👨🏻🔬 chemist! I believe it’s akin to salt-induced phase separation. It alters the azeotrope points for non ethanol compounds in the wash The off flavours don’t want to boil off because they bind to the ionic solution
@@tonyoliver4920 base hydrolysis is a thing too, and to my understanding not as reversible like acid hydrolysis. I think it also gets called saponification.
This is pretty interesting man. I have heard people talking about "reducing heads" in this way. But I have never tried it. Glad to see you have. Like always, when I get to this point for these kinda things I wish we had a freaking lab to take this to the next level of testing.
Yeah, I think the next step is going to be someone, not saying who, but maybe some Kiwi should do a side by side test on a T500 to see how much of a difference it really makes;-)
Sorry I'm responding to this so long after you made this, but I just saw it last night. The reason for the sodium carbonate is base catalyzed hydrolysis. Esters (flavorful molecules) are converted to their component organic acid and organic alcohol at high pH. These components have either little flavor or have much different boiling points than ethanol. So ethyl acetate (sweet pear smell) is converted to ethanol and acetic acid under these conditions and are easily separated out. You could also use caustic soda, but this is too hazardous for food purposes Also, I strongly recommend using a reflux column still for vodka. I easily achieve over 95% 😁 when using my column packed with raschig rings. Your charcoal filter will be more effective on proofed down product as the water content improves the partitioning or organic components to the pores of the charcoal. Also, I love your content, no BS, just good advice and great variety of topics served up with a good helping of wry humor. I really like the liqueur topics. Please keep up the good work! Thanks Jim PS some states allow home distilling(in some form or other): Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Rhode Island.
Thank You for this video. FYI Here is the invert sugar recipe referenced in the, at times bogus these days, well known online encyclopedia. Seems from problems some have making invert sugar it is important to follow this recipe ratio of sugar and water and citric acid and temperature reached. The wiping down sugar crystals and not stirring once the sugar is dissolved to prevent subsequent crystallization probably not so critical as you add more water right away. Invert sugar Yield: 2 lb 3 oz (1 kilo) 4 Cups + 6 Tablespoon (2 lb 3 oz) Extra fine granulated sugar 1 kg 2 cups (16 fl oz) Water 480 ml ¼ Teaspoon ( ¼ tsp) Cream of tartar or citric acid 1 g
1) If you have an induction cook top or an electric stove use these options instead of gas. In a non reactive saucepan stir to a boil the sugar, water and cream of tartar (Or citric acid). 2) Once the mixture boils wash away any sugar crystals stuck to the side of the pan with pastry brush dipped in water. Any additional water added to the pan from this process, has no effect on the final outcome. 3)On medium heat without stirring boil the mixture to 236°F (114°C). Remove from heat and cover the pan. Let cool at room temperature. Store in a refrigerator. Invert sugar will last at least 6 months.
I believe you can bake baking soda to create washing soda. Learned about it on an anti-laundry industry post, lol. Can't remember the temps and timings off-hand, but I do believe it was a low and slow situation.
This is quite interesting from a pot still. That's just about the minimum proof I need for homemade shellac and wood dyes I use in restoration. I had to switch to Everclear from Denatured alcohol when Ca. banned it. Everclear gets expensive and hard to find, especially when your son is always drinking it.
Thank you for introducing me to inverted sugar. It appears that inverting the sugar in my wash pleases the liquor fairy appropriately and she therefore delivers me better quality vodka, "hypothetically" that is. Great content man. Keep up the awesome work!
Some notes on carbon filtering: Probably the best cartridge water filter is a ZeroWater filter system. I've found the cartridges can be reused several times if they are rinsed out after spirit filtering using distilled water. I run distilled water through till there is no longer any taste or smell of spirits, usually about a quart or two of distilled water does it. Distilled water has nothing in it which shortens the filter's effectiveness, but tap water does, so use only distilled water. Also, the proof of spirits to be filtered must be below 50% ABV or it will run through the filter too fast to be effective.
I love your videos man, you inspired me to get into this hobby and now I’ve been accepted into a brewing and distilling course in university because of it, thank you!
This is the Chemistry of how the Bases work and much more on Ethanol Purification.. also if you don't have Sodium Carbonate, I wrote out a method to follow to make it yourself below. This may sound a bit insane... while Sodium/Potassium Carbonate or Bicarbonate will work, what can work as well too is Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide... but I don't recommend it very much because it can damage your still (especially if it's Aluminum, DO NOT use Hydroxides if you have an Aluminum still)... Carbonates are easy and cheap to make... When fermentation occurs, in this case, the fermentation being a sugar wash, the yeast can sometimes produce Ethyl Acetate which I've read is a major component of the heads. What happens here is a base (Sodium/Potassium Carbonate/Bicarbonate/Hydroxide) reacts with Ethyl Acetate to produce Sodium/Potassium Acetate and more Ethanol... There are other byproducts such as long-chain fatty acids in the tails, aldehydes, phenols, and other esters (Ethyl Acetate is a carboxylate [acetate] ester) Ethyl Acetate might form when Ethanol and Acetic Acid is distilled, so what you could do to prevent that is adding the Base (Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide/Bicarbonate/Carbonate) to the wash before distilling, this should neutralize any acidic compounds before distillation.. and after distillation, it wouldn't hurt to add more to the first distillation (assuming you're doing more than one distillation)... The Long Chain Fatty Acids in the tails can be Saponified by a base such as Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide ideally but Carbonate can also work, Bicarbonate too can probably work but I'd imagine it's extremely slow.. so you end up with a Sodium/Potassium Fatty Acid Salt which will remove the volatility of it... think of the Sodium/Potassium salt turning the Fatty Acid into a solid substance like table salt... Aldehydes and Ketones undergo Aldol Condensation if Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide is used, not too sure about Carbonates/Bicarbonates.. (maybe someone else can explain this more in-depth, I am not very familiar with this) I'll explain what I know regardless, what happens when a Hydroxide is used, the Ketones (Dimethyl Ketone/Acetone) reacts with the Hydroxide to produce Di-Acetone Alcohol which is much less volatile than Acetone... whereas the Aldehydes (Ethanal/Acetaldehyde) react with the Hydroxide to produce β-Hydroxybutyraldehyde which unfortunately has a higher boiling point than Ethanal/Acetaldehyde.. Acetone Boiling Point: 56°C or 132.8°F Diacetone Alcohol Boiling Point: 166°C or 330.8°F Ethanal/Acetaldehyde Boiling Point: 20.2°C or 68.36°F β-Hydroxybutyraldehyde Boiling Point: 65-68°C or 149-154.4°F There's another thing too, the Diacetone Alcohol can decompose with heat into Mesityl Oxide which has a boiling point of: Mesityl Oxide Boiling Point: 129.5°C or 265.1°F The amount of the other products produced in a neutral spirit should be very low so there's no need to worry or be too picky about it.. just use Sodium Carbonate To get rid of the Ethanal (if there's any) you could probably pour the alcohol in a water bath at a temperature of about 40 Celsius for maybe half an hour.. Or if you've got access to a distillation set, probably reflux the mixture cooling it with room temperature water for about 1 hour (25°C or 77°F).. I've not tried this before, maybe it can work... The above listed are just the boiling points of each of these byproducts if Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide is used, overall you're better off using Sodium/Potassium Carbonate, if you don't have it, you can place Sodium/Potassium Bicarbonate in the oven for about maybe 30minutes to 1 hour at a temperature of 150°C or 300°F. A lot of CO2 gas will be given off so make sure and do this in a well-ventilated area. Once the CO2 gas isn't being evolved (you'll see puffs or if you shake the vessel it would be fluidlike) then it's done... Video on Making Sodium Carbonate by NileRed: th-cam.com/video/cpGEc-pLXN4/w-d-xo.html Note: Carbon Dioxide is toxic in concentrations >10% (this is no joke, by the way, make sure and have adequate ventilation, there was a village in Cameroon, Central Africa 1986 Lake Nyos had a lake which had Carbon Dioxide leaked out of it and killed the nearby villagers) Anyhow, I think I've said enough... if anyone else would like to add to my theory, please feel free. Or if there's someone more qualified in this field please correct me if I'm not fully accurate. Edit: There's a paper I've read on purifying spirits to an even more pure degree, this is using Ozone (ozone is very toxic, about 10x more toxic than Hydrogen Cyanide), Activated Carbon, CO2 Stripping and Noble Metal Catalysis (catalytic decomposition of congeners, but be careful if you decide to use this as Noble metals can cause fires if the Ethanol comes into contact with air and the catalyst).... this is not necessary unless you desire extremely high purity Ethanol for analytical research. Link to Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jib.295 Be safe!
