great vid George happy distilling from Still Works and Brewing

Hi George again a great video thank you for the very clear video you are so helpfull to get thing right and be happy distilling :-) thanks from the Netherlands and happy distilling Don

another great video in George's worldwide educational videos. I hope to meet him someday

Happy distilling. Thank you for the content you create. I can't even begin to think about how much trial and error time you have saved me with just starting out with this. I'm grateful that I found your channel to help me understand this awesome hobby.

When doing my grain batches I usually use twenty gallon drums and ferment on the grain with head space I wind up with a little over 18 gallons. Now the tip for this size batch as I cook my corn I add two cups of corn starch this boost my ABV without messing with my flavor profile at all. In fact next time I'm going to try adding four cups per batch and see how that works of course I will post my results here.

Just so you know who I am Goerge I just talked to you I really appreciate what you do.

HAPPY DISTILLING! Squeezing the boiled bag: Years ago, I lived near a big Italian grocery. Every year they imported grapes for wine-making. Most customers were "regulars," & the store had a screw-type grape press they'd loan out for a day. Years later, a buddy got hooked on beer making & wanted a grain bag press. Very pricey. BUT! One Saturday, I went into Princess Auto (Canada's version of Harbor Freight) and by the door was a stack of 2-ton screw-type scissor jacks for cars, brand new, $12 on sale. Hmmm - 2 tons. We built a frame from angle iron, a pressure plate from layered 2x4's, and a "barrel" with slats of 1x4 lumber ripped in half and stood on end, held by 2 rings of 1/4" wire rope, cable clamps, and big staples. It sat in a big plastic vat, and it worked: put a wet grain bag in, turn the jack screw, which squeezed the bag, & the trapped water flowed into the plastic vat. $20 bucks of materials, & 2-3 hours to build. Still squeezing 18 years on.

I like the mop bucket idea George. I've been using brew bags squished in my friends fruit press, you get every last drop

Good talking with you the other day George. Thanks. When I was getting ready for my first whiskey I asked for suggestions. The boiler is 7.5 US gals. I was sort of thinking two slightly different batches that might then be blended. I posted, on the homedistiller forum, the ingredients that I had purchased. This what I had on hand Maris Otter 2.2 kg Heavy Peated Malt 3 kg Pale Malt (Canadian 2-row) 5 kg TF Chocolate Malt 1 kg Special Belgium 1 kg This response came back... That’ll get you roughly 12-1/2 (+/-) US gallons of wort. Give it a go. The peated malt will be slight in the finished beer and likely not noticeable in the distillate. But the darker and specialty malts will give you a complex grain flavor offstill. The 12-1/2 US gallons of beer will give you roughly 3 strip runs through your still, which when you collect the low wines so the average is 30%, or so, will yield a whiskey suited for the aging cask after your spirit run. It should be a great keeper. And it was.

Is no one going to mention how amazing the thumbnail is?

Using a fruitpress with a bag in it, is also a good handy way to press out the liquid from the grain. And you can also rinse perfect threw it before pressing ...Happy Distilling..🙃🤞

Happy distilling! I appreciate you, George.

George would love to see a video on spp spiral prismatic packing how to size it what the best size to use and what you think about making your own. Thanks for all of your help.

Really been enjoying the malt process. And started my Cannashine. Seems to work very well. Many thanks for all the help. Godbless

Have you ever done a malt extract in a sugar wash to make whiskeys? If not would you ever do a video of pros and cons.

I did my cleaning and sacrificial run yesterday with my 50 gallon pot.

I always hit that 👍 before I even watch George's videos! Happy Distilling!

As you said with stainless steel , cleaning not much needed,, but if you are doing this with copper and only run say every other month,, you need to run some sort of cleaning sacrificial run ,,, the inside of copper will tarnish after a few weeks and become a greenish color,, there fore you need to do a good cleaning or the end result will have a tinted color to it, if you are running every week, probably not needed,, You have said in the past that you didn't know exactly where the sacrificial run developed,, my guess is ,,, those Shine maker of old that did not produce all year,, because of many reasons,, no abundance of grain out of season ,, and temp of site for mash fermentation ,, probably caused stills to set up for months at a time,, and in order to clean the still and remove any tarnish from inter parts,, a sacrificial run was probably the easiest way to clean it,, things like citric acid were not as common as today. Just my thinking on the cleaning of copper.

So I wasn’t get much alcohol on my mashes and was so frustrated and the fix was I was using an aluminum pot for cooking the mash. I switched to a stainless pot and 6 row boom fixed! Bubbling like mad now!

Great information from beginning to end thank you sir and keep them coming congratulations I see your about to break 55k. Happy stillin George

Good point. It’s not like making wine or beer. It doesn’t matter if it smells funky, it probably won’t carry over.

As always George, great information.

