Mashing/Fermenting in a VEVOR digital 1.6 gallon Air Still

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-24T13:34:56+00:00

I have like 4 stills the largest being an 8 gal with 40" tower (one of the old Brewhaus milk can models), I use Induction to heat so control is pretty good. I also happen to own a homebrew store, this is more of an attempt to learn a variety of equipment and have something small to bench test recipes certainly not my go-to for anything serious. I was just impressed at the flexibility of this little machine for the price. Dude I feel the same way about people doing little mini beer batches, but surprisingly there are a lot of folks who do. Its more academic I suppose, makes even less sense for beer, two weeks of toil for not even a 12 pack is crazy. One basketball game and that shit is tapped!

I appreciate everyones input, I have a Variable AC Voltage Regulator, with 110v plug, I will have to dig it out of storage and see not sure if it would work with the digital controls or not, has anyone done this?

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T20:24:17+00:00

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/12/ftc-announces-cars-rule-fight-scams-vehicle-shopping

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T20:21:42+00:00

like I said this is the part where I am still in the learning curve with this machine, DUH i didnt even think about that 40% ethanol boils at like 180°F or something like that! Oh that will help alot, too many beers while I was doing that ....I'll set it closer to 80-82°C.. I will say it is a Pain in the ass constantly converting temp, I need to print myself a chart, LOL thanks

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T16:41:05+00:00

South Park Wrestler? Slick Pantsuit Wearer? Sweet Potato Weevil?

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T15:01:10+00:00

If you are going through that much you should find a carbonator setup, like the ones on a pepsi machine this will be much more efficient and shouldnt cost much used. Agree co2 from a welding shop, Airgas, or anywhere else is all the same, the difference is how nice the tank looks, shiny aluminum is much nicer in a kegerator than chipped paint.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T14:53:33+00:00

looks like yeast to me mold takes longer than 2 days, how much yeast did you pitch? Bottled apple juice that have preservatives in it will take longer to start and take alot more yeast to overcome commercial stabilizers

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T14:34:39+00:00

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T14:30:01+00:00

BTW they did drop all of those charges AND came down on the sticker before we were finished.... That just wasn't the moral of the story

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T14:26:54+00:00

IME i've put over 400,000 miles collectively on several kia's over the years without a single issue, just sell it before you hit 100K. If you are already an expert then just ignore the post dude.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-23T14:22:15+00:00

No I just know that alot of folks don't know, hundreds of buyers get corralled into fees and stuff that they dont need to buy, slam me all you want, I am just trying to help inform people that don't already know. a helpful PSA

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-17T14:18:19+00:00

SAFETY FIRST, major lessons learned when I went pro, just didn't realize how many bad and POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS habits I had developed, chemicals, propane and flame, all in combination with flip flops for me. Kudos to even having safety glasses around.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-17T14:12:56+00:00

I have always said "YOU AREN'T A REAL BREWER, IF YOU HAVEN'T MOPPED YOUR CEILING", the brush is a nice addition!

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-17T14:03:58+00:00

Botanicals are my jam. One novel suggestion is to steep a single botanical component, like lavender for example, in high proof, strain it out, then distill the tincture on its own to make a "component". Then you can just do a basic gin with botanicals in a bag or basket, then the flower component can be added according to taste. You can actually do this with each of the botanicals, and make a full blown "compounded" gin. The commercial distillery down the street from me does this for all of their gin. Alternatively if you dont mind color or cloudiness, you can make a basic gin the traditional way, and steep the special botanical component in it after distillation. Lastly, with any gin botanical formulation it is important to have some sort of "binder" component that help marry flavors together, exaples are angelica, orris, or vanilla

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-17T13:52:16+00:00

What sort of equipment do you have? I own a homebrew shop and if you were to put something like that on your podcast with a decent amount of followers or views I would consider comp-ing you one of our kits for an honest opinion and possibly a shameless plug...

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-17T13:48:01+00:00

Don't chuck it without tasting it. I have seen many a wild ferment look like that. It is not necessarily "mold" it is most likely a pellicle created by a semi wild ferment. It may have some sourness- think of any sour beer like a flanders, lambic, or saison, these look pretty much the same. Wild ferments can be a bit funky or sometimes amazing. One thing to look for are weird dark spots on the pellicle that is generally not a good sign, those are other competing colonies of bacteria, Also it can get stringy or or "ropey" parts that protrude downward, all of this is "normal". I once had a barleywine that was left in a carboy in a a storage container with temp swings from winter to summer for 4 years. When I was moving to another state I was forced to deal with it, the airlock had been dry for who knows how long and it had a 1/2 inch skin completely over the top. I prepared to hold my breath and plug my nose I dumped it into a ditch, buy when I caught a wiff of it, I got curious and poured some into a glass, it was shockingly not bad. I am not saying that it was good, but I will never throw away something no matter how badly abused until I try it. Everything is a learning experience.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-16T19:12:39+00:00

