What temperature do I run my still at? Different stills run at different temperatures, and if in doubt you should check with the manufacturer/supplier of your particular brand of still. However majority of stills are designed to run similarly. The temperature that ethyl alcohol boils off at is 78C-82C and therefore if your still has a temperature gauge in the top of the condenser (usually in a rubber bung situated at the top) it should run between 78C-82C (with 78C being ideal).
If your still has a water outlet thermometer to gauge the temperature, it usually sits between 50C-65C (dependant on the brand of still). For an Essencia Express Condenser (or Essencia water outlet thermometer used with any still) the temperature is 50C-55C. With a Turbo 500 Condenser, the water outlet temperature should sit between 55C-65C (with 60C being the ideal).
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Contents
What is the best temperature for still alcohol?
Ideal cooling water outlet temperature should be between 55-65°C (131-149°F) to give you the best possible quality of alcohol.
What temperature is mash in Celsius?
What Happens During Mashing – In the mash there are many enzymes that can be taken advantage of. Enzymes in the mash are not only responsible for the conversion of starch, but also to help lower pH, break down gums and proteins, and help produce yeast nutrients.
| Enzyme | Temperature Range | Preferred pH | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phytase | 86-126°F (30-52 ° C) | 5.0-5.5 | Also called the “Acid Rest”, it used to be used to lower the mash’s pH, but it has been discontinued with the proper use of water chemistry, |
| Debranching | 95-113°F (35-45 ° C) | 5.0-5.8 | Helps to increase the solubility of starches resulting in increased extraction for certain malts. This enzyme breaks down the 1-6 links in starches. |
| Beta Glucanase | 95-113°F (35-45 ° C) | 4.5-5.5 | Working within the same temperature range as debranching, this enzyme is best at breaking down gums. |
| Peptidase | 113-131°F (45-55 ° C) | 4.6-5.3 | Peptidase breaks down the smaller amino acid chains released by proteinase, but only works from the ends, releasing yeast nutrients such as Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN). |
| Protease | 113-131°F (45-55 ° C) | 4.6-5.3 | This is ” protein rest ” breaks up large proteins that form haze. |
| Beta Amylase | 131-150°F (55-66 ° C) | 5.0-5.5 | The final enzymatic process involves the conversion of starches into dextrins and fermentable sugars. The starches must be gelatinized for this to take place. |
| Alpha Amylase | 154-162°F (68-72 ° C) | 5.3-5.7 | Temperatures above 155 ° F favor this enzyme, producing a more dextrinous wort, which is less fermentable and results in a fuller body. |
The most common temperature for mashing is 152 °F (67 ° C). At this temperature there is a good mix of both Beta- and Alpha-Amylase enzymatic activity that extracts the highest amount of fermentable sugars.
What temperature is mash out in Celsius?
Mashout – Mashout is the term for raising the temperature of the mash to 77 °C (170 °F). This stops the enzymatic conversion of starches to fermentable sugars, and makes the mash and wort more fluid. Mashout is considered especially necessary if there is less than 3 liters of water per kilogram of grain (3 pints of water per pound of grain), or if the grain is more than 25% wheat or oats,
What temp does 70% alcohol burn at?
Get medical attention if symptoms appear. Flammability of the Product: Flammable. Auto-Ignition Temperature: 399°C (750.2°F) Flash Points: CLOSED CUP: 11.667°C (53°F) – 12.778 deg.
What happens if you mash out too long?
can you mash to long? some of the recipes call for 45min mash. at 154 degrees.but i will mash 25 min longer to make sure i converted all the starch to sugars.does that hurt the mash at all? The purpose of the mash is to allow you, the brewer, to present the sugar profile you desire in the fermenter to make the beer you designed.
At 45 min starch conversion is (almost, don’t worry about it) always converted to sugar, “Conversion” complete. After conversion the enzymes are still hard at work breaking long chain (non-fermentable) sugars into short chain (fermentable) sugars. All this action is controlled mostly by temp and time.
