Moonshining with Icky

[HIGHRISK]

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.

Damn. The snow is gone already? Or is that pic from before that crazy blizzard you just had?

Not a puppy anymore lol

 

[ickyrica]

Damn. The snow is gone already? Or is that pic from before that crazy blizzard you just had?

Not a puppy anymore lol

It's from today. We're professionals up here man

 

[HIGHRISK]

It's from today. We're professionals up here man

Damn it man!

 

[ickyrica]

Damn it man!

You're right btw, my man is far from a puppy. I want to clone him but i hate the idea of playing God. I'm telling you though, the best dog to ever walk the planet. I've never met someone that knows him and will not say the same thing. It's scary how deep that damn dog has infiltrated into my families life. I'm honestly thinking if I died it would be easier on the family than if he died lol!

New England has seen some strange weather in recent winters. This one is absolutely strange. We will get a storm and it will warm right up afterwards and the snow will melt. We've had about 75" this season and it's almost non existent on the ground. That's a warm winter! All I know is when we have a low snow pack come spring shit gets real fucking dry come fall.

 

[ickyrica]

10 gallons of mash yielded me 5.5 quarts at 110proof today. I'm fucking cold right now, winter shine isn't easy shine....

 

[ickyrica]

Moved over to a worm again, the condenser tube is cool and all that but it's just not anywhere nearly as efficient as a standard worm. All in all it went fairly well, just cold as fuck. I threw in the lower percentage runoff that I've been collecting, seemed to bump up the percentage a little bit. Nothing earth shattering.

I'm going to give it a rest for a month or two. The wife wants some downtime from the shine lol. I can wait a bit, I have a little over 2 gallons currently on hand.

 

[HIGHRISK]

View attachment 87283 View attachment 87284
Moved over to a worm again, the condenser tube is cool and all that but it's just not anywhere nearly as efficient as a standard worm. All in all it went fairly well, just cold as fuck. I threw in the lower percentage runoff that I've been collecting, seemed to bump up the percentage a little bit. Nothing earth shattering.

I'm going to give it a rest for a month or two. The wife wants some downtime from the shine lol. I can wait a bit, I have a little over 2 gallons currently on hand.

Just make sure when you come down here bring some. My glass is getting empty

 

[OooThats]

You're right btw, my man is far from a puppy. I want to clone him but i hate the idea of playing God. I'm telling you though, the best dog to ever walk the planet. I've never met someone that knows him and will not say the same thing. It's scary how deep that damn dog has infiltrated into my families life. I'm honestly thinking if I died it would be easier on the family than if he died lol!

New England has seen some strange weather in recent winters. This one is absolutely strange. We will get a storm and it will warm right up afterwards and the snow will melt. We've had about 75" this season and it's almost non existent on the ground. That's a warm winter! All I know is when we have a low snow pack come spring shit gets real fucking dry come fall.

Nothin better than a great dog!!

 

[Logan44551]

What is the highest percentage you can make with that still?

 

[ickyrica]

What is the highest percentage you can make with that still?

Good question. The answer is truley based on how high of a percentage you can get your mash. The higher that goes, the higher the percentage out of the still. The best I can do so far is around 65% but that should bump up another 10/15% percent in the summer. It's not easy keeping your mash in a good temp zone up north in the winter.

 

[Kakarot]

Good question. The answer is truley based on how high of a percentage you can get your mash. The higher that goes, the higher the percentage out of the still. The best I can do so far is around 65% but that should bump up another 10/15% percent in the summer. It's not easy keeping your mash in a good temp zone up north in the winter.

You using electric blankets on your mash buckets?

 

[Kakarot]

Good question. The answer is truley based on how high of a percentage you can get your mash. The higher that goes, the higher the percentage out of the still. The best I can do so far is around 65% but that should bump up another 10/15% percent in the summer. It's not easy keeping your mash in a good temp zone up north in the winter.

my uncle started using older gatorade coolers he gets from work the insulation keeps em nice and warm.

 

[ickyrica]

View attachment 87477 my uncle started using older gatorade coolers he gets from work the insulation keeps em nice and warm.

really good idea man. I have a few 5 gallon ones from when my kid played town sports

 

[Rockclimber]

Holy shit how did I miss this thread? As an avid home beer brewer myself I am fascinated by this experiment/thread. My best friend has done something similar to you and I have actually provided him the mash to do it but I've never actually distilled anything by myself. This looks like an Epic Journey brother, I can't wait to go back and read this whole thread.

