Some ferments will get a good 6-8 inch head in them probably more so with beer brewing not so much with wine I believe and probably less for mash with cold break, spent yeast and such it can get sticky and messy I think a I inch ID in a 6 gallon carbon is about right for a tight fit
2 Likes
The foil wrap. It’s insulation wrap to help keep the heat in the pot. That way it uses less propane to run a batch.
When running copper you should/must run the alcohol through activated carbon to get copper and other impurities from the distillate. I was amazed on how much the copper mesh I use in the column was eaten away. It’s some corrosive sht.
NEVER USE ALUMINUM in any part of the proses!!!
3 Likes
Why?
Im using an aluminum pressure cooker pot for the boiler in my homemade still???
That was the impression I got. Its the bear guys who have the huge heads of foam. The fuel/moonshine guys not so much. Plus, the yeast Im using isnt as wildly active as some of the others.
LOL Im screwed on this for sure now!! 
2 Likes
a quick google says its safe??
1 Like
google is not your friend. Aluminum is one of the main factors of Alzheimer’s
5 Likes
Sorry. That has been debunked many many times.
IIRC, The only time you do not want to use aluminum is when you are cooking/marinating/etc something acidic.
2 Likes
Yes, but its still not unsafe.
Just one of dozens of similar results.
Lightweight aluminum is an excellent heat conductor, but it’s also highly reactive with acidic foods such as tomatoes, vinegar, and citrus. Cooking these in aluminum can alter the food’s flavor and appearance and leave the pan with a pitted surface. In our tests, we detected an unpleasant metallic taste in tomato sauce and lemon curd cooked in aluminum pots.
The amount of aluminum that leaches into food, however, is minimal. In lab tests, tomato sauce that we cooked in an aluminum pot for two hours and then stored in the same pot overnight was found to contain only .0024 milligrams of aluminum per cup. (A single antacid tablet may contain more than 200 milligrams of aluminum.) Our science editor reports that the consensus in the medical community is that using aluminum cookware poses no health threat.
In short: While untreated aluminum is not unsafe, it should not be used with acidic foods, which may ruin both the food and the cookware. Also note that aluminum cookware that has been anodized (hardened through a process that renders it nonreactive) or clad in a nonreactive material, such as stainless steel or a nonstick coating, does not leach into or react with foods.
1 Like
I have a new bucket and three O-ring sealing lids from Home Depot, but no sugar. All the stores I tried today were super packed with almost no parking left in the lots. I cant risk that kind of close contact. Gonna try early in the AM.
3 Likes
Good luck, stay safe. Get a proper air lock as well 
2 Likes
Thanks man!
I just got the new 5 gallon bucket started and sealed the lid about 5 minutes ago. Its already bubbling in my DIY airlock.
Turns out the lack of seal last time was user error - I forgot to remove the strip from the lid!
I have a 1/2 qt clear glass mason jar. I drilled several holes in the lid. One of them is a tight fit for the rubber tubing Im using to go into the Home Depot lid. The rubber tube stickes down maybe 3/4" into the water in the jar.
So far, its bubbling a short stream every 4-5 seconds or so.
I followed the same recipe I listed above with the same boiled yeast as food for the live yeast. This time I re-hydrated the yeast before boiling it. I figured why not let them multiply and make a few million babies before killing them off 
Im starting harvest on my current grow tonight. Im going to let the buds dry a bit before processing, plus only one of the two surviving plants is ready, so I have some time to let this go.
My fingers are crossed!
2 Likes
its been 24 hours and the brew is going nicely - almost steady stream of bubbles.
Im not going to do any more up-dates for a while, but will report back on the final results.
Stay well my friends.
1 Like
You too Larry, I hope it’s a successful run for you man🤘
Yeah are doing this the hardest way possible. No need for yeast food or any of that mess. Take a step back in time and use old proven ways. You don’t even need the yeast if you can’t get it. Use a simple corn recipe. Go to your local feed store and buy a big bag of feed corn or seed corn, you don’t want cracked corn. Coarse grind a few lbs and take a few handfuls and last it out on a damp sheet and cover with another damp sheet. Boil a couple gallons water, add ground corn and some sugar, let cool. Now once your corn has thrown out a root but before any green shows grind and add to the mix. Throw cheese cloth over your bucket so bugs don’t get in and in 5-7 days you have ready to run mash. The malted corn takes the place of yeast. If you don’t want the trouble of malting corn use Brewers yeast or champagne yeast you won’t need the yeast food as that’s what the corn does. Family been doing it like this for decades upon decades with success. You know the old saying if it ain’t broke don’t fix it lol anyway whatever method you choose may it be successful for you
8 Likes
There is something to be said for that theory - if it aint broke, etc.
However, I tend towards using the highest tech I can afford. I find it often saves time and works better.
For example, traveling across the country by covered wagon or going to the grocery store by horse and buggy, or sending mail by Pony Express is just not that efficient.
Also, things like using leaches, and ‘bleeding’ people to treat illness isnt that much fun either. Takes a lot longer to get well.
Sorry. I know Im making fun of what you said. Im not saying your ideas are bad. I know they work fine.
