Chemist here, been watching for several years. To expand on George's explanation on tails causing cloudiness. Tails consist of the higher order alcohols (mainly isomers of amyl alcohol, which are formed from amino acids by the yeast) which are sparingly soluble in water (because of the long carbon chain, as compared to the short carbon chains in ethanol methanol etc), and higher boiling. In concentrated ethanol solution they are soluble, however once the ethanol to water ratio is diluted past a point, the fusel alcohols reach their point of insolubility, and drop out of solution as small droplets of oil. Eventually this would float on top of the solution like an oil if left long enough. Love the work you do, George! I won't hesitate to keep giving chemical explanations if it helps everyone. Cheers.
@@MrBloodprice hard to say, I enjoy supplying myself and drinking buds with next to free booze, extracting thc oils from pot without toxic chemicals just my hobby style booze. I'm just saying I have learned more from George in 2 yrs give or take, than the yahoos who taught in my podunk school system that I grew up in. Every video I watch drags my attention closer down the hobby hole that is "Distilling Happiness."
Fantastic video George. After I have soaked the chips long enough, I put them in a saucepan on a flame, dry them out, re char them and use them again. I’m happy with the results. How long do you leave it in a barrel ?
After watching you for so long IV learned to stop collecting my “drinkables” at 100 proof and tails after. My likker has gotten significantly better thanks to it. Thanks George and happy distilling
I made myself a Pennsylvania Single Malt. I did get the peated malted barley and went 40% peated and 60% pale ale malted. It's very much similar to Lagavulin. My Scottish heritage did not fail me, lol
Hi George! I had the problem of cloudy jars on my last sugar run. I had watched one of your filtering videos and tried running it through a zero water filter just to see if it worked. It came out crystal clear! So that is another option for pulling out fusels even after you've proofed it down. Thanks for all the videos! Happy distilling!
Thank you for all the videos and information you give us, I hope one day we can have this craft legal in the US! For now I will just enjoy watching you and the others that are able to make this a hobby.
Thanks George. I am really enjoying your content. You have made what seemed a very esoteric and mysterious subject very entertaining and easier to understand.
Thank you so much I'm honored by your shout out I really appreciate it like you I'm just trying to help others be the best they can be and will continue to help when I can loved the video once again chocked full of great information. HAPPY HAPPY STILLIN
I thought it was really kewl that George mentioned you too, especially after you had answered my question about my curiosity. Wish people in general were more like George and you sir.. hope life's treating you well in your world. And thanks again.
@@mikebullard1797 Thanks Mike your comments are greatly appreciated. I was lucky enough to have my Great Grandfather and Grandfather to learn from most people aren't that lucky so me helping others is my way of honoring them. I do agree we need more people like George in the world it would be a much better place . Happy Happy Stillin
George, Mike is right. I my parents were dedicated teachers and I taught Ag but only one year. You have the talent to teach and convey what you are saying. It's a gift many teachers do not have, only 10% I would say. Keep it up, your a blessing to those that hear you.
Oaking Question. I have read/heard from some that pre-soaking and straining will reduce some of the tannins and reduce alcohol losses. A short boil (5-10 minutes) will even reduce more of the harsh tannins. I like the idea of a quick boil to reduce oaky-bite and to sterilize the wood before introducing wood to shine/wines. Wood being porous, it is a great location for microbes/fungus to lay dormant just waiting for moisture to release nasty off-flavors.
@Anthony Good Thank you for your service from a fellow veteran '86 -90 USAF AFSC 46350 for me. Only about 1.5% of population are veterans btw. Thx again :)
I want to thank you for all the information it is very helpful for me being new to distiling and you teach in a very simple and easy way for us all to learn from you.
One thing I tried with the wood chip aging, was temperature differences, kind of a microcosm of a barrel warehouse. Over 3 months, especially with a single malt, it went from warmest room in the house, to the refrigerator, to the coolest room in the house and every 3 days, I would rotate. I had very good results with that. Thought I would share.
Thanks! I am planning to use our cold room to rotate in and out of weekly during the cold months and then garage and house with AC in the warmer months. I wasn’t sure that idea had “legs”...but it sounds like it should work.
Hi George. Renato here. I've been watching your videos for a while but just subscribed to your channel. I'm a winemaker myself but wanted to experiment a little with other things we can do with grapes ( Brandy ). Personally I really enjoy your tutorials. Thanks so much. there is a lot to learn.
Your package arrived first thing this morning George and I want to say Thank You so much it is greatly appreciated and I'm waiting for the live streaming event to open and enjoy then the signed bottle will be given a place of honor among my beer mugs and wine bottles that I collected from all over the world during my 15 years of military service. Had and idea for the event maybe you could spend so time on distilling onions or helmets I've seen them called both and their use and if you think that they are worth the expense of adding them to our systems or not. Once again thanks for the gift and all your help in making me a better distller Happy Happy Stillin.