The 154F mash temp indicates that you wish to make a beer that has a residual sweetness. The “extra” 25 minutes will tend to lessen this somewhat, and there is nothing wrong with that!!! I have mashed beers for 4 hrs, some brewers mash overnight. There is really no hurting the mash, there is really no “wrong” way there are different actions that change the character of the resulting beer.
- The bottom line is how does the beer taste? Fred I agree 100%.
- There is no single best way to mash, sparge, lauter, boil, cool, or ferment.
- Some of your options are relatively fixed, and depend on the equipment you have, and the true variables depend on the beer you want to create with that batch.
- The only way you can mash for too long is if you let it go sour.
This will generally happen within 24-48 hours. But with a large mash (the one I am talking about was 2,400lbs) I have seen it happen in as little as 8 hours. So unless you’re making Jack Daniels, don’t let it sit for too, too long. Darin In food service they say that the “Danger Zone” is between 40 and 140 degrees, and anything kept at such temperatures for more than four hours is to be suspect.
- Eep it under four hours and you should be OK.
- As long your tempreture is within a few degrees of your desired temp (154) then time shouldn’t matter.
- If the recipe is calling for 45 minutes and you were to mash for 70 just to feel like you are sure then I say run with it.
- Remember, it is your recipe now bummer.
lol. I talked to a brewer at Stone Brewing Company, and he told me that they tried starting the lauter immediately after mash in was complete on a batch of Arrogant Bastard. He told me that they got nearly the exact same efficiency as with a 45 minute mash schedule.
I’ve never tried this myself, but I have gone with a 30 minute mash with no problems. Darin What about mashing overnight? If I want a full bodied beer and I mash in at 156-158 and then go to bed and wake up the next morning to finish up, assuming the mash didn’t fall below 140 what will that do to the character of the beer and is there a problem with letting it rest for 8 hours? I think I know based on my thread from yesterday and Fred’s answers but I’d like to see if mashing overnight is really a viable option? thanks WR There are many brewers that mash overnight, and going below 140F is not the end of the world.
There are many, many bugs on the grain, but nothing will grow in beer that will kill you, has to do with the pH of beer. My suggestion is to try it and see what you get, adjust your process from there. Fred Going below 140 isn’t the end of the world, but it does invite contamination.
- I will never mash overnight because I prefer a low bodied beer from a mash that is between 145 and 150.
- Such mashes, overnight, without properly insulated equipment, invite infection.
- I suppose if you have a well insulated mash tun, and you want a full bodied beer, that starting a mash in the high 150s and leaving it overnight would leave a full bodied mash sitting in the 145 or so degree range with minimal bacteria growing in it.
I wouldn’t do it. Last two times I tried overnight mashing I ended up with foamy sour bacterial nastiness. : can you mash to long?
How do you calculate mash temperature?
An Example of Calulating Mash Temperature – Ok so with the above equations in mind let’s run through an actual calculation. Let’s say we are brewing a beer where we want the mash to sit at 67°C (152°F) for 60 minutes and then bring up the mash temperature to 74°C (165°F) to mash out.
The temperature of our grain is 18°C Using the initial infusion equation – Strike Water Temperature Tw = (0.41 / R)(T2 – T1) + T2 we would get the following. (0.41 / 2.5) x (67-18) + 67 = 75°C So we would need to heat our initial strike water to 75°C to hit our desired mash temperature of 67°C. Calculating the addition required to raise the temp to mash out We would then need to calculate how much of an addition of water is needed to hit the mash out temperature of 74°C.
We will also assume the mash has cooled a few degrees to 65°C, our grain bill is 4kg and initial mash liquor is 10 litres. If we add recently boiled water that has cooled to 95°C we will need to use the following equation – Wa = (T2-T1)(0.41G + Wm) / (Tw – T2) achieving the following (75 – 65) x (1.64 + 10) / (95 – 75) = 5.82 litres So we would add 5.83 litres of 95°C water to take the mash from 65°C to 75°C.
