Unsure what I'm collecting

[Liamo]

Doing a first proper spirit run, 30Litres of low wines in the boiler. Collected 7L in wine bottles and then switched to beer bottles to get into the hearts. The stuff coming off now has no smell, compared to hints of nail polish at the start, which is good. But my refractometer is showing 0%, it won't light in a shallow saucer, and when I wet my finger and licked it, it just tasted like water. Could I have somehow lost the alcohol or something? The low wines were sitting in a closed off keg for about 10 days before the strip, only thing I can think of is that it evaporated most of the alcohol in that time. Very confused!

[still_stirrin]

Doing a first proper spirit run, 30Litres of low wines in the boiler. Collected 7L in wine bottles and then switched to beer bottles to get into the hearts. The stuff coming off now has no smell, compared to hints of nail polish at the start, which is good. But my refractometer is showing 0%, it won't light in a shallow saucer, and when I wet my finger and licked it, it just tasted like water. Could I have somehow lost the alcohol or something? The low wines were sitting in a closed off keg for about 10 days before the strip, only thing I can think of is that it evaporated most of the alcohol in that time. Very confused!

Got a Proof & Traille (alcometer) hydrometer? Use that. The refractometer is used for measuring sugar content, not alcohol. So, it (theoretically) measures “alcohol potential”.

Clean ethanol tastes slightly sweet, but has little taste (kinda like water). But it certainly will warm your chest, so you’d definitely know it’s not water.

But I seriously doubt ALL the alcohol would have evaporated from the low wines. Did the volume depreciate proportionately? Did you measure the %ABV of the low wines? If so, what tool did you use?
ss

[Liamo]

Doing a first proper spirit run, 30Litres of low wines in the boiler. Collected 7L in wine bottles and then switched to beer bottles to get into the hearts. The stuff coming off now has no smell, compared to hints of nail polish at the start, which is good. But my refractometer is showing 0%, it won't light in a shallow saucer, and when I wet my finger and licked it, it just tasted like water. Could I have somehow lost the alcohol or something? The low wines were sitting in a closed off keg for about 10 days before the strip, only thing I can think of is that it evaporated most of the alcohol in that time. Very confused!

Got a Proof & Traille (alcometer) hydrometer? Use that. The refractometer is used for measuring sugar content, not alcohol. So, it (theoretically) measures “alcohol potential”.

Clean ethanol tastes slightly sweet, but has little taste (kinda like water). But it certainly will warm your chest, so you’d definitely know it’s not water.

But I seriously doubt ALL the alcohol would have evaporated from the low wines. Did the volume depreciate proportionately? Did you measure the %ABV of the low wines? If so, what tool did you use?
ss

I do have one alright, I ran the whole batch through again a third time. The hydrometer is also reading 0% and I'm pretty sure it's distilled water I'm collecting now. No sensation of alcohol whatsoever on the tongue or the throat. Absolutely bizarre.

[Setsumi]

30lt of say 30% low wines will be 9 lt of 100%... what still are you running? pot or reflux. if reflux you might have collected most. 7lt as fores and heads seems just too much on 30lt of low wines...

[dunluce]

I do have one alright, I ran the whole batch through again a third time. The hydrometer is also reading 0% and I'm pretty sure it's distilled water I'm collecting now. No sensation of alcohol whatsoever on the tongue or the throat. Absolutely bizarre.

HYDROMETER or ALCOMETER?

A hydrometer won't give you any kind of ABV output reading.

[Cristof]

Maybe someone drank low wines and put water in keg

Did you taste some of first 7l? Maybe all alcohol is there.

[8Ball]

Did you taste some of first 7l? Maybe all alcohol is there.

+1

Did you get ANY alcohol and if so, how much? You haven’t provided much info to go on ...

[Setsumi]

Did you taste some of first 7l? Maybe all alcohol is there.

+1

Did you get ANY alcohol and if so, how much? You haven’t provided much info to go on ...

nope, he said 7lt of fores and heads. that why i said 30lt at 30% will be 9lt of 100% and that 7lt of fores and heads is too much...? maybe i read wrong?