Wine,Shine,Rum,Brandy........... What do you guys do with the excess fruits???

tip top toker said:

So is it wasted? Now you've got plenty of filling for some tasty crow pie although maybe not if you live in an urban area. Crow, pigeon, squirrel, all pests for one reason or other, but all damned good eating

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hampshires ate the crows

squirrel is tree bacon ....... im backwoods like waaaaaay backwoods............

i shoot deer off my porch ........... cant keep the dam things out of my purple hull pea's even went as far as sticking a 2 strand hot wire up
they just hit it flap around on the ground jump the fence and get to eating .........

SpaaaceCowboy said:

pics or it didn't happen

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pics of the pics happening ...... or it didnt happen

@tekdc911

i like u if u want i will tell u tricks to turn that in brandy/shine that can make u 200 plus a gallons if done right........or run a car if u need fuel

but to do this u will need a still are u able to build it and have it running with in 10 days of making the mash up otherwise u are looking vinger vats

justugh said:

@tekdc911

i like u if u want i will tell u tricks to turn that in brandy/shine that can make u 200 plus a gallons if done right........or run a car if u need fuel

but to do this u will need a still are u able to build it and have it running with in 10 days of making the mash up otherwise u are looking vinger vats

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i have a still i made from one of the old huge stainless fire extinguishers,a hot plate , a $12 thermal cutout off of ebay
and i can legally produce " for personal consumption " like 55 gallons annually something like that it may be 100 gallons cant remember
technically still illegal everywhere by federal law

tekdc911 said:

i have a still i made from one of the old huge stainless fire extinguishers,a hot plate , a $12 thermal cutout off of ebay
and i can legally produce " for personal consumption " like 55 gallons annually something like that it may be 100 gallons cant remember
technically still illegal everywhere by federal law

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state laws make it ok to do for self ............federal laws still ass rape u ATF..........the only thing they will allow u to do is Fuel anything else gets u 10 years


do u know someone with a tig weilder get yourself a stainless steel keg and a hot water heater ...............i can run 12 gallons of mash in 4 hours

justugh said:

state laws make it ok to do for self ............federal laws still ass rape u ATF..........the only thing they will allow u to do is Fuel anything else gets u 10 years


do u know someone with a tig weilder get yourself a stainless steel keg and a hot water heater ...............i can run 12 gallons of mash in 4 hours

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i can weld ...
the one i have was a big fire extinguisher on wheels like a 12-15 gallon

tekdc911 said:

i can weld ...
the one i have was a big fire extinguisher on wheels like a 12-15 gallon

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then u love me

1 u need to make a drain with a valve
2 u need to get one of these http://www.milehidistilling.com/heater-element-with-thermostat-1500w-115v/
u will need a coupler and to drill the hole in the side to mount it ........TIG not mig TIG will not rust

now insulate the shell this will make running it faster plus can have sitting anywhere (think waterheater)

3 the still head if u set it up so u can unscrew a cap to allow u to add fresh mash ....before u do u turn it off drain the spent stuff out and then add fresh cap turn back on
4 this works for a thumper too

here is the trick to it the heat u turn it to 5 and let set until the whole system heats up then turn it to 7 ...7 and half

then let her run use the parrot with tester to keep a eye on the abv when it gets down to 30% stop collecting and change the mash out for fresh stuff
a run should take u about hour to heat up 4 hours to run 10 gallons with 2 gallons in thumper 20 mins to refill system once u have it down .........the hose for the hot mash is important u get a good one so do not burn self or spill all over the place u are talking scolding temps 180 plus

as for the running i am assuming u done it so know how not to kill ppl ..........the rest of it is stuff i picked up to make the work easier for one man

