Manage Temperature Carefully – Just the right amount of heat needs to be added to a still for it to function properly. If too much heat is added, liquid will boil up into the column and puke into the collection vessel, causing distillate to turn cloudy.
- If too little heat is added, the distillation process will take much longer than it should.
- To determine how much heat to add, a distiller typically monitors still output to get a sense for what level of output corresponds with cloudy distillate.
- They log the temperature input details and always remain below this level.
Note, the total volume of liquid added to a still will have an impact. A still that is overfilled will be more likely to puke.
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Why did my moonshine come out cloudy?
Solution #4 – Let your yeast settle – Once the yeast is done fermenting, it will settle down to the bottom of your fermentation pot. If you do not allow sufficient time for the yeast to naturally settle, some of it may get into the still, causing cloudy shine.
- Yeast Selection for Grain, Fruit and Sugar – A great guide for selecting the correct yeast for your fruit or grain mash or sugar wash.
- How to Correct For Temperature When Measuring Proof of Alcohol – This is especially important when diluting alcohol for consumption.
- Still Plans with Gin Basket – If you want to make gin here’s a free set of plans to build your own gin basket and still,
If you’ve got any questions or would like to add something to this article please drop us a comment below. We love it when you guys ask questions we’ll do our best to answer them. Feel free to also join our Facebook group it’s a great place to share ideas and ask questions.
What temperature do you stop distilling moonshine?
How to Monitor Temperature – The temperature of your still varies in different spots. There are three key places on your still where you should monitor the temperature – the pot boiler, the top of the column, and the condenser coil. The temperature inside the pot boiler will tell you about the boiling liquid in the mash.
Eep it increasing, maintaining a range of 175 – 195 degrees Fahrenheit for as long as possible. Turn off the heat when it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature at the top of the column will tell you about your alcohol vapor as it begins to condense. Monitor this temperature, watching for an excess of 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
If it becomes overheated, turn down your heat. 
It is especially important to use a built-in thermometer at the top of the column in a large column still Keep an eye on the touch-temperature of your condenser coil. The coil should be kept cool to the touch, with cold running water or ice packs. If it reaches room temperature, decrease the heat on your still and pack more ice on the coil.
What causes cloudy homebrew?
Understanding the Problem – The most common causes of cloudy beer are hazes formed of proteins and tannins along with having lots of yeast in suspension. Filtering handles both of these readily. Starch haze is another possibility, which arises if your mash didn’t finish conversion.
If this is a regular problem for you, you should focus on improving your mash process and consider using an iodine test to check for conversion. On the other hand, if you’re only seeing it with wheat or rye beers, that cloudiness comes with the territory. Finally, a bacterial infection can also present a cloudy beer, but the appearance is less of an issue than the flavor.
Replace your plastic gear like hoses and buckets, and focus on improving your sanitation.
What makes a drink hazy?
What makes them hazy? – Traditionally if you poured a glass of beer and it appeared opaque or hazy, there was a problem with the brew. Most homebrewers don’t filter out the yeast and make the beer cloudy. In other situations, it could be a sign the beer has bacteria growth and has “gone bad.” However, the haziness in a NEIPA is intentional. There are many contributing factors to its appearance:
Dry-hopping. Dry-hopping or “late edition hopping” means the hops are added either very late in fermentation or after fermentation has concluded. Brewers use hops high in tropical and fruity aromas to counteract the otherwise bitter taste of an IPA, and the dry-hopping method helps retain those flavors. Because they are added late in the process, the molecules don’t break down as much and will contribute to the cloudiness. Proteins and polyphenols. That sounds like a mouthful, but it’s a simple concept. Proteins are derived from the malts used, such as oats and wheat. Polyphenols are the aromatic chemical compounds that make fruits and plants smell good. This beer contains polyphenols from the dry hops (as “hop oils”) discussed above and any added fruit or citrus adjuncts. When proteins and polyphenols come together, they bind together and create a “colloidal haze” that isn’t water-soluble and appears opaque. Unfiltered process. Many commercial beers are filtered to give them a crisp taste and light feel. Hazy IPAs are not. Instead, the haziness gives it the qualities brewers are striving to achieve. Yeast. Yes, some of the yeast in the beer does contribute to the haze. Different yeasts react differently after fermentation. After eating the sugars, some yeasts will flocculate or clump together and sink to the bottom. Others will remain more suspended throughout the liquid. The type of yeast selected by the brewer is related to the taste they are trying to achieve, and if it has a low flocculation quality, there will be more haze to the final product.
