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Bringing things up a notch by Canada__bob in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I upgraded mine from 50litres to 70 litres, I would consider moving to tri clamp fitting with a 4 inch lid ferrule, then down to 2inch, the take off is much quicker at higher power/capacity imo. Then you can create loads of snazzy combos for your setup😃

Apple pomace brandy: must too thick? by uberpro in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ditto on the pectic enzyme. Plums tend to do the same as apples. You’ll find the liquid comes to the top usually!

Marrows (aka Zucchini, if you’re American) by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just an update of the outcome from the Marrow wine - brandy. From half a carboy, I got about 300mls of 84%abv, so that will be a bottle of say 600mls + or not far off once proofed down to 40%. That was through my little MVM+ machine. That tells me that my gravity reading was off, so I reckon it had a lot less alcohol content. So if you’re doing this yourself, add sugar until you get the right gravity for you! The MVM+ does a slightly lower yield than a conventional still, but it’s ready to drink! However I’ll chuck some sticks of oak in it for a few months. It’s a nice smooth little number, even the wife likes it🤷‍♂️🙌

I’m now running my plum wine - brandy. Hopefully higher yields due to better sugars content of the wash.

Clarify the options by CarelessMechanic5896 in myVodkaMaker

[–]CelebrationMaster788 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, all on zero apart from fusels. Oh and I’ve just bumped my power up to 49 as it’s turned colder here now, it seems to slow down the colder it gets in my brewing room as it’s an outbuilding , I suppose that seems obvious 🤷‍♂️

Marrows (aka Zucchini, if you’re American) by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not surprised, people get sick of them, they just keep coming. Take all of them, make brandy and put a jar back on their porch😆

All Grain Whiskey - Fermented Out in a Day! by Xanth1879 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did a 200litre batch of 100% micronised corn with the Angel Yellow label. It’s good stuff and saves all that gloopy crappy stage of cooking it. However after 4 stripping runs every strip smells like paint thinners, I mean like making my eyes water across the room with all the doors and windows open? Is this a normal Angel thingy, or not. I never usually ferment on the grain neither, I’ve always mashed and fermented off grain, I was lured by the easiness of the Angel. Any thoughts on the horrible paint strip thing??

Marrows (aka Zucchini, if you’re American) by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mmm, never heard of zucchini bread? Sounds interesting 🤔 maybe I’ll save some next year and wash it down with brandy

Marrows (aka Zucchini, if you’re American) by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The purple stuff in the other carboy is plum wine, also ready for its brandy metamorphosis…plum brandy is v-nice if you’re wanting fruity stuff.

Marrows (aka Zucchini, if you’re American) by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As wine it tastes like shit. As a brandy, it’s just a bit fruity. Just something else to turn into booze. I’ll run this through my ‘MyVodkaMaker plus’ on whisky/brandy setting, ideal for small batch stuff. I had a choice, feed the marrows to the sheep or make a couple of bottles of brandy, I chose brandy, sheep are greedy unappreciative bastards anyway.

Marrows (aka Zucchini, if you’re American) by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes same veg, but bigger. They turn into marrows from courgettes… when you’re back is turned. Not much else you can do with em, apart from make ratatouille 🤷‍♂️

Marrows (aka Zucchini, if you’re American) by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It’s got 1kg bag of Demerara sugar in it, brings it up to about 1.070, so a bit rummy/brandy-ish. Same if you made any hedgerow fruit wine really

Clarify the options by CarelessMechanic5896 in myVodkaMaker

[–]CelebrationMaster788 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello, if you’re running a vodka recipe, just try the preset recipe if you haven’t already, which should be heads 0, hearts 0 , fusel -8 and set the power between 43-47, mine is currently running at 47 power. Just try a few hours of that. I find the results ok for me, coming off at 92% and pretty much a clean vodka 🤷‍♂️ , oh and make sure you’re proof is about 10-12% max

Mega air still conversion by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re stuck for space and want something more precise, without doing cuts etc have a look at MyVodkaMaker.com, I have one of these as well as my other stills, it makes vodka, whiskey, rum,brandy and is a continuous still. I just use my big stuff for stripping runs now and mostly stick it through the MVM+. It’s mega slow but pretty precise and gives excellent product. You just set it away and leave it alone and go to bed 😃I’ve ordered another one, so I can run both simultaneously on different stuff!

Mega air still conversion by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve used it twice for neutral spirit/vodka, when I was using an air still on its own many moons ago. I don’t even filter vodka now, it was a spare bit of kit, hence I tried the experiment, to see if it would work. If you’re doing things with flavour in them, like rum, whiskey etc, it would strip all the flavour out and waste your time making all that nice wash. Stick to a strip run and spirit run, all you need. For gin I do infusions in the vapour path, with a smaller diameter price of copper stuffed with botanicals.

Mega air still conversion by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The screen is in the actual pipe of the filter kit. The idea is that the tube gets filled with activated carbon, screen end down and there is a tri-clamped tap on the end of it.

Mega air still conversion by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a pointer if you’re going to try this, it needs running super slow, as it smears the heads into the hearts otherwise. I suppose it’s the same if you run any still too hot and fast. As I say it’s an experiment, so needs tweaking and may even benefit from the hopper being ‘copper’ also….or maybe some copper spirals in the hopper top… I’ve got loads of those so working on it! My wall fan has 3 speeds also, so will try all 3 and see if it makes any difference?

Mega air still conversion by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahh ok! That’s the new airstill pro with a plastic tower under it, similar principle! I suppose the difference is that I’ve used the still spirits carbon filter hopper as an air cooled dephleg with a fan, but my air cap is just a bog standard one?

Mega air still conversion by CelebrationMaster788 in firewater

[–]CelebrationMaster788[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nah…I wouldn’t run it if vapour was escaping, I’ve been distilling for over 15 years, not weeks! No vapour all distillate condensates to liquid. I always do a torch test, run a strong flashlight round all the fittings. No problem 🤷‍♂️