Am I on the right track?

Talk about methods, equipment and recipes for making brewed and distilled spirits at home.

Am I on the right track?

Postby JTrin » Wednesday Nov 24, 2010 5:42 pm

Hi, I have about 60 million questions!

(Fully aware of the legalities, so we can safely assume that the following is a fictional story.)

Looking to start up a reflux still with a mate. He's used to brewing beers and ciders, but has some gear we can use. We've been doing stacks of research but I've never brewed anything more than a cup of tea, so I was wondering if somebody more experienced could tell me if I'm on the right track or if I'm gunna blow myself up or poison myself.

The plan is:
-Copper still head on a beer keg with element as a boiler. The still head we're looking at can apparently produce 95% ethanol. (Although where would we get the plastic hose needed for this?)
-30L fermenter with airlock/stick on thermometer/plastic stirrer
-21L warm water + 6kg good quality white sugar + sachet of special (turbo?) yeast in the fermenter. Leave for a few days then add a sachet of "clearing" stuff.
-Run through still, throw away first 50-100ml, collect 4L, throw away anything after that. But what should we collect it in?

Not sure if we're meant to filter it before or after we water it down to 40%, and should we use shop-bought bottled water for this to improve the taste? Can't imagine chlorinated tap water would do much for flavour.

Also not sure HOW to filter it - I read in another thread on here that it's okay to just chuck some activated charcoal granules in, leave it for a bit, then run it through filter paper. Is this right or do we need to shell out for a whizz bang expensive filter?

Then we plan on using flavourings and testing our batch out on the family at Christmas.

My main concern is to ensure a clear, pure spirit. I had a supplier of brewed vodka that never ever gave me a hangover or made me vomit, no matter how much I drank. That supply dried up, and when I went back to shop bought stuff it tasted like armpit and made me violently ill the next day.

So in short, I'm looking to brew something with no nasty chemicals/preservatives/god knows what - am I on the right track? Have I missed anything?

Thanks for any help/advice, so very much appreciated! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
JTrin
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Wednesday Nov 24, 2010 3:19 pm

Re: Am I on the right track?

Postby Tipsy » Thursday Nov 25, 2010 12:41 pm

I'd suggest a lot of reading on this site

http://homedistiller.org/

There are different type of stills and you wouldn't want to use plastic in any of them.

Also if you make a good still and make good cuts you shouldn't need to filter.
User avatar
Tipsy
 
Posts: 1463
Joined: Saturday Jun 18, 2005 12:49 am
Location: Sth. Gippsland, Victoria

Re: Am I on the right track?

Postby JTrin » Thursday Nov 25, 2010 3:01 pm

Thanks muchly!!!! I've sourced quite a lot of info from there but more reading up can never hurt!
JTrin
 
Posts: 10
Joined: Wednesday Nov 24, 2010 3:19 pm

Re: Am I on the right track?

Postby DavidP » Wednesday Dec 01, 2010 6:37 pm

like tipsy said...avoid plastic.
DavidP
 
Posts: 72
Joined: Thursday Feb 08, 2007 3:57 am
Location: Craigie, WA


Return to Spirits

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests