Great video George thanks I have been wanting to make a corn whiskey with my T500 without the saddles but was unsure if it would work so now that I know it works look out. Thanks again
Hi George. Thanks for your previous advice, I've had some good fun since receiving your message. I have distilled 15 litres of Sweet Red from a local vineyard without the factory packing in the column, this was my second attempt at Grappa. I have now discovered what the "smell" and taste difference(s) are when making cuts in the distillation process without the column being packed full of rashing rings, and cut most of the burnt/ nutty aroma out of the first run. I then made a little modification by cutting 10mm copper tube into lengths, running the full length of the column. I then ran it through a second time, this time through my Copper pipes and removed some Aniseed flavours off the back end after cutting the first run to 30%ABV with filtered water and charging the boiler, I did need to run a little hotter like this, but not as hot as with no packing at all. It is so smooth and carries absolutely no burn and more of the fruit aromas too. Just thought I'd share my modification with you in case you fancied having a play for yourself and a possible video? I'd love to hear your thoughts as I'm only a beginner with 5 runs under my belt, thought it might emulate the more classic flavours produced in a copper still, it's also a relatively cheap way to get a huge surface area of copper into the column. Regards Mack
I found the turbo 500 hard to control as the temp in the column temp changes even with the pump it did a good job but had to babysit it but thank you for all your help through thee years norm
You can remove the reflux totally and make it closer to a pot still...do this: - at the top, disconnect the tube that goes from the spirit cooler back into the column - remove the "water return" tubing on the column (the one from which you measure the temperature) - connect that tubing to the loose end from the top tubing and guide that to the sink or wherever you drain your water in their manual, Still Spirits have instructions on how to make this still to distill water...it is the same process. You don't reflux water distillation. That's it! now you only have a cooler on the spirit and no reflux going to the tower. The tricky part is that because of how this still was designed you really don't have a good temperature measurement, but hey do it like the old timers did it! they never looked at any gauges, they smelled and tasted the product ;). However in this case, expect that you will have 80-120 proof and not the 170 that George shows here
Happy distilling, to you to George. Hope you are healthy & doing well. We miss you , your vast knowledge and common sense presentations . I certainly hope that you are not done with sharing your time with us, it has been quite a while since you've made an appearance here. There is a bunch of great and helpful information in my head put there by you 🙏on behalf of everyone who feels the same thank you for that. I will be keeping an eye out for a new video, till then 🍻 happy distilling brother.
Good sanitation and a good airlock keeps the nasties away. My concern is the wild yeast on the fruit skin, brettanomyces, diastaticus etc. Though I suppose a healthy pitch of your preffered yeast will out compete the wild ones.
I looked around on the internet and found some information that pertains to my particular issue and I went ahead and got my first batch started. Wish me luck
Hi George can I ask a question? I’ve used an old ‘Still Spirits’ reflux still and just moved up to the T500. On my old still I always wrap an old sleeping blanket round the ‘boiler’ body to cut down heat loss. Is this practice going to harm my new T500 boiler body or harm the spirit coming over? Many thanks from the UK
I really like yall's videos. I'm lookin into making some wine myself at home but I wanted to do a little research first so I've got a kindof guidebook. I haven't made any yet and I know there's bound to be some trial and error involved (I wouldn't have it any other way) but it's just nice to know when I need technical data or pointers I've got somewhere to find the info. I was really wanting to start with some cranberry cause I've got several 340ml bottles of Ocean Spray liquid concentrate just sitting around but I don't really know how to calculate sugar and yeast to juice ratio of liquid concentrate. Can y'all help me out?
George thank you so much for spending the time to share your knowledge. I will be putting my order in very soon. Tell ray you got one more sale on the way. I could go to Amazon for most of what I need. But Amazon does not have George doing great videos now do they?
It can’t happen because during fermentation it creates a layer of CO2 over the sugar wash. The CO2 is 50% heavier than air. The only way to create vinegar is to. Remove that protective lay and introduce oxygen into the must or sugar wash.
