StillSmart

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-25T02:30:47+00:00

You cant go wrong with service like that,i am going to ask my HB shop if they can stock some of the still spirits range,after all they did tell me home distilling is getting very popular and a fair amount of shop space is dedicated to it,the only still they sell is a 3ltr copper pot still it looks nice shame its not bigger.

Statistics: Posted by optic — Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:30 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-24T03:26:38+00:00

Just been into my local HB Shop this afternoon and their going to stock Alcotec Carbon for me thats what I call service.
Opus

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:26 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-24T02:04:06+00:00

Yes Opus 27 i use the Alcotec carbon,i am lucky the local HB shop stocks it at only a fiver a bag.

Statistics: Posted by optic — Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:04 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-23T03:11:06+00:00

Yes I agree it\'s good to look at everyones products. Alcotec Carbon is significantly cheaper than the SS version and works a treat in my Z Filter. When it comes to shipping you can usualy offset that if you place a reasonable order.
Opus

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:11 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-23T02:31:31+00:00

Gets my vote as well

Its good to get info about the yeasts,I did buy the Alcotec 23% but havent used it yet but am really impressed with the other Alcotec yeasts ive used the vodka star in particular it smelt really clean out of the still,just finished runnung 23ltrs of wash using the Alcotec 8 got 6ltrs @ 62%,re run this and got 3.2ltrs at 83% plus 1ltr of tails at 58%,will cut the 3.2 ltrs back next weekend and filter it.

just off for a look at the Hambletonbard website

Statistics: Posted by optic — Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:31 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-22T21:05:29+00:00

I\'ll second Jimmy\'s vote there.....
Outstanding to have someone visit who understands the \"in\'s and out\'s\" of some of the various products.
Personally I don\'t use so much of the alcotec stuff, because the local HBS stocks the Still Spirits range, but I\'m happy to use what I can get cheapest (especially when I have to factor in the shipping costs of stuff not sold by the local HBS.....)
It would be nice to be able to find a supplier who\'d supply bulk dextrose (25KG bags), or even 25KG bags of table sugar (keeping a \"weather eye\" on the cost at the cheaper retailers of course).

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:05 pm

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-21T23:52:11+00:00

Hi Carl - that\'s not a problem, many thanks for taking the time to explain your products - you\'re welcome here anytime.
If you need a motley bunch to test anything out then this would probably be a good place to ask too!
Hambleton Bard Website - think your link got a little messed up by the spam filtering on the boards, this one should work.

Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:52 pm

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-11-21T04:26:44+00:00

Hi, sorry for using a disposable email address, but I like my privacy on the net.
The yeast in the Alcotec 23% will not produce any major nasties, the main reason for the activated carbon in this yeast pack is to act like a \"floater\". Imagine that we push the yeast to its limit, what will then happen is of course that it will get more and more intoxicated by the alcohol, then eventually it will sink and create the bottom sediment and in the end it will die.
Now, when the yeast is pretty intoxicated and ready to go to bed, in comes the activated carbon whereto the yeast cells can cling on a little bit further. Although it was time to go to bed, we then manage to keep it alive a little bit further by keeping it in circulation.
Then of course, when a yeast cell is pushed to its limit and actually a bit beyond, it will produce some extra impurities (but not anything poisonous or so) and the carbon will take care of most of this as well.
You really DO need to use Dextrose (Monohydrate, normally) for this yeast to work. If you replace with sucrose, even if you recalculate for the water molecule (mono in monohydrate), you will end up with much worse performance.
The Alcotec 23% is a nice flagship product, but for normal use, the Alcotec 48 is much easier to use, considerably cheaper and faster as well. OK, it produces a few % lower alcohol but it still gets to somewhere 18-20% which is not far off.
If you compare the Alcotec Triple Still, which also contains activated carbon - here we use the carbon mainly for its purifying effect and not so much as a \"floater\". We did these products for fun, mainly because we could to them. You will get nearly as good wash from an Alcotec VodkaStar - at a fraction of the price. But then again, he who wants the best will have to pay a premium.
OK, that\'s it for today. I\'m off again. Sorry for barging in on you, I was just searching the net for our trade marks to see who is selling our products and then I came across this forum.
Best regards from

Carl G
P.s. and please excuse me for [shameless plug]promoting our website (which is now a bit dated, but I\'m working on it):

[url=http://www.hambletonbard.com]

[/shameless plug]

Statistics: Posted by Carlotto — Sat Nov 21, 2009 4:26 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-10-22T01:00:41+00:00

I used Alcotec 23% to ferment 25l of mead. It ripped through it in about 3 days and took most of the flavour with it!

