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Offline rasher  
#1 Posted : Saturday, July 07, 2012 4:19:06 PM(UTC)
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"12 gallons of basic Turbo 48 sugar wash at 13.47% ABV. This time, I let it clear for 10 days, racking twice before racking into the still.

My pot still runs to date have taken about 4 hours from first drip down to shut off at 10-20%. This time, I decided to try it with the fire WAY down. It's taken about eight hours.

Pain in the butt? Maybe yes but here's what I got:

1/2 pint of Foreshots
1 Qt of heads
1 gallon of hearts at 73%!
1 gallon at 56%.
I cut tails at two gallons, the hydro reading 43%.
Looks like about 1-1/2 to 2 gal of tails.

And the taste so far is better than anything else I've done. All this with a Turbo! I guess it's true: Low and slow wins the race."
Offline Bushy  
#2 Posted : Saturday, July 07, 2012 6:05:23 PM(UTC)
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"Sound like a great run! Yes running slower takes more time but the end results are SO MUCH BETTER. I also found I don't use much more propane than if I'm running hard for a shorter time and getting lower quality results.
Have fun."
Offline heeler  
#3 Posted : Sunday, July 08, 2012 12:20:21 AM(UTC)
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rasher...slow and easy, low and slow, that works for me too. Others like it hard and fast and thats not wrong either but I like your way more.BigGrin
Offline scotty  
#4 Posted : Sunday, July 08, 2012 3:20:14 AM(UTC)
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TRY SLOW FERMENTATION FOR A VERY NOTICABLE DIFERENCE. oops capsSad
Guest  
#5 Posted : Sunday, July 08, 2012 5:04:18 AM(UTC)
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Did not realize the slow ferments was important till just recently but sure makes sense. Slow fermentation would seem to be easier to establish with a pinch of yeast as opposed to the recommend ration. Also bound to be much cheaper. Made a bunch of wine using the procedure mainly to be more economical. Bound to work on hooch washes/mashes too. Gonna try it next time to make sure. Thanks.
Offline Beatneck69  
#6 Posted : Sunday, July 08, 2012 10:03:02 AM(UTC)
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I got a dumb question what is racking?
Offline Bushy  
#7 Posted : Sunday, July 08, 2012 10:14:50 AM(UTC)
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Racking is when you siphon the liquid from your wash/mash off the traub/ sediment in the bottom of your fermentor. Helps with keeping the flavor from turning into something you don't want.
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#8 Posted : Sunday, July 08, 2012 2:59:25 PM(UTC)
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Yeah what Bushy said. Most of the racking I have experienced is going from the first settling episode from a six gallon fermenter into a five gallon carboy filled to the top as high as it will go. Leaving about a gallon of crud behind. Air locked of course. Since the yeast aint giving off much Co2 at that stage it becomes a good plan to reduce the surface area of the liquid which could be exposed to the air. Aka an overly full narrow necked carboy. Some claim you have to use glass. I used the clear plastic models without a problemo. I dont think it necessary for hooch making purposes...but thats neither here nor there. I know some real smart shiners who use the strategy religiously. You can lead a horse to water but cant help it if he drinks too much and gets a DWW or something huh?
Offline scotty  
#9 Posted : Sunday, July 08, 2012 11:26:37 PM(UTC)
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"Just another note on slow fermenting. It is not to use less yeast; but slow fermenting((lower temperatures) produces far less off flavors. This is why soo many folks advise against turbos.

To use less yeast try making a starter bottle which will accomplish more than justsaving yeast."
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#10 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2012 3:37:07 AM(UTC)
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Ok..now kindly help out here. If a person wanted to slow the ferment not currently seeing why would use of less yeast not work? From the informative article which was posted..the yeast seem to double in number every so many hours...with the early arrivals being allowed to grow stronger if the introductory numbers are smaller due to less competition for resources. Since I got kin from near Missourri somebody need to show me..lol. Thanks.
Offline scotty  
#11 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2012 7:12:02 AM(UTC)
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"Before the actual conversion of sugar to alcohol takes place The yeast will/must multiply and populate the wurt before it goes into proper anaerobic fermentation.

Starting with less yeast only means that it will take longer to multiply and populate the wurt.

Slower fermentation is accomplished by controlling the temperature:)

naturally properly aerated and nutrient rich wurt is assumed.:)"
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#12 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2012 9:02:09 AM(UTC)
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Well that informative article did not articulate the proposition along these lines. I aint overly impressed with the data provided..lol. Do we need to make Lager? Yall get me so tickled sometimes I cant hardly stands it.
Offline scotty  
#13 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2012 9:23:35 AM(UTC)
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"Lager yeast is special yeast that works at temperatures very low but above freezing.


