Hi Everyone

[conyay]

Hi just joined this forum and the amount of info you can get on here is incredible I haven't ever had any experience in make my own washes or mashes im doing a lot of research before I start to do anything just wouldn't mind some advice on what wash or mash to start out with until I get the general jist of distilling Im happy with all the equipment I need and the ingredients so to speak just need somewhere to start then ill experiment from then on I have quite a decent clear rum at home from a friend im going to experiment with aging and flavouring just need a simple wash or mash to get me going on my own

many thanks

caine

[YHB]

Caine,

Welcome to the forum.

A simple wash to get you going? this will depend on a couple of things, one is the type of still you have and secondly what you like to drink.

A simple mash to get you going? I do not think there is such a thing as a simple mash. This is a process that uses enzymes to convert starches to fermentable sugar, with the exception of trying to ferment potatoes this is a process that I have avoided and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

Let us know what your set-up is and what your goals are and I am sure we will be able to point you in the right direction.

[alan]

Hi Caine, welcome to the forum one of the easy-est washes to make is vodka star you don't need to add that liquid carbon muck just dissolve your sugar in hot water and when cool stir in the vodka star yeast, it should take about a week then syphon into a clean 25 Lt ferment er and add kwik clear it should clear in a day or so then its ready to run through your still alan

[conyay]

cool cheers for the warm welcome im going to be running a 10litre traditional copper pot still to start of with then hopefully build a bigger one once I get used to the distillation process and as for what I like to drink I like my spiced rum, and sour mash whiskey and brandy hope this helps a little more

[amaark]

Welcome fella, you'll find plenty of help and guidance on here. Check the recipe section, you'll soon pick up a thread.

[YHB]

I like my spiced rum, and sour mash whiskey and brandy hope this helps a little more

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Rum, Whiskey and Brandy that leaves the field wide open.

One initial though is that your still at 10 litres is a little on the small side and may be a little restrictive but I am sure that you can work around it.

I am assuming that the 10 litres is the maximum capacity, I would be tempted to leave about 1/4 to 1/3 of it empty to allow for the wash to foam, that would make 6.1/2 to 7.1/2 litres capacity per run.

If you made a 22 litre wash that would be 3 stripping runs where you collect everything, then combine the output from all three runs and dilute it to 30% and make one spirit run.

[chill]

That sounds about right YHB. For easy washes, I would opt for a Rum first. Some molasses, mostly sugar, some nutrients. Next, get a cheap white wine kit and ferment it as the basis for brandy. Whiskey's are more work, mashing the grain. You can get decent results with something like UJSSM which is mostly sugar with some grain added for flavour, not to produce alcohol.


Chuck

[conyay]

cheers for all the help think I will start with a rum I can find all the stuff I need for that relatively easy I know 10 litres is a little on the small side its just to get me started until ive got a good idea of how the process works then hopefully ill build something on a larger scale once I can piece everything together and im confident that it will work

[chill]

One word of caution on the rum: don't be disappointed if it does not taste good right off of the still. A little aging (even a week or so) does wonders for rum!

[conyay]

okie doke ive got a bottle of unflavoured rum at home its 150proof im gonna play around with it to get a taste that I like might try some jd chips n some different spices so ive got a slight knowledge of where to start when it comes to aging and flavouring my own just need to figure out how much to dilute it down to 80proof as its abit strong at the moment