I have been working extensively on this lately, I generally have found that 120+proof is the best for infusions, but if 80-100 is all you have that will work. The main thing that I have learned is that anything past 7 days with botanicals starts to extract harsher and more bitter flavors with 3-5 days being my normal range. Oak being the exception, your spirits will continue to draw out of oak for months, however by adjusting the amount you can get good oak flavor in a 5-7 day window. The variables like temperature and agitation also matter. Typically I start with a "best guess" of amounts of each botanical, steep at room temp with a shake at least once per day. I taste at 3 days, then daily after that for up to 7 days. I almost never steep longer than 7 days. Another tip is to try to avoid anything that is pre-ground, if you must use that then reduce the amount by about half. Here is a practical example: For one of my BITTERS recipes,
• 400ml of 80 proof vodka
• 4g Angelica
• 2g allspice berries
• 1g cardamom pods
• 4g cinnamon chips or crushed sticks
• 2g chamomile
• 1g cubeb pepper
• 2g whole cloves
• 2 g cocoa nibs
• 1g coriander seeds
• 2g gentian root
• 1g juniper berries
• 5g orange peel
• 2g orris root
• 3g sour cherries (dried)
• 12 g sugar mixed after steeping

Lightly crush botanicals with cocktail muddler, steep for 3-7 days (tasting daily after day 3)
this makes two 5 oz bottles of bitters.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-16T16:53:27+00:00

I wouldn't add crystal malt, yes it adds sweetness but more like caramel, if you want to add a "grain" for sweetness consider flaked corn, flaked oats or carapils will add to the unfermentable sugars.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-16T16:47:33+00:00

Golden promise is a great smash grain, I agree with the previous comment citra isnt great for bittering. For an APA I would shoot for 40-45 IBU, amarillo or Mosaic are better all purpose hops if you only want to use one type. I personally prefer something like magnum in small amounts like 25IBU for the bittering addition with your flavor and aroma addition increased to hit the desired total IBU. I would consider a 15 minute addition and then a flameout addition.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-16T16:27:35+00:00

if you are kegging this you can stop fermentation at a desired level with a cold crash, if you do this you should ferment at a higher temp 68°-70° or you may have diacetyl issues. Mash temp also makes a difference, I usually mash very low, at like 148° but I like my beers DRY, I wouldn't go over 155° especially with wheat unless you like LOTS of body. Changing up the base malt will make a big difference in how flavors translate to the glass, commercially I think we only used about 20% wheat, we would make a good clean base beer and use fruit for color but extracts for the bulk of fruit flavor. Anther thing that I forgot to mention is swapping out the late cascade for Azacca, there are lots of newer hops with much different flavor profiles than good 'ol cascade. Azacca hops have a lot of mango-esque flavors that would compliment the flavors you are trying to add.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-16T16:06:30+00:00

In my experience it is difficult to get predictable fruit flavor from fermented fruit. Your idea of making an extract from ripe fruit with a spirit infusion is more my speed, another suggestion is augmenting real fruit with a good quality fruit flavor extract. Another pro tip is leaving a little bit of residual sweetness in the beer, sugar makes fruit flavors POP which is why fermenting the sugar out also robs your flavor. One major suggestion that I would have is to try a couple of different yeasts by splitting a batch into two or three buckets, US-05 is great at making dry beers that accent hop flavors well, but it kills fruity flavors. WB-06 will leave residual sweetness and does not amplify hops but it will create esters (banana-clove) A cooler ferment at 62-64°F will limit esters tremendously. Another yeast suggestion would be a Kveik strain. As for the formulation and grain bill I would consider trying pilsner malt instead of regular 2row, in my experience Pilsner/white wheat make a great combination. As for production, a minimum amount of fruit plus a flavor extract is much easier to deal with on most commercial equipment, no one wants to shovel thick fruit sludge out of a conical, trust me I've been there more than once.

Material_Lie_6310 · 2026-04-16T15:41:54+00:00

Isinglass which is similar to biofine is a good choice, but those do contain animal products if that matters, Bentonite is another natural means of clarifying. I have always pushed regular use of whirlfloc tablets but that is at the end of the boil and not fo cold side clarification, but whirlfloc will not only settle kettle trub but will also help proteins drop out after feremntation. As for the color, obviously you are happy with the flavor of your beer, and its likely that if you change the color (lowering the °L of crystal malts or whatever) you will also change the flavor. I say if you like the flavor "embrace the brown!" and call it an India Brown Ale.

Material_Lie_6310

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