I made some Red Wheat whiskey a few months back. I aged a quart with medium toast oak chips. Proofed to 100 this morning, going to add 1/2 oz of glycerin to 1 bottle and leave a 2nd bottle without. Still trying to decide whether I like it or not. Your help is much appreciated George !! Thank You Sir.
I just started trying to distill and I don't usually use the internet at all(I'm a bit old school, lol). I had to ask my wife how to prescribe, as it is my first time. George thanks for the info and im excited about learning.
You took a drink of what's in your cup....... Anybody ever notice how rare that is in the videos???...... I've watched your channel for a while and love love all the content...... There's almost never a time you don't have a cup of something and you almost never drink it!!!! Thank you for all you do!!!!
Thank you so much for all of your help and advice. I am just getting started. I have watched all your videos. Taking notes. You are an amazing teacher. Please keep making amazing videos. Thank you.
Simple equation for proofing down your spirits: actual ABV, divided by desired ABV Times by volume in ml minus volume in ml gives you the amount of water to add in ml An example 93 (current ABV) divided by 40 (desired ABV) Times 2000 (ml aka 2 liters) Minus 2000 (ml aka 2 liters) = 2650 ml of water to add.
George try putting in the fridge or freezer and pulling it out and letting it warm a few times, what this does is contract and expand the wood as if it was in a barrel outside for years it simulates the weather changes and puts the vanilla and Carmel flavors in the oak at a faster rate just something you may want to try.
Louching (pron. looshing), Saponification, and Flocculation are the 3 issues you can end up with when diluting your distillate. Louching comes in 2 forms, permanent and temporary. Temporary is almost ways because of low temperatures causing the solubility of the oils to drop, and thus precipitate out of solution. You'll see this if you store a whisky, rum, gin, etc... in your freezer. It goes away when the liquid heats back up. Permanent louching happens when you add too much water, which lowers the concentration of ethanol, so it can no longer keep the oils dissolved in the solution. The amount of wanted you can add, can realistically only be determined by testing that specific batch. So test small samples first. Louching won't effect the flavour or odour, it's still all the same stuff in there, it's just visible now. Flocculation happens when you add a water that is high in mineral salts. Those mineral salts are almost never soluble in ethanol. So when you add the water, those salts are forced to precipitate out of the water portion. This is also a form of coagulation, as the anions and cations of those salts will start sticking to other things in the solution, like oils. It will all start clumping, and then create flocc which settles at the bottom. This will effect the odour, and flavour for that matter, you might also notice a different mouth feel. Saponification can happen when you add water that is high in mineral salts as well (high alkalinity & hardness water, not to be confused with high pH water). It would also require that the distillate be high in esters (specifically fatty acid esters), and that the distillate wasn't cold (heat energy is required). De-esterification (aka saponification) will happen due to the alteration in pH, along with the cations of those salts, to literally make soap. Not much is made, not much needs to exist for the taste to be there, ppb. In my opinion, if you make ice cubes out of your tap water, and put it into a clear glass of water, and you see flakes coming off the ice. There is too much mineral salts in your water, and you are best off using RO or distilled water. You can limit all 3 of these from happening by testing on small samples first, like 100mL samples. Shake up your distillate so it's evenly mixed, cut it with however much water, let it sit for a few minutes, then give it a look and a taste. If it looks and tastes fine, then go for it. I also only recommend using distilled water, RO water, or very low mineral salt water if price is an issue. For Saponification, if it happens, you have to redistill. For permanent louching and flocculation, you can use a process called chill filtration, whereby you put your filters, funnels, containers, and distillate, in the freezer, this is all before diluting the main batch down. Then after 24h, you pour it through the filters. If you dont have a professional setup, you can use 3 coffee filters, and pour slowly. You want the filters to soak up and remove those oils. Obviously, flavour and odour will change a bit, but if you don't want to redistill, this is your only option.
@Adam W Thanks for this comprehensive and detailed information. The community appreciates it and we appreciate the time it took for you to share this. :)
You may also want to look at the Pearson's square for calculating final concentration from two other concentrations say 80% and 30% to make a 40% solution.
I have had that cloudiness in my spirit a couple of times and could never work out why. everything tasted OK but now I know what caused it. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Hey George big shout out to you all the way from the home of whisky Scotland. Just starting to try my hand at home brewing and found your site. Loving the videos and will be attempting to build my own still as they are so dam expensive. Hope to pick your brains for some ideas. Thanks and keep up good work
I just got to get me sum half gallon, quart jars. Oh and by the way, everyone watching when the lid fell in the jar started laughing with you and not at you. Great content, George.
