/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.1623783]

Hello,
What's the best way to create your own whiskey? Any tips for getting into this hobby?

[Wiskymonster No.1623791]

Distilling is illegal in many countries, so you can either ignore that and make a still,

Or buy everclear, age it in oak. Cut with water to desired proof before aging. Oak barrels are spendy, same effect in glass with a piece of oak.

[Anonymous No.1623794]

>>1623791
Well in my country it's OK as long as you don't sell it.

[Anonymous No.1623798]

>>1623794
So get some grain, mash it, then distill it.

You can DIY a still from a pressure cooker, thermometer, copper tubing.

[Anonymous No.1623810]

[Anonymous No.1623812]

>>1623810

1. Malt. Get some barley wet until it sprouts, then dry it to stop it from growing
2. Ferment.
3. Distill. Whisky is actually made with a pot still, not a reflux still.
4. Age in oak barrels

[Anonymous No.1623815]

I've always wondered if you could do smaller lots with lab glassware?

Not just whisky, but any grain alcohol.

Can't think of a reason why not. You should have finer control over the distillation for sure

[Anonymous No.1623850]

This is the best site on the net to learn home distillation. Be prepared tn read the forum for days .
https://homedistiller.org/

[Anonymous No.1623853]

>>1623810

[Anonymous No.1623855]

>>1623815
Yeah, but doing a bunch of batches would take longer I guess. Distillation is already a long enough process.

[Anonymous No.1624021]

Buy moonshine
Put toasted oak sticks/chips into it
Do cold/warm cycle so the moonshine sinks into the oak, this emulates aging
Do this for 10 times and you have 10 year old whiskey
t. guy who made his own moonshine and after that whiskey and drank most of it and didn't die or get yellow eyes

[Anonymous No.1624028]

>>1624021
it can't really be that simple, can it?

[Anonymous No.1624048]

>>1624028
It's as simple as you want it to be. Depending on how much oak chips you put into the moonshine you can get a really strong smoky flavor and aroma if you're into it, if it gets too strong just dilute it with more moonshine.
If you put old seasoned oak into alu foil and bake it you get more of a vanilla scent, if you char it on open fire you get the smoky aroma.
Play around with these two extracts, combine them into whatever you prefer.
And the chips are only good for one batch from my experience.

[Anonymous No.1624052]

>>1623815
I mean if you only want to make a shot at a time, sure. Think of your typical beer. It gets to X% ABV. If you measure the amount of liquid that you're distilling, then multiply it by ABV, you can get a theoretical yield for your distillation. So, if you're distilling off 5L 10% ABV, you may get 0.5L alcohol to convert into whiskey/vodka. When it comes to laboratory scale, you may be distilling around 500mL, and depending on how fermentation runs (say 5-15%), you may run anywhere from 25 to 75mL. That would convert to around 0.8-2.5oz of hooch (i.e. one shot), without even figuring for methanol that would need discarding, or the amount lost due to transfer.

[Anonymous No.1624273]

>>1624052
Oh fuck I bet retarded hipsters would love to pay for a super exclusive one-off shot of that shit. Just get some old timey lab coat and charge $50 a shot.

[Anonymous No.1624278]

What follows is the result of a few years of hard work and it isn't precisely whiskey, but rather brandy. But it's the best-tasting and most efficient process/recipe I have come across. I actually invented it.

First you need a still. This can be accomplished easily using a 5 gallon enameled hot water canner, a length of 5/8 copper tubing, and a 5 gallon bucket. Pic related. The trick is in bending the copper tube to connect your enameled pot through the 5 gallon bucket at the right downward angle. I find that those little squeeze clamps work to hold down the lid and mixing water with flour into a dough is effective in sealing the hole you drilled in the lid to the copper tube. After you fill the bucket with water you only need a slight dribble to keep your jacket cool.

Now you need your mash. 2 gallons of distilled water + 7 ozs of raisins (boiled for 15 minutes then pureed in a blender) + 7 lbs of sugar + 1 cup of yeast is the base recipe. I use that much yeast because I want it done fast and I use standard red star baking yeast which is cheap and has a good flavor. You can order it online in one or 2 pound bags for a few bucks. Basically I heat up a gallon of water to dissolve the sugar then add the raisin puree and use the rest of the water to cool it: since it's distilled you know it's sterile. Distilled water also negates any off flavors. Make sure the water is below 90 degrees F before you add your yeast, and pour the mash back and forth to inject oxygen which helps a lot. Save your mash after you distill out the ethanol: all you need to do is add more sugar and this is called sour mash and tastes better than fresh mash. Add the sugar when the mash is hot after your run. Throw out the first .5 cup, this is called head and tastes like shit. You can obviously expand this recipe but I like small batches because they heat up faster and get done faster. This recipe will produce about 2 fifths @ 75% depending on how much sugar you use

[Anonymous No.1624279]

>>1623853
>>1623810
Column stills are best for vodka. The flavor of the whiskey mash is lost in it. Use a pot still instead

[Anonymous No.1624442]

>>1623783
Whatever you do, do NOT attempt to distill spirits indoors. You WILL burn your house down.

[Anonymous No.1624446]

>>1624048

[Anonymous No.1624447]

>>1624442
I do it on an electric stove. Its fine as long as youre careful.

[Anonymous No.1624680]

>>1623783
Watch this anon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glQjCKAI4gA

[Anonymous No.1624682]

>>1624446
Damn, I didn't know they had it down to science with the oak chips. Thanks!

[Wayne Lambright No.1625558]

>>1623783
>Any tips for getting into this hobby?

Alcoholism is not a hobby.

[Anonymous No.1625571]

>>1624028
Indeed it is.
>>1624021
I had success without cycling the temperature. Maybe it makes a difference though, I never tried.
I suspect but don't know for a fact that pretty much any hardwood should work, though maybe a more refined palate could tell the difference. I mostly use white oak because I had a bunch on my land and the bark skins off easier than red oak.