Happy Distillin’ - George, not that I’m incapable of doing metric conversions in my head, but could you please give us both units if possible. 1.25 pounds is about 550 grams per 3.8 litres is 145g/litre Incidentally, 9 kilos of dextrose will fill a 25lt fermentation keg to the 13 litre mark, so I’ve just marked my fermenters at 13lt and pour it straight out of the bag, then top it off to 25lt and chuck in my turbo yeast. That’s just my method I’ve found to be easiest. Thanks for everything you do, I have learned literally everything from you, the local brew shop and trial & error experience.

Thank you so much I enjoy you videos.

I use Bakers Malt here in Austria to get my enzymes. It is cleaner that most brewing malts and is like Flour. Good stuff...

Thanks George for all...

Another great video! Thanks George.

Another great one George. Just sayin' hi and putting a like on the video.

Oh man o man where can i get that parody table of beer elements you used in the intro?!!

Thank you George

Love it. Flaked maize is a pain but if you get enough water it’ll work out.

Thanks George for sharing your enormous knowledge and experience . I'm a new comer 👍

Okay, that's why my first batch was funky and everything else was so good. Sacrificial run.

Mop bucket 🪣👍🙏 so simple !wish i had thought of it

A mop bucket! Why didn’t I think of that?!? Here I am trying to invent or think of some device that could squeeze a hot grain bag & capture all the liquid 🤣 Genius, thank you!

Mop bucket... of course! Mind. Blown.

Love these tip videos.

Happy Stillin Tip 2 as I wander around KZfaq and see people teaching unsafe, dangerous, and down right dumbass ways to do our thing I alway post Barley and Hops Brewing in the comment section and tell people to come learn the right safe way with George.

Another great video. Do you ever sleep???

Hey George another great video one question do you need to do a sacrificial run on a stainless steal still ??

Mop bucket! Hahaha heck yes. Been using big strainer.😁

Hello George, and HAPPY DISTILLING! Another channel I watch, different subject matter, the guy has a saying. I've found it applies to many areas of life. "Common Sense IS a SUPERPOWER" No disrespect meant to any fellow distillers. A can of tomato paste comes to mind 😁 Thanks for all your efforts George👍👍 And GO CHIEFS !!!

happy distilling. What's the episode talks about "5-5-1"?

HAPPY DISTILLING 👍 I enjoy making spirit's. I watch your videos while I'm distilling, though I don't / can't consume alcohol. ( health reasons ) I've never sold as much as a drop, but my friend love it when I bring a jug with me. Again, HAPPY DISTILLING 👍

Oh how so true! Squeeze the very last drop! I started doing that, then I woke up to my self! Don’t do it anymore!

Happy distilling George. You made a good point there about 5percent and 10 percent but with more water , I have made a 50L still and was worried that the heater element might get exposed when do 15 or 20L washes ... so would it be ok to just top up with water to level I know will be fine ? I know it will take a bit longer to run but that same amount of alcohol is there surely

Happiness is Distilling! Is the sweet wash supposed to be sweet in the jar? After being distilled? I'm not complaining, my first run taste awesome! Just dumbfounded that its sweet tasting. Thanks in advance George,

My stainless still gets a trip to the dishwasher...just don't tell my wife!

Happy Distilling George!

3 more happy distilling tips

George, are you still building 220v pids?

If you do a vinagur do you still need to do a Sacrifice run

3:12, I just finished soldering my copper pipe and I don't have any 551 + the store is about 1 1/2 hrs. 1 can of 6oz into 5 gallons of water, if I boil it? or if I use vinegar? how much per gallons? Do you think it would do a good job as a 551? Would it cleans it or gums it inside the pipes? or anything from my household? anyone? thank you

Happy Distilling! After taking your advice of recirculating the sparge water a couple times, I achieved my best efficiency ever! 11 lbs of grain in 5 gallons got me 1.060! 7 lbs of maized corn! I let it sit for a good hour to hydrolyze and a little help from powdered amylaze and cut down on the viscocity followed by distillers malt and flavored malts to achieve my highest potential AVB to date! It ought to be fantastic beer! Lol 😂.Thank you for all those helpful hints that make my brewing day go smoothly. Keep up the great work!

Happy distilling

Happy Distilling, George!~ I must have missed something... :-( I have a solid copper Alembic still... and I typically clean it using a 30% household vinegar and water. However, I do not know what you're referring to wrt "5/5/1"... Please educate me.

I must be a fan I looked at this vid then went back to doing paperwork. I heard an echo. Its playing on my phone and computer too that'll never happen again haha

So you saying no need for a 5 page letter just to ask what's your favourite yeast to use. lol

Once again “Thank you George Happy distilling”

George Can you still get stills

Hi George, I sent a message and needed help regarding the yellow balls that came with my Chinese still....what are they for and are they safe to add during the distillation process....Please help??!!

Don't worry about the water in the grains the sparge will get the sugars you want and leaves clean water behind. ABV dilution and anal cleanliness is only important when your brewing beer because it's still alive when bottled

Hope your ok ... must be busy..

Which video was about 551?

Happy Distilling