Easy way to start.
Go to Brew Shop or OnLine and get —
2 x 30L/33L Brew Buckets.
1 x Long Handle Plastic Spoon ( do not use wooden spoon)
2 x Bubble Air Locks
1 x Long handle mixing paddle that you can fit in a drill ( cut the end off if necessary )
2 x Turbo Yeast Packs. i.e. Alcotec 24 ( other makes available )
2 x Turbo Clear Packs. i.e. Alcotec TurboKlar
1 x Bottle Distillers Conditioner. ( Anti Foaming Agent ) ( To put in Boiler as instructions)
Alcometer to use in the Parrot and to check your proof. ( Try to get one with two scales on, one each side. )
Still Spirits make some very good flavouring. There Baileys is to die for.
Supermarket 16Kg white granulated sugar cheapest you can find.
Don’t buy powered brewing sugar. ( To expensive )
Melt the sugar
Boil some water. I do 1.5L in the kettle then poor into saucepan on the gas stove. While thats reheating I put the next kettle on and so on until it is all sorted. Every 1.5L does 2Kg of sugar. Each bucket gets 8Kg of sugar.
Take to a suitable place and fill to the 25/26L mark with cold water or warm/hot water depending on the temperature. It needs to be around 25ºC to pitch the yeast.
I fit a heater belt round mine via a temperature controller to keep it between 24º and 27ºC. A PID is the best for this purpose.
Fermentation can be short or long. Normally around 8 days. When the bubbler is bubbling about once or twice an hour it’s pretty well over. Now it’s time to de gas. Drill and paddle.
Get as much air out as you can. Add the TurboKlar. Instructions on pack.
Once it has cleared syphon into Boiler.
Set the system up. Water and Electric. A day before you do your first moonshine run do a White Vinegar run. This will clear 90% of the muck out of the system and give you an idea of what to expect. 50% water 50% vinegar. 3 to 4L of each should do it.
Some people then do a sacrificial first run to further clean the system and dump everything. Probable a good idea. You only need to do this the once.
Now you are ready to make Moonshine.
Syphon the second bucket in the Boiler. Making sure the elements are covered. If they are not just add water until they are both covered. Or just use the lower one.
Turn on the electric. Once it is up to temperature switch of the top element and just run the bottom one via a controller. You need a steady rolling boil not a vigorous one. Just enough to keep pushing the vapours up the column.
Once the temperature reaches about 84/85ºC turn on the water. This will need a bit of fiddling to get it somewhere near, it only takes a trickle. Product appears around 86ºC.
First Run
First run you can save everything in the same container.
Very important. Once product appears collect the first 100ml / 150ml and throw it away. Do the same thing with the second bucket. Combine the two savings in a second bucket. Water them back to 40%. Pop the alcometer in the bucket and add water until it reads 40%.
Second run, this is the drinking run. This is the product from the first run and the second first run added together. Water it all back to 40% before you put it in the boiler never boil anything above 40% ABV.
Save the first litre or so in a separate jar if this is a grain wash. These are your heads or fore shots. If this is a sugar wash there will be virtually no heads. 100 to 150 ml.
If using the hydrometer you need to collect from around 86%/80% ABV to around to around 65/60º ABV for drinking. After that the tails will start to appear. Everything before and everything after that percentage is saved in another container. This can then be added to the next first run next time to boost the ABV in the boiler. Please remember that every time you do a run the first 100ml/150// must be thrown away.
Once you have the spirit you are keeping for drinking it should have little or no smell to it. Pour this into a clean bucket and water it back to 40% ABV. I use bottled water from the supermarket. Some of us use distilled water. ( Waste of money. ) in my opinion.
Tip.
Another little tip is to add about two fluid ounces of Glycerol / Glycerine same meat different gravy per gallon or Demi Jon this takes the rough edge off and smooths the feel of the alcohol.
You will soon get to grips with the situation and nothing will compare to trial and error.
We all have a way of doing things your way will be the right way for you.
I find the dephlegmator temperature of around 60º C produces the best output for me, ( about 4L per hour ) you may find it a little different. If you are using a dephlegmator you will find it a little more difficult to make your cuts, as they tend to stay at the same output level throughout the run. You will need to rely more on the temperatures, smell and taste.
The Liebig and Parrot output especially the Parrot output needs to be as close to 20ºC as you can get it as that is what the alcometers are calibrated at.
The small LED temperature gauges are ideal for this purpose. They can be taped to or fitted as best you can to the items you want to check the temperature of.
Temperatures above 20ºC will mean the alcohol will have less proof and temperatures below 20ºC will mean the alcohol will be at a higher proof.