Yeah. Been there, done that, and I bet it will happen again. :D The thing with the glass hydrometers/alcohometers is so true. They are so thin and fragile, look at them the wrong way and they break. Once I had two, no more breakage (3 years so far).
Love your show .l am going to try to make my own still.And l am thinking that I will succeed by watching your videos.Thank you very much looking forward to making some wabbly pop.😜
George, you are a wealth of knowledge. Love your wisdom. From Kelowna British Columbia where we are in a fruit basket. Brandy is my fave thing to make. I use an eSpring Water Treatment system for all my water use. I market them as well online. You are so right about using good water. Makes a huge difference in final product. If you’re interested in a purifier, I would love to get you some info. Best regards Mel
It's been a while since I've "needed" to watch George, and to be honest...I've forgotten how much I love this guy. He is an amazing Teacher/Instructor and his love for the craft is evident. Thanks George for being who you are!! Cheers!!
George, a suggestion for the Sugar Wash Makeup Calculator....In the Results section (at the bottom of the Calculator window) have a toggle to switch the units from imperial to metric (example - gallons to grams).
Catch& Fry , Your feedback is noted and thank you very much for it. I will put it on the improvement list and you should see the update in the next week or so. Thanks again and AGWS (as George would say) 'Happy Distilling' :)
George, thanks for all you do. Would love to see an advanced deep tech type demo sometime on the science to the cuts of temp vs types of chemicals that will come off on a pot still.
George, you R an AWESOME teacher!! The only disappointment is how many damn commercials I now need to friggen click through!! I HATE them!! Damn iiit!! I remember youtube last year and only needing to click through 1 or 2 of them in a 20-25 minutes clip. I think I clicked through about 8 of them in this 20 minute video. So aggravating! Not your fault but youtube should really control them better than this. Otherwise...AWESOME CLIPS George!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💜💕🌷 Happy distilling!!🙌 Dubbing you "Dr.Distilling"! Lol!!
If you use a scale to weigh out your water you can take some of the testing and retesting out of the process of determining the final strength. One liter of water weighs 1000 grams. 1 liter of ethanol weighs 789 grams. Also adding your glycerin after doing you cutting (although minimal) will dilute your final product. Also something to watch for is molecular settling, 1 liter of water mixed with 1 liter of ethanol will not make 2 liters of liquid.
Thanks George for all the info you answered all my questions by watching your videos now I'm pretty good at the craft but it took a lot of disappointment for me to get there lol
Haha - When you said “Chuck ya don’t know do ya?” I about jumped outta my chair...obviously your referring to a different chuck, but funny nonetheless - Thanks for the video’s sir!
Georgia I don’t know where I was talking to you the other day. But I was asking you how much you get out of 4 gallons of mash. I got up almost a gallon. I got 165 proof. Thank you so much for your help this is my first run
Happy Distillin’ At 8:00 - I do my measuring on kitchen scales because it’s easier to measure accurately that way. 180 proof weighs 80% the weight of water and a litre of water weighs 1000 grams, so your .89qz of 180 should weigh 842 grams, and your 1.1qz of Texas water should weigh 1040 grams which is why you had to chuck in a little bit more (302ml by my calculations) because you’re trying to cut 180 proof down to 80 proof. You should’ve ended up with about 2.4 litres of 80pr by my calculations on this batch, or an extra half a pint. To simplify, To make 2 litres or ~quarts at 80pr, I’d use 600 grams of 180 which would be the same numbers you’re coming up with, then top it up to 2 litres using Metric water. I just do it with kitchen scales by weight, for better accuracy. I did email you my cheat sheet a while ago. Let me know if you want me to resend it, doing my mixing by “weight” on $10 digital kitchen scales takes ALL of the guesswork out, no fiddling, add a bit more ethanol / water, hydrometer, oops, taste test, add a bit more “a” or “w”, measure again... Repeat....
Jesus, could you resend the email to George and ask him to forward it to CryptoPonics. I will check it against the app to ensure we are singing the same song. The app does give results in grams of high proof alcohol and water but I think the apps numbers might be a little different then yours. Could you install the app and check a few points to ensure we are accurate also and report back? All of our apps will always work in both metric and imperial units as I am finally fully transitioning to metric units myself.
