Originally Posted by: bassinjason I have the HC2 from Brewhaus and tried the 1500w hotplate. Great unit on a burner, but don't waste your money on the hotplate; I returned mine. Takes FOREVER to get the still running and not worth your time. Just my .02
You wanna sell it to your wife? Tell her that once the still is paid off, a good bottle of vodka runs you $50-65. Doing your own costs you probably $5 if you figure the cost of Turbo yeast and propane....worked for me!!!!
Turbo Yeast are great for making ethanol fuel but for making out of the condenser drinkable spirits they are horrible. I too am a neutral spirit man. I suggest you try the following recipe. Once you try it you will never use a turbo yeast again. There is no comparison between the two distillates. This recipe will produce straight from the condenser practically orderless spirits.
Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash
This is for a 6 gallon wash. (23 Liter)
9 pounds of sugar{dissolved in hot water}
1 tsp of citric acid
2 tsp of DAP
1 tsp of gypsum{You can get this from a beer making supplier}
A pinch of Epsom salts{Less than 1/8 of a tsp}
1/4 cup of distillers yeast,or 1/2 cup of bakers yeast{sprinkled on top}
Dissolve your sugar in hot water and mix until its dissolved real good.
Add the DAP,gypsum, acid and Epsom salts,and stir until its all dissolved.
Add this to your fermenter,and add enough cool water to make 6 gallons.
The starting SG should be 1070-1080SG. Don't go over 1080SG for best results.
Check the temp,and once its 95f or under,sprinkle the yeast on top.
After 15-20 minutes,give it a good stir to mix things up,and get some air mixed in. You can cover the fermenter with a cloth,or use an airlock.
Depending on the fermenting temp,this will work off in a week or two.
Don't rush it. Let it finish to dryness,and give it another week to clear before running it.
I pot still this wash. It is very neutral,and very clean. It will make a clean neutral,pot stilled or refluxed.
By using a large amount of yeast,You don't have to add a bunch of extra nutrients and additives to get it to work,and the less stuff you add,the less it will influence flavors.
All you novice distillers using turbo yeast out there,Try this,and you will be done with turbos,carbon filtering,Etc.