Can you mash at 140?
Step mashing developed because brewers sought a simpler, less expensive alternative to decoction mashing that still retained many of decoction’s benefits. In decoction mashing the brewer separates portions of the mash and heats them to increase the temperature of the entire mash.
- This increases enzyme activity and gives the brewer more control over body, alcohol content, and other characteristics of the finished beer than a single infusion mash provides.
- When most brewers refer to an infusion mash, they mean a single-temperature mash done to convert grain starch to sugar.
- Such a mash uses a single steep temperature between 150°F and 158° F, held for about 60 minutes.
A temperature program step mash involves simply increasing the temperature of the entire mash in a series of steps, without separating and heating portions of the mash. Steeping or Mashing? The way brewers use the word “infusion” may be a little confusing.
- Webster’s 1922 dictionary offers two definitions that apply to brewing.
- First, infusion is a process involving the pouring in or addition of a liquid (water) to some other substance (grain) to extract “the virtues” (sugar).
- Second, infusion is the steeping of some substance in liquid (the mash) without boiling.
Most brewers use the term infusion only for a single-temperature mash, some use it for mashes where temperature is raised through the addition of hot water, and others use it to mean any mash that isn’t a decoction. These differences aren’t critical, but it is important to know the difference between steeping and mashing.
Although steeping grain in hot water is by definition an infusion, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a mash. The dictionary definitions don’t reveal much about mashing malted grain, with no mention of the protein breakdown or the conversion of starch to sugar. When barley is processed by the maltster, enzymes in the grain break down the protein “wall” surrounding starch granules.
This breakdown is called modification and is allowed to continue until nearly complete. The makeup of protein in most malted grains used for brewing has been modified so the starch content is easily dissolved in the mash. If you steep the crushed grain in hot water at almost any temperature, all the “virtues” of the malt will dissolve.
Unfortunately, without careful control of the mash temperature, all you’ll get is dissolved starches and not the sugar you’re after. This is where enzymes come into the picture. Our Friends, the Enzymes The conversion of starch to sugar is a chemical process in which long chains of molecules are separated into shorter ones.
Even when all the right materials are present, sometimes chemical reactions just don’t happen. In many cases energy has to be supplied to get things going. In others, the presence of a substance called a catalyst will start the reaction. Substances that accelerate reactions but don’t participate in them are called catalysts.
You’ve heard of catalytic converters — they’re part of your car’s exhaust system. When hot exhaust gases pass through a container of platinum catalyst, smog-causing pollutants react with other exhaust gases and are broken down into less harmful pollutants. The converter may last the lifetime of the car — the catalyst it contains doesn’t go anywhere, doesn’t react chemically, and doesn’t get used up.
Think of enzymes as catalytic converters — that’s what they are! There are three major enzyme types of interest for brewers doing step mashes. Since each of these enzymes works best within a very narrow range of temperatures, trying to make each of the three happy during a mash program results in a three-temperature step mash.
Proteases, a group of a dozen or so enzymes that work best at an average of 122° F, assist in the breakdown of proteins into simpler proteins and amino acids. This enhances the beer’s clarity and adds important yeast nutrients. At 140° F beta amylase helps break down starch and dextrins into fermentable (maltose) sugars.
Finally, at 158° F alpha amylase helps the breakdown of starch into smaller dextrins, most of which are not fermentable. The amylases, together called diastase, give the brewer a source of control over beer body and dryness. One way to get this control is to mash at a compromise temperature somewhere between 140° F and 158° F to balance the activity of beta and alpha enzymes.
- Mashing closer to 140° F will give a dryer, light-bodied beer, while mashing closer to 158° F will give a fuller, sweeter, lower-alcohol beer.
- A second method is to perform two rests, one at 140° F and the other at 158° F, but to proportion the time spent between the two.
