Just popped my cherry and distilled my first ever wash

[bobnot]

After all the reading,concerns and worries about my newly bought air still i just finished a mammoth session of distilling my first wash ever it was made using the SS triple distilled using liquid carbon and turbo clear and wow i was really impressed with how clear the wash was.

After it finished fermenting which ended up being 8 days for 6kg of granulated sugar which seems kind of long but it was probably on the lower end of the temperature scale (which might of helped with how clear it ended up) i syphoned the wash off into another bucket before adding the finings in there 2 parts.

Then last night i was impressed to see it was pretty damn close to being as clear as water which i wasnt quite expecting it be so clear so i syphoned off again into another bucket and filled the air still.

I was planning on discarding the first 50ml whether or not i thought it was good or not but was quite shocked at how strong the pear drop/acetone taste and smell was to begin with just from tasting drips from my finger it was clear that it was not a good thing to add to my final collection and it also seemed to clear and taste just like vodka quite quickly which was a relief i was more happy that i was able to pick up that difference within the first 20-30ml i can see how you wouldnt want that in the final cut just for taste reasons regardless of any health reasons.

I had decided i wouldnt go down the full double distill route mapped out in Mozr's diagram not just yet as i thought i would just try it by discarding the first nasties and taking the next 750ml ish per 4litres in the still . my thinking was if you dont know what it tastes like on the rough side then you wont appreciate it done in a better way later on.

Well i ended up after 5 runs (some probably a little long and some probably a little short) after adding some mineral water for diluting with 6ltrs of 43% which taste to me just like vodka which i am very impressed and relieved with for a first go and thats before filtering through carbon. (a litre of which is doing that just now through the basic filter that came with it)

Sorry for the long rambling post i am just exciteable just now next stop for that first litre once its been through the filter (maybe twice) is some SS whisky essence and having a good sampling session while watching Liverpool fc win the league cup at wembley this afternoon

edit: My main point was supposed to be after all the worry after seeing a lot of negative talk about the air still i have come to the conclusion it makes it very easy to make good spirits and with a fair bit of extra work it is capable of making excellent spirits.

[Admiral Toad]

Good for you mate the still Spirits premium classic single malt in the sachet is very good

[bobnot]

Good for you mate the still Spirits premium classic single malt in the sachet is very good

By eck i just mixed a bottle in time for watching the football with.
I know what im drinking here is going to be not very good compared to a lot of you guys on here but what i didnt really expect is that the starting quality is better than i was expecting.
I guess we are all own worse critics.

NOW COME ON LIVERPOOL FC

[billmcc]

Hi bobnot and cheers to you. next wash you do, make it upto 26lts then you will get 6 runs per wash and your spirit will be a little cleaner due to the dilution.Once again cheers & well done

[bobnot]

Hi bobnot and cheers to you. next wash you do, make it upto 26lts then you will get 6 runs per wash and your spirit will be a little cleaner due to the dilution.Once again cheers & well done

Thanks Bill i just set off a vodkastar and have taken your advice and am also about to take a delivery of an alcotec 48.
I am going to try a good few sugar wash alternative yeasts and see which works best for me.

[Jimmy]

The object is to make something you're happy with, so as long as you're doing that you're fine! As you've said, what you get at first is probably loads better than what you're used to from shop bought stuff (try smelling some 'value' vodka next time you see someone has some...)

The problem is, you'll end up hooked like these lot and you'll soon be hankering for ultra pure spirits in larger quantities... enjoy yourself until then!