Moonshining with Icky

I quickly skimmed through it. Once I get a minute to read through your whole post I’ll come back with some questions. Love it icky.
If you have ever dabbled and have any suggestions or anything I'm always all ears!
 
If you have ever dabbled and have any suggestions or anything I'm always all ears!
Im a brewer by trade but I’ve never messed with the distillation side of things. There’s definitely some similarities, and I’ve wanted to try my hand at it for years. Very interesting. I’ll get to reading.
 
What type of yeast are you using? A turbo yeast or something of the like? Temperature control and a good yeast nutrient/staggered nutrient addition will be key to a good fermentation. I’d also consider aerating your wort if you’re not already.
 
I am temp controlled, am not doing any type of staggered nutrient or aerating. I do stir it if I think it's stagnant, not sure if that matters but I do it. I haven't used anything other than raisins for some type of nutrient, will probably get something more specific from the local supply house next time.

Fwiw, golden raisin shine is delicious.
 
I am temp controlled, am not doing any type of staggered nutrient or aerating. I do stir it if I think it's stagnant, not sure if that matters but I do it. I haven't used anything other than raisins for some type of nutrient, will probably get something more specific from the local supply house next time.

Fwiw, golden raisin shine is delicious.
Stirring is definitely a form of aeration, but o2 and a aeration stone would be far more effective. I’d definitely invest in a nutrient blend. It’ll make a difference. You want happy yeast.

Corn mash gets me jazzed up. That’s what I’m talking about. Look forward to that.
 
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This is what I'm using currently. I used a higher abv yeast before but it's not on the shelf locally, have to order it from Amazon. Can't recall the name, red bag. I do remember that.
 
So I'm currently putting the angry wine to the test. Been running the burner for may be 10 minutes, waiting game lol.

Made some modifications and I'm happy with them. Hoping for a better turn out this run. If this ends up the way it should we graduate to corn mash next!View attachment 83460
Man you got a big ass yard. I'll come park my RV there. Just need some power and water:cool::D. I won't come until all that white stuff is gone though. :)
 
Mashing in tomorrow. 8 gallons of the same mash, but there will be specialty nutrient to help my yeast out. This will test the capacity of the still, and an additional 60% mash should produce hopefully somewhere in the 40/50 ounce range (at 120+ proof)

I'm going to be adding a thermometer to the still, too. I want to have a better idea of where my temps are at as I distill. I think I'm running it a bit hotter than I should.
 
Mashing in tomorrow. 8 gallons of the same mash, but there will be specialty nutrient to help my yeast out. This will test the capacity of the still, and an additional 60% mash should produce hopefully somewhere in the 40/50 ounce range (at 120+ proof)

I'm going to be adding a thermometer to the still, too. I want to have a better idea of where my temps are at as I distill. I think I'm running it a bit hotter than I should.
Updates? I'm intrigued!!
 
Updates? I'm intrigued!!
Ran that batch and yielded a little more than a half gallon at 118proof. Have the better part of a half gallon at 35proof as well from that run as well, which will be tossed into the next run to distill again.

I have already mashed in again and am ready to run again. Will be doing it tomorrow. I cleaned the still and did a little maintenance to it today. Super shined up lol. Am thinking about hooking up a traditional worm.20180317_143333.jpg
My dog says hello.
 
8 gallons of mash got me a bit over a gallon of drinkable shine. It is still pissing out alcohol when i stop collecting. Im betting i could get another quater to half gallon before it's below 15/20 percent.

I generally stop collecting once under 35 pecent. I always taste something strange in it at that point, like a slight vinager or something. I redistilled that stuff once with a batch and it made it taste like shit to me. I can guarantee you one pass through distillation doesn't remove all flavor!

Have the better part of a half gallon at 35proof
this was a typo, it should read percent, not proof, so 70proof.
 
Basically a half gallon at 118proof and a half gallon at 70proof, averaged out obviously. I collect in mason jars and monitor how potent it is at any given time, which i compile into a larger jugs. I stop adding into the first jug once the proof hits a certain point, which is generally 85/90. I add into the lower proof jug until the still is giving me no lower than 60/70 proof. When it gets below that i shut her down. There is no reason i do what i do technically. It's just something that I do based on how I feel about the flavor of the shine. When I first started out I would fill individual mason jars and label them that way. That gets old so I do an aggregate thing...
 
Ran that batch and yielded a little more than a half gallon at 118proof. Have the better part of a half gallon at 35proof as well from that run as well, which will be tossed into the next run to distill again.

I have already mashed in again and am ready to run again. Will be doing it tomorrow. I cleaned the still and did a little maintenance to it today. Super shined up lol. Am thinking about hooking up a traditional worm.View attachment 87210
My dog says hello.
+1 on the worm. What yeast are you using for your mash?
 
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