They are just more trouble than I want to go to. I dont have any corn or corm meal or cheese cloth or the other ingredients you mentioned on hand. I do have a bunch of cheap yeast and sugar. That seems to be working great now that I have some idea of how to do it correctly.
The bucket is still bubbling like mad after 48 hours.
2 Likes
Go ahead be an ass and make fun of old methods. We see where all the tech has gotten you, failure after failure. Sometimes high tech isn’t the best way, especially when there are methods that have been used for hundreds of years with success. Those that try and reinvent the wheel usually end up with, yup that’s right a round wheel only takes way longer to get there.
They still use leeches to this day in medicine as well as maggots simple because technology can’t solve everything. So when your poor attempt at making fun of someone’s old methods falls sorry l short as what you mentioned is still used to this day.
Oh good grief. Surely you have to know that pulling the “older is better” “anything new or hi tech is bad” card is going to get some push back?
I guess you missed the part where I said sorry for teasing you? The little smiley face at the end? And that I knew perfectly well that your methods worked just fine? And the part where I listed all the different reasons why I cant do it your way? Like I dont have the ingredients and dont want to spend the extra money or risk a trip to the store?
As far as the “hi tech” Im using here - there is nothing new or hi tech here at all. People have been brewing with just sugar and yeast for about as long as they have been doing it your way. I didnt invent any of this “new” brewing. Its being used very successfully all over the world - including big business to make fuel alcohol.
In fact, the way Im doing it is the simplest, lowest “tech” way I have found. It uses the least amount of ingredients and the least amount of prep time to get the maximum amount of alcohol. Far simpler, faster, cheaper, and easier than what you proposed.
On a final note - it happens to be working just fine now that I know exactly what my yeast wants, and Im not adding toxic copper into the mix. The critical thiing with this yeast is keeping it warm enough. Its been 4 days and its still bubbling strongly. I fully expect this to end up just fine.
P.S. I just realized you and I have tangled before. Im tired of fighting with people, so Im adding you to my ignore list. Id suggest you do the same for me.
4 Likes
Most of you know this stuff already, so this is just s summary for other newbies like me.
Ive been doing more reading and unfortunately, watching videos about fermenting “sugar wash”. Turns out its easier to find information if you have the correct name to search for. Good grief I HATE watching videos where they try to entertain you. Wastes soooo much time!
Anyway, what I have been wanting to ferment is called “sugar wash” by most folks. That just means its made from sugar and water - with or without yeast nutrients.
The highest sugar content I have seen is about 2.5 lb of sugar to 1 gallon of water for a starting specific gravity of around 1.11. That should get you a final ABV of around 17%. I only found a few doing batches at higher specific gravitys.
Most seem to prefer a lower starting specific gravity with closer to 1.095 or around 2 lb per gallon. That should get you around 14% ABV. Thats where Im at now.
On yeasts: For higher alcohol content washes, Distillers Active Dry Yeast, or DADY yeast, seems to be the most popular. Several people have said that Turbo Yeast is just DADY yeast with added nutrients to speed it up. I have no clue about other yeasts like Champaign yeast, etc.
As far as yeast nutrients - the results are mixed about 70/30 in favor as far as if its needed for doing a sugar wash. Ive seen several “experiments” that showed nutrients didnt do much at all, and others that show it works moderately well and speeds things up - anywhere from slightly faster to super fast. If you are selling brewing supplies, it is a must have!
So far no one seems to think adding nutrients will hurt anything, so why not?
Boiling yeast to make your own nutrients is very popular. The consensus seems to be that that is almost as effective as commercial nutrients, but a little slower on average. Of course its much cheaper.
The other key thing about DADY yeast is temperature. It really likes to be warm. Ive seen recommendations that say to keep the wash in the hi 70’s F to as hi as the hi 80’s F. It can survive up to well over 100 F, but most recommend keeping it a little below 100F when re-hydrating it. Im re-hydrating at 95F and keeping my wash at around 80F during the fermentation.
On re-hydrating yeast - that also has mixed reviews. Maybe 70/30 that its not needed - just toss the yeast into the bucket and be done. I am doing it because it seems to start the action in the bucket much faster if you re-hydrate first. The bubbling starts within minutes instead of an hour or longer. It takes a total of about 20 minutes to do it, so why not.
Im on day 5 and the bubbling is slowing down. Its now about 3 to 4 seconds between bubble streams instead of under 1 second. I decided to get a hydrometer that measure specific gravity of the wash. If Amazon is on time, it will get here on day 7
6 Likes
Just for the record - unless you are really really broke, or a cheap ass, or both (like me) or are already into brewing, or really want to start brewing - just go buy some Ever Clear and be done with it.
This is a monumental amount of extra time and trouble. As @ReikoX said above - time is money.
The only thing saving me at this point is I am super bored on covid lock down, and this gives me something to do - sit around and count bubbles! LOL!!
7 Likes
Actually having copper in your still removes the sulfides from the alcohol but you already knew that work your supreme knowledge. There is a reason every liquor still on the planet used to make drinking alcohol has copper in it somewhere if not made from copper. Only toxic if you vaporize it
2 Likes