My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

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FiresideFriends
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My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by FiresideFriends »

Did my 2 gen. Run out of my keg still 1/2 pound of copper mesh. Got 12 pint jars ranging 55 ABV to 41 ABV. Between heads and tails got almost a gallon. I believe those are good numbers. Now I do have a question about the spirit run and with those numbers. Won't I be taken the flavor away if I do a spirit run. I've Included pic. of my setup. Thanks for the feedback.ImageImage

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still_stirrin
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by still_stirrin »

Observation....short water jacket on your Liebig. You probably have to run the coolant very fast to keep up with the knockdown from the boiler. That, or keep the heat input low so you don't push steam through the condenser. If it were me, I'd disassemble the Liebig and increase the water jacket length.

So, you want to keep the flavor when running the spirit pass? Fine, it's a potstill...go ahead and run it through. You won't lose flavor.

What is the %ABV of the low wines? How much of it do you have? For the best flavor carryover using a potstill, strip the wash until the collected low wines is 40%ABV so you don't have to water it down for the spirit run. Don't dilute it below 40%ABV (with water) and you'll carry a bunch of flavor into your product. And run it normally as you would for a spirit run...pencil lead size stream output.

You'll get a nice full flavored spirit in the end. But pay attention to your cuts to get the best product you can.
ss
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
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Pikey
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by Pikey »

Hi FF, some of us do stripping runs and spirit runs, some (including me) do single runs and return the "Feints" (unused portions of the heads and tails) into the next run of the same wash. This is the so called 1.5 method We generally don't argue the toss too much about "My way is best" because we tend to accept each other's methods.

In essence - yes you will lose some flavour and for some washes / mashes, that is regarded as a good thing because they can be "flavour heavy" to start with.

These are things you will make your own decisions on and adjust your ingredients / starting abv levels of the wash to suit whichever method you are intending to utilise.

My suggestion would be to save some of some of your "jars", and do the "Spirit run" with the bulk, then after your spirit run, try the two (after adjusting the abv of your "test portion" down to a similar level.)

I think the "Sour mash" recipes are good to get a feel of the balance of smoothness and flavour you want to work towards, because they are a repetitive process and can give you a good volume of similar product quite cheaply.

I hope this helps a bit. :)

[edit - I too was a little dubious about the size of your Leibig condenser, and would like to see it a bit bigger - do you get any smell or hot vapour coming out of your pipe ? ]
FiresideFriends
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by FiresideFriends »

I thought these are my low wines, only run through once.

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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by FiresideFriends »

[edit - I too was a little dubious about the size of your Leibig condenser, and would like to see it a bit bigger - do you get any smell or hot vapour coming out of your pipe ? ]

A little bit of a smell don't notice any vapor.

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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by Pikey »

FiresideFriends wrote:[edit - I too was a little dubious about the size of your Leibig condenser, and would like to see it a bit bigger - do you get any smell or hot vapour coming out of your pipe ? ]

A little bit of a smell don't notice any vapor.

[Tapadork advert removed by hand - p ]
Hold a cold mirror close to the end of your pipe, see if it "Mists" up. If it does, that's alcohol !

I get zero smell with my pot, but I use a knockdown coil as a condenser - do others who use Leibigs get smell ?
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still_stirrin
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by still_stirrin »

FiresideFriends wrote:I thought these are my low wines, only run through once.
OK. So why do cuts on low wines (other than pulling a little of the foreshots)? "Low wines" are an accumulated collection with the intention of rerunning on a spirit pass.

You said you collected 12 jars with 55 to 41 %ABV...with a hearts collection of almost a gallon. That tells me this is NOT low wines, rather you intended to keep it as your product. Right??
ss
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by FiresideFriends »

still_stirrin wrote:
FiresideFriends wrote:I thought these are my low wines, only run through once.
OK. So why do cuts on low wines (other than pulling a little of the foreshots)? "Low wines" are an accumulated collection with the intention of rerunning on a spirit pass.

You said you collected 12 jars with 55 to 41 %ABV...with a hearts collection of almost a gallon. That tells me this is NOT low wines, rather you intended to keep it as your product. Right??
ss
This is only my 2nd run from all the reading, I thought it was important to collect and learn cuts. That's where I got confused to if it's too high ABV it loses flavor I read. I do appreciate all the great feedback I'm getting. Thanks

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FiresideFriends
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by FiresideFriends »

Pikey wrote:
FiresideFriends wrote:[edit - I too was a little dubious about the size of your Leibig condenser, and would like to see it a bit bigger - do you get any smell or hot vapour coming out of your pipe ? ]

A little bit of a smell don't notice any vapor.

