Newbie Needs Help Setting Up

by **Phantom** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:41 am

Before I add turbo klar I rack into another 30 litre bucket first then add the klar leaving the bulk of the carbon and dead yeast behind. In 24 hours clear as crystal. Also I use a timer. From switching still on to giving me around the 750ml mark takes 2 1/4 hours on mine. When doing distilled water I put 4 litres water filtered through a bog standard household water filter and turn it on before I go to bed and find its still working away in the morning. Turn it off and got about 3 3/4 liters distilled water. I use the rings that came with the still but also use a bit of copper mesh bought in bulk online (hell of a lot cheaper than smart stills). Never had a boil over yet (touch wood)

It seems that there are a few different ways of preventing the over boil issue Mikey....
I certainly hadn\'t thought of racking off before de-gassing/clearing though. Of course, I can\'t remember off hand, but logic dictates that most of the carbon and yeast debris would have already sunk to the bottom of the fermenter - and it\'d probably be a damn sight easier to rack the wash off the remaining sediment when it\'s been handled like that.
An excellent idea...
Personally, I\'ve been using "distillers conditioner" as well. I got my SS before they started supplying the rings with them and when the problem arose, I found the "broken glass" trick at homedistiller.org and have since bought myself a pack of rings (and I sometimes use a handful of the "ceramic saddles" that came with my super reflux still).

by **Rich** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:49 am

All very interesting peeps, keep the info coming. My next question concerns when my \'big black tub of s**te\' will clear. The gravity is about 996 at 21oC with 7kgs Dextrose, and it\'s still bubbling a fair bit so I don\'t think it\'s ready yet. I did think though that the carbon would be settling a bit by now and the liquid becoming clearer. So I guess what I\'m asking is, should it clear itself or is that what the Turbo-Clear is for? And I know I should be more patient!

by **Phantom** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:30 am

All very interesting peeps, keep the info coming. My next question concerns when my \'big black tub of s**te\' will clear. The gravity is about 996 at 21oC with 7kgs Dextrose, and it\'s still bubbling a fair bit so I don\'t think it\'s ready yet. I did think though that the carbon would be settling a bit by now and the liquid becoming clearer. So I guess what I\'m asking is, should it clear itself or is that what the Turbo-Clear is for? And I know I should be more patient!

Which range of kit have you used ? Because I only tend to use the Still spirits yeast/carbon combo\'s which use 6kg of table sugar, or 7kg of dextrose.
When I tried dextrose I found that I needed more than 7kg of dextrose to get the same gravity and eventual alcohol level.
How long have you had this batch on the go?
Plus don\'t forget that air lock or bubbling activity aren\'t a good guide as to how the ferment is getting on..........check the gravity, and when you get the same reading 3 days on the trot then it\'s finished - which it could already have done, and the bubbles you\'re seeing is natural de-gassing.
If you left it for a couple of days you\'d see it starting to clear anyway, it\'s just quicker when you use the turbo clear finings.
What I often find myself doing, is letting it go for a good few days longer than "they" suggest, for the finish of the ferment. Then I use the turbo clear as per instructions - because it might look clear(before I actually add the turbo clear), but any nutrient or unfermented sugars might still be present. I rely on the turbo clear to get them out of the wash as well.
I might be barking up the wrong tree, but it seems to have worked so far.....
hell I\'m looking at a bucket of wash that should have been run over the weekend, but I was busy and didn\'t have time......so it can wait until next weekend.
Dunno if that lot helps at all!

by **Rich** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:31 pm

Cheers Phantom. It\'s my 1st go obviously so I\'m using the Still Spirts stuff that came in the kit. Triple Distilled yeast (me thinks) and carbon gel sachet. I used Dextrose because I can nick a 25kg bag from work now and again. The batch has been going for a week. I think it is slowly going a paler shade of black, I just expected it to be a bit quicker, that\'s all. Gravity is 994 today.

by **Phantom** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:13 am

Cheers Phantom. It\'s my 1st go obviously so I\'m using the Still Spirts stuff that came in the kit. Triple Distilled yeast (me thinks) and carbon gel sachet. I used Dextrose because I can nick a 25kg bag from work now and again. The batch has been going for a week. I think it is slowly going a paler shade of black, I just expected it to be a bit quicker, that\'s all. Gravity is 994 today.

Ok, well it should nearly be done - give it a couple more days, but check it with a hydrometer to make sure.
Plus, I\'d try a batch but with 6kg of table sugar, then when it\'s mixed up - but before you add the carbon and yeast packs, measure the gravity, so you know exactly how much dextrose to use next time.
The SS instructions suggest that it takes about 7 days anyway - personally I just mix a batch up, pitch the yeast and carbon and it usually gets about a fortnight - obviously I can understand your impatience, being your first attempt etc (I was no different).
You\'d find that after about 10 days (ish), that when the yeast has dropped out of the wash, most of the carbon goes with it. I find that it often gets almost as clear as when it\'s had the finings in it, but of course, once it\'s had a good stirring to, to de-gas, then it\'s remixed the carbon/yeast sediment back into suspension - that\'s when you notice how quickly the finings do their thing.

by **The_Angels_Share** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 1:40 am

Apologies for digging up an old thread but I prefer to do a lot of reading in preparation rather than start repetitive threads.

Quick question regarding the dilution formula (from page 1), assuming that the initial 3.5litres is at 20c, will the rules be the same for the 93% that I hope to get from the t500? So for example.....

If I get 3.5litres (3500ml) multiply that by the 93 = 325500ml then dived that by the 40% that I want = 8137.5ml subtract my 3500ml leaves 4637.5ml.

So I would add 4637ml of water to the 3.5litres to give me 8137ml @40%

Loving all this home work and mental preparation before I take the leap

Billy

by **YHB** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 5:57 am

Hi,

You get 10 out of 10 for maths.

I hope everything else goes well for you.

Toodlepip

Brian

by **Almanac** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:38 am

Another dilution formula that I use is

((Current ABV divided by Target ABV)-1)multiplied by the spirit volume = water addition.

Water addition + original spirit volume = final volume @ 40%

e.g. taking your example figures;
((93/40)-1) X 3.5 = 4.638 + 3.5lt = 8.138Lt @ 40% (I always round up)

Works for me

AM

by **Admiral Toad** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:04 pm

And if you can't be chewed to do the maths there's a calculator here

http://www.aussiedistiller.com.au/calcs.html

by **The_Angels_Share** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:25 pm

Thanks for the calculator link Mr "AT", that will be very handy to check my numbers against what they should be when I come to do my first wash.

by **Phantom** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:41 pm

Ah, it's nice to see that people have found handy calculator tables etc

Personally, I just put my distillate in a bucket, add exactly the same amount of RO water, give it a stir and then take a sample and measure with my spirits hydrometer.

I "do a Sherlock Holmes" and deduce the reduction in strength and then add a little more water, stir then test. I don't worry about mega accuracy - I usually get it to +1 or 2% over (using the "Diageo mentality" that you can really taste the 1 or 2% difference).

Seems to work fine for me......