ss turbo air still newbee

[maverick50]

Hi all and thanks in advance for your comments.
Have just a still then sumbled accross that other forum that dont like these stills of Turbo Yeast.
How good is the finished product, does it have a smell/taste.

Should I discard the first 50ml when using triple distilled turbo.

What is the proccedure for putting the product back through the still, do you water down the 800ml you got or just put the 800 back in on it\'s own.

Will it come out stronger

ss say that you should only use trippl distilled turbo, why?

Can I use standard sugar wash with this machine and not get poisened?

That\'s it for now!!!!!

[HangOver]

How good is the finished product - excellent if you take your time and do a bit of reading
does it have a smell/taste. - yes, not bad just a bit different to say smirnoff, i durnk it so long now i prefer it
Should I discard the first 50ml when using triple distilled turbo. - yes, without a doubt
What is the proccedure for putting the product back through the still, do you water down the 800ml you got or just put the 800 back in on it\'s own. - up to you really but its easier to distinguish the good form bad if you atwer it a bit on the second distil I use 2L sirit to 1-1.5L water
Will it come out stronger- Oh yes, about 70-80%
ss say that you should only use trippl distilled turbo, why?- because they sell it and want you to buy their product
Can I use standard sugar wash with this machine and not get poisened? - yes nearly everyone does.
That\'s it for now!!!!! - good luck !

[HangOver]

How good is the finished product - excellent if you take your time and do a bit of reading
does it have a smell/taste. - yes, not bad just a bit different to say smirnoff, i durnk it so long now i prefer it
Should I discard the first 50ml when using triple distilled turbo. - yes, without a doubt
What is the proccedure for putting the product back through the still, do you water down the 800ml you got or just put the 800 back in on it\'s own. - up to you really but its easier to distinguish the good form bad if you atwer it a bit on the second distil I use 2L sirit to 1-1.5L water
Will it come out stronger- Oh yes, about 70-80%
ss say that you should only use trippl distilled turbo, why?- because they sell it and want you to buy their product
Can I use standard sugar wash with this machine and not get poisened? - yes nearly everyone does.
That\'s it for now!!!!! - good luck !

[Phantom]

Have just a still then sumbled accross that other forum that dont like these stills of Turbo Yeast.

Homedistiller forums do seem to be peopled with a lot of "good ole boyz", who have the time, space, equipment and isolated locations to be able to make some amazing stills and run them, without alerting the the neighbours or the ATF people in their helicopters with the IR cameras..... Plus they seem to like to be a bit more traditional and specific i.e. making whiskey mash etc (which happens to stink like hell when heated for the still...... another thing that\'s not too convenient if you\'re in a built up, urban location).

How good is the finished product, does it have a smell/taste.

Should I discard the first 50ml when using triple distilled turbo.

What is the proccedure for putting the product back through the still, do you water down the 800ml you got or just put the 800 back in on it\'s own.

Will it come out stronger

ss say that you should only use trippl distilled turbo, why?

Can I use standard sugar wash with this machine and not get poisened?

That\'s it for now!!!!!

The finished neutral spirit from sugar wash, will naturally have a slightly different flavour to one made from a grain mash. Personally, I\'ve given some to a Polish colleague who said it was excellent for drinking as "plain" vodka.
As for discarding the first 50mls, well as the triple distilled turbo yeasts and plain (already refined) table sugar do already make quite a pure wash, then it\'s up to you. Make a batch of wash, then run 4 litres and bin the first 25 to 50 mls, and then run another one and don\'t bother. then take a taste to see if you can detect the difference. Or if you\'re flavouring it with commercial flavourings make sure that both are flavoured with the same one and see if you can tell the difference.
As for running a batch more than once, well I tend to let it down with water to about 40% and then run it again. Don\'t forget, if you can, let it down to 40% with distilled water, de-ionised water, reverse osmosis water or spring water..... distillation is a purification/seperation technique and you wouldn\'t want to concentrate up any residual chlorine/chloramine that will have been used by a utility company during it\'s "manufacture" for the mains supply.
Still spirits say about using the "triple distilled" yeast for maximum purity, Alcotec say about using the "Vodka Star" yeast for the same reason. Though I\'m often wondering about how much there is in their marketing claims as Vodka Star tends to be one of the cheaper yeasts from Alcotec, whereas the SS "triple distilled" tends to be a bit more expensive....... At the end of the day, they\'ve got product to try and sell so it\'s your call which you find works the best for you..... Don\'t forget, the higher the purity you manage to make, the less of it you\'ll actually get. Like if you can do the 5 litres of 60% from 25 litres of 14% wash, put it through again and you\'ll end up with something like 3.5 litres at 80 or so percent. I don\'t bother with foreshots/heads on second runs as I will have removed any that I think necessary at the first run. Take the product from a second run in small quantities (or obtain or make yourself a "parrot") and when the strength/% starts to drop (I use 80% as a guide), then I just leave the still running, taking a couple of hundred mls at a time, and keep measuring the strength, when it drops to 10% or less. I finish. The lower strength stuff then goes back into the wash as "tails" for distillation later....
Dunno if any of that helps any.....
regards
p
As for poisoning ? You should read the homedistiller main site, there\'s a nice bit of "myth busting" about that. It\'s fair to say that any fermentation/distillation will produce small amounts of methanol, but you should focus very much on the "small". The less pure your ingredients, then the greater the likelihood of issues arising.