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fahrenheit-...564?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c81722d34
thats the one im using not the exact one but very very close the one i got was just a tad higher priced
and just a hot plate under the tank temp probe is about 10" above the bottom for the cut out
and the thermometer is roughly 18" above the bottom
then im just using the controller to power a contact
that powers the hotplate

and yes im not blind yet ...... i usually burn off more at first then is required normally just to be safe

it heats up slow but i can just monitor the temps and it gives me an idea of when i am actually running

the temp of the mash does not matter ...........it is the vapor temp

180 menthol crap starts to cook off 187 u get your first ethanol at 191 my thumper will start kicking out the worm
then u run untill it hits 212 that means all the drink is out of the mash in the boiler ...................the thumper now has the last of what is left and u keep boiling the mash so the water steams so the thumper keeps kicking out u collect down to what u started at (if mash was 20% u collect until 20% abv hits)


u know about boil breaks right ...........my system is a keg so i can only use marbles .............but u take a hand full of lead free marbles and drop them into the boiler right before u start .........the marbles will heat up and the bubbles will form on them before they steam up and pass out to be shine .............it will get u a more even cook down and lower the time u are cooking the mashing .................look for the shooter marbles they work better for me

justugh said:

the temp of the mash does not matter ...........it is the vapor temp

180 menthol crap starts to cook off 187 u get your first ethanol at 191 my thumper will start kicking out the worm
then u run untill it hits 212 that means all the drink is out of the mash in the boiler ...................the thumper now has the last of what is left and u keep boiling the mash so the water steams so the thumper keeps kicking out u collect down to what u started at (if mash was 20% u collect until 20% abv hits)


u know about boil breaks right ...........my system is a keg so i can only use marbles .............but u take a hand full of lead free marbles and drop them into the boiler right before u start .........the marbles will heat up and the bubbles will form on them before they steam up and pass out to be shine .............it will get u a more even cook down and lower the time u are cooking the mashing .................look for the shooter marbles they work better for me

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whats left in the thumper goes into the next batch of mash

stainless ball bearings

my brandy is 18% going in no idea what it comes out thats the best the yeast puts out
ive been using the eyeball method

@tekdc911
here get this thing or make one it is one of the best investments i made
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Copper-...123?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c77dea5a3
and one of these
http://www.amazon.com/E-C-Kraus-Alchohol-Hydrometer/dp/B00838XPQM/

it comes out goes into the top fills up the meter floats and then it floats out so u can collect it in a jug ..............to change jugs u just push the meter down makes all of it flow out then let go it stops flowing out change the jug by the time it fills up and floats again and drains off to new jug


i collect mine from 70% down to 40% ..........from there the 40% to 20% goes in my tails jug that is what goes back into the thumper next time with gallon or 2 of fresh mash

plus it copper so it helps smooth out the drink a little

@tekdc911

the ethanol in your stuff is a greater amount then in mine .......i make rum from dark sugar ..........the math of mine is 23 mls per gallon of ethanol so i only need to cut off 230 mls from the head run for 10 gallon batch runs ..............to be safe i triple that and take off 750mls a whole 5th right off the top just use it for fuel or cleaner (shit works great on removing thc from scissors or cleaning up a grinder) just rem to burn it off

for u i would work the math out to about 45 mls per gallon run (it all comes down to the materials used to make the drink yours is fruit so some more of that is converted then just with sugar)............so i go 500 mls (whole pint jar or half a quart) ...........or do what i do use a 1/5 bottle fill it up then move the parrot under it to collect ( mark the bottle up so u know it cleaner/poison)


oh and to get a good product for market
add gypsum to the mash it lowers the PH and gives a fresh spring taste
use DADY yeast http://www.amazon.com/Distillers-Yeast-DADY-bulk-pack/dp/B0064O7T2I this stuff can go to 22% abv and it clears nicely so u do not get bursting yeast cells in the boiler or thumper

this stuff here is food for the yeast to make more of them self faster ............it also makes sure the yeast has other goodies to use up all sugar
http://www.amazon.com/L-D-Carlson-Company-Fermax-Yeast-Nutrient/dp/B0064H0MWY

just when u know it is done u stir it up and as this stuff to make all the yeast settle to the bottom
http://www.amazon.com/Liquor-Quik-Super-Kleer-K-C/dp/B002LNXEFM
it ment for 5 gallon batches so u need to use 2 3 4 what ever size your mash is ...............mixing in part one it goes around for like 20 mins the u mix in part 2 and it makes all the yeast in the system settle to the bottom allowing u to syphon out clean stuff to run in the boiler

