well after reading the “im a dad thread” thread i realised that there are a lot of rednecks floating around, so i figured plenty of people would know about home brewing. im just curious of peoples experiences and any advice on the topic (be sensible and im not an idiot).
don’t cook up home-brew in the bath you use for washing your bike, it tastes like ass.
Yuppies would be more into home brewing beer than red necks. If your talking about running a still, your demographics are off: There probably aren’t any shiners on this forum.
I do home brew - its one of my favourite hobbies - creating combinations that seem wierd but taste good!
Two of my best is a Chocolate Leatherwood Mahogany Porter and a Dark Wheat Beer.
I dont think im a yuppie or a redneck - far from them IMO.
I cannot comment on shining as it is illegal in my country.
Sorry about that. It struck me wrong when he made the redneck comment, although being from Brisbane he may not realize calling people rednecks could be considered an insult. I answered a wrong with another wrong. Anyhoo, the young feller would be better served staying away from drinking… And it’s hard to hide a still and the smell of the mash.
Its legal to own a 5l one… apparently it doesnt smell too much if you dont use spuds…
But anyway, i have only been told this so i think the topic should change to beer unless people from where its legal to distill want to comment.
Peace.
youo can ride a bike???
Since when did you tast ass to know what it tasts like? 
im thinking of using golden syrup to make a weird kinda rum. Then using a stovetop espresso maker as the still. should work ok. as for the recipe, 150g sugar(8 spoons of golden syrup), 600ml water, 2g yeast. the plan is to have it fit in a 600ml bottle. should get around 14% alcohol, so if all goes well 10%. sadly i cant find oak for colour/flavour so im stuck with caramel.
Yuk!
I thought you were talking about home brewing, that implies making beer.
I did home brewing multiple times, with malt (barley and wheat), hops, and yeast. No kit.
Tastes awesome.
But when I read what you have in mind, I get really frightened.
you have to show me this sometime gabe
Dodgy method, if you want a still buy a proper one.
Also, why do you need a still to create something that is only 10-14%??? you can ferment up to 20%.
You may get lucky and be able to buy a 5 gallon wooden barrel from a vintner supply. The big Bourbon and straight whiskey (there is a difference) distillers in the US use their barrels only once and usually resell them to Scotch distilleries but they also sell them to the common folk. The problem with that though is a lot of them are maple barrels that were scorched allowing the sugars in the wood to add flavor, and they are full sized barrels. Then again, the point is well taken that distilling gives ya a heck of a lot more boost than 10 or 14%. That and you aren’t legal age.
Yeah, buying a whole barrel probs isnt gonna happen. can you imagine trying to explain that? someone:“why do you have a barrel in your room?”
me:"…no reason"
i could charr some oak but i cant be bothered atm, caramel will do fine. As for fermenting, apparently up to aprox 58% can be achieved. im doing 14% because that is a recipe that other people have had success with. ive just scaled it down a bit.
When the alcohol concentration hits 20% it will kill the yeast, stopping it from fermenting any more. Anythign stronger than 20% is created by distillation, which is a prety simple process, but requires some fairly trick glassware.
100% correct, however with the right yeast it has been said that 22% is obtainable.
Not needed to be glass… most stills are stainless steel.
As for the original topic, he stated he wants to make a still from a expresso maker… i am still curious as to why he thinks he needs this to only obtain 14%?
How do i know what i know when it is illegal? I was thinking of doing some distilling a while ago and did quite a bit of research on the subject and spoke to a few people that were already doing it.
Fair dos, I’ve only approached this stuff from studying chemistry, distilling using the ol’ Liebig condenser. Anyone know if it’s legal to distill in the UK?
For those of you who are of legal age,The best all purpose reference for running a still is in the Fox Fire Book volume 1.
I have to say, you’re all over the map on this one. One one hand you’re talking about distillation, and on the other hand your talking about brewing up something that’s only 14%. Either way, if you’re underage, you should stay away from doing anything like this. The best way to mess up your young life is by getting involved with drinking.