@@kasmay4408 I've tested it out but in my case it hadn't worked out well... I've used laboratory glassware to make Ethanol and it always came out really bad To answer your question, i'd probably do half the amount that you'd use for Sodium Carbonate Just know Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide is corrosive and dangerous and will attack aluminum stills Also it's soluble in Ethanol.. so be careful
chemical engineer here I believe that the reaction is the reverse of what is used for high ester rums. With high ester rums dunder is cultured so that is produces high amounts of various carboxylic acids. these carboxylic acids then combine with the alcohol to form esters. Since the yeasts produce lots of different types of alcohols when they combine with the carbocyclic acids you get a lot of different combos that together give a rum, brandy, or whisky it's characteristic flavor. Now with high ester rums calcium carbonate (lime) is added to the dunder periodically to lower the ph. forming calcium salts of the various carboxylic acids. these will fall out of solution and just build up over time. while the dunder is free to make more. then when enough has accumulated. sulfuric acid will be added to the dunder to free up those carboxylic acids. the strong base and strong acid will form calcium sulfate which will fall out of solution. and you are left with a lot of free carboxylic acids that can be used to make esters. Ester formation is reversible reaction and happens spontaneously. the more alcohol and carboxylic acids the more esters will form conversely the more water the less esters. This is important for the sodium carbonate trick. the formation of esters can be boosted with catalysts. yeast have a natural catalyst that can be taken advantage of if the yeast are. Sulfuric acid works as a catalyst as well. The addition of sulfuric acid will push the reaction to form a lot of esters. I believe that the opposite is true where if we raise the ph with a strong base such as sodium carbonate the the reaction will favor de-esterification. it could also be that the strong basic carbonate ion in solution when a random de-esterification does take place a carbonate is there to snatch up that now free acid paring up to form a salt. this would only make sense if it fell out of solution. if this were true you would see the alcohol gradually get cloudy and a precipitate to form. The proposed reaction of the sodium carbonate is speculation but the reaction for ester formation is true. also thanks for the tip on the invert sugar! it seems to be just the thing i've been looking for to get a smoother tasting spirit!
summoning the liquor fairies... i hear the elders calling for offerings... saying the hidden cauldron demands vinegar and a sacrificial concoction... I'm a believer, I know my duties and they shall hear my creed... Thanks for preachin'!
I have a vodka experiment bubbling away right now. I love wheat flavor and also love the earthy flavor from potatoes so I'm trying to bring the best of both together. We shall see. :-)
I'm grateful for the offer, brother. When I get to that point I'm going to try to build my own. I know my soldering skills make that a risky proposition, haha:-) Save it for a trusted friend to show them the hobby.
Thank you for your videos! I've been making your cider for awhile now. Tweaked the recipe a bit and now I'm making blueberry cider and honey cinnamon cider. The guys at the station love it! Thanks for the knowledge!
Really enjoyed the video...I'm a pot distiller (hypothetically, of course) so I love the videos for us poor bastards that don't involve those uppity column stills.... nyuck nyuck
Good advice, thanks for the tip. The sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) should saponify the esters but, I wouldn’t think it would take out any fusel oil (heavier alcohols like n-propanol, iso- butyl alcohol, or iso-amyl alcohol) in the tails. Also not sure what sodium carbonate would do to any aldehydes or ketones (other minor flavor components).
Hypothetically of course the sodium carbonate attaches to the long chain esters and as the alcohol evaporates so does the carbonate. Ergo leaving less conjunors for a perceived heads like sharp bitey note.
Hi, Bearded! I use egg shells for ph +. I just wash them with hot water to remove inside parts and dry it out. Than I use coffee grinder for crushing. It`s always in your fridge. 🥃 P.S. Active charcoal filters after filtration if we reuse them with "fresh alcohol" will ruin new one. I personally use and reuse by cooking it +250C 1/2 hour.
@@BeardedBored Yes, active charcoal is cheap at aquarium fish stores and maybe in Home Depot in USA? I bye mine 10 years ago in 1kg bag and use and reuse... I find something like mine here: www.amazon.de/-/en/Activated-Coconut-Carbon-Treatment-Granules/dp/B08DRLW2W1/ref=pd_sbs_2/258-2418437-6497745?pd_rd_w=sAryZ&pf_rd_p=b9e2e02e-b111-4e58-bf64-75121e223c50&pf_rd_r=SH24HYM6WMGD423316K3&pd_rd_r=4be05d51-8f33-4b7a-8bc3-68e01886f618&pd_rd_wg=L2YDL&pd_rd_i=B08DRLW2W1&psc=1
You can make your own sodium carbonate by baking some baking soda at 350 degrees till it is 2/3 of its weight. Boom you have sodium carbonate. I know this because I do this to make a stronger soda for making pretzels.
don't need an Hydrometer , watch the mash , it bubble a lot then it slow down , when you get to one bubble every two seconds , you're about good slowly siphon , avoiding the bottom inch , it's dead yeast then it's all slow distilling over the stove P.s. I've found that putting a couple of sliced lemons give good result
If it's still bubbling at all you still have sugar in the wash. If you let it sit for a few more days, the yeast will finish turning all the residual sugar to alcohol and increase your yield;-)
With the sugar wash, I take cuts in 300ml jars so that I can smell them and see the difference. I find the first couple of jars smell sweet, actually smells drinkable but really aren't. Then the next few jars smell like nothing although will still zap your nose and make you take a step back since you are probably breathing in more trying to find the smell. Then near the end, it starts to smell salty like you have seasoned it with salt and pepper. That is a sugar wash and I have seen guys like George say you can use all of it but I usually sacrifice my first and last 2 jars to the feint gods to be boiled again later on. Then I filter it through the activated carbon again and again for a week to try to get some of that leftover chemical taste out. In my latest batch I actually replaced the carbon so is basically a double-filtered batch or if you count how many times I ran it through, a 10x filtered batch.
@@BeardedBored How much water did you use with this recipe? Do you have any pics of your fermenter with the lid sealed and bubbler? I've grown tired of these buckets.
