still spirit essesence taste.

[tomemmett]

Hi,
this is my fisrt time in this forum and im new to distallation. i have looked on many sites to buy essences, but how can i be sure what they will be similar to? is there any where i can down load a list of what each essesence resembles?

i would really like any help you can offer with this matter.

cheers

[vino-tinto]

Take a look http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/guides/still-spirits-liqueurs/still-sipirits-commercial-equivalents

[YHB]

Welcome to the forum.

Making a neutral and adding magic essence's to produce your favourite drinks is what attracted many to this hobby, some achieve a result that they are happy with and stick with it, others find alternative and perhaps better/simpler/cheaper ways of achieving the same end result without the traditional hangovers.

Tell us a little about your setup, your still and your goals and if you have any questions do not be afraid to ask, we do not bite.

[Icefever]

Hi Tomemmett and welcome to the forum....

I was in the same place as you 18 months ago, do a wash, run it through my airstill and add essence. Then back in Nov last year I found this forum, started to read up on this "hobby" and found that I could do far better than I had be doing.

Now I make a spirit that we can drink.. I don't waste my money on fancy yeasts, and essence, and I'm going to build a bigger & better still..I hope..

BJ

[Phantom]

Whereas I'm quite happy over all, just making good quality neutral spirit and using essences. You will struggle if you think that using X will give you Y, but if you follow drink type from the essence listing, then you can get a reasonable product.

The SS Tennessee Sour Mash Bourbon will never be an exact match for JD, for example, but with a clean tasting neutral, it's not a million miles away either. Obviously, a lot of the essence flavours aren't designed or formulated so that you just drink them straight (some of them are good enough to do that though), but as most will use a mixer, IMO they're fine and you don't need to go to all the hassle of experimentation to try and achieve a more accurate product.

The quality and ability of the still can make a big difference. The Air/Smart/Easy still is fine, but if you do a double distill, you'll get a cleaner product - and things like doing a stripping run, then collecting up the stripped distillate but then letting it down to <40% ABV, but with distilled or reverse osmosis water, then you aren't likely to be adding anything with the potential to affect the flavour or quality of the final spirit run distillate.

You can indeed, distill using "cuts", but with sugar turbo's I find that's not necessary. Which it would be if you're making a flavoured spirit like whiskey, brandy or rum with traditional methods and ingredients..........

[tomemmett]

Thanks to all for quick reply and advice. as i say im very new to this "hobby" as you say. i am currently using the air still which i got as a present for xmas. (one of the best presents ive ever had may i add).
ive already done one 25 litre wash using tripled distilled yeast and carbon along with the finning pack.(is this the only way?)
i seemed to have what i thought was good results without much hassle.
my wash was around 15%, then after distilling came out at about 60%.
the main thing i cant get my head around is how much wash is wasted. i have been informed to take the first 700 ml from the still.then a further 300ml in a seperate container to be added into the next wash to go thru the still. but that still leaves with throwing away 3 LITRES! is this correct?
all advise would be great and will be put into great use.

and phantom im going to have to read your reply in a bit more detail as a lot dont make sence at the minute

thanks again everyone

[chill]

Best advice that I have: go read the AirStill Section. All of it.

Chuck

[Phantom]

Chill isn't wrong....... aidanmac has posted a .pdf about good practice, but I understand he suggests using the traditional stripping run then a spirits run.

There does seem to be a slight variation in the recommendations as to how its used according to "their system"...... my instructions were to dump the first 50mls as that would contain any of the higher alcohols like methanol etc but then to collect 800mls. My early batches were similar to your finding i.e. 14 to 15 % post ferment and about 60% post distilling. I found, quite by accident, that if you collect up the distillate and then let it down to <40% (and I use RO water to do the dilution as I'm in a high calcium/hard water area), on redistillation I get 80% +

Dont be worried about the wastage from the first run. It seems a little hard to follow initially that distillation doesn't "make" anything, it's purely a filtration/refining process that happens to exploit a physical property of alcohol.......

You'll find that you can just leave the still running until it produces distillate of virtually zero, but its governed by the law of diminishing returns where its not worth the effort of using the electricity. Only you can decide that, I'd say about the 10% mark at lowest......

Either way, chills suggestion is good as it will explain many points and pit falls.....

[tomemmett]

thanks chilli, i found the pdf file that explains in a lot of detail (to me anyway) how best to use my still. could any one put the terms heads hearts and tails into more detail for me.

i started of this discussion trying to find good essences, but now know i have a lot more work to do to get the distillation process correct first. my next wash will be cleared tomorrow im going to try following the info in PDF file and by the sounds of it its well worth the extra time and effort. I think i am the same as most people when the try things like this i wanted quick results.

[Phantom]

You get ok results with just using their system approach IMO, but there's something about stilling you don't get with other home brewing, maybe rarity maybe the naughtiness/illegality ? Dunno but it's easy to get the bug and want to produce the best quality you can....... maybe its just that its about the quickest home brewing you can do......

Good on yer chap, keep up the efforts........

[chill]

I started out wanted to get drunk cheaply. I am probably not alone in that here. I quickly moved on to wanting to make a great result. For my money, none of the essences are acceptable. But I drink mine straight, sometime with a bit of water or ice. If you drink it mixed with coke etc, you may find some essences suit your tastes. It is, after all, a matter of taste and that is highly personal.

If you want to go beyond that, you will find it quite easy to make much better rum, gin, whiskey, etc etc than you can get with essences. You may find that you prefer what you make to anything that you can buy. See the Recipes section.

Distillation can get rather complicated as you get into the details. If you would like to learn more, and want to read a book or two, I highly recommend these:
http://www.home-distilling.com/store/pc ... 2p1346.htm
http://www.home-distilling.com/store/pc ... 42p327.htm

In the meantime, a hour spent here will answer many of the questions you will have:
http://homedistiller.org

Chuck

[Icefever]

Best advice that I have: go read the AirStill Section. All of it.
Chuck

To paraphrase Chuck read,read, and read it all again. I did then it started making sense.

[tomemmett]

hi,
just want to say thank you for all advice and input you have all given me since i posted this message. it has opened my eyes alot wider in to the world of distilling.
i have many new ideas to try now. (maybe too many)

i am now going to use the wash (made with turbo yeast and carbon,maybe for the last time now i know there's other options) that has just finished, and do a double distil with it and i will keep you informed in another post about how ive came along to see if you agree im doing things the best way.

thanks again all.

[Icefever]

and do a double distil with it and i will keep you informed
thanks again all.

Your first double distil will open your eyes.. I used to put a wash through my still 18 months back, thinking "I'm the man"

Then I read AM's pdf file and what an shock, all I'd been doing up to that point was to make crap, and that smelt like nail varnish..

So all the best on your virgin double D..

BJ

[Easydrinker]

thanks chilli, i found the pdf file that explains in a lot of detail (to me anyway) how best to use my still. could any one put the terms heads hearts and tails into more detail for me.

Hi and welcome!
I think it was YHB posted this picture a while back,
It may help you get your head around the idea,the divisions between each stage of the distillate are not rigidly fixed.
Click on it to see it all.

Robert