- Balancing beta and alpha activity with a single, well-selected saccharification rest (to convert starches into fermentable sugars) is an easier way to go when starting temperature program mashing.
In addition to having favorite temperatures, enzymes enjoy working in a fairly narrow range of wort acidity. The 95° F rest, called an acid rest, can be handy for brewers making very pale beers with alkaline water that would otherwise produce mashes with too low a pH.
At 90° to 115° F two other enzymes, phosphatase and beta glucanase, work to increase the acidity of the pale malt mashes and to break down gums found in under-modified grains such as flaked barley and traditional lager malt. If much dark grain is used, then an acid rest is probably not needed since dark grains, in general, help to acidify the mash.
(Also, a simple way to increase the acidity is to add calcium sulfate to the mash.) Why Temperature Program? Temperature program mashing is also called upward step, multi-step, or simply step infusion mashing. A total mash duration of 60 to 120 minutes is divided into two or more periods in which the mash temperature is raised and held during each successive period.
For example a 15 to 20 minute acid rest at 100° F is followed by a 30 minute protein rest at 122° F and finally the saccharification rest (for starch conversion) at 153° F for 40 minutes. This process will take longer than the sum of the rests because it takes time to raise the mash temperature from one rest to another.
Until you’ve done it a few times, you’ll miss your target rest temperatures and have to make adjustments. Plan for two hours (at least) for your first three-temperature step mash. That’s not total brew time, of course. Temperature program is an alternative to decoction mashing but shares some of the benefits.
The low-temperature (100° F) rest can be used to somewhat acidify alkaline water and is also useful for breaking down gums that can lead to slow or stuck lauters when using under-modified malts. The protein rest is probably less important for most pale malts available now but is still important if you’re using a large percentage of wheat in your recipe.
Finally, the use of one or two saccharification rests provides a high degree of control over wort fermentability, resulting beer body, and alcohol content. If you’re just starting into all-grain or just beginning with new equipment, you’ll soon discover that temperature control can be difficult and may seem impossible.
- Be patient, and please remember: Good, drinkable, satisfying beer can be made even if you miss every rest temperature by several degrees and hold the rests for half or twice as long as called for.
- There are two ways to increase mash temperature.
- Commercial brewers apply heat to the vessel, usually through steam jackets, while stirring.
This is difficult and requires a certain level of experience because too much heat will cause the mash to overshoot the temperature. The other method, which is not usually used in commercial breweries, is to use additions of hot water to raise the overall mash temperature.
This is more predictable because there are calculations that detail how much boiling water to add to different temperature mashes to achieve the desired temperature. A Bit of Equipment As you’d expect, there’s a wide variety of equipment that can be used to do temperature program mashes. Popular options include the dual food-grade plastic bucket system, the picnic cooler with false bottom (see page 32), or the bucket-and-grain-bag technique.
Although you could probably collect most of the essential hardware and put together a system for nothing, one low-cost way to try an infusion mash is to buy a nylon sparge bag at your local homebrew supply shop. Combine the sparge bag with a standard five-gallon, food-grade plastic bottling bucket and adjustable spigot, and you have nearly everything needed for a mash.
Just buy a two-foot length of vinyl tubing to fit over the bottling bucket spigot, and you’re in business. The type of nylon sparge bag needed is 6.5-gallon type, sewn into a cylindrical shape with a flat bottom. Usually the side of the bag is a very fine nylon mesh, and the flat, circular bottom is a much coarser material.
These bags should cost less than $10 each, and you’ll need just one. Open the nylon sparge bag out into the five-gallon bottling bucket, doing your best to fit the bag down into the bucket with no big folds or wrinkles. The bag should be about four inches taller than the bucket; fold this extra length down over the bucket rim.