@@bartfris It's a 10 gallon recipe. The fermenter doesn't seal up well enough for the bubbler to work. The CO2 just escapes out the sides. Strictly speaking airlocks aren't as critical for product that will "hypothetically" get distilled since oxygen spoilage doesn't factor in to the final product.
I tried the inverted sugar after you mentioned it, while it was fermenting Jesse released his video. I absolutely agree it really does help. I’m going try the sodium carbonate trick on my next run! You’re a wealth of top advice! Said it before, boiler plate is an inline thumper! Has brewbird reached out to you about a web cam interview? I joked she was interviewing all the channels I follow and she should contact you! (Well half joking)
You’re so cute 😊. I know you’re married , so I’m absolutely not hitting on you, so it’s a compliment to your wife as well. 😂 Seriously, she’s blessed to have those eyes and lips to look at. On the other hand, that liquor fairy brought me that Apple Jack by following your instructions. She forgot to take the 1st reading though 😬. I haven’t got that “apple palsy” and I drank a little more each time. Like a Pepsi bottle full. I did feel a little hangover-ISH. I can tell it’s strong because it made me spin when I closed my eyes, and I haven’t spun in 42 years 😂.
Bearded, I run a 6 plate column still, post condenser, I pass my liquor through a activated charcoal filter...my output from my parrot tastes like nothing also. I end up 188 to 192 proof hearts.
@@BeardedBored I'm hypothetically working on something you may appreciate as I type this. Started with local apple juice. Set a side 2 gallons that I pasteurized (poorly see below) then made dry cider s.g 1.050 fermemted with us05 1.004 ~6% bottled a gallon of this, then added inverted sugar (recipe from your channel) to bring the gravity back up to 1.050 and fermented to 1.000 with ec1118 ~13%? Kept a gallon of this Apple wine. Hypothetically the next step would be to have the fairies make brandy out of the rest of the wine.... (the poorly pasteurized part is that one gallon of my starter juice decided to go wild and is currently happily bubbling so it is also something?...)
Bearded, I am leery about plastic water filters around high proof spirits. Do you notice any hazing of the plastic? I think there may be some alternatives made out of stainless with activated charcoal. Might be an interesting project…
@@BeardedBored i keep all my heads and tails to redistill later when I have a lot and use Sodium carbonate, It's the alkaline that's in it neutralises acids so you get a bit more out lol
Ish not booze aweshifer, ish windshield wiper fluid, don you no anyshing?????? :) Sounds like it worked out pretty well. Love the vids brother, thanks again for sharing them. Rev. D.
hey bearded & bored, i was curious if you could do a hypothetical video on reverse pot stilling and how one could get the most (hypothetically of course) from distilling that way? im asking for a friend
I don't really like that method. You can't make cuts of the heads or tails with much accuracy so the product ends up fairly harsh. Whats4Chow did a video on it a while ago and it's fairly common in Finland I think, but it's not a method I want to promote. Sorry Kingpin.
@@BeardedBored thats truly alright and i can understand why you wouldn't want to promote the method, it was worth asking but i'll check out whats4chows video. thank you either way and hope you have a fantastic day :)
@ Bearded, Hmm. My Likker Fairy reports no sugar bowl, but everything up to tails tastes like soap. They say they measured carefully and it sat for about a day before they worked their magic on it. I'll have to go check myself and make sure they kept the right part. maybe the A&H "Super Washing Soda" linked in the description has extra flavors added.
@@BeardedBored After sitting for 24 hours and mixing some samples down to 40% the taste is gone. Honestly, it tasted just like the soda, but now completely gone. Next time I'll use the pool stuff or just make some from bicarb on the stove. Maybe I should do that anyway just to compare flavors before adding anything in.
@@BeardedBored Nope. My pallet must have been fried Tastes like soap, exactly like the washing powder when I mixed a little in water. Left a white residue in the bottom of my hypothetical as well. I measured carefully and on the light side. The only difference was that I let it sit 24 hours, then heated the mixture to 100f and let it sit a couple more hours before calling the likker fairy. I thought that might help. Nope. Scrapping the batch. There is a video here on YT that shows making sodium carbonate from bicarbonate by simply heating it in a pan. Has nobody else had this problem?
Hi Brother, What if you fill the thumper with marbles or SPP maybe just halfway go you think that will bump the ABV higher, I my still if I fill the column with Packing it bumps the ABV with almost 20%
Hello Beaver, I use marbles in a 3L thumper on my pot still, for my sugar washes stripping and spirit runs (recently did a wine yeast with yeast nutrient and inverted sugar) for my Sinner Gin, using your homemade alcohol meter measured around ~88% abv after 2 full stripping runs and a spirit run. So should work for Bearded. P.S. That Sodium Carbonate idea sounds good, any idea where to get in RSA? Thank you both for your channels, I learn so much from them you oaks deserve millions of subs!
You can build a filter pretty easy if you ever need to. If you get carbon dust in your stuff, you can let it settle out and filter again with a coffee filter.
Dude! Hold my beer! I've got a hella idea. Since you like to experiment, I want to see you make distilled dandelion wine (Dandelion Brandy?). First, make some dandelion wine and then distill that stuff in a pot still. Taste it and tell us how it goes! Okay, can I have my beer back?
love your videos! Bit of a side question about inverted sugars, does dissolving sugar in the backset of a UJSSM achieve the same result? or is the required acidity different? - hypothetically :-)
You need to boil the sugar in an acidic environment to get the inverting process. My hypothetical advice is to invert the sugar separately, then add it to backset;-)
I'm hypothetically drunk...and as Kramer would say.... loving every minute of it..if you're ever down Miami way give me a shout You'll have the best time of your life..I guarantee it That being said...I'm just a pot distiller...but I use premium ingredients...and do multiple runs to achieve what I need...the rest comes here on go fast boats ....go figure
I'm curious about the reason for changing the filter on the brita after every use. Would this apply to a brita used exclusively by the fairy? Love your videos by the way!
I think George did a video on making a charcoal filter for polishing spirits and talked about replacing the media...maybe not? Probably should have looked it up again, but I felt so confident before you asked me that, haha:-)
This is great, I’m so new to this it’s not funny. I have a pot still for 3 years without using in (no tumper) this year I need to do this I have the sugar the daddy yeast and most of the ingredients I just need the balls to move forward. I’m so afraid of not getting it right especially with the hearts tails etc. any words or thoughts would greatly be appreciated Manny
Watch Jesse's video on making cuts on his Still It channel. Really solid info. Cuts are the hardest thing to get right. Good news is that if you mess up, you can just dump it all back in the boiler and rerun it:-) Best practice for starting out is to collect in 200ml increments, so get a lot of jars, at least 2 dozen just to be sure you have enough. You won't be using the stuff that you collect in the last half of those jars, especially in a sugar wash, but it's good practice to help you smell the transitions and funky stuff in the tails. Air out the jars with paper towel over them for the night. That helps sharpen the aromas around the transitions. Heads are more chemically smelling, acetone, etc. and they make the tongue prickle. There's a ton of info so watch Jesse's videos to get a clear understanding of what you're looking for in the flavor and aroma.
The best way to learn, is to just go ahead a do it, you'll soon realize that maybe that other way of getting that step done is easier, and then you try and learn from it. I got my pot still just over a year ago, and was forced into starting due to an alcohol ban (6months of it), and still learn something new every-day, and get better and better at it.