I put that down to the carbon that was added to the wash (as per instructions), but I added it as I wasn\'t sure if the yeast would put loads of nasties in, so played safe.
Looking back, I should have put it through the SmartStill, but it tasted so awful that I just poured it away!
Saying that however, I have 25l of Triple-Distilled on the go at the moment (for an experimental wash), and it smells foul in comparison to the Alcotec.
I also have Birdwatcher\'s tomato wash going from the homedistiller site and it smells divine!

Statistics: Posted by Pharma — Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:00 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-10-20T10:29:44+00:00

I have used fish tank ones, they went as high as 30 and as low as 10, other types may have different scales. They cost the same as the beer ones, so no advantage there. I think the beer ones go from 40 down to 10 in 2

degree segments. I only looked at one this morning and can\'t remember lol.
The fish type worked fine, and I used them before finding the beer ones.

Statistics: Posted by umpa — Tue Oct 20, 2009 10:29 am

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-09-14T21:51:38+00:00

Thanks for the info guys will give it a go after the triple distilled wash i have got going now,using good old poundland sugar lol,the other thing is it says to be carefull where you site the fermenter as it migh over flow,how likely is this?,as a kitchen floor covered in yeasty smelling wash will not be good!,i could put it out in the shed but its quite a bit cooler in there,and i have not got a heat tray or belt for the fermenter.

Never had a batch foam enough to come out the bucket..... but I use a 30 litre bucket.
Yes I do secure the lid properly, but usually put a bit of cotton wool lightly in the grommet hole.... and I\'ve had it where the bottom of the cotton wool is black from the carbon rising with the foam.
If you do put it in the shed don\'t forget, the lower ambient temperature will slow the fermentation. Yes, it will probably give you a cleaner fermentation but will take longer. You could google for "fermentation+temperature+wine" which should give you enough info about it. I don\'t know what the yeast strain in the various turbo\'s is so I have no info about minimum and maximum temps.... I\'d guess though that you\'d probably want to keep it between 15 and 18 degree\'s C - at normal room temperature it will probably go to the early to mid 20\'s C (you could always stick one of those "colour change" thermometer strips on the bucket to see.......like the ones you can get for a fish tank....in fact the fish tank ones would probably do the job, though how lower temp they run to ????? they definitely cover the mid range of ferment temps.....
regards
p

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:51 pm

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-09-13T21:51:50+00:00

Thanks for the info guys will give it a go after the triple distilled wash i have got going now,using good old poundland sugar lol,the other thing is it says to be carefull where you site the fermenter as it migh over flow,how likely is this?,as a kitchen floor covered in yeasty smelling wash will not be good!,i could put it out in the shed but its quite a bit cooler in there,and i have not got a heat tray or belt for the fermenter.

Statistics: Posted by optic — Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:51 pm

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-09-12T23:49:10+00:00

Whatever is used, it should be bourne in mind that Dextrose is a commercial name for Glucose. It can be obtained in 25kg bags, but not that easily. The sellers usually want a \"paper chain\" because it\'s one of the cleaner materials used for \"cutting\" class A narcotics.
Also, it\'s only about 70% as sweet as \"table\" sugar. So if the recipe says 6kg of table sugar, you\'d need 7kg+ of dextrose/glucose to attain the same starting gravity (if tested).
Personally, I have tried it and couldn\'t notice any specific difference in the finished product. So rather than going to the hassle of sourcing the Dextrose/Glucose I just get the cheapest table sugar I can find (actually, not the cheapest because I don\'t have the facilities to handle the 28tonne tanker loads -- which really is the cheapest).
regards
p

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:49 pm

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-09-12T19:23:14+00:00

going brok , thats interesting, I only put about 40ml of lemon juice into 5.5KG of sugar so i need to increase it to 55ml, hmm maybe see in an increase in %

Statistics: Posted by HangOver — Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:23 pm

alcotec 23% turbo?

2009-09-12T09:14:01+00:00

\"upside down\" hahaha, actually here\'s the \"official\" blurb. (I think you guys already know this, but here goes)
Inverted sugar syrup can be easily made by adding roughly one gram of citric acid or ascorbic acid, per kilogram of sugar. Cream of tartar (one gram per kilogram) or fresh lemon juice (10 millilitres per kilogram) may also be used.
The mixture is boiled for 20 minutes, and will convert enough of the sucrose to effectively prevent crystallization, without giving a noticeably sour taste. Invert sugar syrup may also be produced without the use of acids or enzymes by thermal means alone: two parts granulated sucrose and one part water simmered for five to seven minutes will convert a modest portion to invert sugar.
So basically, bring water to a boil, stir in the sugar and keep stirring for 10 minutes or so and it will be broken down or inverted.

Statistics: Posted by goinbroke2 — Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:14 am