damntall

Hi guys, Just wondering if you have any recommendations for large storage containers. I often need to store gallons of finished amaro for long periods before I bottle it, and I feel like a glass wide-mouth carboy is a little fragile. Thoughts? I do all the creation and aging of the products in 7-gallon PET Fermonsters. Are those good for long-term storage too?

I've had a large batch of Amaro go cloudy recently... I keep it in a 7-gallon carboy for filling smaller branded bottles from as necessary. I assume it's the same process that makes sugar syrup go cloudy / streaky after a while. I wondered: is there a generally accepted way of handling long term storage of homemade amari and/or a chemical stabilizer (like potassium sorbate or suflites) that can go into it to extend its shelf life / to keep bacteria from feeding on the sugars over time? How should I be handling these large storage needs?

THANK YOU! What citric-to-water proportions do you recommend for soaking the tubes?

I've watched a video or two on how to clean a Super Jet filter system, but they never seem to mention anything about the tubes. Yes, I'm using the tubes of course to transport gallons of clean water and then gallons of potassium metabisulfite water through the machine, and then flushing that out with more fresh water, drying the plates, etc... but I'm concerned about mildew accumulating in the tubes between uses with the small amount of water droplets trapped in the tubes. What do you guys do?? Nothing? Blow them out with compressed air? Something else?

You guys are amazing. I'm learning so much. THANK YOU. One other dumb newbie question... when working with the 200 proof ethanol I have here, obviously flammability safety precautions are required. But I was also curious to know whether I should be wearing some sort of mask / filter to protect my lungs from inhalation of the fumes of such a high proof product. My reading says that the toxicity of 200 proof (or similar) fumes can be pretty bad for human lungs and nervous systems, but having never worked with it before, I've not had any direct experience yet. I'd appreciate any safety recommendations for fumes, fire, or any other issues you know of while handling this stuff during production... 120 proof never worried me much as my batches have been only up to 15 gallons so far, but 200 proof ethanol is quite a serious substance. All thoughts are welcome.

This is awesome. The proof calculation is very helpful... THANK YOU! I have procured a source for 200 proof neutral spirit, and have 5 gallons of it on hand at the moment, so I will experiment and see what happens. I really appreciate it! Thank you!

Hi friends, I have an amaro recipe that calls for 1.75 liters of 120 proof clear spirit for initial extraction phase of the herbal solids, which I dilute to about 25%. I've used it for a while, and I know what its yield and flavor intensity profile is like. However, I want to switch to 200 proof for some additional benefits, including what I believe will be shorter extraction times, higher yields, and the like. What I'm struggling with, though, is: Is there a conversion / calculator that will tell me what volume of 200 proof I should use as the starting point vs. the original 1.75 liters of 120 proof? I presume 200 will require less than the 120 proof, as dilution will have to be higher to get to the same 25% abv. Problem is I don't know how to make this calculation to arrive at a similar flavor profile and intensity How much better (and/or faster) is an extraction from 200 proof over 120? Is this a worthwhile switch? Any thoughts welcome... but knowing that conversion would be tremendous!