• Beginners

  Fast and affordable sacrificial cleaning service: Is it possible?

  Posted by JTBullfrog on November 2, 2024 at 12:22 pm

  Hi all. For a new still, after the vinegar run, can I use some off the shelf product for my sacrificial alcohol run? Using a sugar wash and going through the whole boiling and fermentation process seems wasteful in time and money. Can I just run a couple gallons of the cheapest box wine I can get? Or maybe water down a gallon of vodka and run that?

  NZChris replied 1 month, 1 week ago 8 Members · 7 Replies
• 7 Replies

• 

  IAmPistolPete

  Member

  November 2, 2024 at 12:39 pm

  The process of a new sugar wash is good practice but I’m keen on getting a handle of the cheapest vodka & diluting it to 30% to break in new equipment. Skip the wine.If you ever find yourself being chased by a pack of wild taxidermists, do not play dead.

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  jonnys_spirit

  Member

  November 2, 2024 at 12:48 pm

  The general recommendation is to ferment 3x boiler volume so you plan to do three strips and a spirit run per batch. Make it four times your boiler volume and bob’s your uncle. First run is a sac run next three are keeper low wine strips. Vodka would work but a full strip will work better and be cheaper. Whatcha thinking about for your first run?Cheers,jonny————i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred————

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  Yummyrum

  Member

  November 2, 2024 at 12:55 pm

  Yeah for sure Jeremiah. Box wine will do fine . Some just prefer to do an actual fermentation just for the experience before doing the real one .Practice makes perfect ..or something like that My recommended goto .wiki/index.ph … ion_Theory

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  Expat

  Member

  November 2, 2024 at 1:08 pm

  There’s no way that a simple sugar ferment is going to be more expensive than anything you can buy in a store. Sugar, water, anything for a nutrient, dump it in a bucket add yeast and wait a week. No need to boil anything.Patience is a virtue in this hobby._____________________EXPATCurrent boiler and pot headCross flow condenserModular 3″ Boka – pics tbd___________________

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  Salt Must Flow

  Member

  November 2, 2024 at 10:23 pm

  Just so you know, you don’t have to boil a sugar wash. Boiling is more of a mashing thing (with grains). A sugar wash can be just water, sugar and nutrients. I do bring a certain amount of water to boil before adding it to my sugar wash, but that’s just to bring the sugar wash to fermentation temp (85F). Some use boiled yeast as one nutrient, but that’s not a big ordeal. Just boil a small amount of water, toss in the yeast and let it sit for a while.Sure you can dilute store bought vodka and do a sacrificial cleaning run.4″ VM Build

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  shadylane

  Member

  November 3, 2024 at 1:05 am

  Add yeast to 1 pound sugar per gallon.At room temperature or warmer in a couple days there will be alcohol and a low pH.For a sac run, the inevitable pH crash of this recipe is a bonus.

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  NZChris

  Member

  November 3, 2024 at 6:03 am

  Make enough of the first ferment that you can use a quarter of it for the sacrificial run.Small fermenters are a PITA. Start big, with enough volume to ferment at least three still charges worth of wash.

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