Hi George. In your expert opinion; How would you rate the result, after the required aging of a few months of course, to what you would get from the same mash with a classic pot still in terms of carryover of taste and fruit flavors? Perhaps in % points, how would you describe it? 70%, 80% or 90% similar? An 80%- 90% similar result to a pot still would be very satisfactory, I would say. Thanks!
Great video once again! Have you thought about aging any of it possible on oak to see if you can get a cognac style? I know it's make with wine but could be nice.
George you’ve mentioned fruits contain higher levels of methanol and other ugly stuff in the 148-170 head range that you don’t want to drink, do you still recommend 50ml per gallon of wash for fore-shots and then double that for heads? Happy distilling!
Great vid George. I have a T500 Alembic still. It does not have a reflux column. Now I want to do the opposite to what you are doing, I want to do a vodka run and then attempt to do a gin run. Do I use it with the alembic dome or use the T500 with the flat lid with the condense attached of the initial stripping run. After seeing your earlier vid on gin making, got me interested in trying to make some gin.
Barley and Hops Brewing George, why is that? I’m new , have done gin with Alembic dome with botanical basket attachment. Came out nice. Should I also buy the reflux column to go with the T-500?
Any one else notice the orb at 9:34 look above his right side it comes down and goes down on his shirt I was watching very closely and saw it. Am I crazy?
Hi George I have a t500 and i have read that you should not try to run the T500 without packing because the top plastic peace can weakin and start to leak is that right or wrong
can you explain more in detail what you have removed from the coume as i want the flavour in my mash to come out in the end, its you only said you removed something did u remove everything from the colume or not
thanks for that i had an air-still but u hAD TO BUY F;LAVOURINGS AS IT STRIPPED IT OUT i want to make brandies and gin but did not want to use flavorings i want to infuse it and from what u say i can do this by not putting and saddles or copper in the condensor tube so i shud have some flavour as the end product witch is what i was after@@BarleyandHopsBrewing
You can get different towers and attachments for the T500 like the Alembic pot still that works well for pot still mode. Even if you get the copper or stainless T500 reflux tower, you can still take out the stainless saddles packed inside to get a little more flavor carry over
No, but i work for a distillery equipment manufacturer and have played around with it a bit. I think it's a pretty user friendly system to play around with.
They are $185 (free shipping) for the base model. Email me at george.duncan76@gmail.com and I can send you an invoice you can pay on line if you are interested. I can also send a few photos of different models. George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing thank you very much. I am just setting up and I will be buying one from you in the next week or two. I love your video's and have been studying all you teach. I love your channel and your way of teaching. I am disabled and this is going to be my hobby and I am going for quality and your sight out of many I've seen is the best for every avenue a person could take to make fine wine and spirits. Thank you very much.
pnyhgh Do you have heated the grain, or boiled the liquid with it? If not, this can the reason, because there are many kinds of bacteria on the grain and they likes the nutrients in the mash like the yeast ;)
Well I reckon I'll have to either comment on a more recently made video so there's a better chance my comment will be seen or I can just give it a shot
Thomas, did I somehow miss a comment from you? It's possible but I hope not. Please feel free to comment anytime on any video. They all end up here on my community page. George
Barley and Hops Brewing I've watched several of y'all's videos and even though this particular one was on Brandy I was thinking about the cranberry wine I was wanting to make. That's why the comment doesn't match the subject of the video
Thank you George, that’s what I was waitin for. 👍🏻
Thanks George for all your advice, helps a lot here in my hobbies.....Along with Mile High,,,,you all are great.
Great video i just got a T500 and for never distilling before i have made 3 runs through it amazing and so easy to use
Thanks George
I swear I think I’ve seen every video of yours then another one from THREE years ago popped up lol, love the info sir
Thanks George. I almost feel like you made this video to answer my question about making brandy. Awesome!
I've had several requests for it and multiple requests from a few.
It was about time I got to it.
Thanks
George
Love your show George
Great job George. I didn't know a turbo 500 could be used as a pot still. I may need to give it a second consideration.
