing and a full cup for pot stilling. This all depends on the batch size in the boiler. From the HomeDistiller.Org website: "Be ruthless about tossing the first 50 mL (off a 20L wash) that you collect, as this contains any methanol (causer of hangovers - small quantities, or blindness - larger quantities). Even though I'm pretty sure I only collect less than 10mL at the methanol stage, I still discard 50mL, just to make sure. No need for penny-pinching when you're making 3L of the stuff, for less than $5. If you're using a potstill, you may need to increase this amount you toss up to 100-200 mL." http://homedistiller.org/distill
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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I will post a pic of my pot still if someone can tell me how....I hit insert image and it ask me for a url.......? what is that?
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 217
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Thats what I was saying about my mash also bigwheel......I didn't have any movement after 72 hrs so I repitched another package of highly active yeast....never did get a good rumble out of it and the yield was not what I expected.....I'm new but determined...lol Think I will try that turbo yeast next time.... I have had 3 shots of my 110 proof off of my second run and I have a hell've buzz!!!!!!! :)
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/17/2012(UTC)
Posts: 118
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"Hey Fatboylo, I'm not even close to being an old timer at this, but this i know. I have been using tap water with no ill effects at all, i did make my cuts with distilled water at first, but it actually taste better with tap water i draw up a cpl days ahead to let the chlorine excape. Distilled water used to cut it gives it an ""off"" flavor.
I started using bakers yeast, but switched to C&B distillers yeast recently. I read Tony Acklands Homdistiller.org, hell it took me a month to read it, but it has tons of good info. I started using a simple sugar/water/tomato paste wash posted on here by Bayou-Ruler, its very forgiving and almost dummy proof. I'm using a PSII HC i got on here, 15 gallon. I ran my neutral in reflux mode, it taste like the best vodka money can buy! I tried some molasses rum, it taste good run in potstill mode, not so good in reflux.
I'm makin my first corm meal wash as we speak, ill keep u posted on how it turns out.
Regards."
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/1/2012(UTC)
Posts: 198
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You really don't need paste if you are using cornmeal. The cornmeal will provide the needed nutrients for the yeast. Same goes for turboyeasts, they come with nutrients packed in.
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/17/2012(UTC)
Posts: 118
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"I didnt use any paste in the cornmeal, im going strictly off of UJSSM recipe, it seems simple enough. The paste must work good in the sugar wash, from what some say a pint of 170 proof per gallon of wash is pretty good. I know my experiment with rum didnt produce nearly that much...I think i didnt use enough molasses...its sticky, gets all over everything, and ruined my siphon hose!
On the plus side i mixed bout 2 oz. of potstill rum with a diet coke and WOW! Then I soaked a quart in charred chips for a month, and did the same with a qt of neutral...very tasty if i do say so.
I've stayed strictly away from the turbo's.....i hear they impart a bad flavor."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
Joined: 4/14/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,666
Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 15 post(s)
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" Originally Posted by: fatboylo I will post a pic of my pot still if someone can tell me how....I hit insert image and it ask me for a url.......? what is that? Go to youtube and take a tutorial on photobucket and that will help bunches. You have to creat your own account of course but thats part of it so give that a shot. If I can do it all you young guys can do it."
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