CryptoPonics Yep, my “Spiritual Guide” has been modified, updated and tweaked a lot since I began a Happily Distillin’ last April. I started with a shitty eBay Pot on pot still for $120 and I needed this document to figure out how to mix my 160pr bottles all the way down to the 100pr bottles so I wasn’t drinking crap. Then my world changed in July when the T500 turned up in my life, and everything became simple, 93% out of the still, 92% after activated charcoal, and 90% after I ran it all through a Brita water filter jug. So I know I’m working with a dextrose wash, double filtered and from my 25lt barrel I end up with exactly a gallon demijohn (or whatever your part of the world calls a gallon moonshine jug) full of 90% / 180pr crystal clear, tasteless Aussie-shine. Our 1 litre Re-sealable bottles all seem to tare in at 540g, cost $2 each and I just weigh in 300g out of the “jug” and top ‘’em off with the best water I have available to make up my 1 litre bottles. I did ask George to please try and speak in “World Metric” as well as American units in his videos a couple of weeks ago and he has been obviously got the message because I can see that he his really working hard lately to speak in both units (have you noticed?) After much brewing and giving the T500 a thrashing for 8 months now, I can honestly say that this unit is amazing bang for buck and mine has paid for it’self well and truly. If you’d like the original document of my “Spiritual Guide” I’d happily email you the word document, and you can modify and distribute it as far and wide as you can, my name is also George so if you “at” me to Blue Mountains Tv Antennas dot com I will shoot you a word doc to play with and distribute as long as you credit me. I have tried to keep it down to one page. Cheers mate!
On a recent Whiskey Vault video, Daniel spoke about saponification and how it could negatively affect the taste when proofing. Would like to hear your opinion on that. Happy Distilling!
Good morning, sir. I'm so happy you're back for us to enjoy and learn. I lost some of my motivation of my hobby when my mentor retired. Lol. You're a great instructor. I lost my original app for Barley and Hopps. After seeing this video, I'm excited to play again. Could you please send me the link for your app? Should I message you my # rather than post it? Thank you for your time. Be safe. Charlie. BTW. I am traveling to San Antonio in March from Fl. Do you have a suppy store? If so, where in Tx?
Chemist here, been watching for several years. To expand on George's explanation on tails causing cloudiness. Tails consist of the higher order alcohols (mainly isomers of amyl alcohol, which are formed from amino acids by the yeast) which are sparingly soluble in water (because of the long carbon chain, as compared to the short carbon chains in ethanol methanol etc), and higher boiling. In concentrated ethanol solution they are soluble, however once the ethanol to water ratio is diluted past a point, the fusel alcohols reach their point of insolubility, and drop out of solution as small droplets of oil. Eventually this would float on top of the solution like an oil if left long enough. Love the work you do, George! I won't hesitate to keep giving chemical explanations if it helps everyone. Cheers.
Thanks so much
Very well said sir thank you. So a lot of what we do really is rocket science.
Thank you bro good to know
isnt science and chemistry the best?
Thanks photon, I was about to write something along those lines :) love the show, but we might as well keep the chemistry correct :D
Man if I had teachers in school like you I'm not going to imagine we're I'd be know. Thank you my friend... Happiness is Distilling!
Working as a professional distiller?
@@MrBloodprice hard to say, I enjoy supplying myself and drinking buds with next to free booze, extracting thc oils from pot without toxic chemicals just my hobby style booze.
I'm just saying I have learned more from George in 2 yrs give or take, than the yahoos who taught in my podunk school system that I grew up in. Every video I watch drags my attention closer down the hobby hole that is "Distilling Happiness."
Fantastic video George. After I have soaked the chips long enough, I put them in a saucepan on a flame, dry them out, re char them and use them again. I’m happy with the results.
How long do you leave it in a barrel ?
I agree Mike. Learning from him is simple, easy and is still exciting.
@@PrimeMummy please excuse my grammar, the half pint I was into distracted my thinking.
Thanks for all your knowledge, George. You're my go to guy and I really do Appreciate you, Bud.
After watching you for so long IV learned to stop collecting my “drinkables” at 100 proof and tails after. My likker has gotten significantly better thanks to it. Thanks George and happy distilling
Running a batch of my Missouri Single Malt and I get 2 videos from George 👍👍 Thanks George, HAPPY DISTILLING !
I made myself a Pennsylvania Single Malt. I did get the peated malted barley and went 40% peated and 60% pale ale malted. It's very much similar to Lagavulin. My Scottish heritage did not fail me, lol
Hi George! I had the problem of cloudy jars on my last sugar run. I had watched one of your filtering videos and tried running it through a zero water filter just to see if it worked. It came out crystal clear! So that is another option for pulling out fusels even after you've proofed it down.
Thanks for all the videos! Happy distilling!
Thank you for all the videos and information you give us, I hope one day we can have this craft legal in the US! For now I will just enjoy watching you and the others that are able to make this a hobby.
Thanks George. I am really enjoying your content. You have made what seemed a very esoteric and mysterious subject very entertaining and easier to understand.
