Welcome to the forums!

by **Phantom** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:16 pm

Hello everbody another newbie here, and what a brilliant forum.

CHEERS

Better late than never with a Welcome Notts19 :-D
I\'m guessing that you\'ll have already done a bit of reading, if not then give it a good scan!
I think that the difference between us here and the chaps over at homedistiller, is that a lot of us live in built up places and don\'t necessarily have room to think about building hoofing great 100 litre stills, with 2 to 3 metre columns!
And hence, appreciate the ability to produce something like neutral spirit from a reasonably compact device on a small scale with considerable ease...
You got any Q\'s ? well ask away, cos most of us have experienced the few minor snags that occasionally crop up as well as other ideas about how to do a few things even more easily than is suggested in the SS literature that comes with the machine!
Good luck with it matey.....
regards
P

by **trelliS** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:15 pm

Hi All
I didnt know this wonderful forum existed found it by accident looking for tweaks and ideas Ive had my turbo air still for about 3 months and hey its ace quality of alcohol and drinks produced myself and friends mostly drink whiskeys n bourbons, vodka n schnapps for the ladies.I was thinking of getting the profile kit and after reading the comments on this forum is deffo on shopping list.Ive had no problems with the fermenting of my wash standard triple dist. yeast turbo carbon and clear and getting 990 fg everytime and 60% from first pass throught still i have a wash on the go constantly.I like to let my hair down on a weekend 6 of us 3 nights drinking for less than 25 quid hey its a bargain and i love the cookin part as its become known amongst my mates.

Have got to thinking i might need a bigger still Ha Ha Ha
Happy tweaking all

by **optic** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:46 am

Hi trellis

I can recommend the profile kit,well worth the money,if you like scotch whisky an of the shelf essence which is bril IMO is the prestige brand ambrosia nectar of the gods,perhaps you have already tried it,the still spirits bourbon oak chips are worth buying to give your whiskys a soak it seems to just mellow and round them of a bit,know what you mean about the bigger still... lol

by **optic** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:46 am

Hi trellis

I can recommend the profile kit,well worth the money,if you like scotch whisky an of the shelf essence which is bril IMO is the prestige brand ambrosia nectar of the gods,perhaps you have already tried it,the still spirits bourbon oak chips are worth buying to give your whiskys a soak it seems to just mellow and round them of a bit,know what you mean about the bigger still... lol

by **trelliS** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:54 am

Hi optic
Many thanks for your speedy reply i have looked at the prestige range but had difficulty in finding a uk supplier ..... if one exists i would be grateful for any info,I am happy with the ss products but they seem limited i love the classic american bourbon and the rye whiskey but am at the stage where i am wanting to improve or modify the taste(surrounded by whiskey drinkers but hoping to make a whiskey or bourbon that is unique to me) Your tip on bourbon oak chips will be tried next wash.Also going to give mavericks wash recipe a go at the same time as my usual ss wash.

Many thanks

trelliS

by **optic** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:01 am

Hi trellis

for a supplier in the uk try looking at www.swedishconnections.co.uk they stock all of gert strands stuff,im lucky that my local HB shop sells it but not any SS products which is a pain,but what ever you do dont try any prestige brandy essence it is foul tasting sh*te,yes im gonna give some of the washes using bakers yeast a go,ive just run a alcotec vodka star wash was very impressed with that it came out smelling a lot better than other turbos and is cheap to

by **trelliS** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 5:26 am

Hi optic

Many thanks for your useful info and the info regarding the alcotek vodka star wash might be the next step forward we are getting used to the smell but anything that does not smell as bad as ss washes and is more neutral tasting is worth a go.I am just in the process of ageing the ss classic french brandy and the vsop although no a brandy person i can tell the difference between a good un and a bad un.
Cheers optic

by **maverick50** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:35 pm

Trellis, you could also try this link for your prestige requirements
http://www.burghley-homebrew.com/80040/info.php?p=7

by **optic** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:40 pm

Hi trellis

i can recomend the still spirits brandy and vsop essence,not perfect but the best ive found so far

by **trelliS** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 3:29 am

Many thanks folks for your comments im deffo going to try the prestige range of flavours and the turbotec range of yeasts though the week wait to clear mite be a problem may try using turbo clear or if not possibly pre-filtering its getting very confusing as what to do next or try as i mentioned i thought the only available flavours and yeasts available were ss.

Heres looking forward to playing and experimenting

Thanks for the links peeps there very useful

by **optic** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:39 am

Hi trelliS

prestige do some good essences and crap ones as do SS,but it all boils down to personal taste ,the way i see it its worth trying them all,if you dont like it just chuck it back in the still and all you have lost is a couple of quid and a bit of time,as for yeast im gonna try some of the washes using bakers yeast,a lot of posts on this site and the other one rate them highly and i think if you can put a wash in that is neutral tasting and clear what come out has got to be better,even if you stick to the turbo yeasts,try a second distillation,i was of the opinion that it was a waste of time,but after a go at it the opinion is wow! what a difference when compared to a DJ full of what had been run once and passed through the Z filter twice,the twice run batch at 80% has virtualy zero aroma even without a run through the filter

by **trelliS** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:26 am

Hello optic

I dont use the z filter i use the carbon cylinders and after throwing the first 20ml from each still this time i have already smelled and tasted the difference i cant resist that first taste lol.Am heading to brew shop this week for my usual wash.Am also going to try a yeast wash because the yeast used is available at my local asda and i have a tin already for emergency starts when doing lagers.If they both work i will double still the ss wash.Will also try the prestige range of flavours side by side.As i write this am waiting for my last still from this wash to go through, filterings a pain.I have used ss classis reserve scotch,top shelf classic french brandy and last but not least top shelf rye whiskey .with enough spirit left to do a couple of schnapps peach and apple and maybe a candy shots or sambuca to keep the women happy. But am deffo lookin forward to playing in a fortnight.when my next washes are ready

Once again thanks for your advice

trelliS

PS My minds made up thats what im gonna do theres so much to play with i couldnt make my up lol

by **optic** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:48 am

trellis

if you are using the carbon discs for filtering yes they are useless,its well worth buying the z filter i know its Â£52 but if you use alcotec carbon in it its cheap to run and you can put about 8 ltrs or so through in one go

Optic

by **still crazy** » Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:37 pm

hello everybody,

just joined this forum after finding it a few weeks ago.first started brewing in the 70s,went onto wine in the 80s and discoverd distilling just over a year ago having got interested after a visit to bushmills.

bought an airstill earlier this year after reading about it on line,paid Â£150 at my local hbs,included enough ss stuff for first wash and essenses.

as i write i am midway through my 5th batch,a 40L turbo wash.

have loads of questions so i guess you ll see me poping up on several threads over the next week or 2

by **Jimmy** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 1:10 am

Welcome, make yourself at home!