[Tapadork advert removed by hand - p ]
Hold a cold mirror close to the end of your pipe, see if it "Mists" up. If it does, that's alcohol !

I get zero smell with my pot, but I use a knockdown coil as a condenser - do others who use Leibigs get smell ?
I'll try that thanks.

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still_stirrin
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by still_stirrin »

FiresideFriends wrote:This is only my 2nd run from all the reading, I thought it was important to collect and learn cuts. That's where I got confused to if it's too high ABV it loses flavor I read. I do appreciate all the great feedback I'm getting. Thanks
"Cuts" are made following a spirit run, whether you do a stripping run or not. Learning cuts will take a lot of practice and I suggest collecting in at least a dozen containers, preferably 2 dozen. Then, measure things and label the jars with %ABV, date, and recipe and especially the jar #. Then, cover with a coffee filter for 24 hours to air out (and outgas the volatile constituents).

When you make cuts, start in the middle (most likely in the hearts) and sample downward (towards the tails). Record your perceptions, aroma and flavor, burn on the tongue, in the throat, in the chest, etc. Be very descriptive with your observations, relating smells to paradigms you know, such as fruitiness (even type of fruit), nuttiness, spicy (type of spice), and so on. Likewise, record your perceptions of the taste as well. Again, be specific with your paradigms. Doing this will help you learn to discern subtle nuances between sample. And documenting your perceptions will give you a feedback record you can review as you continue the exercise.

After completing the downward sampling, start again at the middle and work your way upward, doung exactly the same thing; smell and taste, recording your perceptions. Starting at the middle and working down first will help to save your senses longer before you get to the heads, which will disturb your smell and taste senses. And always dilute the samples to 90 proof, or lower because if higher, the alcohol will numb your senses.

There, "Cuts 101" in a nutshell. And remember, practice will improve your skills.
ss
FiresideFriends wrote:....Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Hey F/F, big suggestion here....turn the Tapatalk signature OFF on your phone. We don't need that here at all. Thx.
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
FiresideFriends
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Posts: 11
Joined: Thu May 04, 2017 12:32 pm

Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by FiresideFriends »

still_stirrin wrote:
FiresideFriends wrote:This is only my 2nd run from all the reading, I thought it was important to collect and learn cuts. That's where I got confused to if it's too high ABV it loses flavor I read. I do appreciate all the great feedback I'm getting. Thanks
"Cuts" are made following a spirit run, whether you do a stripping run or not. Learning cuts will take a lot of practice and I suggest collecting in at least a dozen containers, preferably 2 dozen. Then, measure things and label the jars with %ABV, date, and recipe and especially the jar #. Then, cover with a coffee filter for 24 hours to air out (and outgas the volatile constituents).

When you make cuts, start in the middle (most likely in the hearts) and sample downward (towards the tails). Record your perceptions, aroma and flavor, burn on the tongue, in the throat, in the chest, etc. Be very descriptive with your observations, relating smells to paradigms you know, such as fruitiness (even type of fruit), nuttiness, spicy (type of spice), and so on. Likewise, record your perceptions of the taste as well. Again, be specific with your paradigms. Doing this will help you learn to discern subtle nuances between sample. And documenting your perceptions will give you a feedback record you can review as you continue the exercise.

After completing the downward sampling, start again at the middle and work your way upward, doung exactly the same thing; smell and taste, recording your perceptions. Starting at the middle and working down first will help to save your senses longer before you get to the heads, which will disturb your smell and taste senses. And always dilute the samples to 90 proof, or lower because if higher, the alcohol will numb your senses.

There, "Cuts 101" in a nutshell. And remember, practice will improve your skills.
ss
FiresideFriends wrote:....Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Hey F/F, big suggestion here....turn the Tapatalk signature OFF on your phone. We don't need that here at all. Thx.
Thanks great information
Antler24
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Re: My 1st 10 gallon UJSSM

Post by Antler24 »

Pikey wrote:
FiresideFriends wrote:[edit - I too was a little dubious about the size of your Leibig condenser, and would like to see it a bit bigger - do you get any smell or hot vapour coming out of your pipe ? ]

A little bit of a smell don't notice any vapor.

[Tapadork advert removed by hand - p ]
Hold a cold mirror close to the end of your pipe, see if it "Mists" up. If it does, that's alcohol !

I get zero smell with my pot, but I use a knockdown coil as a condenser - do others who use Leibigs get smell ?
I always get smell. I thought every still gave off that smell. Ive got a 36" liebig, 3/4 over 1/2"
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
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