I’m new and appreciate what you do I’m going to watch everything you’ve made before I jump in
Did my very first run yesterday and ended up with 170 proof!!! Couldn’t have done it without you George!!....now onto learning how to dilute lol
How the hell did you get 170?
@@davidjohnson1494 ran it slow as fuccckkkkk
@@Mychannel-fw5mb Can I ask what you mean by slow as...? I'm only getting around 140 and want to increase it a bit.
Thank you so much I'm honored by your shout out I really appreciate it like you I'm just trying to help others be the best they can be and will continue to help when I can loved the video once again chocked full of great information. HAPPY HAPPY STILLIN
Chuck
Send me an email with your address. I want to send you something.
George
I thought it was really kewl that George mentioned you too, especially after you had answered my question about my curiosity. Wish people in general were more like George and you sir.. hope life's treating you well in your world.
And thanks again.
@@mikebullard1797 Thanks Mike your comments are greatly appreciated. I was lucky enough to have my Great Grandfather and Grandfather to learn from most people aren't that lucky so me helping others is my way of honoring them. I do agree we need more people like George in the world it would be a much better place . Happy Happy Stillin
@@chuckdontknowdoya6100 love your input bro. Totally helps everyone's growth when the channel gives back like you do! 👍
George, Mike is right. I my parents were dedicated teachers and I taught Ag but only one year. You have the talent to teach and convey what you are saying. It's a gift many teachers do not have, only 10% I would say. Keep it up, your a blessing to those that hear you.
Wow, thanks
Oaking Question. I have read/heard from some that pre-soaking and straining will reduce some of the tannins and reduce alcohol losses. A short boil (5-10 minutes) will even reduce more of the harsh tannins. I like the idea of a quick boil to reduce oaky-bite and to sterilize the wood before introducing wood to shine/wines. Wood being porous, it is a great location for microbes/fungus to lay dormant just waiting for moisture to release nasty off-flavors.
New favorite channel. 😎
Love the video and sharing your knowledge thanks George
I have learned more from you George than all my teachers I had in the 7 years I went to school put together. Thank you.
George again thank you for all your help. My PID should be here tomorrow. 😀. Cant wait. Also Your videos are really helpful....tony
I served in ft. hood from 99 to 03 thank you for your continued service
@Anthony Good Thank you for your service from a fellow veteran '86 -90 USAF AFSC 46350 for me. Only about 1.5% of population are veterans btw. Thx again :)
I want to thank you for all the information it is very helpful for me being new to distiling and you teach in a very simple and easy way for us all to learn from you.
One thing I tried with the wood chip aging, was temperature differences, kind of a microcosm of a barrel warehouse. Over 3 months, especially with a single malt, it went from warmest room in the house, to the refrigerator, to the coolest room in the house and every 3 days, I would rotate. I had very good results with that. Thought I would share.
Try the freezer it works better.
Thanks! I am planning to use our cold room to rotate in and out of weekly during the cold months and then garage and house with AC in the warmer months. I wasn’t sure that idea had “legs”...but it sounds like it should work.
Hi George. Renato here. I've been watching your videos for a while but just subscribed to your channel. I'm a winemaker myself but wanted to experiment a little with other things we can do with grapes ( Brandy ). Personally I really enjoy your tutorials. Thanks so much. there is a lot to learn.
Greetings George: The rule of 2🤗🖖. After breaking 3 hydrometers in as many months, I got a spare. 5 years later still have 2!
I broke a hydrometer in my early brewing days, bought 2, 20 years later still have 2
I've watched a lot of your vids
This is your best one...I love how you talk to people not at.....great work...and you've helped me out alot....thx
Thanks George, I am learning a lot from you and your videos. Keep up the good work.
I distill here in the Philippines with a 20 gallon column still . Your videos are the greatest. Thank you.
Great video series. How do you get the app your talking about?
Ha! I got tails. One bottle of 4 is cloudy. Was wondering why. Thanks George! Again you have answered my question before I could ask it! You Rock!
Thank You for putting these videos out they have been a tremendous amount of help. 👍👍👍
Your package arrived first thing this morning George and I want to say Thank You so much it is greatly appreciated and I'm waiting for the live streaming event to open and enjoy then the signed bottle will be given a place of honor among my beer mugs and wine bottles that I collected from all over the world during my 15 years of military service. Had and idea for the event maybe you could spend so time on distilling onions or helmets I've seen them called both and their use and if you think that they are worth the expense of adding them to our systems or not. Once again thanks for the gift and all your help in making me a better distller Happy Happy Stillin.
I just read two hours on how the source water is important to the outcome of distilling. So much is out there for us to learn.
