Home Distillation - Part 2: Distilling Wash into Spirits 

Thanks for watching!

thanks, hope you get/got a lot of information from the series :D

I always buy ‘still spirits’ pure yeast, carbon & wash clearer in a multipack from eBay. Then I mix 6 bags of sugar into my wash at 30 degrees to start away.

I got something similar to the air still and you can adjust the temperature on it, I haven't used it as yet as I just got it the other day, but I thought maybe try it with cheap cask wine to test it out.

@@steviebboy69 I ran water thru mine the first run. I haven't used it with wash in it just been doing cuts after stripping runs. I have some peach wine from the summer that never cleared. I may run it thru and see how it goes. Good Luck.

@@karlfowler3742 Yes I will give it a go and see how it works, the wine sounds nice by the way.

If you have a functioning column, you shouldn't need cuts after the column run... just a foreshot cut from the column and then it's all neutral hearts until you hit high temps at the top when almost all of the ethanol is gone. The point of a column is that it forces reflux and makes the heads and tails impurities fall back down into the boiler. Edit: If you want to make gin, then sure, take the neutral from the column run and put it in a pot and rerun it with botanicals... but otherwise, still no need for cuts after a column run, unless your column doesn't work properly.

Just let it all sit an extra few days after fermentation and it should clear up.

I've put washes that were grey from not sitting long enough in the fermenter once I've added the clearing agents. It still worked in the still but I had to clean the inside of the still afterwards from the buildup on the sides. Best to let the wash sit for a few days after you've added the clearing agents, or at least until it's nice and clear. Will smell less when distilling and less mess to clean out of your still. From the still I get 1.2L at 40% per run, and don't add water to dilute as it's already at the right percentage. The way the instructions tell you to do it will produce better tasting spirits but at 35% alcohol. But if you are then filtering through a carbon filter you probably won't notice any difference.

@@outie555twoyou said you don’t water it down but you did water it down in the video?

No but you can get a botanical basket that clips inside the still to infuse the flavour into the spirit. It looks like a large tea strainer. I used the basket but only with copper bits in it to make a cleaner taste, not to infuse.

Down the drain mate. Not much alcohol left in it. It drips out about 1.25L out from the distillation process. You could take less but you'll have to water it down before filtering

You can use it in your next wash if you like a Sour Mash. Cool it down and replace about half the water in your new mash with it.

It's called finnings. I think it's made out of fish scales. They use the same stuff at the end of a beer ferment. But it won't end up in the spirits in the end as if any of it is in the still it won't evaporate and condense like the alcohol does.

The anti-foaming agent is food grade Silicone and remains in the Pot when distilling. Look at Five Star Defoamer 105. It looks the most cost efficient and only takes about 2 drops for 5 gallons of Wash.

there will be a smell of watered down alcohol with charcoal. not sure what Camden smells like. it wont be too offensive.

@@outie555two Thanks. Camden is used to kill and stop any bacteria from forming in Beer and Wine. It has horrible smell and taste it's in some of the clearing agents. Im trying some P potassium Sorbate to clear at the moment no smell as yet.

Well the turbo clear stuff (pretty sure it's made from fish scales) doesn't have any strong odours.

@@outie555 OK thanks.

I wonder the same things. Maybe there's a way to use that remaining as a base for another wash, or another type of spirit.

@@ray.patterson2136 that would most likely kill the yeast.

I use the wash in the garden. Good nutrients I was told and didn't do any harm, cold.

Oops sorry 😞. I was talking about the original wash in the fermenter.

Yes you can continue to distill the alcohol out down to 0. However, you will begin to pick up Fusel Oils in the lower percentages. I go to 40% on stripping runs and 60% when making cuts. Check out the "Still It" page. Jesse is the best teacher on RU-vid.

You can use other yeasts. You will get the best results though with what they recommend. As this type of still is called a pot still, and the purity won't be as high as reflux stills. What it comes down to is the taste of the spirit and how long you need to filter it after distilling. If you don't use the carbon in the wash it will still work and produce the same amount of alcohol, but it might need to be filtered twice once distilled, and the still will smell more when distilling. If you have a good filter for your spirits (once distilled) you probably won't notice any difference other than the still smells more when running.