[maverick50]

Phantom,
Many thanks for taking the time to post your reply, found it very informative.
I have just put 16 litres through the still and after dilution have ended up with 4 litres @ 40%. I found that the spitit is a little harsh, (bit more of an alchol burn) if that makes sence, now if I run that through the still again would this smooth it out a little?.

How much 40% should I mix up with water in my 4 litre still and what percentage spirit would you expect to get out.
Step by step instruction would be handy.
Many tahnks

[maverick50]

Sorry forgot a question or 2.
What is a parrot?

Do you stop collecting the good stuff when it\'s droped below 80%.
(I understand the bit about lower strenght going back in the still, just need to know when you stop collecting what you are going to drink)
I have a standard meter for alchol content, looks the same as sg float

[Phantom]

Many thanks for taking the time to post your reply, found it very informative.
I have just put 16 litres through the still and after dilution have ended up with 4 litres @ 40%. I found that the spirit is a little harsh, (bit more of an alcohol burn) if that makes sense, now if I run that through the still again would this smooth it out a little?.

How much 40% should I mix up with water in my 4 litre still and what percentage spirit would you expect to get out.
Step by step instruction would be handy.

Well if the spirit has already been let down to 40% then you can "re-run" it. Though have you put it through a carbon filter, as that sometimes smooths it out (sometimes not). I don\'t usually drink it unflavoured (usual flavourings are SS classic Tennessee Sour Mash Bourbon, SS classic Gin, Prestige Malt whiskey, Prestige Calvados and a few others that I make less often.....).
Running it through a second time will just remove more water, but of course, that also means less product. I tend to go for between 70 and 80(ish) percent for the second run, but try to take regular samples to test for % ABV. You won\'t get much more than about 80 to 82% anyway from the table top stills, after all, it\'s just a modern version of a pot still. If you wanted to go higher, then you\'d have to investigate reflux stills.
There is no real instruction, it\'s just a case of putting the reduced strength spirit i.e. if it\'s 60 or so % after the first run, it\'s then let down to 40%. I don\'t know if there\'s any real reason why, other than the condenser tube is only about 6mm or so, and you don\'t want to overwhelm it with vapour/spirit.
As to how much ? well it\'s up to you. I just fill mine with 40% spirit and re-run it. Just remember, it\'s a boiler before anything else, so to make sure that you don\'t end up with any accidents (yes, I have had a burn...... well more like a sun burn type scald really - but I was trying to re-distill some 85% spirit that had come out of my reflux still cloudy and it was before I learned about watering it back down to something sensible)..... so if you are re-distilling, then it\'s sensible to run it somewhere where the wife/kids/pets/etc etc aren\'t likely to come into contact with it if it does decide to "burp"/over boil......
Also, I always used both rashig rings in the bottom of my still and a capful of distillers conditioner (I can still hear the rings being bounced around inside though) to prevent that.
As for the experience of the spirit being a little harsh etc, well in truth, what do you expect if it\'s pure, unadulterated spirit ? All you\'re drinking is basically pure alcohol with water in it. If you took a swig from a bottle of commercially produced Vodka @ 40% ABV you\'d experience a similar feeling.
If you have a good read around at the main site here, and particularly at homedistiller.org\'s main site, you\'ll find that the whole point of getting anal about it, is to achieve purity, so that your "shine" contains the absolute minimum of non-alcohol elements.... hence the attempts to achieve 95.6% ABV
If you achieved that, then you\'d follow that the harshness and alcohol burn is "par for the cause"!

What is a parrot?