I made some Red Wheat whiskey a few months back. I aged a quart with medium toast oak chips. Proofed to 100 this morning, going to add 1/2 oz of glycerin to 1 bottle and leave a 2nd bottle without. Still trying to decide whether I like it or not. Your help is much appreciated George !! Thank You Sir.
I just started trying to distill and I don't usually use the internet at all(I'm a bit old school, lol). I had to ask my wife how to prescribe, as it is my first time. George thanks for the info and im excited about learning.
about to proof and age my first run. Thanks so much for your channel. George, you Rock! Thanks for the info and guidance!
I really enjoy your videos very educational. I mostly make beer and hard ciders but love your distilling vids.
You took a drink of what's in your cup....... Anybody ever notice how rare that is in the videos???...... I've watched your channel for a while and love love all the content...... There's almost never a time you don't have a cup of something and you almost never drink it!!!! Thank you for all you do!!!!
Videos are awesome... look forward to the next one.
Thanks for the incite , I find your input invaluable in my brewing education.
This may be the video I've been looking for.
Hey George thank you for the videos it really helped me out through the who process.
Thank you so much for all of your help and advice. I am just getting started. I have watched all your videos. Taking notes. You are an amazing teacher. Please keep making amazing videos. Thank you.
I am a new subscriber. I love your videos. I have learned very much watching. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Simple equation for proofing down your spirits:
actual ABV, divided by desired ABV
Times by volume in ml
minus volume in ml
gives you the amount of water to add in ml
An example
93 (current ABV) divided by 40 (desired ABV)
Times 2000 (ml aka 2 liters)
Minus 2000 (ml aka 2 liters)
= 2650 ml of water to add.
George try putting in the fridge or freezer and pulling it out and letting it warm a few times, what this does is contract and expand the wood as if it was in a barrel outside for years it simulates the weather changes and puts the vanilla and Carmel flavors in the oak at a faster rate just something you may want to try.
Great video! God is good! God bless!
Louching (pron. looshing), Saponification, and Flocculation are the 3 issues you can end up with when diluting your distillate.
Louching comes in 2 forms, permanent and temporary. Temporary is almost ways because of low temperatures causing the solubility of the oils to drop, and thus precipitate out of solution. You'll see this if you store a whisky, rum, gin, etc... in your freezer. It goes away when the liquid heats back up. Permanent louching happens when you add too much water, which lowers the concentration of ethanol, so it can no longer keep the oils dissolved in the solution. The amount of wanted you can add, can realistically only be determined by testing that specific batch. So test small samples first. Louching won't effect the flavour or odour, it's still all the same stuff in there, it's just visible now.
Flocculation happens when you add a water that is high in mineral salts. Those mineral salts are almost never soluble in ethanol. So when you add the water, those salts are forced to precipitate out of the water portion. This is also a form of coagulation, as the anions and cations of those salts will start sticking to other things in the solution, like oils. It will all start clumping, and then create flocc which settles at the bottom. This will effect the odour, and flavour for that matter, you might also notice a different mouth feel.
Saponification can happen when you add water that is high in mineral salts as well (high alkalinity & hardness water, not to be confused with high pH water). It would also require that the distillate be high in esters (specifically fatty acid esters), and that the distillate wasn't cold (heat energy is required). De-esterification (aka saponification) will happen due to the alteration in pH, along with the cations of those salts, to literally make soap. Not much is made, not much needs to exist for the taste to be there, ppb.
In my opinion, if you make ice cubes out of your tap water, and put it into a clear glass of water, and you see flakes coming off the ice. There is too much mineral salts in your water, and you are best off using RO or distilled water.
You can limit all 3 of these from happening by testing on small samples first, like 100mL samples. Shake up your distillate so it's evenly mixed, cut it with however much water, let it sit for a few minutes, then give it a look and a taste. If it looks and tastes fine, then go for it. I also only recommend using distilled water, RO water, or very low mineral salt water if price is an issue.
For Saponification, if it happens, you have to redistill. For permanent louching and flocculation, you can use a process called chill filtration, whereby you put your filters, funnels, containers, and distillate, in the freezer, this is all before diluting the main batch down. Then after 24h, you pour it through the filters. If you dont have a professional setup, you can use 3 coffee filters, and pour slowly. You want the filters to soak up and remove those oils. Obviously, flavour and odour will change a bit, but if you don't want to redistill, this is your only option.
@Adam W Thanks for this comprehensive and detailed information. The community appreciates it and we appreciate the time it took for you to share this. :)
George, CONGRATULATIONS ON 60,000 SUBSCRIBERS! You deserve it! :)
I'm a humble man, you are the man.
