StillSmart

If this has been asked elsewhere please let me know, but there's no search function on here so i'm unsure. Although i'm a noob to distilling, and this is my first foray into using Turbo yeasts etc, I have been all-grain mash brewing for about 15 years now, so don't be afraid to get too technical . Anyways...
I started a wash using Classic Turbo Yeast last tuesday, fermentation had ceased by sunday so on monday evening I added the Turbo Clear. 24 hours later a good inch and a half of sediment settled out of the wash on the bottom of the fermenter, however the wash still has a 'dirty dishwater' look about it akin to diluted milk. I racked it to another fermenter and stuck it in the garage for 24 hours exposed to a cold Scottish autumn but nothing much has changed.
My question is, how clear do you need to get the wash in order to distil it? I'll be running it through a new T500(which i'm itching to try, hence my impatience lol). I know if i leave it for a few more days it will probably clear a bit more but never having used Turbo yeasts and turbo clear i don't know what the characteristics of them are, i usually just clear my beers with powdered gelatin when kegging them as they are pretty clear at that point.
So is it okay to distill now? Or should i leave it in the garage a few days more???

Randy Bean

You certainly will not get the wash crystal clear it will always have a slight colour to it,I have not used the classic turbo but the triple distilled turbo always has a slight grey sort of tint so does the alcotec 24hr turbo,and alcotec vodka star has a yellow tint a bit like watered down pee lol.I have not run a reflux still but have found the airstill does not like a wash that is not cleared properly,so I would say if you can see the bottom of your FV looking sraight in to the top then go for it and do a run.
Optic

Nah, certainly can\'t see the bottom of the FV, can\'t see more than an inch or two below the surface. I had an immersion heater in it and couldn\'t see that lol. I think i\'ll maybe leave it to clear a bit longer. I think i maybe expected too much of the Turbo Clear.
Thanks for answering tho Optic

think i maybe expected too much of the Turbo Clear.

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I also use the two part turbo clear,

I leave that for 2 days then rack it off & leave that for another 2 days,

it is always still a little coudy ( like watered down milk )

but i can see the bottom of the FV (but only just)

but the T500 still produces crystal clear spirit from that

Well it cleared alittle more so i\'m running it tonight.
The foreshots were pink! Wow, wasn\'t expecting that! lol

The foreshots were pink! Wow, wasn't expecting that! lol

They talk about this in the "what went wrong" section of the manual.
SYMPTOM: THE SPIRIT HAS A YELLOW/ORANGE TINT
Build up of dead yeast cells passing through the column and building up on cooling coils inside the Column.
Get the manual here: http://stillspirits.com/webfiles/StillS ... sion_2.pdf

Yeah, i read that in the manual, the spirit is crystal clear in the demijohn though, coming out at 93%. It was just the foreshots that had a slight pink colour to them ?!?!

Maybe just a little crud got caught up in the first bit.

Did you clean the column before use??

No i didn\'t, i should\'ve though thinking about it in hindsight, i toyed with rinsing the ceramic saddles as i was packing the column too! lol. Probably was some crud like you say.

I wouldn\'t worry about the \"off colour\" mines the same it\'s clear coming out of the still and then out of the Essencia Carbon Filter its crisp and clean with no smell.
A bit off subject but have been logging the abv and same wash same temp (use a warming mat) same amount of time and finished with turbo clear.

1) with liquid activated carbon added to the wash it was 10 and went through the still and came out at 35 percent

2) without the activated carbon was 14 and came out of still as 40 percent

Strange has happened 3 times now so not a one off, didn\'t think the carbon would change things.

You didn\'t clean the column before the run?

Oh well, its clean now after all that 90+% running through it LOL

I, too, am having trouble clearing my wash (my very first wash of 21 litres for spirit making - got a Turbo T500) I have added part A, waited 1 hour, added part B, waited now for 48 hours and still not clear. I have a spare fermenter, so should I rack it to that, and just wait?? The weather is warming up, so it will be 30 centigrade in kitchen today (I'm impatient, as its my first one!!)

Any other ideas?

Yeast used = SS Turbo classic

It will never become completely clear like water.

I stopped using the Turbo Clear, all I do now is wait till ferment has stopped, give a good stir to degas then wait a week.

The T500 does the rest.

I've just completed my second wash and it was that clear i could see the bottom of my fermenter.
SS turbo Classic Yeast

6 kilo of SS turbo sugar

1 packet of SS carbon

1 packet of turbo clear A & B
Started the Wash Tuesday morning, finished fermenting Thursday arvo, racked it out (x2 got it back into the original fermenter) left it for 2-3 hours and had already started to clear. Thursady night added both part A and B, by Friday morning (today) looked like water. Distilled from 8am to 12 midday 3 litres of 94% we are stoked.

Cant go wrong wld trky,good going,i do exactly what you do on every wash i make.except mine is left for a few days after adding the clearing agent,due to lack of time to do a run.