StillSmart Forum: Recent Topics

StillSmart Forum: Recent Topics http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Home Distillation Made Easy! en Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:28:07 +0000 scrappybill on "Can you filter over 60% with SS Carbon Filter (Plastic containers)" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=365#post-3629 Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:57:25 +0000 scrappybill 3629@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Quick query, (Well qickish for those who know lol) I have been using the SS small Plastic filtration set up and Carbon Filters (The ones that come with the SS Air still) Are you able to filter over 60% sometimes up to high 70's % using the plastic containers and the carbon filters- I just had a taste of some pre-filtered distilled wash around the 70% mark (Alcotec 23% wash with dex) but also tasted a Post Filtered of exactly the same wash and same strength, & it tastes different. At what strength does the plastic leech into the spirit? As it always say to water down to 40% before filtering !!. I can make a filtration set up out of glass if need be with a Stainless Steel Screw/Nut and Bolt instead of the nylon one that is holds the carbon filter on bottom of the plastic container. Or is there any real need to filter the Sprit from the already perfectly clear wash. The Pre-filtered Distilate is already perfectly clear and my opinion tastes better than the post-filtered, Hence my question above, Again any help very appreciated Cheers all alan on "wheat germ mash" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=364#post-3621 Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:59:54 +0000 alan 3621@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Just finished my first run of a wheatgerm mash i started 11,days ago i binned the first 20ml then collected 700ml at 45% ran it through my carbon filter its come out very smooth I'm going to add oak chips and bung it down for Christmas. I made this mash twice in the past but had trouble degassing this time i added a few caps of distillers conditioner, sorted. alan HangOver on "tomato wash and happy with this one :-)" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=150#post-1234 Sun, 24 May 2009 13:06:30 +0000 HangOver 1234@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Slight variation on the original tomatoe wash, produces 6.5 bottles of 40% I've always liked the tomatoe wash but find it doesnt produce a lot of spirit. I just increased the amount of yeast and sugar and it works for me. top up to 26L with water: 5.5kg sugar 40ml lemon juice, fresh squeezed or bottled. one level teaspoon epsom salts 250g tomato paste 90g bakers yeast scrappybill on "do you HAVE TO throw away the 1st 50ml- or 100ml when using the smart still" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=359#post-3561 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:52:40 +0000 scrappybill 3561@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Do you have to throw away the 1st 50ml or 100ml or whatever when using the still spirits air still (Modified ver with lower power heater & no chlorine flap) when using any of the major branded yeast based washes, I.e. alcotec 23% triple distilled etc. Some say do- some stay don’t. All my washes are made with Activated Carbon and are cleared with Turbo klar or turbo clear etc. Is there any methanol in the 1st 50 or 100 ml? Still sprits themselves swear blind there isn’t, but i don’t fancy going blind lol. Need to know for certain arncraft on "Plum Brandy with One Gallon Electric" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=363#post-3602 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:45:42 +0000 arncraft 3602@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ SSF: I recently posted the item below at the Home Distiller site (a link there from the SS Home Page). As the SS Home Page says, those folks are patronizing toward anyone talking one gallon electric. I wish I had known of this site before I began, but also from that other site I learned a lot about fermenting and distillation. Do check it out. LOTS of info if you search it through. When i suggested there that there might be a forum devoted to the electric one gallon distiller, I was quickly given this site URL. Happy Me. "I have finished my first effort at distilling and wanted to report it here. Tips and thanks to others. I had bought a one gallon electric 'water distiller' to boost cheap 80 proof vodka to make a better limoncello. That seemed to work well, and I wanted to go for plum brandy. After collecting about all the plums we could use for plum jam and putting them in the freezer (I hate canning in the summer), I stripped the tree of all left, cooked them slightly to make pit removal easier, yielding 33 pounds of plum, about 3.5 gallons. I added 5 pounds of sugar, 3 packets of Star Champagne yeast, and water to bring it up to 5 gallons in a 7 gallon bucket (from a beer making shop). For a couple days I stirred it frequently but didn't seal it up, just leaving the lid loose on top. I did skim some skins of the top. Then re-reading these pages I learned it is anaerobic action that produces alcohol. So then I pressed the lid down and checked it occasionally. (The lid had a bubbler in it, but I never noticed it popping.) After a week it seemed to have settled down and I added a few tablespoons of sugar to see if the yeast was through. A little action, not much. I thought it ready for the distiller and put about 3 quarts in. The foreshots came off nicely, then about a half cup of clear alcohol was soon discolored by colored liquid coming through. I had not strained the mash and it was being pushed through the distiller. I stopped it. Cleaned everything up and tried again. I strained the mash through a double thickness of cotton T-shirt. Was slow, took overnight. Then again run 3 quarts in the still. seems to have come off very nicely. See my pictures. I dumped the first 40-50 ml, then collected in one cup units. The run was nice and steady, quick drops. I stopped after 4 cups. You can see these in the photos. After they cooled I measured the series at proofs of 115, 90, 50, 20. Some of the subsequent runs were lower. I mixed these to yield about 3 quarts of 68-70 proof plum brandy. I corked two 375 ml recylcled wine bottles of this clear product. It has slight aroma and slight aftertaste, pleasant not harsh. But it's not something others might immediately identify as PLUM brandy. (We don't drink much slivovitz in the country) So I decided to add a bit of fruit to color and flavor. Four frozen small plums to a one quart sample. In just one day it absorbed a nice color, aroma, and taste. I'm unsure which I like better, and will experiment some more. I may mix and run all the tails less than 20 proof and remainders. In any case I'm happy with the product and enjoyed doing it save for a few glitches. It can be done with a one gallon 'water distiller' and I expect to make some more. (I think we may have some frozen apricots on hand. Comments/Tips/Questions welcome. --arncraft" [I will post somephotos, if accepted, asap] scrappybill on "Chilli Vodka ? Any good recipes out there !" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=361#post-3587 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:14:31 +0000 scrappybill 3587@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Last batch of spirit was very clean, tasteless, over 70% of 500ml, been asked to have a go at a chilli Vodka, (I don’t drink as such, just taste/smell lol!) any good recipes out there for such a thing? I have seen one which uses honey, and birds eye chilli but i don’t know much about chillis! I Thought a birds eye chilli was a frozen version from some captain in a beard lol I have been given 3 different chillis from a friend, no idea what they are, but I’ve been told that a general rule is that the smaller the chilli the hotter it is usually. One is a red one about 2" long in a similar shape to a Dutch clog, 1 in a small thin green one about 1 1/2" and other is greenish yellow like a very small pepper. I hate hot stuff- so there no way i am tasting them to find out which is which. Any Ideas? Cheers again all MrCat on "Nothing in particular - just chatting :)" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=362#post-3596 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:47:15 +0000 MrCat 3596@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Had a good evening tonight. Tough day at work.. Spent all morning sorting a report out for one of my users, delivered it a week before the 'deadline'. Gave him the info to hear "Oh, I sorted that out yesterday". Then it was hot in the office, very busy etc etc. With an hour to go I was hacked off and had a banging headache.. Cycling home and I was not happy, trying to swing my mind back into a positive frame of mind. Telling myself how nice the weather is etc, that I should just be enjoying what was a fantastic ride home. Then spotted another cyclist in the distance. About a mile later I caught him :) Had a good chat and all the hard work I'd done in catching him had given me a big smile on my face. Got home and next doors 3 year old son came to help me put my bike away - chased the dog around the garden with the neighbours son laughing at me :) Had a very nice pint of 7% home brew cider and sorted out my Steeped Strawberry, Steeped Cranberry and Steeped Blueberry. Had to test them out of course just to make sure they were ok :) The strawberry worked best - I got a lot of syrup from the strawberries so it has a nice texture/mouth feel, the blueberry is the next best but I didn't get as much syrup to mix back in so it seems a little thin in comparison. The cranberry is just like rocket fuel. I used dried cranberries and got precious little syrup back from them so it's just red, slightly bitter 80 (uk) proof! If you are steeping fruit I'd suggest you freeze them first as afterwards they seem to release more flavour. Followed that with a very small shot of double distilled 60% - a drink to be taken seriously but very very pleasant :) So all in all a nice evening after a crappy day :) swill on "Muddled ramblings" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=349#post-3500 Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:31:08 +0000 swill 3500@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Hi all you home distillers, you are ALL legends! I've just finished my second wash (I made vodka, kaluah, scotch, burbon, and drambuie (Edward's Wee Dram- yummo) with the first one), I used Samuell Willard's 48 with 6kg of white sugar (20%). Costs $15 all up ($10 for yeast and $5 for 6kg sugar). It comes out of the smartstill at 65% initially. I found it's better to do 'stripping runs' with the wash and then double distil it. Comes out at about 80% initially on the second run and much cleaner - no smell at all and GREAT for vodka (i love vodka, straight, i keep it in the freezer). This time I'm going to filter it also. I have the nano filter so it's all going through after I dilute it back down to 40%alv. This time i'm gonna make some brandy, ..love brandy (any suggestions?). My mate loves burbon (mixed with coke) so i made some for him with a NZ 'Country Squire' bourbon. He liked it a lot.. especially when I gave him two bottles of it..I made the Country Squire vodka.. very nice, drink it straight or mixed.. it's good. Anyway.. I'm happy, love the smartstill, love mixing up new creations, and wish I could meet you all and have a drink with you one day.. HangOver on "Flavoring Recomended and NOT" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=78#post-555 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:10:03 +0000 HangOver 555@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ Santa brought me a few flavoring addatives. just the stuff you throw into the sprit and give it a good shake. I thought it might be worth starting a thread of manufacturers/suppliers and flavors that are good and ones to steer clear of. Here is my contribution: Brand: Spirits Unlimited Flavor: Raspberry Comments: Quite Nice, 7/10 Brand: AAABrewing Party Pack Flavor: Chocoholic Comments: Sounds awful but yummy 7/10 Brand: AAABrewing Party Pack Flavor: Turkish Delite Comments: very yummy 8/10 Brand: Edwards Essences Flavor: Southern Indulgence Comments: Drinkable, but just 4/10 beerbaron on "The next morning no headache ???" http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=342#post-3442 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:15:40 +0000 beerbaron 3442@http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/ I’m still new at distilling, just did one batch a few months ago. One thing that I noticed is that my spirits doesn’t give me a headache. I went camping a few weeks ago and did a test on my spirits. I had 1 “store bought bottle” of rum and 3 bottles of my own distilled rum. The first day I drank the store bought rum. The next morning I had a headache. Day 2 I drank my rum. The next morning no headache, but I was a bit dry. Day 3 and 4 the same as day 2. Is any body experiencing the same thing or did I just get lucky with my first batch?