StillSmart

captainfog wrote:haha i meant 96.

It's ideally supposed to be 98, isn't it?

0.996 I suspect you mean

If you've got it to 0.996 then fermentation has pretty much finished. Get it as clear as you can; some sort of anti-foaming agent might help (plenty here do and don't, take your pick!) but get some copper (coin, flattened pipe offcuts) into the bottom of the still - it'll help no end.

Cheers

Hampk

It had pretty much stopped bubbling by lunch time today and I took another measurement and it read .98 so I thought sod it, I'll just go for it, so I did a bit of degassing on and off for half an hour (I know lots of folks on here don't bother) which seemed to get most of the last of the co2 out and now I've started the finings process. I'll hopefully start some stripping runs tomorrow evening.

This is a bit of a communal project with several neighbours on the street and we've all staggered our washes (we're trying lots of different ones to see what works for us best). Mine was first and I used the Turbo yeast that came with starter kit, but we've also got some Kale wash on the go that's been bubbling away for about 4 days now and someone else is starting a vodka star one this evening.

So basically, if this one goes wrong it really isn't the end of the world!

Obviously you're keen to go ahead with it, but for future runs, it's worth noting that the airlock is never a fermentation indicator, it can bubble long after fermentation is finished (you've seen how much co2 is trapped in the wash) and conversely it can stop bubbling when it's still got a long way to go.

Best measure is two consecutive hydrometer readings a day or two apart; if they agree then it's probably stopped.

0.996 sounds a bit high to me. Alcohol is much thinner than water so with a 14% wash you'll have a reading much lower than 1.000. I suspect you've still got sugar in there, so as mentioned be extra careful with conditioner, and I'll be interested to hear if you have problems clearing it.

Yeah, duly noted. Will post back with what happens. BTW my reading wasn't that high, it was around the .98 mark.

You might just get there. GET SOME COPPER IN THE BOTTOM OF THAT STILL. Coins / washer pipe offcuts or a mixture.... and don't exceed the fill line.

@mash I gave it a sniff about an hour ago and it was really quite pleasant. Strongly smelled of alcohol (made my eyes water!) with a mildly sweet undertone. I suppose a little like wine, but not vinegary. I don't know whether this is a good thing or not, but I feel encouraged that it doesn't smell awful. Can definitely tell it's clearing too, you can see though the tub that the sediment and awful carbon shit is falling to the bottom. The top is definitely looking much clearer already too. Part B of the finings went in about 5 hours ago.

I'll probably fill it just below the 4 litre mark just to be on the safe side, fortuitously my plumber is coming round tomorrow so I'm going to ask to raid his off cuts bucket in his van and grab some bits of copper pipe. I'll definitely put both the conditioner and ceramics in too.

Copper.. give em a good wash. Beat a few flat.
The first sign things are happening is these will rattle gentle lyrics as the boil gets underway - about and hour in, in my case.

It is a sugar wine, at the moment. It shouldn't be vinegary. If you store it, for any amount of time, seal it up in dj/bottles etc without any air space.

Finished my first stripping run and I think it went OK. No puking or anything like that, I used plenty of copper and just to be safe filled it up about half an inch below the 4 litre mark. Anyway, got about 975ml out. I'd say I shut down about 25ml too late as was running just under 20% when I pressed stop. Overall it's showing as 45% ABV so a little lower than the 50% I was aiming for, but I guess, for a first attempt I think it went pretty well. The liquid that came out was crystal clear and smelled very strong but had, I dunno, the smell reminded me a bit of calvados??? Not unpleasant, but I wouldn't want to drink it! Will crack on tomorrow with the rest of my wash and hopefully by the evening I'll have enough for a couple of spirit runs.

Well done thats it. Stripped spirit does have that strong
smell as all the different elements in your wash are still
combined. You will notice the changes in smell, taste etc
when you do your cuts on the spirit runs.
Good luck enjoy.

Good run. Don't worry about the strength. That is not the point of this run - this one is just too remove the bulk of the water.

The strength and quality with the spirit run.

It's fun isn't it? The spirit run is even better. And the infusion run better still (and easier).

It gets almost routine, but watch out for making stupid mistakes once it becomes routine - I've found myself committing some true howlers that I wouldn't have dreamt of on the first runs. (Including tripping the electric to my entire building).

Your first gin just round the corner. I think you'll be pleased with the results.

captainfog wrote:Finished my first stripping run and I think it went OK. No puking or anything like that, I used plenty of copper and just to be safe filled it up about half an inch below the 4 litre mark. Anyway, got about 975ml out. I'd say I shut down about 25ml too late as was running just under 20% when I pressed stop. Overall it's showing as 45% ABV so a little lower than the 50% I was aiming for, but I guess, for a first attempt I think it went pretty well. The liquid that came out was crystal clear and smelled very strong but had, I dunno, the smell reminded me a bit of calvados??? Not unpleasant, but I wouldn't want to drink it! Will crack on tomorrow with the rest of my wash and hopefully by the evening I'll have enough for a couple of spirit runs.

Well done on getting so far.
It gets easier from here, if you stick with the plan.
Adjust it as you gain confidence.
Then join us rebels that like to pretend that we know it all.
We don't
We have just a lttle more experience than you.

Robert

... And made a lot more undrinkable "good ideas"

Thanks everyone. I'm currently on my 5th stripping run! Can't wait to to get stuck into the spirit runs. I've only got the carbon filter that came with the kit that everyone says is hopeless. Is it worth putting my hearts through it? Will it do anything?

I tried it as an experiment and blind taste tests detected no difference.

Try it for yourself and see what you think. I've decided at least for now I'm not forking out for a better filter it's fine unfiltered (for me).