| Problem |
Cause |
Remedy |
| My wash has failed to
start fermenting. |
Fermenter not Sealing |
Remove the lid of the
fermenter and check to see if there are any bubbles rising through the
liquid or any froth on the surface or around the sides. If there is sign
then seal the fermenter. |
| |
Too Cold |
Fermentation should start
as low as 15C. If wash is below this add heat
using a heater pad or belt from a specialist brewing store. |
| |
Too Hot |
If you added the yeast to
the wash when it was too hot you may kill the yeast. In this situation you
should not add more Turbo as this will result in too much nutrient. Obtain
an EC1118 wine yeast from a specialist store and add this to the wash when
the temperature is 20deg
C |
| My wash started to ferment
but stopped and my hydrometer reading is not down to 990 (SG). |
The temperature rose too
high in the first 24 hours of fermentation. (The yeast activity can raise
the wash temp by as much as 8deg
C in the first 24 hours of
fermentation.) It is important to start the wash at around 20o
C and not use any heat in the first 24 hours. If the wash
overheats during this period the yeast may not have the energy to finish
fermenting. |
First stir the wash
vigorously to stir the yeast back into circulation. If the SG has not
lowered within 24 hours then obtain an EC1118 wine yeast from a specialist
store. As there is alcohol present you should first start the yeast working
in 200 mls of water. Once the yeast has dissolved, add a teaspoon of
dextrose. When this is fermenting, add 200 mls of wash. When this is
fermenting add half of this to the stuck wash and top back up with wash.
Continue this until the wash starts fermenting. |
| |
The wash has cooled down
below 15deg
C. |
Warm the wash up and stir
vigorously to get the yeast back into circulation. Once the wash is warm
fermentation should continue normally. |
| |
I have tried to get the
wash going again but nothing seems to start it. |
Distill it anyway. You
will not get as much alcohol as you would from a normally fermented wash.
Watch the temperature on the condenser and stop when you have reached the
appropriate max. temp. for your model. |
| |
|
|
| I did not get as much
alcohol as the instructions said I would. |
Incorrect quantity of
sugar used. |
Check that you have used
the right quantity and type of sugar.
Standard Turbo and
Temperature Tolerant Turbo.
6 kgs Still Spirits Turbo
Sugar or;
6 kgs of White Sugar or;
7 kgs of Dextrose |
| |
Steam leak from the still. |
Fix leak. |
| |
Wash has not fermented
out. |
See Fermentation section |
| My alcohol is not as
strong as the instructions said it would be. |
Check in above section. |
Make sure you do not
exceed the maximum temperature allowed at the top of the condenser. If the
alcohol is not in the wash then you can’t distill it. |
| My distillate is blue. |
Ensure you have used Still
Spirits Turbo products. |
Some brands of Turbo
produce a blue spirit due to an imbalance of nutrients. |
| |
Use only one Turbo sachet
per 25 litre wash. |
If the fermentation stick
do not add another Turbo sachet as this will result in an imbalance of
nutrients. |
| My distillate is cloudy
when it comes out of the still. |
The wash has frothed and
come out the condenser. |
Use Turbo Clear prior to
distilling and/or Distilling conditioner. |
| My distillate is clear
when it comes out of the still and has been filtered but it goes cloudy
after a few days. |
Mineral Salts have been
washed out of the carbon and have reformed in the distillate. These are
harmless but unsightly. This problem can also appear as coloured sediment
when flavour has been added as the salts pick up the colouring from the
flavouring. This problem is also more common with Turbo Extra as distillate
from this wash is more prone to flushing out the mineral salts. |
1. Thoroughly wash the carbon in the Z Filter prior to use
2. Ensure that the temperature is kept as close as possible to 20 degrees C
during fermentation of wash.
3. Filter spirit containing sediment with a wine filter or coffee filter
paper.
4. Leave until sediment has all dropped out (cold temperatures will
accelerate process) and decant off sediment.
