Why I quit making a fores cut...

Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper.

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Hillbilly Popstar
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Why I quit making a fores cut...

Post by Hillbilly Popstar »

Got my flame suit on for this one...

So my protocol is to do a fast, hard strip and let it run into a 6 gallon carboy.
When the carboy is about halfway full it is nearly impossible to effectively switch from feints jar back to carboy without making a mess.

Then it occured to me, the Foreshots will always be contained in my heads cut. So why add an extra neccessry step to the process. Why worry if I am taking just the right amount if I am gonna take about 6-8 times that amount as a heads cut anyways.

Heads have a very distincive smell, so I do not take any sample tastes until that smell is gone anyways. So there is zero risk of me ever consuming said fores.

So now I make zero cuts on a strip run.
Then do a spirit run with no fores cut.
On this spirit run I collect in pint jars. But I always start with 2 whole quart jars before I switch to pint jars, cause I know my heads cut will be at least larger than that.

Then after it all said and done, I find my hearts and make my cuts. I have just about got to where I can cut off the still anyways, but I still collect in jars to search for the late flavor tails jars I might want. Then everything left over besides that First (or 2) quart goes into the feint jugs. Those 2 quarts usually go straight into the fire pit, or onto ant piles.
I do the same on my feints spirit runs as well.
"Making likker with a hydrometer and thermometer is like measuring the length of a 2x4 with a clock"
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HDNB
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Re: Why I quit making a fores cut...

Post by HDNB »

hey Billy, at least you throw it out. i make a small fores cut to keep my solvent pail topped up.

i reprocess heads until i get such a large head cut collection that it will fill the 50L still, then i still it off (about 1/2 the run will come off as the strongest heads you ever smelled -that i toss into the solvent collection) but the back half is quite usable alcohol that i reprocess in the next strip or spirit run.

what can i say...i'm a cheap bastard.
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
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Hillbilly Popstar
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Re: Why I quit making a fores cut...

Post by Hillbilly Popstar »

Here lately I include the entire heads cut in with the feints and rerun it like that, then toss half the heads off that run.
Wash.
Rinse.
Repeat.

I've heard tell that an all tails runs makes for some fantastic drop, but I currently dont have enough large glassware to collect enough heads and tails separately.
But I am cheap too. Pretty sure my feints jug currently contains a fair amount of 4th generation drop.
"Making likker with a hydrometer and thermometer is like measuring the length of a 2x4 with a clock"
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HDNB
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Re: Why I quit making a fores cut...

Post by HDNB »

there was a thread here a couple weeks ago about scotch distilleries making one heads cut a year, everything else is reprocessed.

and they be PROfessional and all.
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
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thecroweater
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Re: Why I quit making a fores cut...

Post by thecroweater »

Many ways to skin a cat, when I ran a pot I rarely did a fore cut stripping (except a small cut sometimes with fruit) but I always did with a spirit run as I re-ran my heads. I know guys back home that have never done a fores cut but they don't reuse their heads so I guess why would they. Faints collection is not linear that is the volume of faints doesn't not keep increasing at the same rate as you continue to recycle them but tend to concentrate increasing the faints volume by a reducing amount. That said they still increase even if slowly whole your hearts cut while stay the same so if this is your method it does pay to do a faints run every now and then or just remove the first half of ya heads evey so often. I use fores to light my still and fireplace, so have a reason to collect a generous fraction there.
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin
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NZChris
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Re: Why I quit making a fores cut...

Post by NZChris »

For a lot of products I will take a foreshot, but some fruit need the ethyl acetate to fill out their flavor profile and tossing too much of it before the spirit run can be a mistake.
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