Shaking them is so pleasurable. I call them my easy sipping "snow globes"!! Lol
Hey George. How about using charcoal in a funnel at the output of your condenser to filter out the fusol oils. BTW, another great video.
You may also want to look at the Pearson's square for calculating final concentration from two other concentrations say 80% and 30% to make a 40% solution.
I commented jorge, you are GENIUS, makin my first mash and it is ROLLING, WILL CALL IF I SCREW UP.
I am so glad I found this channel! I have learned so much. you are gold!
I haven't even started making my own yet still learning everything I can first and already have 2 hydrometers
I'm brand new and really appreciating your videos! Thank you!
Glad you like them!
I have had that cloudiness in my spirit a couple of times and could never work out why. everything tasted OK but now I know what caused it. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
Thanks for sharing!
Great channel George!!
I'm jus started distilling....wish I had ur knowledge good job!!!
Hey George big shout out to you all the way from the home of whisky Scotland. Just starting to try my hand at home brewing and found your site. Loving the videos and will be attempting to build my own still as they are so dam expensive. Hope to pick your brains for some ideas. Thanks and keep up good work
Sounds great!
You are great. Thanks for telling us everything. Keep up the great work friend.
Keep up the good work -I learn something new ever video!!
I just got to get me sum half gallon, quart jars. Oh and by the way, everyone watching when the lid fell in the jar started laughing with you and not at you. Great content, George.
Yeah. Been there, done that, and I bet it will happen again. :D The thing with the glass hydrometers/alcohometers is so true. They are so thin and fragile, look at them the wrong way and they break. Once I had two, no more breakage (3 years so far).
Love your show .l am going to try to make my own still.And l am thinking that I will succeed by watching your videos.Thank you very much looking forward to making some wabbly pop.😜
George, you are a wealth of knowledge. Love your wisdom.
From Kelowna British Columbia where we are in a fruit basket. Brandy is my fave thing to make. I use an eSpring Water Treatment system for all my water use. I market them as well online. You are so right about using good water. Makes a huge difference in final product. If you’re interested in a purifier, I would love to get you some info. Best regards Mel
Love your video’s
the go to guy for all your questions. Thanks
It's been a while since I've "needed" to watch George, and to be honest...I've forgotten how much I love this guy. He is an amazing Teacher/Instructor and his love for the craft is evident. Thanks George for being who you are!! Cheers!!
George, a suggestion for the Sugar Wash Makeup Calculator....In the Results section (at the bottom of the Calculator window) have a toggle to switch the units from imperial to metric (example - gallons to grams).
Catch& Fry , Your feedback is noted and thank you very much for it. I will put it on the improvement list and you should see the update in the next week or so. Thanks again and AGWS (as George would say) 'Happy Distilling' :)
You Rock George!...You Da Man!.......Thank You For Sharing!
George, thanks for all you do. Would love to see an advanced deep tech type demo sometime on the science to the cuts of temp vs types of chemicals that will come off on a pot still.
George, you R an AWESOME teacher!! The only disappointment is how many damn commercials I now need to friggen click through!! I HATE them!! Damn iiit!! I remember youtube last year and only needing to click through 1 or 2 of them in a 20-25 minutes clip. I think I clicked through about 8 of them in this 20 minute video. So aggravating! Not your fault but youtube should really control them better than this.
Otherwise...AWESOME CLIPS George!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💜💕🌷
Happy distilling!!🙌 Dubbing you "Dr.Distilling"! Lol!!
you are awesome thank you
I’ve been watching for a couple years always super educational and fun thank you for the vids
If you use a scale to weigh out your water you can take some of the testing and retesting out of the process of determining the final strength. One liter of water weighs 1000 grams. 1 liter of ethanol weighs 789 grams. Also adding your glycerin after doing you cutting (although minimal) will dilute your final product. Also something to watch for is molecular settling, 1 liter of water mixed with 1 liter of ethanol will not make 2 liters of liquid.
Thank you . Professor...
I love your vids there making me a better distiller
Thanks George for all the info you answered all my questions by watching your videos now I'm pretty good at the craft but it took a lot of disappointment for me to get there lol
Haha - When you said “Chuck ya don’t know do ya?” I about jumped outta my chair...obviously your referring to a different chuck, but funny nonetheless - Thanks for the video’s sir!
Us Chuck's have to stick together
Thanks for all you do :)
Thank you for taking the time and making your videos! I wish everybody explain things as well as you do.
Glad you like them!
Thanks Sir you are so wonderful and I have now great Mentor🙏💙🙏👑
I love this Channel, so good for me to learn as a new distiller there is so much information i will have to watch it several times LOL
Georgia I don’t know where I was talking to you the other day. But I was asking you how much you get out of 4 gallons of mash. I got up almost a gallon. I got 165 proof. Thank you so much for your help this is my first run
Thank you George!!