 

[ickyrica]

Holy shit how did I miss this thread? As an avid home beer brewer myself I am fascinated by this experiment/thread. My best friend has done something similar to you and I have actually provided him the mash to do it but I've never actually distilled anything by myself. This looks like an Epic Journey brother, I can't wait to go back and read this whole thread.

Life caught up to me after I bought a house and the still got moved to the back of the garage to collect dust. Shame. I'll have to bust it out soon and get some corn liquor going. It's crazy how life can change so fast...

 

[The ole man]

Distilled this weekend, went ok. Nothing special with volume. I ended up with way less shine than anticipated and I have an idea as to why. I got about a 1/3 of a gallon at 120 proof before the proof took a nose dive. I ran a few more pint size ball jars before I cut the run short.

So all in all I would say that I was expecting at least double the volume. What went wrong? The cold is what went wrong I think. Moon shining isn't a cold weather activity, that's a guarantee. I had my burner up a fair amount to get the boiling started and had to keep it high to keep running, which in turn was pushing shine and also was pushing vapor out (not adequately cooling the vapor down in the condenser??). That vapor is my lost shine.

So, I want to change the amount of condenser that I have, either by adding a higher flow rate to the cooling water or adding more space to condense the vapor (longer basically). I also want to put a bit more distance between the condenser and the reflux. This augmentation should be enough to get all vapors turned back into liquid, I hope.

Some things that are a good take away here...

1. Rye flour at the pot and reflux seam worked without any sort of issue at all. Perfect flour for the joints.
2. The still has been run 3 times now; 2 trial runs and 1 run with wash. It works as designed for the most part.
3. Copper!!! You want to run off some shine for you and your friends and don't care about impressing them with good flavor? Use whatever you want for metal. You want to impress people? Use copper. Holy shit the difference in taste is night and day. You have no idea the difference this makes....

Moving forward...

Make additional changes to still configuration and clean still out. Mash out again with a plain sugar wash and try this new still config with a cheap run of sugar mash. I will also be getting a yeast nutrient to add to the mix as well as using the raisins. If I can get the better part of a gallon out of this thing per 5 gallons of mash I'll make the switch to corn and rye, want a certain level of output before I get that involved.

If anyone has anything to add to the knowledge pool I would greatly appreciate it. I'm winging it here and learning as I go, so I am all ears!

View attachment 82725

This is all of the 120 proof I collected. (more like 118/119 proof, see pic below)View attachment 82727

View attachment 82726 View attachment 82728

A couple pics showing some shine being collected. You can see how close to the reflux the condenser is, allowing some heat transfer to the condenser. Where the shine spits out into the jars is where I could see a little vapor escaping. This is a condensing issue. Sorry to disappoint, work in progress

Super cool bro.
I’ve been thinking about buying a copper still too!
I don’t drink, but I just like making stuff.
At least this is semi-legal.
And I got a buddy that drinks the shit out of Jack. He probably drink it lol.

 

[ickyrica]

Super cool bro.
I’ve been thinking about buying a copper still too!
I don’t drink, but I just like making stuff.
At least this is semi-legal.
And I got a buddy that drinks the shit out of Jack. He probably drink it lol.

It's legal in some states, like Massachusetts. It's a fun time for sure. Cheap once you have the still. Only advice I have is to make sure you use copper and keep the non soldered joints sealed because you can end up with a fireball. Also, always look at you existing joints to identify any issues that may appear.

 

[The ole man]

It's legal in some states, like Massachusetts. It's a fun time for sure. Cheap once you have the still. Only advice I have is to make sure you use copper and keep the non soldered joints sealed because you can end up with a fireball. Also, always look at you existing joints to identify any issues that may appear.

Good looking out!
I’m learned to be patient, and take things slow, so I will probably read and learn, and give it a shot next year.
Ya the still I looked at was all copper, and went for about $450.
Still had to be assembled and that might have been some soldering. I’ve never brazed copper, but I got some buddies that most likely can.
Ya, the escaping gasses turning into a fireball is what has slowed my roll. I figured I should read up, and then read some more.
Also, that pic of your house, the still, the woods, and the American flag flying, that’s what I’m talking about!
Good shit brother!
I be pushing some questions at you when I make the jump!

 

[LvnDead]

Following along. Distilling has been something I’ve looked into for a while. Love a good shine. Peach if it’s made right is my favorite

 

[ickyrica]

There are a few guys around here that have been into it so there is plenty of knowledge floating around. Assembly wasn't difficult, just need patience and some beers lol.

The house, yeah. I spend a shitload of time in the city but I'm from the boondocks and that's where I like my residency. Woods, big firepits, fireworks, atvs, you get the idea