Thank you, George!
Great stuff. Thanks George!
Thanks Clint.
George
Thanks George
Great Job George, Keep it up,,,,,,,,,,, SanDiegoSteveO,,,
Great video George thanks I have been wanting to make a corn whiskey with my T500 without the saddles but was unsure if it would work so now that I know it works look out.
Thanks again
It is amazing
Hi George. Thanks for your previous advice, I've had some good fun since receiving your message. I have distilled 15 litres of Sweet Red from a local vineyard without the factory packing in the column, this was my second attempt at Grappa. I have now discovered what the "smell" and taste difference(s) are when making cuts in the distillation process without the column being packed full of rashing rings, and cut most of the burnt/ nutty aroma out of the first run. I then made a little modification by cutting 10mm copper tube into lengths, running the full length of the column. I then ran it through a second time, this time through my Copper pipes and removed some Aniseed flavours off the back end after cutting the first run to 30%ABV with filtered water and charging the boiler, I did need to run a little hotter like this, but not as hot as with no packing at all.
It is so smooth and carries absolutely no burn and more of the fruit aromas too. Just thought I'd share my modification with you in case you fancied having a play for yourself and a possible video? I'd love to hear your thoughts as I'm only a beginner with 5 runs under my belt, thought it might emulate the more classic flavours produced in a copper still, it's also a relatively cheap way to get a huge surface area of copper into the column.
Regards Mack
Excellent.George👍
Hello George Love your vids hope your well and love see you do some more vids soon
George, your encouragement to distill got me started. Keep up the great videos. Just for the record, acetobacter is a bacteria, not a virus.
Oops. You got me. You are right it is a bacteria and not a virus.
I miss spoke (again)
Thanks
George
I found the turbo 500 hard to control as the temp in the column temp changes even with the pump it did a good job but had to babysit it but thank you for all your help through thee years norm
You can remove the reflux totally and make it closer to a pot still...do this:
- at the top, disconnect the tube that goes from the spirit cooler back into the column
- remove the "water return" tubing on the column (the one from which you measure the temperature)
- connect that tubing to the loose end from the top tubing and guide that to the sink or wherever you drain your water
in their manual, Still Spirits have instructions on how to make this still to distill water...it is the same process. You don't reflux water distillation.
That's it! now you only have a cooler on the spirit and no reflux going to the tower. The tricky part is that because of how this still was designed you really don't have a good temperature measurement, but hey do it like the old timers did it! they never looked at any gauges, they smelled and tasted the product ;). However in this case, expect that you will have 80-120 proof and not the 170 that George shows here
Happy distilling, to you to George.
Hope you are healthy & doing well. We miss you , your vast knowledge and common sense presentations . I certainly hope that you are not done with sharing your time with us, it has been quite a while since you've made an appearance here.
There is a bunch of great and helpful information in my head put there by you 🙏on behalf of everyone who feels the same thank you for that.
I will be keeping an eye out for a new video, till then 🍻 happy distilling brother.
I’ve did some research- George died a while ago. I just found his videos 4 months ago. I enjoy him.
Good sanitation and a good airlock keeps the nasties away. My concern is the wild yeast on the fruit skin, brettanomyces, diastaticus etc. Though I suppose a healthy pitch of your preffered yeast will out compete the wild ones.
I have been wondering about running a reflux design as a pot still, thanks George.👍
Central Gulf Coast Gearheads I run my bike as a pot still more often than as a reflux. Never had any issues with it. Just don’t pack it
Thanks George, you just saved me almost 300 Euros.
I looked around on the internet and found some information that pertains to my particular issue and I went ahead and got my first batch started. Wish me luck
Best of luck to you sir.
George
Hi George can I ask a question? I’ve used an old ‘Still Spirits’ reflux still and just moved up to the T500. On my old still I always wrap an old sleeping blanket round the ‘boiler’ body to cut down heat loss. Is this practice going to harm my new T500 boiler body or harm the spirit coming over? Many thanks from the UK
I really like yall's videos. I'm lookin into making some wine myself at home but I wanted to do a little research first so I've got a kindof guidebook. I haven't made any yet and I know there's bound to be some trial and error involved (I wouldn't have it any other way) but it's just nice to know when I need technical data or pointers I've got somewhere to find the info.
