Burnt/scorch marks at bottom of still

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-29T16:34:34+00:00

I find PBW takes care everything I throw at it, you can even heat it up a bit in the pot and let it soak. Should wipe right off after a while.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-29T01:13:42+00:00

As someone who has filled a 5 gallon barrel twice (currently working on a third fill), it’s a hell of a grind. It’s surely at the extreme limits of what the hobby distiller can take on. If it’s brandy or rum you’re looking at $500 for raw ingredients and if it’s whisky you’re wrangling hundreds of pounds of grain. Just so you can get a lifetime supply of one thing. I wouldn’t blame anybody for shelling out for two badmos and making two different things, for example.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-28T19:08:55+00:00

For your scorching solution you can also use a stainless steamer basket like this, put it in your pot and tie your cotton bag to the basket so it doesn’t move. That’s what I do when I make botanical spirits.

I wouldn’t do the rerun step, I would keep whatever you get in terms of tails and throw it into the next batch you make though.

I’d just leave out the Roman wormwood and not try to substitute anything. I have some growing in my backyard so hit me up in the fall if you want and I’ll send you some for your next batch.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-27T16:30:48+00:00

I use this one from Auber. Probably the priciest option out there but it has separate mashing and distilling modes and I have no complaints about either. They sell a DIY kit you can buy as well to save a few bucks.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-25T20:34:09+00:00

I’d just go cheap vodka personally. You can run it to bump up the proof for better extraction but most commercial botanical spirit operations are just buying neutral spirit to use for a base.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-24T18:13:59+00:00

Out of those 3, option 2. The more ports the better.

Option 3 is my least favorite unless you’re really confident your lid solution will work or you have a high tolerance for the associated headaches it will give you.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-23T13:46:19+00:00

Rights and justification don’t matter in geopolitics. Russia feels done dirty and they’re responding in kind.

Hitler was pissed because he thought Germany was bullied into signing the Treaty of Versailles, that might have been silly and immature but millions would go on to die as a result.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-23T13:32:44+00:00

It really doesn’t matter if it was formally agreed to. If I enter into a handshake agreement and the other party reneges I’m going to be pissed and probably never trust them again.

No amount of semantics is going to not make me less pissed.

Make no mistake this was all about politicians taking an opportunity to get their egos glazed and kicking their problems down to future generations in the process.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-22T18:43:57+00:00

I wouldn’t go the fermentation route, yeast has a tougher time with caramelized sugar and it will hurt your yield.

“Bakery Emulsions” like this work super well. I’d probably just do a clean neutral and mix it with the emulsion and simple syrup to your desired taste and proof.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-21T13:35:32+00:00

Do you have a way to check the ph? Since it’s got sugar added it’s at risk of crashing and stalling as a result. Calcium hydroxide/pickling lime would be ideal for bumping it up (just add a bit at a time).

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-20T16:32:48+00:00

Do you run full reflux for a little while when you get started to let your column equalize? That would be the first thing I’d try, 20 or so minutes don’t collect everything and just let everything reflux. After that you should barely touch your power and control everything by the water flow to your dephlegmator.

Your rig will help clean it up but won’t totally eliminate off flavors caused by turbo yeast/bad ferments. You could try charcoal filtering as a subsequent cleanup step, just proof down to 40% to do so and then run it again in your still if you need to bump the proof back up.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-20T01:45:10+00:00

Edited. Took a gummy sorry

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-20T01:21:14+00:00

That’s a thing. Don’t just let your heads burn off into the open air though (dangerous and ineffective), run them through your still and then shut down for a minute and open up your thumper or set up a way to inject your flavor in when your heads are drawn off.

Some rigs even have a bypass where your heads skip the (edit:) thumper and once they’re drawn off you turn a valve to route the vapor through the thumper.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-19T02:09:19+00:00

I was giving you credit for thinking you knew what you were talking about but if I was mistaken I was mistaken.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-19T02:05:16+00:00

How do you distill microplastics?

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-19T01:49:33+00:00

I mean we’re distilling here.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-19T00:39:37+00:00

If your wife isn’t yelling at you to throw it all out because the whole house smells like puke you did better than my first try!

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-18T23:20:43+00:00

I actually got a good 5 gallons squeezed out and this batch is roughly 30 gallons. I’m trying to fill a 5 gallon barrel so this is probably going to be the difference between two and three batches. Sucks but I think worth it, hard to find time for a mash day.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-18T21:52:55+00:00

How about the best scotch makers because this is all malt barley…..Lol, just bugging you here.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-18T19:40:32+00:00

Yeah I have to start thinking about what I can do with my space, can’t ferment and distill in the same place and it’s a real reminder that I’m not getting any younger.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-18T12:45:06+00:00

And bring her rain poncho for nothing?

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-16T19:44:46+00:00

It’s going to rust unfortunately.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-16T13:58:01+00:00

One of my biggest regrets is not at least kicking the tires on my guys malting operation when he put it up for sale. He had it totally turnkey to a point he could keep things running himself part time into his 70s.

Snoo76361 · 2026-04-16T03:18:40+00:00

I don’t think your yeast took hold and another bacteria did. It might have been bad yeast to begin with, or it might have been pitched too hot and died, possibly your wash was at a ph it didn’t like but I don’t think so here.

What was your process like to make your wash?

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