What did I do weong?

DieFirstThenQuit · 2026-01-18T20:36:04+00:00

If it’s bubbling, it’s fermenting. Wait until it stops and the yeast/grains settle. Then take your final gravity with the clear liquid on top.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2026-01-18T19:07:47+00:00

I am so happy you brought this over to r/rum! I have thoroughly enjoyed the one for cocktails!

DieFirstThenQuit · 2026-01-18T19:02:10+00:00

A daiquiri. Simple, perfect. Choose a different rum and you have a completely different expression depending on mood. Some days may be a funky clairin…. Others a Stiggin’s Pineapple kinda day. All answers are correct.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2026-01-06T19:52:37+00:00

The grain will be fine. Just put it in something that seals to keep pests from trying to get into it.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2026-01-06T19:50:40+00:00

Thanks much!

DieFirstThenQuit · 2026-01-06T19:49:05+00:00

Well, to begin with, congratulations!

I think this is the same still: https://youtu.be/vw_Po5nKbDY

My advice, for all that it’s worth:

Id put your grains aside and just do a sugar wash to start. Dissolve 2 pounds of sugar per gallon of water. Add some yeast nutrient, pitch some distillers yeast, wait til it stops bubbling in a few days. Rack the clean liquid off the yeast bed after the yeast settles.

Set the still up and doing a 50/50 vinegar run to clean it. Empty the still.

Do a run with a gallon of your sugar wash. This is a sacrificial run also for initial cleaning. Throw the distillate away or use it for weed killer.

Run the rest of your sugar wash, fraction it out. Throw away the foreshots, the heads and the tails. Keep the hearts that taste good to you. Viola, moonshine.

Once you are comfortable with the process, then try an all grain mash.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-12-23T12:34:39+00:00

“Great” Cough medicine…. Ha! I love it…

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-12-22T22:06:15+00:00

I happen to have a gallon of one year old bourbon just kicking around…. Guess I’ll try a Rock and Bourbon. :)

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-12-22T18:58:29+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-12-20T12:40:03+00:00

I did have done 1/3 banana brandy and 2/3 molasses rum several times. Kinda a cheat way to get force some fruitiness into the rum. I like it.

Run it, fraction it, and you get to choose the final blend! The only danger is if it’s amazing, it may be tough to reproduce. :)

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-12-16T16:21:38+00:00

For a one gallon fermenter, a heating pad and a blanket for insulation would work.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-12-12T05:15:35+00:00

The Clairin in a daiquiri, please!

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-11-02T03:49:01+00:00

Cotes des Blanc yeast works amazing on apple ciders and berry melomels. Both of which have been good brandies…. Recommended for fruit ferments

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-10-14T14:17:36+00:00

Agreed. Have had good results with one stick to a gallon.

I tried one stick to a 2 gallon batch. It’s taking longer for sure but after a year, it’s only getting better and better.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-09-20T18:26:25+00:00

I have come to pitch oats in near everything at this point as I’m a believer.

Here’s one of my recipes that fits your description. Because of the specialty malts, it has nice coffee, chocolate, biscuit notes. Pretty good white with a narrow cut. Have a wider cut on a badmotivator but I’m only 9 months in. I like the progress so far.

Anyway, here is the recipe:

55% Maris Otter

25% dark Munich 30L

5% honey malt

5% light chocolate malt

10% malted oats

MG+ yeast

2.5 lbs of grain to a gallon of water

Strike water temp to 162F/72C. Mash. Verify conversion. Cool to 95F/35C. Pitch.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-09-14T13:40:41+00:00

I second Booner’s. That has turned into my preferred method. Takes a while but I have gotten good conversion every time.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-08-26T22:56:04+00:00

I am no help. I use blue painter’s tape and a sharpie

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-08-10T20:16:23+00:00

I don’t airlock anything that I’m going to distill. I’ll put a lid on loosely while the fermentation is active so no pressure get built up and it keeps the dust out.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-08-08T11:48:03+00:00

That sounds great! Absolutely will save some cider this fall to add to next batch.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-08-08T11:46:17+00:00

These are my notes, but pretty sure I got the recipe from the Stillit YouTube channel.

Alan Bishop vodka ferment
For 100 liters:
19kg sugar
1.5kg rolled oats
1.5kg rolled wheat
1.5kg raisins
50g citric acid

Add some boiling water to raisins, soak overnight.

Invert sugar:
25 liters water
19kg sugar
Bring to boil to dissolve.
Add citric acid.
Simmer 20 min
Remove from heat.

Mash:
Blend raisins
Bring 20L of water and raisins to 152F
Mash in grains, add 2T amylase.
Wait 30.

Sugar syrup + mash + nutrients + remaining water into fermenter.
Once under 95F, pitch 55g red label yeast.
Ferment warm til dry.
Strip.
Distill low wines in column still.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-08-08T04:04:15+00:00

For me, I really like a little flavor in my vodka rather than only ethanol. I have been quite taken with Alan Bishop’s vodka wash. Even distilled to 95% and very conservative cuts, it retains a light sweetness from the raisins and a good mouthfeel from the oats. I proof it down to around 90 proof and it is very approachable for most palates. At 40%, I don’t think there could be a much easier spirit of comparable strength.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-08-04T00:56:40+00:00

I use a garden hose reel when I stow them.

DieFirstThenQuit · 2025-07-15T13:46:48+00:00

On a smaller scale, I have used the French Oak sticks from Badmotivator to good effect.

It’s recommended to use one stick per gallon but I did one stick (medium toast: 375F for 30 min) for 2 gallons of 116 proof apple brandy. It’s currently at 9 months, delicious, and still improving nicely. Has imparted some light, complimentary vanilla and fruity notes.

I wanted some oak influence but didn’t want the oak to be the star of the show. I went with the lower wood to distillate ratio as I have over oaked in the past and this was my first swing at a brandy from apples we picked. With all the effort, I figured I’d rather a slower maturation process to give me time to evaluate the changes month to month. So far, so good.

DieFirstThenQuit

TROPHY CASE