You can use any wash you want. The reason they use Turbo Yeast is because it makes a higher Percentage Wash. Most Yeast will die off with High Alcohol washes. Beer Yeast stops at about 10% and Wine yeast stops at about 14%. Bread Yeast works about the same as Wine yeast but offers a different flavor.(more for Corn Liquor) Turbo Yeast and DADY Yeast will go up to about 21%. With the limitation of one gallon you want the highest alcohol content you can get. I like to do what is called Stripping runs where you take your wash and just distill it down to about 40%. I use the anti-foaming agent with a wash to prevent it from rising and coming out the condenser. You know it happened if milky wash comes out. If it happens turn off the Still and Wait at least a half an hour before you open it. Add the anti-foam or a pat of Butter and start over. Do that a few times and then take your alcohol, mix it together with like batches and then proof it down to 40% with clean water and re- distill it. Don't run anything higher than 40% in your Still. Make your cuts during this run. You will need a Proof and Tralle Hydrometer to do the proofing.

I do not recommend making a fruit wash, as the methanol levels can kill you or make your eyes blind. Many people have died from that by drinking it once it was made by someone that didn't take precautions to remove the methanol. The air still might not be able to refine a safe amount of it out from a fruit wash, you'd probably need a reflux still. You'll be ok with a sugar, water and yeast wash. Less methanol per run with the air still than is naturally present in an orange.

Amazon. Once I get enough extra money I plan on getting one so I can make RSO Rick simpson oil for cancer patients.

Try 90 deg Celcius but not much higher

Thanks bro

what 78 degress dont make alcohol try 140

Unbranded. It was a cheap $5 one. Still works great. But now technology has progressed, and you can get Smart power point plugs that have phone companion apps to go along with them. Most cheap ones will have a timer option in the app. I got some from ALDI, Medion brand and use the life plus app which is compatible with Google/apple/alexa home

I tired with gerbers baby food. worked but not high alcohol from the wash. think it was 12-14% before hitting the still. its in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wvwhGQcbC2Y.html

I now have 3 airstills haha thanks!

Made a couple of dozen bottles hahaha what a journey thanks!

Nah I don't worry about the tail cut, as I run it all through the carbon filter and it tastes terrific.

Sugar washes only have heads and tails if you use things like tomato paste and raisins as nutrients, because their flavors remain. Most cheap wines are post-flavored sugarwine, so they would come out nearly neutral until below 20% and leave the flavors in the late tails. Very small foreshots, because a sugar wash contains just the food yeast like and convert to Ethanol, not the proteins and plant matter that they convert to Methanol.

It will no longer be wine if you distill it. It will be Rice Brandy.

Thankyou I will try that. You mean take away the 800ml, and just filter it like it is? Or take it away and dilute it?

Vegetable Glycerin it the old Shiner trick you are thinking of.

Hey, what kind of still did you use? I ha e the same as in the video but i can controll tempreture between 85 and 108 C. But the one in the video he cant controll temp, si wondering if i shoud turn the temp all the way up.

The alcohol is more pure n concentrated at the start the longer u run the weaker alcohol content thats dripping out

eBay. You in Australia?

@@outie555two thanks no i am from the Caribbean

You can do it without it but keep an eye on it in case it boils and throths up. It will need the solution added to help stop it. Alternatively smash an old ceramic cup or plate into small pieces. Maybe that would work but not sure.

Take an old ceramic coffee cup, put it into an old sock and smash it to bead-size pieces with a hammer. The goal is to have particles with unglazed surface area to moderate the boil.

Marbles or cleaned pennies made pre 1960s works

Yeah that's still a great way to do it. The carbon and clearing agents really do cut down the time though if you want to have a drink earlier, but if you have plenty of booze in reserve its still going to achieve the same result your way, just requires more time

Tyanna Beasley Sounds like an acetobacter infection. Did you sterilise your buckets and everything that would touch the wash? Could be a leaky bubbler or opening the lid too often during fermenting.

why because I cant notice the difference especially as it gets filtered with activated carbon before drinking.

Just use google and search for "Still Spirits Ceramic Boil Enhancers" and hopefully you can find some online.

Fish guts and scales. Alternative is to let gravity sink any sediments but that will take a few days to a week.

You potentially could use finnings made for beer

Look at the RU-vid video entitited "Clearing homebrew with bentonite"

@Samael Part A is kielosol and Part B is chitosan. If you are doing this a lot it is much more economical to purchase 1 liter bottles of each and add 10 mL of kielosol (part A), wait an hour or two and then add between 30 - 60 mL of chitosan (Part B).

