Feints Run - is it worth it? Yup

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EricTheRed
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Feints Run - is it worth it? Yup

Post by EricTheRed »

Good day
The weekend turned out to be a rainy, cold and windy affair, so what better way to keep busy but to distill something.
As i had no mashes on the go or ready, i gathered up all my feints and ran them. Some of them were close to a year old.
So, time to apply all the reading on this forum that was rattling around in my skull screaming for a way to test some of the theories for myself!

The idea being to see how much neutral spirit i could get out of the feints which were all Pot still runs - some on the little fella, some on the large kettle.

Input - 13L of feints @ 47% when put into the pot - added enough water to bring that down sub 40%

Equipment
* 30L kettle with 90cm x 3" column
* two rolls of copper mesh - One at 20cm from the bottom, and the other 20cm from the top
* simple dephlegmator (2") (Don't shoot me for the cr@ppy soldering :) I will clean it up - someday :D )
image.png
* 60cm shotgun PC (2")
* Propane burner

Ran it low and slow, with about a 20 minute stall with heat just enough to overcome the water flow to give 1 drip every 3 - 4 seconds
After 20 minutes slowed down the water until i was getting 1 to 2 drops per second.
Did this for 2.35 Litres (100ml foreshots, 2.25 L heads) - this went into the firelighter jars (used dry teabags) (92% ABV)
at this point, the head temp was reading 76°C - which on this setup is a good indication you are into hearts (i still taste and smell though)
increased the heat gradually to maintain 2 - 3 drops per second, which when i put in the pecker, gave me a very thin to broken stream.
I collected 2.7 L at 90% and 300ml at 88% - total of 3L at just shy of 90% ABV
At this point the temp in the head was creeping up to 78°C, which again, on this setup indicates you are getting into tails.

I stopped collecting at that point as by now i had collected 4.85L of the potential 6.11 that i started with. And i was at the 5.5 hour mark.
ABV of the wash in the kettle, cooled down to 20°C was < 8%

Tasted it today - good

So, in the end i have 2.3L of firestarter/cleaning solvent but more importantly, 3L at 89.6% ABV neutral spirit. Ready for the base of an OEG! (or two)

Is it worth it? I'd say yes when collecting from a potstill run. I doubt it from a refluxed run.

ta
My fekking eyes are bleeding! Installed BS Filters - better! :D
Life has gotten interesting!
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Re: Feints Run - is it worth it? Yup

Post by Deplorable »

Hell yes it's worth it.
I did similar this weekend and refluxed my AG feints. I had a full 5.5 gallons at 70%. I diluted that to ~30% and added a generous amount of bicarbonate to the boiler, and slowly brought it to temp. And stabilized the column for 30 minutes. Took off 400ml at about a drip per second, then increased take off to about 3 to 5 drips a second for another 800ml before increasing take off to 1l per hour.
I recovered 3.22 gallons at 94% and kept 3 gallons of that for drinking. The rest is solvent and window cleaner.
Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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