I was really wanting to start with some cranberry cause I've got several 340ml bottles of Ocean Spray liquid concentrate just sitting around but I don't really know how to calculate sugar and yeast to juice ratio of liquid concentrate. Can y'all help me out?
George thank you so much for spending the time to share your knowledge. I will be putting my order in very soon. Tell ray you got one more sale on the way. I could go to Amazon for most of what I need. But Amazon does not have George doing great videos now do they?
LOL
Thanks
George
Hi George.. another nice video..
Just want to ask..when you distill the wine..did you remove the foreshots and heads.?..
Thank you..
It can’t happen because during fermentation it creates a layer of CO2 over the sugar wash. The CO2 is 50% heavier than air.
The only way to create vinegar is to.
Remove that protective lay and introduce oxygen into the must or sugar wash.
Hi George.
In your expert opinion; How would you rate the result, after the required aging of a few months of course, to what you would get from the same mash with a classic pot still in terms of carryover of taste and fruit flavors? Perhaps in % points, how would you describe it? 70%, 80% or 90% similar? An 80%- 90% similar result to a pot still would be very satisfactory, I would say. Thanks!
Great video once again! Have you thought about aging any of it possible on oak to see if you can get a cognac style? I know it's make with wine but could be nice.
I have a few plans for this one. It is almost too good to mess with but I'll try anyway.
George
Barley and Hops Brewing I hear ya. Maybe a future video. We all sure appreciate all you do for the community.
Great video. One question. Did you remove the packing from the column to make it run like a pot still? Thanks!
Yes I did.
George
George you’ve mentioned fruits contain higher levels of methanol and other ugly stuff in the 148-170 head range that you don’t want to drink, do you still recommend 50ml per gallon of wash for fore-shots and then double that for heads? Happy distilling!
what about a pineapple wash...will it work
YOU GOT 80%ABV. Oh Man, George, that will teach me for not subscribing 2 years ago. Do you remember the flow rate?
would the vinegar be food grade?
Great vid George. I have a T500 Alembic still. It does not have a reflux column. Now I want to do the opposite to what you are doing, I want to do a vodka run and then attempt to do a gin run. Do I use it with the alembic dome or use the T500 with the flat lid with the condense attached of the initial stripping run. After seeing your earlier vid on gin making, got me interested in trying to make some gin.
You will not be successful at gin or vodka with the alembic dome. You will need to use the column.
George
Barley and Hops Brewing George, why is that? I’m new , have done gin with Alembic dome with botanical basket attachment. Came out nice. Should I also buy the reflux column to go with the T-500?
The T500 is made with too many plastic parts to run hot for pot still use. Any one of them at the top could deform and leak.
Did you use wine yeast or distilling yeast? Does it take any additional steps to remove the yeast before distilling? Thanks for your videos
Whatever yeast you use you need to let it settle out before distilling it.
What is his opening song??
#Happydistilling
Any one else notice the orb at 9:34 look above his right side it comes down and goes down on his shirt I was watching very closely and saw it. Am I crazy?
WOW!. I didn't see that during editing.
George
When i make whiskey from barley or corn. Its always 180 and tastes like hell is this what i should do?
If you don't cut it you will always have that taste.
Yeah George tried calling you yesterday regarding a really odd topic.
Try again Sunday almost anytime 254-681-1760
Will do thank you Sir.
Hi George I have a t500 and i have read that you should not try to run the T500 without packing because the top plastic peace can weakin and start to leak is that right or wrong
I haven't had that problem
Ok Thanks
can you explain more in detail what you have removed from the coume as i want the flavour in my mash to come out in the end, its you only said you removed something did u remove everything from the colume or not
I did.
