Either way, fruit cap needs to be punched down 1-2 times a day so it doesn't grow mold. Puree is problematic in that it tends to form fluffy lees/dregs and cause a ton of loss. Fruited primaries should be done in a food-safe bucket or preferably a Big Mouth Bubbler, as fruit in a carboy tends to produce volcanoes.
I made a detailed post in the Wine thread.
What they don't know can't hurt you.
Yes, without a litany of licensures and preconditions that involve owning the land you'll be distilling on or that ownership being impending, it is illegal in all 50 states to distill because some Feds poisoned a bunch of people with methanol during Prohibition and blamed moonshiners.
It's legal at the state level in WV up to 5 gallons per year for individuals or 10 per year for couples, but I think you're right about the other 49 afaik.
The common advice in the home distilling community is "don't sell and don't tell", but make an informed choice for yourself on that I suppose.
Watermelon is a really difficult thing to work with. It never really ends up tasting like watermelon. It's one of the hardest flavors to preserve. Good luck.
Yeah, kinda comes out tasting like rind, which isn't inherently bad it's just strange
That's what I've read, but as long as it's palatable and new to me I'll be happy.
Why? Why not just let the yeast floculate, then add some fining agents to get out the tiny particulate sediment, and then rack it off? That's an expensive piece of equipment to accomplish something that you can get with time and cheap polarized molecules.
I hate WhirlFloc and gels
Try DualFine. It's a two-step fining agent of kieselsol and chitosan. Both settle with the lees and are not found in the final brew. Silica is only carcinogenic when inhaled.
You could use gelatin. I used it for a strawberry mead that was hazy and it cleared it up pretty good I think.
gelatin gets me 90% there, but not crystal clear
My aim isn't an increased ABV, it's to get more flavor in the must pre-fermentation.
Then add more of what flavoring adjunct you want, or better yet, flavor it after fermentation, since many chemical compounds that produce flavors don't survive fermentation.
