Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi All Greeting from the Northern suburbs,

I have recently (last 6 months) started brewing spirits using a still spirit t500 with condenser on a 25 ltr boiler. I have not made beer or anything similar previously so it is all a big learning curve. I have found the forum to be a great source of knowledge and experience, and it has been a great help.

I have been making spirit using the turbo yeasts and essences, and have decided that the flavours are not to my liking. Having come across the forum, i have started with a Tomato Paste Wash, based on the recommendations on the forum and am now a convert. My days of using turbo yeast are now officially over.

My goal is to make whiskey, that is drinkable and complex. So I have started with the Nutrigrain recipe and also with some distilled old redwine to see what I can do with that is showing promise after a couple of trips through the pot still.

Im based in Melbourne in the northern suburbs and hope this is a hobby that goes well with my other passion of fly fishing.

Cheers Bob..

Welcome bob. Consider a pot still if its brown spirits your after :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Plus one to what Bluc said Bob.

Welcome to the rabbit hole mate, definitely explore the pot still options mate as this will keep the flavour in the spirit rather than strip it out like a reflux still (t500) does to get the higher ABV

Thanks Guy’s for the nice welcome

I agree, with you on the pot still. I have packed up the t500 reflux and am now using the alembic pot still on top of my still spirit boiler. The neutral spirits particularly the turbo yeasts whilst producing lots of alcohol, had a nasty bitterness and strong ethonol note which I didn’t like so I’m not going back there. The TPW neutral I found much superior and also cheaper.

I am trying the nutrigrain wash at the moment (3 generations ( 6*25ltr washes) 150 litres in, and have just started to lay it down on different oak profiles. I like the challenge of the brown liquids and will hopefully move to a full grain mash over the next year once I get some experience and time on the aging, oaking and flavour profiles and can brave the next batch of knowledge on grains and malting. As this appears to be an art all in itself requiring lots of experimenting. I have found a tasting wheel which, has given me some guidance on how to approach tasting and sampling which is giving me some better insights so that’s been good also.

The forum has been fantastic as i have found it hard to find any detailed information of any consistency or breadth on the internet. Whilst the forum has lots of information and interpretations and time invested into recipes and technique making it easier to get through the learning curve.

So thank you again for the welcome and also for assisting in keeping the forum so current and well structured its a gold mine of knowledge

Cheers Bob2

Bob you will discover that even without going full all grain and simply using the grain for flavour, such as with the bourbon whiskey knock off recipe that different grains give different flavours and effects. For example I swapped out the wheat in the BWKO for rye. I was chasing the peppery effect of the rye. I got the peppery taste but lost the mouth feel , fullness effect of the wheat. It is really noticeable after a year so like everything you do in distilling it is all about hurry up and wait to quote the moonshiners. Oh and don’t believe a bloody th8ng they do on tha5 show lol

Welcome Bob2, seems like you are already well on your way to making a quality drop.

Its funny when you hear people talking about turbo washes then they try a proper wash and they have that Oh yeah moment. Most of us have been there :laughing-rolling: