First Rum Strip: Sediment in strip

[Mattmmmax]

Hey y’all. Stripped my first rum wash today. Everything went smoothly but since it’s my first run, thought I’d come here to make sure all is well.

Recipe: pugirum
Wash: 5gal
Yield: 1.5 gal (down to 18% at the spout)
Setup: T500 w/ alembic copper pot still
Still has been used multiple times, and is cleaned regularly.

I let the wash naturally settle for a week after fermentation ended. I carefully siphoned the liquid off the top into the boiler.

First half of the strip was uneventful. Second half I noticed a bit of sediment in the lip of my funnel. To me it just looked like by product of the molasses, touched it, slightly grainy but oh boy did it stink. We’re talking rotten fish odor. Washed my hands three times and still smell it. I used food grade unsulfered black strap molasses. No scorching on the bottom of the boiler and I used a defoaming agent to prevent bubbling an puking.

Is this normal for a rum?

[Mattmmmax]

On closer inspection of the dome, when I wipe it I see a coppery dirty color and a silver shimmer. This is similar to what I saw in the distillate and was floating (not sinking) in the backset. I’ve seen this once before in one of my first runs when I had forgot do a sac run on a new still. But I’m a few dozen in at this point and clean the still with PBW regularly.

Is this just oil buildup from the rum wash?

[Mattmmmax]

Help appreciated.

[NZChris]

Fusel oils. I strip rums lower than 18% at the spout, so mine would look even worse.

[Mattmmmax]

Thanks NZChris! After some digging I found a decent thread on the mystery brown, silver shimmery sludge that a lot of folks seem to have collecting in their domes after a rum or all grain run. Sigh of relief since I had never seen this in a UJSSM or birdwatchers.

Do you also get this almost fishy smell in the distillate near the end of the strip? Is that also the fusil oils? (that will apparently never leave my fingers now).

[NZChris]

I wouldn't describe mine as fishy, but it is very clingy if you get it on your hands.

[Mattmmmax]

Got it. Maybe fishy is the wrong word. I also think I got a near puke and the crud that got stuck to the sides further up the boiler got brought over in the vapor path.

You can see that the distillate has a bit of color that carried over.
Left is the ruM strip vs UJSSM on the right. And I did notice a bit of crud in the funnel going into the collection jug.

For now - I’ll just relax, and let the second 5 gallons ferment away. Thanks for the help.

[Saltbush Bill]

All caused by a very small puke......just a lil bit of foam made it to the still head imo.

[Yummyrum]

Sounds like a successful Rum strip to me.

Little bit of oily crap , small puke .

I wouldn't describe mine as fishy, but it is very clingy if you get it on your hands.

Clingy ... good description NZ ... I’d agree with that . ... Stinky shit thats hard to wash off was my thoughts .

But I’m a few dozen in at this point and clean the still with PBW regularly.

Arrrrg stop cleaning your still . I get when you bought it, it was shiny copper . That should be the last time the inside ever looks like that . Leave it alone . Let it get Brown, yellow ... even black . Let it get ti the point where when you wipe your finger over it , you get a brown powder in your finger that stinks .

This is a happy seasoned copper still head .

Just for a moment , think about those big Scottish Whisky Pot stills . Do you think they give them a clean out after every run ?
Naah . They run them day after day after day . Same as those big Bourbon or Rum continuous stills , they never shut down if they can help it .

Polish the dome you can see if sexy is what you like looking at .... but keep the inside Brown and dirty .

[NZChris]

When I was making gin with the same condenser as rum, I'd breath in through the condenser to make sure I'd cleaned the fusels out of it. If it was dirty, the fusels would be on my breath for a long time afterwards.

[Mattmmmax]

Gnarly to breathe that in NZChris! I’m going to double down on the anti foaming agent next stripping run to see if I can totally prevent any puking. I’ve also never used any filters at all, but grabbed some unbleached natural filters that might help clean it up a bit without losing flavor.

I’ve read that a little wash in the spirit run adds some depth in the absence of live dunder, so I might give that a go once I’ve got
through my next few strips. Dunder pit isn’t an option in my current confines.

[NZChris]

What does your anti-foam taste like? Mine tastes like butter coz it's butter.

Puke is a bit of wash that managed to escape the still. The amount is tiny compared to how much wash you might deliberately add for spirit run.

[Saltbush Bill]

Don't panic about a bit of puke in the strip...or even a fair bit. Your worrying about nothing.
I was also wondering what the anti foam is ...maybe it is whats causing the stink?

[Mattmmmax]

The anti foam is the still spirits distilling conditioner. It’s the only thing I use from them.

Yeast was just standard bakers yeast. I used LD Carlson Dap and 1 b vitamin to promote yeast health.

I do think this is just the smelly fusil oils and perhaps I’m just perceiving them as fishy smelling. I’m going to run it through a coffee filter today and will let ya’ll know if it fades.

[Mattmmmax]

Quick update - after filtering with unbleached coffee filters the stripping run is completely clear. There was a bit of sediment that had settled near the bottom that I expect was from the puke.

The ‘fishy’ smell that came across at the end of the strip (I collected some separately) had mostly faded into the more burnt hair smell I associate with Jamaican pot still rums. Once combined back in with the rest of the run in a single jug it wasn’t perceptible.

Hoping my second wash will ferment out in time for another run on Sunday.