Is there a specific on what the plastic container has to be made of, I was gonna go to Walmart and buy a Rubbermaid or similar but wasn't sure on whether or not that would be okay for the wash?
Anyone knows if sugar washes go bad? I accidentally forgot my sugar wash out for about 14 weeks after fermentation and it smelled kinda bad, the yeast did settle out and I poured the clear stuff in the still and ran it. It was a sugar wash and no matter how many cuts I took, all smelled bad. Like a burnt odor. Alcohol came out smelling like a bad sugary sour candy with a rank odor. I did a lot in an attempt to purify it: Failed attempts: - Added Sodium Carbonate and waited a week - Passed it through Activated Carbon - Passed it through Brita Filter - Diluted and redistilled (three times) - Distilled it with copper mesh in column Somewhat successful attempts in order: (mostly laboratory methods of purifying Alcohol) - Adding Sodium Hydroxide & Potassium Hydroxide and refluxed it in that, then distilled - Added Sulphuric Acid to distillate and distill - Added Sodium Bicarbonate to the distillate to remove any trace acids (with overnight stirring) - Filter Sodium Bicarbonate off and Distill - Run through the new Activated Carbon filter - Dilute to 40% and Redistill again to 95.6% My successful attempts made the alcohol have absolutely no taste whatsoever with juice & sodas. But with water, it tasted absolutely horrible and for some reason, a smoky smell comes back when it's diluted with water.
@@BeardedBored It did go away when I added sulphuric acid and distilled it but when I proofed it down the taste was the worst taste I had ever tasted. There's no taste when you add it to Juice and Sodas but with water, it's the worst. With water, it tasted as if I bubbled exhaust fumes from a truck into my alcohol and stirred it with a dead fish.
for some reason adding stuff with CLOROX on the label... seems a bit iffy. good thing there is proof of life :D ya figure with a full reflux column, is there a need for this chemical?
Yeah, that threw me too, but it's the same stuff as in the Arm and Hammer Washing Soda box. As for reflux, if you're doing it right, you probably don't need the chemical assist, but I don't know for sure.
Curious. Where might one find a Hypothetical Still Fairy with a Hypothetical Still to assist someone that might want to have some Hypothetical Vodka run for themselves?
You might try blinking three times, snapping your fingers twice and clicking your heals together one time. Not sure if it will work or not, but I'd pay to watch you try...lol
Haha Bearded this is heresy your going to upset the purists... Love it great job. Thanks for the hard work you put into your research to share with us.
What is the total volume of water & wash please? (It’s not in the ingredients list) Once I have this info, Do I just reduce ingredients to a 5gallon wash (mathematically speaking) thank you
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I will try this recipe, so far i was pretty satisfied with birdswatcher taste, even for my gin. Brobably gonna usthe carbonate from now on
Bought. That's a good deal. Thanks!!
What is the total volume of water & wash please? It’s not stated in the ingredients drop down - thank you
👨🏻🔬 chemist!
I believe it’s akin to salt-induced phase separation. It alters the azeotrope points for non ethanol compounds in the wash
The off flavours don’t want to boil off because they bind to the ionic solution
This right here is the high quality nerding I was hoping for! Thanks for picking up the slack, brother!
@@BeardedBored any time!
I always thought it was mostly hydrolysis of the ethyl acetate and other esters in the heads, which produces more alcohol and less heads.
@@harveywallbanger2127 hydrolysis of esters are catalysed by acidity. Na carb is alkaline so would push the equilibrium in the opposite direction
@@tonyoliver4920 base hydrolysis is a thing too, and to my understanding not as reversible like acid hydrolysis. I think it also gets called saponification.
This is pretty interesting man. I have heard people talking about "reducing heads" in this way. But I have never tried it. Glad to see you have. Like always, when I get to this point for these kinda things I wish we had a freaking lab to take this to the next level of testing.
Yeah, I think the next step is going to be someone, not saying who, but maybe some Kiwi should do a side by side test on a T500 to see how much of a difference it really makes;-)
@@BeardedBored I agree 100%
@@Backdaft94 Yes, if only we knew a guy who could do it¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sorry I'm responding to this so long after you made this, but I just saw it last night. The reason for the sodium carbonate is base catalyzed hydrolysis. Esters (flavorful molecules) are converted to their component organic acid and organic alcohol at high pH. These components have either little flavor or have much different boiling points than ethanol. So ethyl acetate (sweet pear smell) is converted to ethanol and acetic acid under these conditions and are easily separated out. You could also use caustic soda, but this is too hazardous for food purposes
Also, I strongly recommend using a reflux column still for vodka. I easily achieve over 95%
😁 when using my column packed with raschig rings.
Your charcoal filter will be more effective on proofed down product as the water content improves the partitioning or organic components to the pores of the charcoal.
Also, I love your content, no BS, just good advice and great variety of topics served up with a good helping of wry humor. I really like the liqueur topics. Please keep up the good work!
Thanks Jim
PS some states allow home distilling(in some form or other): Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Rhode Island.
Thank You for this video. FYI Here is the invert sugar recipe referenced in the, at times bogus these days, well known online encyclopedia. Seems from problems some have making invert sugar it is important to follow this recipe ratio of sugar and water and citric acid and temperature reached. The wiping down sugar crystals and not stirring once the sugar is dissolved to prevent subsequent crystallization probably not so critical as you add more water right away.
Invert sugar
Yield: 2 lb 3 oz (1 kilo)
4 Cups + 6 Tablespoon (2 lb 3 oz) Extra fine granulated sugar 1 kg
2 cups (16 fl oz) Water 480 ml
¼ Teaspoon ( ¼ tsp) Cream of tartar or citric acid 1 g
1) If you have an induction cook top or an electric stove use these options instead of gas. In a non reactive saucepan stir to a boil the sugar, water and cream of tartar (Or citric acid).
2) Once the mixture boils wash away any sugar crystals stuck to the side of the pan with pastry brush dipped in water. Any additional water added to the pan from this process, has no effect on the final outcome.
3)On medium heat without stirring boil the mixture to 236°F (114°C). Remove from heat and cover the pan. Let cool at room temperature. Store in a refrigerator. Invert sugar will last at least 6 months.
I believe you can bake baking soda to create washing soda. Learned about it on an anti-laundry industry post, lol. Can't remember the temps and timings off-hand, but I do believe it was a low and slow situation.
This is quite interesting from a pot still. That's just about the minimum proof I need for homemade shellac and wood dyes I use in restoration. I had to switch to Everclear from Denatured alcohol when Ca. banned it. Everclear gets expensive and hard to find, especially when your son is always drinking it.
Thank you for introducing me to inverted sugar. It appears that inverting the sugar in my wash pleases the liquor fairy appropriately and she therefore delivers me better quality vodka, "hypothetically" that is. Great content man. Keep up the awesome work!
Some notes on carbon filtering: Probably the best cartridge water filter is a ZeroWater filter system. I've found the cartridges can be reused several times if they are rinsed out after spirit filtering using distilled water. I run distilled water through till there is no longer any taste or smell of spirits, usually about a quart or two of distilled water does it. Distilled water has nothing in it which shortens the filter's effectiveness, but tap water does, so use only distilled water.
Also, the proof of spirits to be filtered must be below 50% ABV or it will run through the filter too fast to be effective.