- A six-gallon or larger kettle for the final boil
- A three-gallon pot or some other source of about two gallons of sparge water
- A one- to two-quart measuring cup to transfer boiling water to the mash
- A pan to use for mash recirculation
- A good, trustworthy thermometer
Step by Upward Step The basic idea of temperature program mashing is to add energy to the mash. One way to do this is to use additions of boiling water to successively raise the mash temperature to desired rests. There are three complications:
- The temperature of the mash continuously drops during the rest.
- Each addition of boiling water makes the mash harder to raise to the next rest temperature.
- The final rest must be achieved with a mash that contains no more than 1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain, approximately. If the mash is too thin, hot enzymes are less stable and the enzymatic reaction is significantly slower. Therefore, there is more chance to denature enzymes (strip them of their usefulness).
The first of these problems is controlled by using a well-insulated mash tun, the most popular being the Rubbermaid “Gott” water cooler. The bottling bucket insulates much better than a metal pot but still loses heat quite rapidly. Still, if you already have the bucket, less than $10 puts you in business to get your feet wet, so to speak.
- The second and third problems are controlled by using the minimum amount of water possible for the first infusions, saving the bulk of the water for when it’s needed most: to raise the mash to the saccharification (third) rest temperature.
- Calculating the water needed for an infusion isn’t too hard to do.
You’ll be amazed at how soon you’ll be hitting those rest temperatures! Calculating Water Additions There are two basic physics things to keep in mind when you do your calculations and when you start making adjustments to your results. First, the energy needed to raise the temperature of water is about three times greater than that needed to raise grain temperature the same amount.
Second, a lot more energy is needed to raise the temperature of 20 quarts of mash than is needed for 10 quarts. Second, you’d like your final rest to include about 1.5 quarts of water for every pound of grain, and as a rough rule of thumb for a three-step mash, the first rest should be done with about 0.6 to 0.7 quarts water per pound of grain.
These are just starting points to make initial calculations easier, not golden numbers. Two formulas are needed: one is used to compute a number that tells us how much energy is necessary to raise the mash temperature, and the other is used figure out how much water to add to the mash to get a final rest temperature.
The number obtained from the first formula has to be re-computed after each addition of water and gets a little bigger with each addition. This just means the temperature of the mash gets a little harder to raise after each infusion — it contains more water and proportionately less grain. With pocket calculator in hand, here we go 1.
Multiply the total grain bill weight by 0.6 to find the number of quarts of 105° F water to add for the first rest. Example: Grain bill weight GW = 13 lbs.13 * 0.6 = 7.8 qts. Round to the nearest half quart; in this case, 8 quarts.2. Compute the weight of the water added by multiplying the number of quarts by 2.08 (one quart of water weighs 2.08 pounds).
- Example: 8 qts.
- 2.08 lbs./qt.
- = 16.6 lbs.3.
- Put the eight quarts of 105° F water into the pre-heated, empty mash tun, then add all the grain and mix well.
- Record the temperature.4.
- Compute the heat capacity of the mash.
- Multiply the grain weight by 0.33, add the result to the weight of the water in the mash, then divide the result by the total mash weight.
Example: / mash weight or (0.33*13 + 16.6) / (13 + 16.6) = 0.71 This number is the heat capacity of the mash, relative to that of water, which is 1.0. We’ll use this number to figure out how much boiling water will have to be added to raise this mash to the next rest temperature.5.
- The formula to compute the amount of water to add to get the mash temperature up to the next rest (122° F) is: (mash heat capacity)*(mash weight)*(next rest temp – current temp)(water boiling point – next rest temp) Example: 0.71(13 + 16.6)(122 – 100) (212 – 122) = 5.1 lbs.
- Not quarts!) Note: Make sure to stir the mash and measure its temperature before doing this calculation.
The temperature will drop over the duration of the rest, especially in an uninsulated mash tun.6. Convert the weight of the water to quarts by dividing by 2.08 lbs./qt. Example: 5.1/2.08 = 2.5 qts.7. Add the 2.5 quarts of boiling water, stir thoroughly, and measure the mash temperature.
