15 gal spirit run

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Oldvine Zin
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15 gal spirit run

Post by Oldvine Zin »

After yesterdays 45 gal strip run of hbb added to what I had stripped a couple of months ago l ended up with 15ish gals of 35 abv low wines.
normally I wouldn't recommend filling a 15 1/2 gal boiler with 15 gals of liquid but with the onion that I have on my pot I'm not worried about puking.
onion.JPG
Did 3 -15 gal strip runs yesterday with no problems.

After a slow heat up, pulled fores and set the power to 60% to produce a small stream.
drip.JPG
Started coming out at 80 abv, ran her down to 30, took 3 1/2 hour and 55 pint jars - that was my longest run to date. Cuts should be fun tomorrow night :lol:
I'm hoping to have enough to fill a 5 gal barrel after cuts

OVZ
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nuntius01
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by nuntius01 »

cool looking onion. would you mind posting a pic of your rig too. i have a link attached
I'm just the bank and the mule

post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
Antler24
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Antler24 »

I used to do 12g spirit runs on low wines. Friggin jars everywhere making cuts lol. Since added a thumper and now just do single runs now, I like it better. Only using 24 jars these days lol

That onion looks awesome btw, does it actually change anything for the finished product?
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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Oldvine Zin
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Antler24 wrote:I used to do 12g spirit runs on low wines. Friggin jars everywhere making cuts lol. Since added a thumper and now just do single runs now, I like it better. Only using 24 jars these days lol

That onion looks awesome btw, does it actually change anything for the finished product?
OK Antler I've never run a thumper but are you saying higher abv per jar or just bigger jars? At jar 24 I was reading 70 abv, funny coincidence that at jar 50 I was reading 50 abv :roll:

Oh and about the onion - looks cool, not sure if it adds anything flavor wise except it prevents puking

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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Antler24 »

Oldvine Zin wrote:
Antler24 wrote:I used to do 12g spirit runs on low wines. Friggin jars everywhere making cuts lol. Since added a thumper and now just do single runs now, I like it better. Only using 24 jars these days lol

That onion looks awesome btw, does it actually change anything for the finished product?
OK Antler I've never run a thumper but are you saying higher abv per jar or just bigger jars? At jar 24 I was reading 70 abv, funny coincidence that at jar 50 I was reading 50 abv :roll:

Oh and about the onion - looks cool, not sure if it adds anything flavor wise except it prevents puking

OVZ
You do get a higher abv, and it'll stay higher for longer then drop like a rock, using a thumper. Still pint jars, But I'm down to 24 jars because I don't do strip runs anymore, just single run from wash.
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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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by bluefish_dist »

Use bigger jars. I usually run 10-14 gal low wines into half gallon jars.
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Oldvine Zin
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

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bluefish_dist wrote:Use bigger jars. I usually run 10-14 gal low wines into half gallon jars.
yup I should know my take-off points by now, bigger jars for sure.
lotsojars.JPG
way too many jars for sure but I did learn something new. In my past smaller runs I would start getting into the tails around 30 abv, this run jar 49 was at 50 abv and not tasting too bad,
49to50.JPG
jar 50 dropped to 45 abv and was sure ugly tails. As were 51 thru 54.
54to 55.JPG
At 55 with the abv 30 I stopped collecting, maybe should of gone deeper lots of great flavors coming out. I haven't drained the boiler yet so I might try to run what I have left and see what comes out.
RedwoodHillBilly

Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

Oldvine Zin wrote:At 55 with the abv 30 I stopped collecting, maybe should of gone deeper lots of great flavors coming out.
You might just want to do that. In my bourbon spirit runs, I've found some nice notes in the very late tails right around the sweet water. I would rather use some of that to dilute my blend to barrel strength than all RO water
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Oldvine Zin »

RedwoodHillBilly wrote:
You might just want to do that. In my bourbon spirit runs, I've found some nice notes in the very late tails right around the sweet water. I would rather use some of that to dilute my blend to barrel strength than all RO water
Fired her back up and collected a bunch of nasty jars - nothing that I would want to mix to the sweet 5 gals at 70 abv that I ended up with after cuts. I guess I'm going to add about a liter and a half of no flavor distilled water to bring it down to 65 abv barrel strength. It was worth the experiment :)

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Oldvine Zin
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Oldvine Zin »

I think that Jar 55 was the magical one and it all turned to shit after that

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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

The nice flavors are way down in the tails. The sweet water comes through when you are down in the 2% - 5% range. Ya I know, it's a lot of power to get there, but I do it when I'm not too cheap or lazy.
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by bilgriss »

That's right. They cardboard and funk will go away, and when you get closer to no alcohol, some subtle flavors start to emerge, which can be useful.
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Oldvine Zin
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Oldvine Zin »

RedwoodHillBilly wrote:The nice flavors are way down in the tails. The sweet water comes through when you are down in the 2% - 5% range. Ya I know, it's a lot of power to get there, but I do it when I'm not too cheap or lazy.
Yea I just wasn't willing to go that low - maybe I'll try that on a smaller run, just too stinky for me to continue on that run

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Oldvine Zin
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Oldvine Zin »

For those that asked here is the take off I came up with after losing the parrot
rubeg.JPG
exploded.JPG
Just be sure to use PTFE gaskets
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Pesty »

RedwoodHillBilly wrote:The nice flavors are way down in the tails. The sweet water comes through when you are down in the 2% - 5% range. Ya I know, it's a lot of power to get there, but I do it when I'm not too cheap or lazy.
The very last run of the season goes down to the sweets and I fill up a half gallon jar to use later for diluting. It really does make a difference.
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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Antler24 »

RedwoodHillBilly wrote:
Oldvine Zin wrote:At 55 with the abv 30 I stopped collecting, maybe should of gone deeper lots of great flavors coming out.
You might just want to do that. In my bourbon spirit runs, I've found some nice notes in the very late tails right around the sweet water. I would rather use some of that to dilute my blend to barrel strength than all RO water
I've read that either Maker's Mark or Woodford reserve (can't remember which) run the stripping runs down until the abv of the collection vessel is down to 27%. They claimed it'll give much more flavour to the end result because of that sweet water and tails, and the spirit run cuts end up right at barrel strength meaning no further diluting.

Would probably take couple attempts to dial it in based on the efficiency of your pot still but may be worth trying. I'd love to see a side by side comparison.
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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Re: 15 gal spirit run

Post by Shine0n »

Nice OVZ!!!
My sweet water starts around 20% down to flavored water and is beautiful when diluting to aging strength.

Love the still and nice job :thumbup:
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