Slow fermentation is accomplished by me by keeping the temps about 65 to 70 F. I like to ferment in winter and use a thermostat with a remote sensor controlling a brew belt around and a heat pad under the fermenter."
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#14 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2012 11:31:10 AM(UTC)
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Ok think I got this deal figgered out. Yall are heavily invested in Electric stocks..so if yall can get me to turn on the window unit AC in the mancave to ensure a cool lager ferment for a month or so...yall make more money huh? Good try but I aint falling for it.
Offline scotty  
#15 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2012 11:42:05 AM(UTC)
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"
Originally Posted by: bigwheel Go to Quoted Post
Ok think I got this deal figgered out. Yall are heavily invested in Electric stocks..so if yall can get me to turn on the window unit AC in the mancave to ensure a cool lager ferment for a month or so...yall make more money huh? Good try but I aint falling for it.



OhMyGod ROT BW lol lol lol"
Offline heeler  
#16 Posted : Tuesday, July 10, 2012 1:38:23 AM(UTC)
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"
Originally Posted by: scotty Go to Quoted Post
Before the actual conversion of sugar to alcohol takes place The yeast will/must multiply and populate the wurt before it goes into proper anaerobic fermentation.

Starting with less yeast only means that it will take longer to multiply and populate the wurt.

Slower fermentation is accomplished by controlling the temperature:)

naturally properly aerated and nutrient rich wurt is assumed.:)[/QUOTE

Fellas, if you get nothing else from this forum but still wanna make good hooch - then read and learn form posts #11 and #13. Cool
Spot on Scotty ---thx."
Offline scotty  
#17 Posted : Tuesday, July 10, 2012 1:47:01 AM(UTC)
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"Thanks---------------------:)---------------------------

Post # 15 is the most important in my opinion."
Offline gryphon  
#18 Posted : Thursday, August 23, 2012 1:20:21 AM(UTC)
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"I have just completed my second run. Yes, that's right just the second. I have a pot still that holds 6 gallons and have run straight sugar, water yeast as well as fermented peaches. Used a 1500 watt electric burner the first time and it took about 48 hours. I threw it out because of the thermostat cycling and bought a propane burner. It still took me about 48 hours to run the peach mash with constant monitoring to try and hold the temp. Is a reflux still faster? What can I do to make things faster. I am holding to the idea that the drip is 2-3 teaspoons per minute. My wife says IO am crazy to work at it that long and just suggests the liquor store. HELP please and then we can talk about ""long ferments"".

I should add that this stuff is running approximately 80% alcohol. Also, not a lot of peach taste. I expected more. It is very complex though and i like it.

Thanks

Originally Posted by: rasher Go to Quoted Post
12 gallons of basic Turbo 48 sugar wash at 13.47% ABV. This time, I let it clear for 10 days, racking twice before racking into the still.

My pot still runs to date have taken about 4 hours from first drip down to shut off at 10-20%. This time, I decided to try it with the fire WAY down. It's taken about eight hours.

Pain in the butt? Maybe yes but here's what I got:

1/2 pint of Foreshots
1 Qt of heads
1 gallon of hearts at 73%!
1 gallon at 56%.
I cut tails at two gallons, the hydro reading 43%.
Looks like about 1-1/2 to 2 gal of tails.

And the taste so far is better than anything else I've done. All this with a Turbo! I guess it's true: Low and slow wins the race.
"
Offline John Barleycorn  
#19 Posted : Thursday, August 23, 2012 2:18:50 AM(UTC)
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"gryphon,

Originally Posted by: gryphon Go to Quoted Post
Used a 1500 watt electric burner the first time and it took about 48 hours. I threw it out because of the thermostat cycling and bought a propane burner. It still took me about 48 hours to run the peach mash with constant monitoring to try and hold the temp.
First, congrats on your new propane burner.

A 48 hour run is a very, very long run. My pot still spirit runs with a 22 L wash at 10% and a 1500w hotplate took me about 10 - 11 hours from power on. I only did a few of these runs so I could see what the machine would produce when I ran it very slow ... but nowhere near 48 hours.

Now that you have propane you may decide you never want to use your hotplate again. But pull it out of the trash. You can disable the thermostat and use a power controller (router speed controller, variac, etc.). Your hotplate may come in handy if you're low on gas and don't have time to get your tank filled.

When you run your pot still, don't try to hold the temperature constant. Try to control your collection rate by adjusting the power. If you collect too fast, you'll get that ""smearing"" that people talk about (heads and tails smear into your hearts). The temperature is going to change throughout the run ... this is normal ... and you really can't control it.

Originally Posted by: gryphon Go to Quoted Post
I am holding to the idea that the drip is 2-3 teaspoons per minute. My wife says IO am crazy to work at it that long and just suggests the liquor store. HELP please and then we can talk about ""long ferments"".
That's 10 - 15 mL per minute (600 - 900 mL per hour) which sounds reasonable. But at that rate you should only be collecting for less than four hours ... even if you run it all the way down (for a wash in the neighborhood of 10% abv).

Q: Did your wash finish fermenting?"
Offline scotty  
#20 Posted : Thursday, August 23, 2012 2:23:48 AM(UTC)
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Ditto on 10 hour run with 1500 watt hotplate and mod to eliminate cycling John.

The info on temp controll and drip rate is most important. I started a couple of years back by chasing the temp. It was dificult to imagine that low constant heat was the way and that the temp changed without my interfering.:)
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