Thanks for the advice:-)
I love your videos man, you inspired me to get into this hobby and now I’ve been accepted into a brewing and distilling course in university because of it, thank you!
Wow, congratulations brother!!! That's really awesome to hear. Good luck👍👍
@@BeardedBored Thanks again!
This is the Chemistry of how the Bases work and much more on Ethanol Purification.. also if you don't have Sodium Carbonate, I wrote out a method to follow to make it yourself below.
This may sound a bit insane... while Sodium/Potassium Carbonate or Bicarbonate will work, what can work as well too is Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide... but I don't recommend it very much because it can damage your still (especially if it's Aluminum, DO NOT use Hydroxides if you have an Aluminum still)... Carbonates are easy and cheap to make...
When fermentation occurs, in this case, the fermentation being a sugar wash, the yeast can sometimes produce Ethyl Acetate which I've read is a major component of the heads. What happens here is a base (Sodium/Potassium Carbonate/Bicarbonate/Hydroxide) reacts with Ethyl Acetate to produce Sodium/Potassium Acetate and more Ethanol...
There are other byproducts such as long-chain fatty acids in the tails, aldehydes, phenols, and other esters (Ethyl Acetate is a carboxylate [acetate] ester)
Ethyl Acetate might form when Ethanol and Acetic Acid is distilled, so what you could do to prevent that is adding the Base (Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide/Bicarbonate/Carbonate) to the wash before distilling, this should neutralize any acidic compounds before distillation.. and after distillation, it wouldn't hurt to add more to the first distillation (assuming you're doing more than one distillation)...
The Long Chain Fatty Acids in the tails can be Saponified by a base such as Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide ideally but Carbonate can also work, Bicarbonate too can probably work but I'd imagine it's extremely slow.. so you end up with a Sodium/Potassium Fatty Acid Salt which will remove the volatility of it... think of the Sodium/Potassium salt turning the Fatty Acid into a solid substance like table salt...
Aldehydes and Ketones undergo Aldol Condensation if Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide is used, not too sure about Carbonates/Bicarbonates.. (maybe someone else can explain this more in-depth, I am not very familiar with this)
I'll explain what I know regardless, what happens when a Hydroxide is used, the Ketones (Dimethyl Ketone/Acetone) reacts with the Hydroxide to produce Di-Acetone Alcohol which is much less volatile than Acetone... whereas the Aldehydes (Ethanal/Acetaldehyde) react with the Hydroxide to produce β-Hydroxybutyraldehyde which unfortunately has a higher boiling point than Ethanal/Acetaldehyde..
Acetone Boiling Point: 56°C or 132.8°F
Diacetone Alcohol Boiling Point: 166°C or 330.8°F
Ethanal/Acetaldehyde Boiling Point: 20.2°C or 68.36°F
β-Hydroxybutyraldehyde Boiling Point: 65-68°C or 149-154.4°F
There's another thing too, the Diacetone Alcohol can decompose with heat into Mesityl Oxide which has a boiling point of:
Mesityl Oxide Boiling Point: 129.5°C or 265.1°F
The amount of the other products produced in a neutral spirit should be very low so there's no need to worry or be too picky about it.. just use Sodium Carbonate
To get rid of the Ethanal (if there's any) you could probably pour the alcohol in a water bath at a temperature of about 40 Celsius for maybe half an hour.. Or if you've got access to a distillation set, probably reflux the mixture cooling it with room temperature water for about 1 hour (25°C or 77°F).. I've not tried this before, maybe it can work...
The above listed are just the boiling points of each of these byproducts if Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide is used, overall you're better off using Sodium/Potassium Carbonate, if you don't have it, you can place Sodium/Potassium Bicarbonate in the oven for about maybe 30minutes to 1 hour at a temperature of 150°C or 300°F. A lot of CO2 gas will be given off so make sure and do this in a well-ventilated area. Once the CO2 gas isn't being evolved (you'll see puffs or if you shake the vessel it would be fluidlike) then it's done...
Video on Making Sodium Carbonate by NileRed:
th-cam.com/video/cpGEc-pLXN4/w-d-xo.html
Note: Carbon Dioxide is toxic in concentrations >10% (this is no joke, by the way, make sure and have adequate ventilation, there was a village in Cameroon, Central Africa 1986 Lake Nyos had a lake which had Carbon Dioxide leaked out of it and killed the nearby villagers)
Anyhow, I think I've said enough... if anyone else would like to add to my theory, please feel free. Or if there's someone more qualified in this field please correct me if I'm not fully accurate.
Edit: There's a paper I've read on purifying spirits to an even more pure degree, this is using Ozone (ozone is very toxic, about 10x more toxic than Hydrogen Cyanide), Activated Carbon, CO2 Stripping and Noble Metal Catalysis (catalytic decomposition of congeners, but be careful if you decide to use this as Noble metals can cause fires if the Ethanol comes into contact with air and the catalyst).... this is not necessary unless you desire extremely high purity Ethanol for analytical research.
Link to Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jib.295
Be safe!
hey thanks for explanation. if i want to use sodium hydroxide how much should ı use per liter of low wine
@@kasmay4408 I've tested it out but in my case it hadn't worked out well...
I've used laboratory glassware to make Ethanol and it always came out really bad
To answer your question, i'd probably do half the amount that you'd use for Sodium Carbonate
Just know Sodium/Potassium Hydroxide is corrosive and dangerous and will attack aluminum stills
Also it's soluble in Ethanol.. so be careful
Inverting the sugar is the way to go. Nice tip with the sodium carbonate! Thanks
I so glad the sodium carbonate worked out. Really was a surprise when the hearts just kept coming:-)
I tried your method. It is the cleanest I’ve ever made.
Great to hear!
I’m gonna “hypothetically” try this. Great, no amazing topic and technique you’re touched upon. You may have just saved me thousands on a column setup
Good luck:-)
Nice shirts!
Haha, thanks brother!
chemical engineer here
I believe that the reaction is the reverse of what is used for high ester rums. With high ester rums dunder is cultured so that is produces high amounts of various carboxylic acids. these carboxylic acids then combine with the alcohol to form esters. Since the yeasts produce lots of different types of alcohols when they combine with the carbocyclic acids you get a lot of different combos that together give a rum, brandy, or whisky it's characteristic flavor. Now with high ester rums calcium carbonate (lime) is added to the dunder periodically to lower the ph. forming calcium salts of the various carboxylic acids. these will fall out of solution and just build up over time. while the dunder is free to make more. then when enough has accumulated. sulfuric acid will be added to the dunder to free up those carboxylic acids. the strong base and strong acid will form calcium sulfate which will fall out of solution. and you are left with a lot of free carboxylic acids that can be used to make esters.
Ester formation is reversible reaction and happens spontaneously. the more alcohol and carboxylic acids the more esters will form conversely the more water the less esters. This is important for the sodium carbonate trick. the formation of esters can be boosted with catalysts. yeast have a natural catalyst that can be taken advantage of if the yeast are. Sulfuric acid works as a catalyst as well. The addition of sulfuric acid will push the reaction to form a lot of esters. I believe that the opposite is true where if we raise the ph with a strong base such as sodium carbonate the the reaction will favor de-esterification. it could also be that the strong basic carbonate ion in solution when a random de-esterification does take place a carbonate is there to snatch up that now free acid paring up to form a salt. this would only make sense if it fell out of solution. if this were true you would see the alcohol gradually get cloudy and a precipitate to form.
The proposed reaction of the sodium carbonate is speculation but the reaction for ester formation is true.
also thanks for the tip on the invert sugar! it seems to be just the thing i've been looking for to get a smoother tasting spirit!
You can make sodium carbonate by baking sodium bicarbonate in the oven at around 100c for an hour.
summoning the liquor fairies... i hear the elders calling for offerings... saying the hidden cauldron demands vinegar and a sacrificial concoction... I'm a believer, I know my duties and they shall hear my creed...
Thanks for preachin'!
LOL, nice!
That's just what I want, thanks man and congratulations.
I have a vodka experiment bubbling away right now. I love wheat flavor and also love the earthy flavor from potatoes so I'm trying to bring the best of both together. We shall see. :-)
Good luck!
So glad you shared this my fairy is coming this weekend with vodka so I'll have to let her know 😊
Glad we could help:-)
I have an extra 2" reflux column...you can have it if you like....
Awesome support! That would be cool. Your altruism is marvelous. I hope he takes you up on it.
I'm grateful for the offer, brother. When I get to that point I'm going to try to build my own. I know my soldering skills make that a risky proposition, haha:-) Save it for a trusted friend to show them the hobby.
It’s a sugar wash with a little tomato paste for a yeast nutrient
Hey B&B In a single word, interesting. Wow you are up to 51.6k subs, so happy for you bro. Keep up the great work, and love the content✌✌
Thanks brother!
Thank you for your videos! I've been making your cider for awhile now. Tweaked the recipe a bit and now I'm making blueberry cider and honey cinnamon cider. The guys at the station love it! Thanks for the knowledge!
That sounds delicious!
Really enjoyed the video...I'm a pot distiller (hypothetically, of course) so I love the videos for us poor bastards that don't involve those uppity column stills.... nyuck nyuck
Pot stills rock!
Starting this tomorrow. We'll see.
Miss you bro hope all is well, thanks for your contributions 👍
Good advice, thanks for the tip. The sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) should saponify the esters but, I wouldn’t think it would take out any fusel oil (heavier alcohols like n-propanol, iso- butyl alcohol, or iso-amyl alcohol) in the tails. Also not sure what sodium carbonate would do to any aldehydes or ketones (other minor flavor components).
huh huh, that's cool -- it's weird. Thanks for the fun video about hypotheticals
Thanks!
Hypothetically of course the sodium carbonate attaches to the long chain esters and as the alcohol evaporates so does the carbonate. Ergo leaving less conjunors for a perceived heads like sharp bitey note.
Thanks Rand!
Hi, Bearded! I use egg shells for ph +. I just wash them with hot water to remove inside parts and dry it out. Than I use coffee grinder for crushing. It`s always in your fridge. 🥃 P.S. Active charcoal filters after filtration if we reuse them with "fresh alcohol" will ruin new one. I personally use and reuse by cooking it +250C 1/2 hour.
Great tips, thanks!
@@BeardedBored :)
@@BeardedBored Yes, active charcoal is cheap at aquarium fish stores and maybe in Home Depot in USA? I bye mine 10 years ago in 1kg bag and use and reuse... I find something like mine here: www.amazon.de/-/en/Activated-Coconut-Carbon-Treatment-Granules/dp/B08DRLW2W1/ref=pd_sbs_2/258-2418437-6497745?pd_rd_w=sAryZ&pf_rd_p=b9e2e02e-b111-4e58-bf64-75121e223c50&pf_rd_r=SH24HYM6WMGD423316K3&pd_rd_r=4be05d51-8f33-4b7a-8bc3-68e01886f618&pd_rd_wg=L2YDL&pd_rd_i=B08DRLW2W1&psc=1
You can make your own sodium carbonate by baking some baking soda at 350 degrees till it is 2/3 of its weight. Boom you have sodium carbonate. I know this because I do this to make a stronger soda for making pretzels.
Very cool info, thanks!
I have the T500 and it consistently gets 95% ABV because of how it was set up but my next test will be a corn mash. That will change everything.
don't need an Hydrometer , watch the mash , it bubble a lot then it slow down ,
when you get to one bubble every two seconds , you're about good
slowly siphon , avoiding the bottom inch , it's dead yeast
then it's all slow distilling over the stove
P.s. I've found that putting a couple of sliced lemons give good result
If it's still bubbling at all you still have sugar in the wash. If you let it sit for a few more days, the yeast will finish turning all the residual sugar to alcohol and increase your yield;-)
FWIW you can make sodium carbonate from sodium bicarbonate by baking it.
With the sugar wash, I take cuts in 300ml jars so that I can smell them and see the difference. I find the first couple of jars smell sweet, actually smells drinkable but really aren't.
Then the next few jars smell like nothing although will still zap your nose and make you take a step back since you are probably breathing in more trying to find the smell.
Then near the end, it starts to smell salty like you have seasoned it with salt and pepper. That is a sugar wash and I have seen guys like George say you can use all of it but I usually sacrifice my first and last 2 jars to the feint gods to be boiled again later on.
Then I filter it through the activated carbon again and again for a week to try to get some of that leftover chemical taste out.
In my latest batch I actually replaced the carbon so is basically a double-filtered batch or if you count how many times I ran it through, a 10x filtered batch.
Ok you got me intrigued.... Doing the soda trick on a sugar wash before it goes in for reflux worst case it can just get rerun haha
Yep:-)
You can make sodium carbonate from sodium bicarbonate by heating it
"I didn't retain anything from high school chemistry, and college was spotty at best..."
I love your fermenter.
My wife hates it;-)
@@BeardedBored Maybe so but I just realized I have a good 75 gallons of fermenters in my shed.
@@robertfontaine3650 ;-)
@@BeardedBored How much water did you use with this recipe? Do you have any pics of your fermenter with the lid sealed and bubbler? I've grown tired of these buckets.
@@bartfris It's a 10 gallon recipe. The fermenter doesn't seal up well enough for the bubbler to work. The CO2 just escapes out the sides. Strictly speaking airlocks aren't as critical for product that will "hypothetically" get distilled since oxygen spoilage doesn't factor in to the final product.
I tried the inverted sugar after you mentioned it, while it was fermenting Jesse released his video. I absolutely agree it really does help. I’m going try the sodium carbonate trick on my next run! You’re a wealth of top advice!
Said it before, boiler plate is an inline thumper!
Has brewbird reached out to you about a web cam interview? I joked she was interviewing all the channels I follow and she should contact you! (Well half joking)
Would love to see a BB / BB interview! :-)
Brewbird is great. I've been watching her channel and learning a ton. Very cool to see behind the curtain of the industries.
Great stuff Brother Bearded! Looking forward to what you and your “hypothetical fairies” and are going to do
With your neutral spirits/vodka! Thanks much!
Thanks brother!
I found bi carbonate and it works very good. I will try carbonate next time. Many thanks for this great info
That's so cool!! Nice work! I'll have to get my liquor fairy to give it a go!
😉👍
You can bake sodium bicarbonate for about an hour at 375 f, and it will release a carbon and become sodium carbonate!
Good Job Bearded.
Thanks!