the wine im running now has been 3 weeks in airlock im about to rack it and add the campden and let it airlock for 3 more weeks then rack it again
i dranks some of it a couple nights ago just a glass its still heavy with yeast but its dry already so i may add some more sugar and grapes to it and let it airlock for 3 more weeks after the next rack depending on how much gas its still venting at that time
last year i bottled to soon and had mason jars exploding in my cabinets lol

tekdc911 said:

the wine im running now has been 3 weeks in airlock im about to rack it and add the campden and let it airlock for 3 more weeks then rack it again
i dranks some of it a couple nights ago just a glass its still heavy with yeast but its dry already so i may add some more sugar and grapes to it and let it airlock for 3 more weeks after the next rack depending on how much gas its still venting at that time
last year i bottled to soon and had mason jars exploding in my cabinets lol

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my stuff can be ready in 2 days for the stil...........avg time is 5 days after that all the sugar has been used up
the brix meter read 0.99 0.98
http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Homebrewing-and-Winemaking-Supplies/dp/B0064O94I0
this is a brix .........basically the sugar inside will make it sit higher up .........it give u a idea of what the mash can be (u never want to take above 20% it gets tricky with need of right yeast strains) ............i can tell u 3 tricks that will increase the speed of the yeast natural gypsum (4.0 ph) the yeast nutrients (they need more then just sugar) and the water u add into has been run with a air stone in water for good 2 hours (the oxygenated water is what the yeast needs to make them self when that is all gone they start making shine) why the air lock

this will tell u if u have used all the sugars up to make ..............and u can run low wines tho the system it has a better taste ........most rum mashes are not taken passed 8% abv so the taste of it is just that much smoother but u need to have 1000 gallon mash ins for something like that to be worth it to us


my best advice is to skip what u were planning on doing get that meter and test your brix lvl .....the abv in it to test u need to clear out the yeast so no bubbles

if u want wine use that super kleer in 5 gallon carboys what u see it do in 24 hours will make u happy as hell all that yeast to bottom and settled ........from there u can bottle it up as wine or run it as shine .....................just understand mother of vinegar is everywhere so the ABV to keep from turning into vinegar is 23% or higher

well i ran 3 gallons of muscadines 8 lbs of sugar to 6 gallons total .... hadnt tested it but its successfully been made from this area repeatedly

the well's out here are artesian so there is no concern about the water
im also gonna run it through a carbon filter to clear it up but for the most part it has settled and when it gets racked it will clear up more

the campden tablets help remove everything but the yeast so it makes it difficult to make vinegar aslong as no oxygen is present thats why im running it air lock
the recipe calls for a towel tied over a large pot for 7 days or until the grape hulls turn white then its racked and water is added to make up the difference in the desired lvl in the carboy

@tekdc911

that is a good mix you should be near the 20% mark like 1.20 on brix

the water is fine it is the ph u are tweaking with the gypsum this stuff makes it prefect for the little guys

your sugar u are heating it up in the water so it desolves into a simple syrup then adding that to the fruit and water mash right
2 gallons of water all that sugar on a stove eye untill it hits 130 f then remove it let it cool down to about 80f then dump and mix it with the fruit mash and add the cold water that has had the airstone in it for 2 hours (or u get water jugs from the store fill them up and set in the sun for 72 hours they will oxygenate do to the plastic allows 8% oxygen to pass tho it the sun and thermal heat just speeds it up )

as for the filtering they sell wine filters that can do it but it is 2 carboys and a silk/paper screen ............racking it will work but the super kleer will do it in 24 hours as compared to 2 weeks racked and stable

the vinegar part is from the storage if u do not have a high enough abv they will turn in the bottle ...........not like u are heating them up and locking them down as in canning ...........unless the abv is high enough to kill the spores on contact good chance the low ones will turn while resting/aging