best yeast for air still

by **scotty** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:34 pm

just bought my first still and ive tried triple distilled turbo and express turbo and find that the triple has more off smell on the first run but the express has less of a smell has anyone tried ss express in the air still and what do you recomend i should be using for maximum alcohol and quailty using what method

by **phlogiston** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 1:42 am

My advice: aim for quality not quantity.
1. Don\'t use turbo yeasts

2. Don\'t aim for very high alcohol yields
Go over to artisandistiller.org and find the DWWG or WPOSW recipes. Learn how to make good \"cuts\". Don\'t bother with filtering -- you won\'t need to.
Many people on this forum will disagree with this advice. It\'s just a different approach, and it suits me.

by **MrCat** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:36 pm

Many people on this forum will disagree with this advice. It\'s just a different approach, and it suits me.

Not me - I\'m agreeing!
A qualified agreeing though as I\'ve not got an airstill but the principle is the same with the SS Reflux and the T500 - the better the wash the better the output.
After quite a few turbo washes I\'ve swapped to this recipe http://www.artisan-distiller.org/presentations/moonshine/MoonshineGuide.html as the ouput is fantastic.

by **bluecap** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 12:39 am

Hi Mr cat, what recipe is it, that link takes me to a table of contents. I have tried a few times not using turbos but the wash never seems to go right, usually taking weeks to ferment.

by **MrCat** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 1:49 am

Sorry - click on the link on that page marked Recipe#1 or Recipe#2. I use the recipe2
It\'s worth reading through from \"An Introduction\" though
They do take longer to ferment. The one that I\'ve just racked off took three weeks to ferment but it is worth it.

by **Andy** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 6:38 am

best yeast for air still

When I had my air still, I found that SS Triple Distilled was ok if in a hurry, or the Vodka Star was better but takes longer to ferment.

by **Phantom** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 6:45 pm

There\'s also the possibility, that distilling a wash made with grain will cause a bit of smell when first run, so you might still want to rack it off and then clear it before it\'s distilled.
I\'ve been happy enough with triple distilled yeast, though I have got a batch of vodka star from Ellie-Claire so I\'ll be using that for a while.....
Gonna put one on today - well I usually mix the sugar/water and then leave it for 12 to 18 hours and pitch the yeast when it\'s room temperature......

by **scotty** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:58 pm

thanks guys thats a great help , using the ss triple with carbon clear seems ok ,im going to try the vodka star next do i use something to clear the wash after its finished frementing ?

by **lyonacre** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:04 pm

Hey,
Bought my airstill last Easter and started out with SS Turbo.
Quickly found that all the Turbos, IMO, tend to give you quite smelly spirit with a bit of an after taste.
Through the form I found Vodka Star which is fairly quick and gives much sweeter smelling spirit.
Moved on to try a Bakers yeast wash which has ended up being my preferred. Only thing wrong is it is quite slow so I keep a Vodka Star in reserve just in case.
If you have just got your still I am guessing that you also have the \"kit carbon filter\" with either \"tea bags\" of expensive carbon discs. My advice? Give up on it and buy/make/steal a proper filter it makes sooooooooo much difference.
You will find a recipe for bakers yeast wash on this forum