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Agreed. I ran this low and slow. And where I state gallons I captured in quarts. My surprise was that SP was at 1.099 with a brix of 15. 20 gallons of liquid should have captured at least 15-20 quarts with a starting proof at 120-130. But the first was 110 and the fifth quart was 80? The only...

It is possible when I was transferring the liquid from the fermentor to the still. I may have also transferred some of the pulp too. But that would not explain the low volume. I had even added a 50 proof 1/2 gallon and a 115 proof 3/4 gallon to the thumper.

20 gallon and that is 20 gallons of mash liquid. Running Rye I usually get five one gallon starting 150-110 proof. Adding everything together I further proof it to 100 and add an extra gallon. But not with the strawberry banana? What the hell happened???

Well as I feared! another attempt semi failed. After spending hours cutting up strawberries and bananas, fermenting for nine days with ec1118 yeast and an enzyme. SP at 1.099. I was only able to distill 2 gallons out of the 20 gallon mash liquid. First proof was 110 and the second was 80. I even...

I cut up 32 lbs of strawberries and 60 lbs of bananas. I got a refractor reading of brix 11. Added 10 lbs of sugar and increased to 15 brix. Stuck with that and am now fermenting with ec1118 yeast at a good rate. I suspect to distill low and slow by this weekend. I am also going to fill my...

I would think that filling the thumper which forcing the distillient through would do the same thing?

80 degrees suspend the fruit over the distillate? Like place fruit in a bag and drop it in the vessel but not let it touch the liquid? You can also fill up your thumper with fruit to get the same injection. I also ran a vinegar water mixture and ran it to clean out my vessel. Usually throw...

I just cut up 32 lbs of strawberries and 60 lbs of bananas. Cuisinarted then to a smoothly like consistency. Took a refactor reading of 11 brix and added 10 lbs of sugar to increase it to 15 brix. Added 20 gallons of 160 degree water, added an enzyme to break down the bananas. Stored every 15...

Ok but to dilute the sugar it must be heated which will bring the temp up while fermenting. But then again I’m only adding a 10 lb bag. No need to heat it duh!!

Last time I tried this I got 11 Brix out of 32 lbs of strawberries and 60 lbs of bananas. I then added 10 lbs of sugar and got a final 15 brix. Perfect!! The mistake I made was using Turbo yeast!! Agh! Not this time. I’m using ec1118 and shooting for 1.099 SP.

Accept if you have your own elderberry bushes! pick um, squeeze um and watch the juice flow from those little tiny berries. What you will get after nine months of settling is one wonderful wine!

I'm not sure of that either. As I have read that the best yeast to use for any fruit mash recipe begins with a Champagne yeast. Like Lalvin D-47 or 1118. The 1118 is what I'll be using this time around, with an enzyme. I'm going to start all over again this weekend (32 lbs of Strawberries and 60...

Right? I had thrown everything out before I read this. That is a great idea. Maybe ill try and make smaller amount and see how hat would turn out?

Still do not understand the whole heads/ late heads/ hearts thing. After I throw out the first half quart I begin to collect in mason jars and sometimes in gallon glass jugs. But I can not tell by sipping or by looking what the differences are? I'm guess I would have to work with someone that...

No...it turned...the smell was enough to know what happened. I'm going to attempt it again but not use a Turbo yeast but use a distillers Bakers yeast or a wine yeast. And let it cool down naturally. Even if it does take 24 hours or more. My experience has been to allow fermentation of fruits to...

After initially adding 20 gallons of 140 degree temp water to help break down the bananas. I took a sugar reading with my refractor. It showed 11 Brix. I then added 10 lbs of sugar and increased it to 14 Brix. At this point I had to wait for the water temperature to decrease to 70-80 degrees...

It does help...Thank you all for commenting. I am going to try again in a couple of weeks when I know I have better control and not so much on my plate.

I am thinking your right about the turbo. I was going to use the Bakers yeast I have but I did not have enough of this for the volume of mash. I am going to try it again but use a wine yeast. My experience with making wine is that the faster the dryer the slower the fruitier.

Well I tried for the first time a strawberry banana recipe. After cutting up and blending 32 lbs of strawberries and 60 lbs of bananas I performed a test with my refractor. It had a 11 Brix of sugar. I added 10 lbs of sugar which brought it up to 14 Brix. I then added one packet of turbo yeast...