Do you stop collecting the good stuff when it\'s droped below 80%.
(I understand the bit about lower strenght going back in the still, just need to know when you stop collecting what you are going to drink)
I have a standard meter for alchol content, looks the same as sg float

A parrot is a specially constructed tube container so that the distillate flows into it, you put your alcometer into it and it also has an outlet tube that runs to the collector jar/jug/DJ/whatever. The idea being that you can pretty much constantly monitor the strength of the distillate as it comes out of the still. If you go to the home page of homedistiller there\'s a search facility at the top right hand corner, if you use "parrot" for search criteria then you\'ll get enough info to see what one is like (it\'s actually pretty basic) - some of the pictures included are a bit rough, but it\'s a handy device to have as you can just watch the numbers and change the collector for "tails" after you\'ve got what you want to retain - then the tails can be added back into the still later for further distilling.
I\'d suggest that you do a run of 40% to see what your still is going to max out at, then you\'ll have an idea of what sort of strength you can attain.
don\'t forget, the whole point of commercially available kit like the airstill is so that you can make something that approximates commercially made spirits..... it\'ll never be the same because you\'re using different materials and equipment, but some of the flavourings do a damn good job of approximating.....
And yes, I also use a standard alcometer..... you can buy more accurate ones with a more defined scale, but as with anything, they\'re more expensive........ and you\'d need more than one as they tend to have a "range"....
dunno if any of that helps any......
regards
p

[maverick50]

It all help Phantom.
But HOLD ON STOP THE PRESS WHAT HAPPEND HERE.
went home last night and thought I would sample the Gin and the Single malt wiskey made from the profile kit, the harshness had gone in both and it was like drinking the real thing but only better, I ran round the house with my underpants pulled over my head. Couldn\'t believe it, clearley I havent given the spirit enough time.

I put some spirit back through the still as well and my god what a difference in the raw taste.Thanks for all your help, will keep you posted with the results of my birdwatchers wash

[Phantom]

It all help Phantom.
But HOLD ON STOP THE PRESS WHAT HAPPEND HERE.
went home last night and thought I would sample the Gin and the Single malt wiskey made from the profile kit, the harshness had gone in both and it was like drinking the real thing but only better, I ran round the house with my underpants pulled over my head. Couldn\'t believe it, clearley I havent given the spirit enough time.

I put some spirit back through the still as well and my god what a difference in the raw taste.Thanks for all your help, will keep you posted with the results of my birdwatchers wash

Ah, you didn\'t say that you\'d already got it flavoured.......... ;-D
Some......... of the flavourings, need a couple of days to develop the flavours. The two that I\'ve found like that are the SS classic Dark Navy Rum and the Prestige Irish Whiskey. I can\'t describe the Rum it just lacked depth of flavour..... but after about 3 days it was like drinking "Morgans Spiced". A distinct spiced/vanilla hint, very nice..... though the last batch I made actually tasted too "vanilla-ish" and would have been better if I\'d had some of the Jamaican Dark Rum to split it with...
The Irish Whiskey? well on first mixing, I could easily tell that the flavour was completely different from a Scottish type, but it seemed very, well, watery. When I tasted it 2 or 3 days later, I was amazed with the difference. Like a proper Bushmills or Jamesons. Also very good......
Of the Gins, don\'t forget that Prestige do about 4 or 5 different types, plus they also have a "Genever" flavouring, if that\'s "your cup of tea".
As I say, I can\'t believe how good some of the flavourings are. The only one that I\'ve yet to find a really good one of, is a Brandy. Though it might have something to do with me having been spoiled a good few years ago and having the opportunity to taste some very, very expensive brandies...... only to learn that I prefer Armagnac to Cognac......... so it might just be that I\'m hard to please when it comes to my brandies.......
regards
p

[maverick50]

This is all good stuff.
The wiskey profile kit seems very good so far have now made to different types of single malt style and they are exceptional after just two days, the kit does cost a few quid however worth every penny.
Just made up the ss amerreto, this is fantastic already, only been blended for 1 hour!!!!
I\'m just totaly shocked that making spirits is so dam easy, and never expected results like this!!!!!!

[maverick50]

This is all good stuff.
The wiskey profile kit seems very good so far have now made to different types of single malt style and they are exceptional after just two days, the kit does cost a few quid however worth every penny.
Just made up the ss amerreto, this is fantastic already, only been blended for 1 hour!!!!
I\'m just totaly shocked that making spirits is so dam easy, and never expected results like this!!!!!!