Man your videos are excellent!!!!!
Thanks for passing the knowledge!
Been watching 👀 can't wait to get my micro distillers license and get started!
I seen Big blue and all of the rest of them. Really nice Job. I do want too make a still. I do make a lot of Wine.
Thanks, Newby brewer, retired chef with some gear, rdy for the next four years.
Happy Distillin’ At 8:00 - I do my measuring on kitchen scales because it’s easier to measure accurately that way. 180 proof weighs 80% the weight of water and a litre of water weighs 1000 grams, so your .89qz of 180 should weigh 842 grams, and your 1.1qz of Texas water should weigh 1040 grams which is why you had to chuck in a little bit more (302ml by my calculations) because you’re trying to cut 180 proof down to 80 proof. You should’ve ended up with about 2.4 litres of 80pr by my calculations on this batch, or an extra half a pint.
To simplify, To make 2 litres or ~quarts at 80pr, I’d use 600 grams of 180 which would be the same numbers you’re coming up with, then top it up to 2 litres using Metric water. I just do it with kitchen scales by weight, for better accuracy.
I did email you my cheat sheet a while ago. Let me know if you want me to resend it, doing my mixing by “weight” on $10 digital kitchen scales takes ALL of the guesswork out, no fiddling, add a bit more ethanol / water, hydrometer, oops, taste test, add a bit more “a” or “w”, measure again... Repeat....
Jesus, could you resend the email to George and ask him to forward it to CryptoPonics. I will check it against the app to ensure we are singing the same song. The app does give results in grams of high proof alcohol and water but I think the apps numbers might be a little different then yours. Could you install the app and check a few points to ensure we are accurate also and report back? All of our apps will always work in both metric and imperial units as I am finally fully transitioning to metric units myself.
CryptoPonics Yep, my “Spiritual Guide” has been modified, updated and tweaked a lot since I began a Happily Distillin’ last April. I started with a shitty eBay Pot on pot still for $120 and I needed this document to figure out how to mix my 160pr bottles all the way down to the 100pr bottles so I wasn’t drinking crap.
Then my world changed in July when the T500 turned up in my life, and everything became simple, 93% out of the still, 92% after activated charcoal, and 90% after I ran it all through a Brita water filter jug.
So I know I’m working with a dextrose wash, double filtered and from my 25lt barrel I end up with exactly a gallon demijohn (or whatever your part of the world calls a gallon moonshine jug) full of 90% / 180pr crystal clear, tasteless Aussie-shine.
Our 1 litre Re-sealable bottles all seem to tare in at 540g, cost $2 each and I just weigh in 300g out of the “jug” and top ‘’em off with the best water I have available to make up my 1 litre bottles.
I did ask George to please try and speak in “World Metric” as well as American units in his videos a couple of weeks ago and he has been obviously got the message because I can see that he his really working hard lately to speak in both units (have you noticed?)
After much brewing and giving the T500 a thrashing for 8 months now, I can honestly say that this unit is amazing bang for buck and mine has paid for it’self well and truly.
If you’d like the original document of my “Spiritual Guide” I’d happily email you the word document, and you can modify and distribute it as far and wide as you can, my name is also George so if you “at” me to Blue Mountains Tv Antennas dot com I will shoot you a word doc to play with and distribute as long as you credit me. I have tried to keep it down to one page.
Cheers mate!
As always great video, using the same spring water for my wine, but yet to try it out on brandy cutting. If it taste great, why not!
Thank you for your expertise George. I would like to get that app for proofing. Thank you again for all of us newbies thank you.
Following
@@joshwalters2878 I wish too
Awesome
Thankyou george once again
On a recent Whiskey Vault video, Daniel spoke about saponification and how it could negatively affect the taste when proofing. Would like to hear your opinion on that. Happy Distilling!
9:32 thanks for not editing this out. I’m a potato and make goofy mistakes all the time, glad to know I’m in good company.
love .
Love your videos. I have been watching them for a little less than a year. I use your techniques for the baseline for my own spirits.
I just bought the still you demoed on here.the vexer lol 18 gallon football vapor still.i ran it once I can wait to do it again..I love it
Good morning, sir. I'm so happy you're back for us to enjoy and learn. I lost some of my motivation of my hobby when my mentor retired. Lol. You're a great instructor.
I lost my original app for Barley and Hopps. After seeing this video, I'm excited to play again. Could you please send me the link for your app? Should I message you my # rather than post it?
Thank you for your time. Be safe.
Charlie.
BTW. I am traveling to San Antonio in March from Fl. Do you have a suppy store? If so, where in Tx?
Thanks George, I really learned something.