Cover your mash tun, and record the reading. This entire process has to be repeated for the next rest. Remember, the mash now contains more water than it initially did, so it will take more energy to raise its temperature. You’ll have to calculate its heat capacity again using the formula in Step 4. Example: (0.33 * grain weight) + water weight) mash weight or (0.33*13 + 16.6 + 5.1)(13 + 16.6 + 5.1) = 0.75 8.
After a 20 to 30 minute rest, stir the mash thoroughly and take a temperature reading. Say the new mash temperature is 119° F. Record the duration of the rest and this new temperature. Then repeat Step 5 to compute the amount of boiling water needed to raise to the final rest temperature of 153° F.
- Example: 0.75(13 + 16.6 + 5.1)(153 – 119) (212 – 153) = 15 lbs.
- Not quarts!) Convert those pounds to quarts: 15/2.08 = 7.2, or about 7 quarts.9.
- Add about seven quarts of boiling water to the mash, stir well, and cover.
- Let rest quietly for a total of 40 minutes, checking the temperature at the 20 minute mark.
Notice that the total addition of water to this mash was: Rest One: 8 quarts Rest Two: 2.5 quarts Rest Three: 7 quarts Total: 17.5 quarts For 1.5 quarts per pound we’d need about 19.5 quarts of water, so this program leaves room for the addition of 2 quarts of boiling water about halfway through the long conversion rest to maintain temperature, if needed.
Into the Kettle Brewers debate the benefits of the mash-out, the process where a final infusion is added to the mash to raise the temperature into the 170° F range to deactivate any further enzyme activity. You can certainly do a mash-out, or you can simply begin the sparge using 170° to 180° F water.
Attach a length of vinyl tubing to the bottling bucket spigot and set the mash tun up so it can be drained into your kettle. Be very careful to situate everything so the wort draining from the mash tun doesn’t splash into the kettle. Gently pull up on the sparge bag just enough to ensure its sides are not wrinkled or pulled down into the bucket.
Once the bag seems to be conforming to the shape of the plastic bucket, slowly drain the wort into a two- to three-quart saucepan, returning the wort gently and without aeration to the top of the grain bed. Repeat several times to try to clarify the wort. After it looks like most of the fine flour has been filtered from the wort, begin a slow, controlled sparge while draining the mash tun into the kettle.
Equalize the rate at which you drain the wort into the kettle with the rate you add water to the mash tun. Collect about five to 5.5 gallons into the kettle, and begin your 60 to 120 minute boil. With a little advanced planning and a very minimum of equipment, you can be enjoying temperature program mashing in no time.
How do you know when mash is done?
Hydrometer Wisdom: Monitoring Fermentation As with all matters of life, there are two ways of monitoring the fermentation of your mash: the easy way and the complicated way. If you’re a K.I.S.S. fan – not the band, but the „Keep It Simple, Stupid” philosophy – you’ll prepare the mash and just let it be.
A day or two after adding the yeast, you’ll see the airlock bubble – and know the stuff’s doing its fermenting business. After 14 days, it should be about done. If it still bubbles, let it sit for another few days, or until you see no bubbling for at least a minute or two. Once there is no activity in the airlock, your mash is ready to run.
This is a non-scientific method but pretty reliable in judging when fermentation is completed. The scientific method isn’t actually that complicated either, and it will let you know that the mash has completely finished fermentation and determine its potential alcohol.
- What you’ll need is a beer or wine hydrometer.
- The hydrometer indicates the density, or specific gravity – SG – of a liquid, compared to water.
- As alcohol is thinner than water, the higher the alcohol content, the deeper the float sinks.
- Pure water has a specific gravity of 1.000 on the hydrometer scale.
Temperature is a key factor when measuring the specific gravity of a liquid – the hydrometer should indicate the temperature it’s calibrated to, and also include an adjustment table. A standard measuring temperature is 20°C or 70 °F. Original Gravity – OG Measure the gravity of your mash before fermentation – and before adding the yeast.