You’re so cute 😊. I know you’re married , so I’m absolutely not hitting on you, so it’s a compliment to your wife as well. 😂 Seriously, she’s blessed to have those eyes and lips to look at. On the other hand, that liquor fairy brought me that Apple Jack by following your instructions. She forgot to take the 1st reading though 😬. I haven’t got that “apple palsy” and I drank a little more each time. Like a Pepsi bottle full. I did feel a little hangover-ISH. I can tell it’s strong because it made me spin when I closed my eyes, and I haven’t spun in 42 years 😂.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it
Great Video, thank you. Deffinately going to try out the Sodium Carbonate trick.
👍
I’m glad I watched this one.
The Brita filter.
It’ll help me,
I want to make a gin.
Genius!
Bathtub Gin? Great info here, thanks for the share! Do you know if the Fairy uses any packing in the pot still column?
The fairy recommends copper scrubbies;-)
You can make your own sodium carbonate by putting baking soda in the oven for a while
The liquor fairy you know sounds pretty cool.
It's nice to have magical friends:-)
Bearded, I run a 6 plate column still, post condenser, I pass my liquor through a activated charcoal filter...my output from my parrot tastes like nothing also. I end up 188 to 192 proof hearts.
Column stills cut out all the extra work:-)
Always good tips brother! You are wealth of hypothetical inspiration!
Thanks brother!
@@BeardedBored I'm hypothetically working on something you may appreciate as I type this. Started with local apple juice. Set a side 2 gallons that I pasteurized (poorly see below) then made dry cider s.g 1.050 fermemted with us05 1.004 ~6% bottled a gallon of this, then added inverted sugar (recipe from your channel) to bring the gravity back up to 1.050 and fermented to 1.000 with ec1118 ~13%? Kept a gallon of this Apple wine. Hypothetically the next step would be to have the fairies make brandy out of the rest of the wine....
(the poorly pasteurized part is that one gallon of my starter juice decided to go wild and is currently happily bubbling so it is also something?...)
@@ironmck9826 Fun experiment. Wild fermentation can be amazing or not so much. Hope yours comes out great, and the hypothetical brandy.
Liquor Fairy LLC is a pretty good group of folks. Lol I really gotta try that inverted sugar.
Hahaha, awesome!
Bearded, I am leery about plastic water filters around high proof spirits. Do you notice any hazing of the plastic? I think there may be some alternatives made out of stainless with activated charcoal. Might be an interesting project…
Nope, no change in the plastic. I wouldn't store in plastic, but the 10 minutes in the filter didn't seem to have an effect.
I drank a lot of pool water as a kid..soo I can do this😛
LOL!
Take them three liters and go streaking with will farrell lol
Nice information on the sodium carbonate! I've never had a taste from TPW run.
I'm just glad it worked, LoL:-)
@@BeardedBored i keep all my heads and tails to redistill later when I have a lot and use Sodium carbonate, It's the alkaline that's in it neutralises acids so you get a bit more out lol
I want to applaud you for this video!!!!!! Your beard is great. Did your wife make you trim it? Mine did 😁
Thanks brother! I was trimming my beard and nicked too close on one side. Had to make the rest match. Wifey was a bit shocked to see it that short.
Ish not booze aweshifer, ish windshield wiper fluid, don you no anyshing?????? :) Sounds like it worked out pretty well. Love the vids brother, thanks again for sharing them. Rev. D.
LoL:-)
Great job and super interesting!
Thanks!
You can turn baking soda into sodium carbonate by heating it up on the stove or in your oven!
Interesting. Do you get about half as much washing soda as the starting baking soda?
Thanks for this one, definitely trying it
Good luck!
Wheat oats and yellow label is much easier
Heating sodium bicarbonate transforms it into sodium carbonate.
Now you need to figure out how easy it is to make it take flavor after the fact.
That's the plan;-)
What configuration do you recomend me for making a pot still (30L) . I want to make whisky and tequila , cheers!
Go to reddit.com and look in the r/firewater subreddit sidebar. They have a bunch of good designs:-)
@@BeardedBored thank you very much!!
I've had jalapeno tequila I'm curious what about jalapeno vodka?
Could you make vodka from Instant potatoes?
I wonder if anyone has thought about distilling a Cabernet Sauvignon
I have. Got a proper brandy on my list for this coming year. Using white grapes to get a baseline flavor, but I want to try out several varietals.
hey bearded & bored, i was curious if you could do a hypothetical video on reverse pot stilling and how one could get the most (hypothetically of course) from distilling that way? im asking for a friend
I don't really like that method. You can't make cuts of the heads or tails with much accuracy so the product ends up fairly harsh. Whats4Chow did a video on it a while ago and it's fairly common in Finland I think, but it's not a method I want to promote. Sorry Kingpin.
@@BeardedBored thats truly alright and i can understand why you wouldn't want to promote the method, it was worth asking but i'll check out whats4chows video. thank you either way and hope you have a fantastic day :)
@@pandakingpin9521 Thanks so much for understanding. Good luck and have fun experimenting:-)
@ Bearded, Hmm. My Likker Fairy reports no sugar bowl, but everything up to tails tastes like soap. They say they measured carefully and it sat for about a day before they worked their magic on it. I'll have to go check myself and make sure they kept the right part. maybe the A&H "Super Washing Soda" linked in the description has extra flavors added.
Mix the soda in water and see if it smells soapy to check. If not, might be something in your still?
@@BeardedBored After sitting for 24 hours and mixing some samples down to 40% the taste is gone. Honestly, it tasted just like the soda, but now completely gone. Next time I'll use the pool stuff or just make some from bicarb on the stove. Maybe I should do that anyway just to compare flavors before adding anything in.
@@BeardedBored Nope. My pallet must have been fried Tastes like soap, exactly like the washing powder when I mixed a little in water. Left a white residue in the bottom of my hypothetical as well.
I measured carefully and on the light side. The only difference was that I let it sit 24 hours, then heated the mixture to 100f and let it sit a couple more hours before calling the likker fairy. I thought that might help. Nope. Scrapping the batch.
There is a video here on YT that shows making sodium carbonate from bicarbonate by simply heating it in a pan. Has nobody else had this problem?
Never heard of it happening before. Very odd. Yeah, try the baking soda oven trick to make your own.
@@BeardedBored I did. It worked. The "washing powder" is actually pretty good for laundry though.
Oh well.
Hi Brother,
What if you fill the thumper with marbles or SPP maybe just halfway go you think that will bump the ABV higher, I my still if I fill the column with Packing it bumps the ABV with almost 20%
Hello Beaver, I use marbles in a 3L thumper on my pot still, for my sugar washes stripping and spirit runs (recently did a wine yeast with yeast nutrient and inverted sugar) for my Sinner Gin, using your homemade alcohol meter measured around ~88% abv after 2 full stripping runs and a spirit run. So should work for Bearded. P.S. That Sodium Carbonate idea sounds good, any idea where to get in RSA? Thank you both for your channels, I learn so much from them you oaks deserve millions of subs!
@@kevinpadoa4011 Hi Kevin, any poolshop will have, thanks for the feedback
@@BEAVERDIY Thanks mate, will get and try it.
@@BEAVERDIY Would it be safe to use HTH Soda Ash?
@@djshaman11 yes will be perfecr
It'll be awesome to see your "liquor fairy" in action... hypothetically of course ;)
Great content, just subscribed. Trying to turn whiskey feints into a neutral. Will sodium carbonate work with feints?
Yep:-)
Tried a Brita filter once, turned my stuff black, had to re-run it, and will never try that again.
You can build a filter pretty easy if you ever need to. If you get carbon dust in your stuff, you can let it settle out and filter again with a coffee filter.
