Just did my 1st stripping run. Hmmm

[Alkyholik]

I had about 18L of sugar wash that was about 10.5%
I put it through a stripping run.
Strange thing or 2 happened.
Firstly, nothing came out till about 86 deg C (from the Chinese thermometer on the pot lid!), then when it started to dribble, it went quite well. Threw away the 1st 150ml of foreshots, then started collecting the rest. It went well till I had collected about 2.7l and then it died down and started smelling bad.
Anyway, I switched the power off,and started measuring ABV in my containers I filled which ranged from just under 70% ABV to under 54%ABV.
Have I done it correctly? The way I see it,if I had 10% of 18l at the beginning that means I had about 1.8l of 100% alcohol. And if I have about 2.7l of 70% to 54% at the end, that works out about right?
So the remaining stuff in the pot is just water,yeast,byproduct etc?
Tomorrow I was planning to dilute to 40% and put it back through OR wait til my next batch of SW is ready in a day or 2 and add to the result of that stripping run and do a spirit run and do cuts etc
Have I finally grasped this lol.
Thanks guys

[still_stirrin]

....OR, wait til my next batch of SW is ready in a day or 2 and add to the result of that stripping run and do a spirit run and do cuts etc...

Yessssss, this sounds like a plan.
ss

[zapata]

When doing a spirit run I wouldn't cut it when it smells/tastes bad, that's the point of a stripping run - acknowledging that a single run isn't going to taste good anyway so you just collect the bulk of the alcohol and separate solids.

Firstly, nothing came out till about 86 deg C

86*C = 74% abv, so that reasonably matches your observation, though starting from 10.5% makes me think this must be a reflux still of sorts? Because a simple pot still with 10.5% usually starts producing around 55%.

The way I see it,if I had 10% of 18l at the beginning that means I had about 1.8l of 100% alcohol. And if I have about 2.7l of 70% to 54% at the end, that works out about right?

Yes, that all works out. Accounting for your discarded 150 ml and assuming your total collected abv is the average of the numbers you reported then:
(.150 + 2.7) x [(.70 + .54) / 2] = 1.767 liter total alcohol collected
out of 1.8 liters initially: 1.767 / 1.8 = 98% of alcohol recovered (or 93.5% if using your original "about 10.5%"
Regardless, sounds like you're on the right path and didn't defy the laws of physics or anything, but if you don't have a reflux still then some of these numbers seem fishy.

Tomorrow I was planning to dilute to 40% and put it back through

I think diluting to below 30% on simple stills and not very tasty washes is very helpful to help clean them up.

OR wait til my next batch of SW is ready in a day or 2 and add to the result of that stripping run and do a spirit run and do cuts etc

ALWAYS the bigger a spirit run is the easier it is to make good tasty cuts. Like SS, I think this is a great plan.

[Alkyholik]

I know what you're saying when you say about the numbers seeming fishy. My mate who was here just said my highest number was 64% not 70%. But I too think the numbers didnt add upto what I've read before but those are the numbers. I have the 3 jars here and can take pics or a video of those numbers if needed.
Getting down to the still,its a pot still,but heres the thing, it had on what I thought was a thumper,but just as I set it up,I was going to add some of my wash to thumper then I noticed the hole from thumper to coil was at the very bottom of the thumper so I couldn't add any of my wash to it because it would have just ran out and partially blocked the pipe to the coil. So therefore the "thumper " pot I just left empty. Would this have anything to do with these numbers being higher than expected? I wouldn't have thought so but then again I'm not knowledgeable enough on distilling process to say.
Anyway I'm going to wait till I have another batch of SW to do 1st as suggested above.
Interested to know more about this so called thumper pot now.or whatever it actually is

[Yummyrum]

How about a picture if your still . As they say , a picture tells a thousand words . Or saves a thousand guesses

[Alkyholik]

How about a picture if your still . As they say , a picture tells a thousand words . Or saves a thousand guesses

Theres a pic on 1st post. It's not a super expensive 1 or anything but it does the job. I'm looking for a better 1 but cant seem to find anything that's not chinese(same as I have!). I was wondering if anyone on here makes to sell?

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=80718

[Corsaire]

Sounds like you hooked it up wrong. Did you hook it up like that pic on the other thread?
From boiler to the lower hole, with a u bend to act as a liquid trap.
Then from top of thumper to condenser.

[Alkyholik]

No. Boiler to top hole then from lower hole to coil
Yes this occurred to me earlier on as well about doing it the other way. But something tells me I'm going to have problems doing it like in that pic for some reason. Someone else said it's not a true thumper and maybe better not to use it as one.
I'm going to buy another still as soon as I can find one worth buying. What do you use or can you recommend one? Mostly for neutrals but will eventually do whiskey etc as well. I see combo reflux/column ones but don't know much about them

[Corsaire]

There you go, you plumbed it backwards. Your vapor from the boiler needs to bubble through the liquid in the thumper, then vapor from that needs to go to the condenser.

At the moment I use a copper pot.
I'll go modular beer keg ccvm with thumpers soon. I'm finishing up the controller and will solder a liebig after that.

[Alkyholik]

Getting great results now. Just got 5 litres of about 80% average ABV of neutrals from 3 runs.did stripping runs then a slow spirit run. Turned out really nice! I can't imagine drinking any of it without stripping it 1st lol.
I'm keen to try doing a grain mash or something but dont know where to buy cracked corn etc

[CopperFiend]

Sounds much more positive! Well done. I wouldn't really call it 'neutral' unless it's over at least 92% though. Real neutral is 96%.

[OtisT]

Getting great results now. Just got 5 litres of about 80% average ABV of neutrals from 3 runs.did stripping runs then a slow spirit run. Turned out really nice! I can't imagine drinking any of it without stripping it 1st lol.
I'm keen to try doing a grain mash or something but dont know where to buy cracked corn etc

Congratulations on completing the spirit run.

Regarding your next endeavor, an all grain mash: Nothing wrong with going straight to a grain bill that includes corn, but corn is a bit more challenging to work with than just wheat and/or barley. (Rye is also a PITA). Because you are new to mashing, you may want to consider trying a wheat and/or barley only grain bill on your first AG batch of whiskey. Just a suggestion.

If you are good at following directions and won’t try to cowboy it, go ahead and pick a recipe from the tried & true recipe section, read ahead and ask questions about stuff you don’t understand, and follow the mashing directions exactly as described for your best chance at success.

Otis