StillSmart

Hello, I am new to distilling. I recently purchased the Turbo 500 still. In the directions it talks about running the whole thing into one DJ. What exactly is stripping and cut? How do I make cuts with a T500? I am definitely a novice at all of this. My first batch I plan on using 13Lbs. (6Kg) of sugar to 5.5 Gal (appx 21Liters). I am thinking about using either SS triple distilled vodka yeast or alcobase triple vodka pure. Also, is using turbo carbon/liquid carbon during the fermentation a good or bad idea? Any suggestions for this novice? Thank you for all of your help.

I am new at this also and am using t500. The manual says you don't need to do cuts. I have attempted to do cuts and found no difference in threads, hearts and tails. All of the master distillers will tell you that you will learn to tell the difference in smell and taste over time and practice. Be sure to throw away the first 100 mil as that is where all the nastiest are. Some people say to put in the glass cleaner bottle for the wifey, lol. It has been my experience with the t500 that after the run is finished be sure to filter it and let it air out for a couple days and all will be good. Just a bit of advice, be patient and read all you can in this forum as everyone here has been amazing at helping me through it all. They are very helpful and welcoming. Good luck and safe distilling.

ShinerB07 – Welcome to the forum.

That’s a lot of questions for a first post, and the answer is that there is no magic answer.

If you ask ten people here they will all give you different answers that are poles apart. Everybody develops there own methods based on what they want to drink, time and money available, and what they deem to be an acceptable standard of product.

I would suggest that you pick any one of the yeasts that you list ferment it and distill it, it does not matter if you use 5 or 6 kilos of sugar. Each step of the way will be a new learning experience which people here can help you with should you need it. Once you have completed one cycle you will have a feel for the process and perhaps a better understanding of the choices that are available to you.

Having completed the one batch you will know what you liked and what you did not and which direction you want to go.

I hope you stick around, and while you are waiting for your first batch to finish fermenting have a look around the site there are lots of good threads that may interest you, here is one on making cuts viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1326#p10465

Toodlepip

edwatters wrote:I am new at this also and am using t500. The manual says you don't need to do cuts. I have attempted to do cuts and found no difference in threads, hearts and tails. All of the master distillers will tell you that you will learn to tell the difference in smell and taste over time and practice. Be sure to throw away the first 100 mil as that is where all the nastiest are. Some people say to put in the glass cleaner bottle for the wifey, lol. It has been my experience with the t500 that after the run is finished be sure to filter it and let it air out for a couple days and all will be good. Just a bit of advice, be patient and read all you can in this forum as everyone here has been amazing at helping me through it all. They are very helpful and welcoming. Good luck and safe distilling.

What do you mean by " to filter it and let it air out for a couple days and all will be good?" Are you talking about the spirit, or the still? What purpose does "airing out" a spirit serve?

After I do a stripping run on my t500 I run it through a carbon filter then I leave it to air out for 24 hers and I find it helps to alleviate some of the strong odor. Not necessarily all will be good but will be a descent neutral product to work with

Ethanol, straight off the still, has some volatiles in it that you don't want in your spirits because they have a strong, chemical smell. However, if the spirit is left open to the atmosphere in the collection jars the volatiles will evaporate quite quickly. This is known as the "Angel's Share". The actual amount of liquid that will evaporate is minuscule but must be done.

When your distillation run is finished simply cover the containers you have collected your spirits in with coffee filters or muslin cloth to prevent anything falling into the spirits and leave for 24 hours.

It's a good idea to use a standard set of jars to collect the distillate, jam jars are good, or you can buy a set of jars used for jam making and preserves for just a few bob, good investment.

AM

I think this is the simplest write up on cuts, by kiwi stiller.

http://www.aussiedistiller.com.au/viewt ... =57&t=2859