- The reading will be higher than 1.000, because of the sugars present in the mash.
- During fermentation, these sugars will be consumed by yeast causing the density and therefore specific gravity to lower.
- The number will be the lowest at the end of fermentation.
- Fill your hydrometer tube about 2/3 of an inch from the top with the wash/mash you wish to test.
Insert the hydrometer slowly not allowing it to drop. Give the hydrometer a light spin, to remove the air bubbles that may have formed.
- Read where the surface of the liquid cuts the scale of the hydrometer.
- You can also predict the potential alcohol of your mash from the original gravity.
- Original Gravity – Potential Alcohol
- 062 → 7.875%
- 064 → 8.125%
- 066 → 8.375%
- 068 → 8.625
- 070 → 8.875%
- 072 → 9.125%
- 074 → 9.375%
- 076 → 9.75%
- 078 → 10%
- 080 → 10.25%
- 082 → 10.5%
- 084 → 10.75%
- 086 → 11%
- 088 → 11.25%
- 090 → 11.5%
- 092 → 11.75%
- 094 → 12.125%
- 096 → 12.375%
- 098 → 12.75%
- 100 → 13%
- 102 → 13.25%
- 104 → 13.5%
- 106 → 13.875%
- 108 → 14.125%
Final Gravity – FG Measure the specific gravity of the mash after the airlock slows down and you’re not getting much activity. If the reading is at 1.000 or less, it is definitely done. If it’s 1.020 or higher, you may want to wait a day or two and then take another reading. Keep taking readings, if needed, until the gravity stops dropping – which means the fermentation is complete.
- A good rule of thumb: if the gravity hasn’t changed over the course of three days, then the mash is done fermenting.
- Final Gravity – Potential Alcohol
- Using the chart above and some math, you can calculate the alcohol content of your mash after fermentation is complete.
- ABV = (OG – FG) x 131
For instance, if the OG reading is 1.092 and the FG is 0.99, the math goes like this: (1.092-.99) x 131 = 13.36% ABV Remember, this is a rough estimate, as many factors are at play. But the science will at least keep you busy until you’re ready to get your whiskey still running. Posted by Jason Stone on June 01, 2015 : Hydrometer Wisdom: Monitoring Fermentation
How many times is moonshine distilled?
The Distillation – Distilling Alcohol – For distillation use the entire mash, both liquid and solid parts. Don´t filter the mash before distilling. You would lose taste and smell by filtration. Therefore the stills contain solid parts. Hence it is necessary to use a burn protector, Large stills are jacketed kettles in common, mostly equipped with a stirrer, but this system is not appropriate for small copper stills of hobby distillers. If the mash contains less than about 10 %ABV alcohol, you have to distill twice (double distillation). If the alcohol content is higher than that, a simple distillation is completely sufficient. This kind of distillation produces the most intense taste and smell, more than double distilled alcohol. Don’t forget to separate the heads (foreshot). Also if your mash is free of heads, you should separate about 30 drops per 1,5 liters (1.5 US quarts) of mash. Collect the hearts until 91 °C (196 °F) steam temperature, after that you can collect the tails or stop the distillation.
What is the best temperature to evaporate alcohol?
Its molecules will evaporate not just when alcohol reaches its boiling point, a chilly 173 degrees Fahrenheit compared to water’s 212 degree Fahrenheit boiling point, but any time it is exposed to the air. Despite its ability to dissipate, ‘it’s impossible to cook out all of the alcohol,’ says McGee.
Can alcohol be left warm?
Keep it cool – For common distilled spirits, such as whiskey, vodka, gin, rum and tequila, the general rule of thumb is to store them at room temperature. Though some experts say the ideal range is slightly lower, between 55 and 60 degrees. Keeping them in a relatively cool place preserves them longer.