|
| |
Fermentation temperature
is too high causing the production of unwanted but harmless proteins. |
See
points 2, 3 & 4 above. |
| My distillate comes out of
the condenser discoloured or has dark flecks in it. |
If the condenser is used
for the first time then this could be residue from the manufacturing
process. |
Soak with White Vinegar or
flat Coca Cola to clean this away then rinse with a weak solution of
dishwashing liquid and warm water. |
| |
If this has not occurred
the first time the condenser has been used but occurs second and subsequent
times, then it can be traced to collecting too much distillate. This will
result in the problem showing up next time the condenser is used. |
Clean as above and only
collect the correct amount of distillate. Before distilling ensure that the
SG is down to 990 otherwise make sure that you do not distill above the
temperature limits of your condenser. |
| Distilling Problems; |
|
|
| The condenser seems to
overheat even though I am running far more water through it than is
recommended. |
The condenser may not be
plumbed correctly. |
Fill the condenser with
water then pull the hoses off the base of the main condenser. One of these
will be the inlet for the water and the other will be the hose that
transfers the water into the reflux condenser. The water should flow out of
the condenser through the pipe that the inlet water pipe is connected to. If
it flows out of the other one then the hoses have been fitted the wrong way
around. |
| |
The internal overflow
outlet is missing or loose. |
Take the marble out of the
Reflux condenser and shake the whole condenser. There should not be any
rattling. If there is then the overflow pipe may be loose. |
| The spirit from my reflux
condenser is not as strong as it should be. |
The marble is not in the
Reflux Condenser. |
There should be a marble
in the Reflux condenser. This should be resting on four indentations in the
inside of the Reflux chamber. The marble ensures that all the alcohol laden
steam comes in contact with the inside of the Reflux chamber. It can happen
that the marble is too small and drops right through the Reflux chamber and
come to rest over the nut at the bottom of the condenser where it screws
onto the still domed top. This cuts off the flow of steam into the condenser
altogether stopping it from working. If the marble is missing, then the
condenser works more like a Pot Still condenser. |
| No spirit comes out of my
condenser and the lid pushes off. |
There is a blockage in the
condenser. |
When the condenser is
removed from the still, it should be easy to blow in through the spirit
outlet tube. Any resistance here would indicate a blockage that will most
likely be at the back of the nipple that the outlet tube is attached too.
Using a 4 mm flat punch and a hammer just tap the punch up the outlet to
push the inside wall of the main condenser away from the back end of the
nipple. This should clear any blockage. |
| How do I know how much
water flow the condenser needs to run correctly. |
Water flow is extremely
important for the correct operation of the condenser. First the water runs
through the main condenser then into the reflux condenser. The water warms
up in the main condenser as it removes heat from the condensing spirit. This
hot water is then fed into the reflux condenser. If the flow of water is too
high then the reflux condenser becomes too efficient which reduces the flow
of steam into the main condenser. This reduced flow will also result in a
higher alcohol content as more of the heavier molecules like water are
returned to the Still and what does get past the reflux condenser is the
lighter molecules or the alcohol. |
When a condenser is
running properly, the top two bands of the main condenser should be very
hot. The bottom band of the spiral should be cool and the one above it
should be hot but not be too hot to touch. |
| Can I fit my condenser
from my 5 litre still onto a larger boiler. |
Yes you can fit the
condenser from a 5 litre still onto a 3 in 1 fermenter. This will make a 25
litre still. |
Please note that it is
illegal to own and operate a still over 5 litres capacity in Australia. |
| Z Filter; |
|
|
| My spirit comes out gray
from the filter. |
The carbon has not been
flushed properly prior to use. |
Flush the carbon as per
the instructions making sure to repeat this. Take care not to knock the
filter once carbon filtering has commenced. |
| |
The wrong filter paper had
been used. |
The blue filter papers are
for Reflux Carbon and the white filter papers are for Universal Carbon. |
| The spirit runs very
slowly. |
The filter has been over
packed with carbon. When the carbon gets wet it expands and may block. |
Leave a 10 mm gap at the
top of both chambers of the filter. |
| The spirit runs too fast. |
This is unlikely to cause
any problem as the filter is designed to work very quickly as all the spirit
is forced to pass through all the carbon. |
If you are concerned with
the speed then simply put the spirit through again. |
| Essences; |
|
|
| Finest Reserve Scotch goes
cloudy when I mix it with the alcohol. |
This essence is prone to
going cloudy if the alcohol content is below 40% or the spirit is very cold. |
Make sure the alcohol
content is above 40% when mixing. If possible mix it in at 50% then slowly
water the spirit down. Make sure the spirit is warmer than 25deg C |
| My spirits tastes like
methylated Spirits even after I have filtered the alcohol. |
This could be caused by
too high a fermentation temperature. Make sure you water your distillate
down to below 50% prior to filtering. |
Make sure you are using
the Z Filter to filter your spirit. Universal Carbon gives a cleaner result
than Reflux Carbon. Use Still Spirits Turbo Sugar in the wash. Use Turbo
Clear prior to distilling. Try Temperature Tolerant Turbo as this gives the
cleanest spirit even in warm climates. |