George
thanks for that i had an air-still but u hAD TO BUY F;LAVOURINGS AS IT STRIPPED IT OUT i want to make brandies and gin but did not want to use flavorings i want to infuse it and from what u say i can do this by not putting and saddles or copper in the condensor tube so i shud have some flavour as the end product witch is what i was after@@BarleyandHopsBrewing
Hi George i am curious to make brandy first make a wine but after it is made into wine does the mash get more yeast before distillng?
No, there is no need to ferment anymore
thanks George
George did you put anything in the column? I have thought about purchasing the 500 but i was unsure of how it ran as pot still
You can get different towers and attachments for the T500 like the Alembic pot still that works well for pot still mode. Even if you get the copper or stainless T500 reflux tower, you can still take out the stainless saddles packed inside to get a little more flavor carry over
Do you have one of the T500?
I removed all the saddles from the column. Runs a little hotter but in my opinion much better when you are trying to retain flavor.
George
No, but i work for a distillery equipment manufacturer and have played around with it a bit. I think it's a pretty user friendly system to play around with.
Is it ok to use yeast nutrients in my mash with distillers yeast
Yes.
I recommend it.
George
Thanks
If your yeast did their job right there is nothing left in the mash for anything to eat.
Depends on water content, its possible for alchohol % to become too high for the yeast before all sugar is consumed. All depends on your recipe.
Exactly
What yeast did you use with your with your fruit mash?
I used distillers active dry yeast
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing how much per 5gal of ground fruit?
nice to true never go over 167 proof cause you lose flavors...
How much can I buy your PID controller for a 2000 watt 120 volt heater?
They are $185 (free shipping) for the base model. Email me at george.duncan76@gmail.com and I can send you an invoice you can pay on line if you are interested. I can also send a few photos of different models.
George
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing thank you very much. I am just setting up and I will be buying one from you in the next week or two. I love your video's and have been studying all you teach. I love your channel and your way of teaching. I am disabled and this is going to be my hobby and I am going for quality and your sight out of many I've seen is the best for every avenue a person could take to make fine wine and spirits. Thank you very much.
Excellent. Email me when you are ready at george.duncan76@gmail.com
@@BarleyandHopsBrewing I'd like one too but I'm in the uk
Hey George-When are you going to do a video on making mead? I’d like to see your take on it in the fastfermenter.
I'm not much of a mead guy but will add it to the list of videos to do.
George
What amount of sugar should I add for a just sugar wash with 2 gallons of water using high alcohol yeast? Any help is appreciated
2 1/2 to 3 LBS should do it.
Have you ever made . Schnapps
Not yet
Dang that's crazy hooking that to your city water lol talking about a water bill ,dang youed be better off to just buy the liquor lmao
honestly at a trickle it dont impact much. at least to me. i will run my 13 gallon and use my tap. maybe $10 a month increase
a grain based ferment can easily smell like a puke if you wait for too long before distilling
Funny, I haven't had that problem and I've let it sit for months before running it.
pnyhgh Do you have heated the grain, or boiled the liquid with it? If not, this can the reason, because there are many kinds of bacteria on the grain and they likes the nutrients in the mash like the yeast ;)
keep throwing fruit in it will turn...But I'm sure u know that.
Well I reckon I'll have to either comment on a more recently made video so there's a better chance my comment will be seen or I can just give it a shot
Thomas, did I somehow miss a comment from you? It's possible but I hope not.
Please feel free to comment anytime on any video. They all end up here on my community page.
George
Barley and Hops Brewing hey George, yeah it's the comment right below this one.
Barley and Hops Brewing I've watched several of y'all's videos and even though this particular one was on Brandy I was thinking about the cranberry wine I was wanting to make. That's why the comment doesn't match the subject of the video
That's okay. We take all comments regardless of which video they show up under.
George
Trump 2020
Now, that would make a very nasty tasting brandy. Poor little Grey Grim is dazed & confused. He thinks this is a political channel.
redstone1999 shut up you liberal prick
I love your videos, but you talk toooo much. You give slot of useless info like a science teacher