Hey Carbine123

I use beer yeast because I do corn and grain mash. My mash usually works out is 5 to 7 days. Usually 5 days and then I test with a hydrometer. I wait a day and check again. If its the same. Its done.

When I do the run, I usually figure about 1% of whatever is in the pot. If you have 3 gallons, at 128 oz per gallon, that's 3.8 oz or a half cup. Then you cut the fors based on smell and taste. Other people can comment on a better method, but that's the way I start.

Hi carbine 123, there are 250ml in a cup. The fores are the first thing that comes out of the still when it starts producing. They are poisons for the most part. It's a good idea to dump the first 50 to 150ml of the run, or put it in a jar jar labeled Parts Cleaner. I throw out the first 150ml on a 5 gallon run of 10 to 12% wash. Don't be greedy, it ruins the flavor at the least, and you can always make more.

After the fores come the heads, then the hearts, then the tails. Collect in numbered pint jars, 1/2 full, letem sit with a coffee filter or paper towel over them for a day or two then sniff, taste, and feel to make your cuts. The feeling part comes in handy during the run to kind of tell what's going on.

I don't/won't use aluminum for anything to do with consumption. But some folks do and their still alive. To each their own.