Probably not too much, maybe 10c or something. If I remember next time I do it, I'll connect it through my electronic meter plug which will let me know the amount of current drawn and estimated cost, but really didn't see my power bill spike or anything. Plus if you have off peak electricity rates you could always run it then.

Yeah about 30 ml or 1 oz or 1 shot.

@@outie555two where did you get those ceramic beads, thank you

Exactly

There will be trace amounts of methanol but not enough to harm you in this small of a batch

Myth number 1.

Sugar washes don't have methanol, as there are no fruits or grain in the wash. Methanol forms from the pectin in fruits and grains. So you are most certainly wrong about this.

@@TEKutso Not sure about that, you dont know whats added to some sugar. The chemistry can get wierd. Methanol is just a more broken down chain of ethanol. Like splitting sugar into smaller chains like invert sugar, stuff might happen under different heat/pressure/ph conditions. Or addind stuff might add as a catylyst to that reaction. Prob some of industry tech is proprietry no doubt

bahaha

Still Spirits

glad you liked the video series mate. To clarify, the 250g of granular carbon filters the entire batch I make per ferment with both fermenters, so in essence 8 L of neutral spirit. I measure the 250 g with a cup size, so it's not by weight, rather by volume when dry. I still have at least half my 2kg bag which I bought a few years ago too. I do like using the air still filters if I am only doing a small batch with just the still spirits fermenter. If you are only doing a couple of liters of filtering then I reckon just stick to the airstill ones as it is simpler and you already have the equipment. Bigger batches, then it's easier to use the ultimate spirit filter or something like it as you can pour the spirits in from a container into the filter then out to another container with out much interaction. Handy to do overnight.

outie555 Oh I see. That makes sense. Thanks for explaining that.

It is possible, but may need modification to make the temperature lower so it doesn't boil

You can. The wash will boil off the alcohol before the water anyway. It wont get to the boiling point of water until the alcohol has gone. Good for 50% alcohol distiilling anyway. You can modify them but it wont make much difference, will just make the process slower.

That IS a water distiller. Exact same machine.

@@FEMADEATHCAMPCONTROL Hey, just have a question, i have the same still just with temp controll between 85 and 108 C. So what you are saying is that i can turn the twmp above the recommended 90C?

@@youcoool12 Mine has no temperature control at all. All thats required is you to regularly taste whats coming off it. You know from the taste when to stop. If its basically water, stop distillation. You will end up with 40 to 50 % alcohol depending on when you stop distillation.. If you know roughly what alcohol content your original wash is then you will also know the amount to expect after distillation.

For turbo yeast and pot still

In Australia we have really good tap water, and on top of that, it's getting filtered through activated carbon to be even cleaner tasting. My amateur opinion 😅

Heck it's basically the same thing, but I think hydrometers measure alcohol content for beer and wine. But I could be wrong. I have both.

On the subject of using a hydrometer, I noticed you didn't correct for temperature of the liquid? The hydrometer I recently bought has a chart for that - so unless the alcohol happens to be right at 60F I think there is an adjustment to the reading.

@@d.harris8635 anything around room temperature should give you proper readings. The density of a liquid only really changes at its state changing temps. At 32F the same amount of liquid would fit in a smaller container and look like less liquid but if weighed should be equal. I only bring this up because whatever temperature he is measuring at is most likely the temperature he is drinking it at and as long as he isn't selling it, precise measurements are overkill. Theoretical question: Shouldn't we measure ABV at body temp to see how it really effects the body?

@@d.harris8635 The temperature corrections are very small unless the temperature of your distillate is 20 C or more divergent from ambient temperature.

That's a good tip

Yeah I am interested. I tried one with cereal and bread yeast but it didn't have as much alcohol as the turbo stuff.

Hey, what temp shoud you aim for?

@Frank Keller , I am guessing you meant to say "methanol" and you are right, with a sugar wash the methanol is negligible.

Australian tap water isn't too bad. Plus you're distilling the water once it's finished fermenting so I don't see the point of adding distilled water to make the wash. Maybe for beers and ciders but can't see how it would work for spirits. Have you tried it and did it work for spirits?

Try filtering through activated carbon with a filter that does a drip or two a second.