First run

[drinkin_myway]

Ive got a Mile High 16 gallon reflux still. I did the cleaning and the vinegar run. I did a sacrificial run with a sugar wash/turbo yeast combo. I got good production. Cleaned the pot just by rinsing til clear.

I made a 10 gal TPW following Birdwatchers recipe, fermented in identical 5 gal buckets. Temp in my basement is about 60-65, and I had a heating belt on each bucket. I used DADY and fermentation took 7-8 days. The resulting wash was collected after about 10 additional days, was basically clear, but not like a window clear. I dont have my notes as I write this, but I calculated about 12% ABV and estimated 4.5 Qt of alcohol. Actual run produced 4.8 Qt.

I started slow, about 60 min til I had the head temp begin to rise. Depheg running, refluxing well. The power switch to one of my power controllers got shut off and the head temp dropped to about 100 F while I was scratching my head and trying to figure out the problem. I corrected it, ran slow and finished the run in just about 8 hours. Output was 180 proof.

The problem is it tastes like crap. I dont mean literally like crap, but its not good. I cant really describe the taste, not burnt tho. Its clear and looks good, is very slightly sweet. I dipped a finger into my SAC run several times and it was great, and truly neutral with no flavor. But the only part of that I saved started my smoker on Sat morning.

So Im not sure where to start, if its truly the usual result of being TPW then I won't make it again. Doing some reading I might try Shady's sugar wash. Can I put this back in the still, diluted, and run it again? Yeah I know I CAN, but will it make a difference in the end result?

Any suggestions where I can start to determine what went wrong and avoid doing it again.

Thanks to all.

[Deplorable]

You produced 4.8 qts. Did you make any cuts or collect it all in a single vessel? If you made no cuts and blended all the fractions together in the same pot, then yeah its gonna taste like ass. Dilute it back ot under 30% and run it again collecting in small jars to air and make cuts. Selecting only the very heart of the run. It should have little to no flavor cut to 40%.

[drinkin_myway]

Yeah I made cuts, maybe not good ones. Some truly taste worse than others, but all are bad.

[still_stirrin]

Fermenting to a “potential alcohol” greater than 10%ABV could be one of your problems. It will make many congeners when fermenting hard & fast. So, you started with “crap”.

And tomato paste wash is often what newbies start with, and then wonder why it tastes bad. There are other (better) recipes in the Tried & True Recipe forum which will produce cleaner product.

But, you’ve spent a bit of cash on your shiny stainless steel unit. Getting some copper in the system will help reduction of sulfur in the product, although Birdwatcher’s isn’t known to produce a lot unless you use too many nutrients in the wash.

Study up and try again. Somehow you’ve got to learn how to do better. And you can and will with practice and more experience.
ss

[drinkin_myway]

Plenty of copper in my shiny SS unit. Yeah just following the recipe, as someone on here told me. Yeah I have a lot to learn, thats why Im here.

[drinkin_myway]

I didn't add any nutrients. I was under the impression the TP provided the nutrients. Again I followed the recipe as was suggested by someone on this site

[NZChris]

I always strip TPW before refluxing. 40% low wines works for me. Shady's Sugar Shine is even better, but I strip that too.

[Deplorable]

Thats a mighty fine lookin still.
Not at all what I was envisioning.

Likely not what SS was thinking of either.

[RC Al]

Awesome looking still, but yes it will carry flavours through reguardless of the wash, thats what platers are good for. As sits, make scotch, burbon, UJ or rum with it, experiment with fewer plates for increased flavor.

You can run it again and with better cuts it will clean up some more, but to make a good neutral wth that column, take the plates out, fill it with ss scrubbers (you have aprox 4ft of column between boiler and reflux condenser?) and run what you already have there through again knocked back to 30-40%. Put that sightglass below the RC to keep an eye on the reflux levels on top of the packing.

Lose the tube at the end of the parrot

[still_stirrin]

If you can’t get good liquor out of that still....it’s NOT the still’s fault!

I think you’re ahead of yourself, thinking that spending more money will make good booze right away, even before you know what you’re doing. Commercial producers can spend millions on distilling equipment and still make shitty liquor. So, why can’t you?

You’ve got a lot to learn. Be safe, responsible, and discrete.
ss

[drinkin_myway]

Not at all. I don’t have the time or skill to make my own still. I’m a buy once cry once type of guy. Yeah it’s fancy, but something I won’t have to replace in 2 years. I’ve got a background in the sciences, so I know some about chemistry and biology. None of it, except some fundamental distilling in chemistry lab prepared me for this. So I’m learning. I wasn’t born with the innate knowledge or skills required for my job , nor for this. I learn by reading, doing, sometimes screwing up. Reading some more, asking questions, and trying again. That simple. Not trying to do anything over my head, or I wouldn’t be doing a sugar wash.

[Not sure]

You have a nice still that boiler is my next upgrade

[IMALOSERSCUMBAG]

I have a similar set up. 26 gallon boiler and a few other tweeks but very similar. It takes time to learn, trust me, I still feel like a baby and have been using mine nearly a year. Go over to the column section. There is a lot to read and digest but work though it.

BWTP was my first as well. I would suggest going with a UJSSM for a while. It's easy to work with and not very expensive.

[Not sure]

I have a similar set up. 26 gallon boiler and a few other tweeks but very similar. It takes time to learn, trust me, I still feel like a baby and have been using mine nearly a year. Go over to the column section. There is a lot to read and digest but work though it.

BWTP was my first as well. I would suggest going with a UJSSM for a while. It's easy to work with and not very expensive.

Wineos wash and shady sugar shine are cheap washes too