Dude! Hold my beer! I've got a hella idea. Since you like to experiment, I want to see you make distilled dandelion wine (Dandelion Brandy?). First, make some dandelion wine and then distill that stuff in a pot still. Taste it and tell us how it goes! Okay, can I have my beer back?
I'll have to see if my weedy yard has enough dandelions;-) Sorry, I finished your beer.
@@BeardedBored That's perfect, and I can brew another beer! Your episodes are the best.
Hello:) thanks for the video. Can you add yeast nutrient while boiling?
I suppose, but it dissolves at room temperature too.
damn... tnx for the promocode
Whatever you get from them will probably be the softest clothes you own;-)
love your videos! Bit of a side question about inverted sugars, does dissolving sugar in the backset of a UJSSM achieve the same result? or is the required acidity different? - hypothetically :-)
You need to boil the sugar in an acidic environment to get the inverting process. My hypothetical advice is to invert the sugar separately, then add it to backset;-)
I'm hypothetically drunk...and as Kramer would say.... loving every minute of it..if you're ever down Miami way give me a shout
You'll have the best time of your life..I guarantee it
That being said...I'm just a pot distiller...but I use premium ingredients...and do multiple runs to achieve what I need...the rest comes here on go fast boats ....go figure
Happy memorial day...semper fi
@@woodslinger003 Thanks Bob. Have a great weekend!
Thanks brother..love 💕 you guys..hoo rah
PS... your dad is the shit
@@woodslinger003 Thanks Bob!
Do you have a link for those pH strips I like that it was concentrated & more color variation than the typical 4 color pH strips
Here you go - amzn.to/2Z9zMTT
Chrz man this was extremely good info.
Hope it works for you...hypothetically;-)
@@BeardedBored I can read between the lines man, good stuff
@@BeardedBored Reading between the lines, nice
Nice video! Have you looked into Sugar Cane Vodka?
Bearded & Board. Would a reflux still produce the same quality ?
Would you get the same spirits if you ran it through bubble plates instead of a thumper?
Very likely.
I'm curious about the reason for changing the filter on the brita after every use. Would this apply to a brita used exclusively by the fairy? Love your videos by the way!
I think George did a video on making a charcoal filter for polishing spirits and talked about replacing the media...maybe not? Probably should have looked it up again, but I felt so confident before you asked me that, haha:-)
This is great, I’m so new to this it’s not funny. I have a pot still for 3 years without using in (no tumper) this year I need to do this I have the sugar the daddy yeast and most of the ingredients I just need the balls to move forward. I’m so afraid of not getting it right especially with the hearts tails etc. any words or thoughts would greatly be appreciated
Manny
Watch Jesse's video on making cuts on his Still It channel. Really solid info. Cuts are the hardest thing to get right. Good news is that if you mess up, you can just dump it all back in the boiler and rerun it:-) Best practice for starting out is to collect in 200ml increments, so get a lot of jars, at least 2 dozen just to be sure you have enough. You won't be using the stuff that you collect in the last half of those jars, especially in a sugar wash, but it's good practice to help you smell the transitions and funky stuff in the tails.
Air out the jars with paper towel over them for the night. That helps sharpen the aromas around the transitions. Heads are more chemically smelling, acetone, etc. and they make the tongue prickle. There's a ton of info so watch Jesse's videos to get a clear understanding of what you're looking for in the flavor and aroma.
The best way to learn, is to just go ahead a do it, you'll soon realize that maybe that other way of getting that step done is easier, and then you try and learn from it.
I got my pot still just over a year ago, and was forced into starting due to an alcohol ban (6months of it), and still learn something new every-day, and get better and better at it.
Is there a specific on what the plastic container has to be made of, I was gonna go to Walmart and buy a Rubbermaid or similar but wasn't sure on whether or not that would be okay for the wash?
HDPE plastic is safe for fermentations:-)
@@BeardedBored thank you very much!
So....what happens if you add the sodium carbonate to the wash before the first run?
Nothing significant. You've got to get it to low wines first before you notice any difference. So I've read, anyway.
Anyone knows if sugar washes go bad? I accidentally forgot my sugar wash out for about 14 weeks after fermentation and it smelled kinda bad, the yeast did settle out and I poured the clear stuff in the still and ran it.
It was a sugar wash and no matter how many cuts I took, all smelled bad. Like a burnt odor.
Alcohol came out smelling like a bad sugary sour candy with a rank odor. I did a lot in an attempt to purify it:
Failed attempts:
- Added Sodium Carbonate and waited a week
- Passed it through Activated Carbon
- Passed it through Brita Filter
- Diluted and redistilled (three times)
- Distilled it with copper mesh in column
Somewhat successful attempts in order: (mostly laboratory methods of purifying Alcohol)
- Adding Sodium Hydroxide & Potassium Hydroxide and refluxed it in that, then distilled
- Added Sulphuric Acid to distillate and distill
- Added Sodium Bicarbonate to the distillate to remove any trace acids (with overnight stirring)
- Filter Sodium Bicarbonate off and Distill
- Run through the new Activated Carbon filter
- Dilute to 40% and Redistill again to 95.6%
My successful attempts made the alcohol have absolutely no taste whatsoever with juice & sodas. But with water, it tasted absolutely horrible and for some reason, a smoky smell comes back when it's diluted with water.
Scorch smell never comes out. No idea where it came from in your wash, but once it's in there it's basically only good for sanitizer or fuel.
@@BeardedBored It did go away when I added sulphuric acid and distilled it but when I proofed it down the taste was the worst taste I had ever tasted.
There's no taste when you add it to Juice and Sodas but with water, it's the worst.
With water, it tasted as if I bubbled exhaust fumes from a truck into my alcohol and stirred it with a dead fish.
@@reformlabs8742 Yikes!
for some reason adding stuff with CLOROX on the label... seems a bit iffy. good thing there is proof of life :D ya figure with a full reflux column, is there a need for this chemical?
Yeah, that threw me too, but it's the same stuff as in the Arm and Hammer Washing Soda box. As for reflux, if you're doing it right, you probably don't need the chemical assist, but I don't know for sure.
Curious. Where might one find a Hypothetical Still Fairy with a Hypothetical Still to assist someone that might want to have some Hypothetical Vodka run for themselves?
You have to entice them with shiny copper.
You might try blinking three times, snapping your fingers twice and clicking your heals together one time. Not sure if it will work or not, but I'd pay to watch you try...lol
Haha Bearded this is heresy your going to upset the purists... Love it great job. Thanks for the hard work you put into your research to share with us.
Hope I get that much attention, LoL! Thanks buddy:-)
Have you tried this process in a mash run?
No, but it's on my list for this coming year;-)
What is the total volume of water & wash please? (It’s not in the ingredients list) Once I have this info, Do I just reduce ingredients to a 5gallon wash (mathematically speaking) thank you
12 gallons total.
@@BeardedBored thank you very much 👍
Hey B & B nice information. I was wondering If I use Sodium Carbonate in flavored low wines like UJSSM would it effect the flavor of final product ???
It will remove the flavor. Only use it for neutrals spirits with no flavor.
@@BeardedBored thanks for the response. It will help me. Is there any other way to reduce heads and tails for flavored recipes????
@@anilmalik5111 Cooler temps in fermentation.
@@BeardedBored thanks for the information 👍