Parrot vs senses

[touchmydrumset]

How important do y'all think using a parrot is vs just going by smell and taste?
Is it worth me building one?

Also I saw somewhere a guide to what product is being produced at a given proof. Do y'all know of it? I can't find it again

[heartcut]

I do cuts with taste and smell, but really like running with a parrot. With a familiar recipe, I know when to start tasting and smelling. It also tells me how much water to add to the "taste" and when to stop collecting tails, plus confirms how well the ferment went. If it broke, I'd make another.

[still_stirrin]

I pull my cuts in 250ml jars. When one fills, I place the next under the product outlet. I take the full jar and dump into the specific gravity measuring tube (glass) and drop in the Proof & Traille hydrometer. I take a reading and put a piece of masking tape on the jar and number the jar, date it, and record the proof. Then, I lid it and put into the fridge until they're all collected.

Usually, the next day I take them out of the fridge and put coffee filters on the jars for a 24 to 36 hour "breath of fresh air". After airing (usually a day or two after the run), is when I dilute to taste and smell and make the cuts. It's just the way I do it.

So, is a parrot needed? Heck no. It's copper "candy". Some like 'em, but it is somewhat of a novelty.
ss

[thatguy1313]

I've been thinking about building a parrot but as still stirrin said, its more for the novelty of building and owning one. Definitely not necessary and I'll still trust my senses over the hydrometer but its neat to have. As to your other question, any product can theoretically be made at any proof. The ferment decides flavor, not the proof.

[shadylane]

I've got a pair of pretty parrots.
They set on the shelf because they are almost useless.

[touchmydrumset]

Thanks guys I think ill hold off until I learn to make cuts by senses.

[T-Pee]

"Sampling" high proof ethanol while running a still is not the best idea for any number of reasons. A parrot makes taking ABV readings on the fly so much easier and tells you how the run is progressing without a bunch of fooling around. I'm glad I made and use one.

tp

[googe]

I use a plated column, so the fractions are more defined, and I collect in larger increments, so a parrot is good for me, when the alcometer Bobs up toward the end, I've hit tails. Plus it was a pain in the ass tipping some into a flask and measuring it all the time. +1 on tpee, if your run has some sort of spack attack the parrot will help.

[frozenthunderbolt]

I've got a pair of pretty parrots.
They set on the shelf because they are almost useless.

^ this.
I bought one. Used it twice in the last 5 years.
Collect in 10-20 jars smell, dilute, sample.
Rub drips from the stream on your fingers as you run, feel the difference, smell it, rub a drop on your gum etc.

[T-Pee]

A parrot isn't much on a pot still but very useful on a reflux.

tp

[shadylane]

I use the thermometer at the top of the column and a chart to measure the ABV.

[NZChris]

I've never bothered with a parrot. I doubt one would tell me anything I didn't already know. For products I've made before, the temperature of the remaining charge is a pretty reliable indicator for stripping runs, so I just run into big jars until there is damned near no alcohol left, depending a bit on what I'm making.

For spirit runs, boiling temperature is very useful too but, even for neutrals, I get better results not doing cuts on the fly. I've learned to do my cuts later, running small jars for the heads then again when the thermometer tells me the cardboard is about to arrive. Sometimes there are several good jars to be had after the cardboard jar and you're going to have to get pretty clever to single them out using SG, plus a parrot would smear the cardboard.

[Kegg_jam]

Before I joined this forum, I had the perfect little plastic test jar. Seem to work ok or so I thought.

Then I started doing stripping runs followed by spirit runs and then it melted. Lesson learned.

Got me a nice glass test jar, had it a week then dropped it. Another lesson learned.

Said screw this and built a parrot. I use it for higher abv runs. Got a better plastic one now and use it for proofing at lower abv.

Make cuts by diluting and taste.

[Hound Dog]

Seems everyone is a bit different. Have to just see what works best for you.

I just do liberal cuts on a LM reflux. I watch my temp and then do like FrozenThunderbolt, run a dribble across my fingertip, feel, smell and just taste the drop on my finger. Seems to work. It the temp bumps a tenth or two, I start diligently checking for tails. Then I just run like hell to collect some for feints. I used to check abv when I started but now I know what it is if my thermometer is reading 171.6. If I am running a rum or whiskey and refluxing it a bit I just go faster and play with a higher temp keeping the reflux up enough to not get a strong tails smell. I worry about abv later.

[Twinrivers]

I built one. I don't use it much at all but it was a good way to burn a Saturday afternoon

[touchmydrumset]

Yeah. It seems it's personal preference for sure.

[Truckinbutch]

I spent a lot of hours hand hammering copper to form my parrot (including a multi stitch trip to urgent care for a lacerated index finger ) . I use it on every run . I just like to sit and admire my art work while engaging in the 'watching paint dry ' hobby of distilling .

[StillLearning1]

I built and use a parrot for one reason: I now have a better answer for when she asks "how much longer".

Honestly. Its nice to know around about where I am time wise on the run. I don't use it for cuts. I do that after airing and could care less the abv until its time to blend.

[Truckinbutch]

I built and use a parrot for one reason: I now have a better answer for when she asks "how much longer".

Honestly. Its nice to know around about where I am time wise on the run. I don't use it for cuts. I do that after airing and could care less the abv until its time to blend.

I do the same thing for the same reason . I was just reluctant to admit here that I am 'pussy whipped' . Ain't complainin , mind ya .

[Bushman]

I believe all tools at your disposal are a good thing regardless how much you use them. I use a parrot but also use my senses. A parrot for cuts for me is more helpful toward the end when I get into the tails but I use it in part to gauge along with temp gauges how I am running my still.

[myles]

You ever see a commercial pot still making cuts by taste?

If you consistently run the same recipe you can make general cuts by the parrot with just a few smaller samples each side.

If you are going for a 1/5th premium hearts cut instead of a 1/3rd max yield cut then you might not even bother with the small samples.

It all depends what you want.

[S-Cackalacky]

I guess I never understood why smearing was justified just to have a continuous proof reading during a run. Always felt that I would be making a quality sacrifice by using a parrot, so never built one. It would take a lot to convince me that there's any great advantage to using a parrot.

I used to take proof readings of each jar collected, but now I only proof after blending so I can dilute if necessary before aging. I write the aging proof on the aging jar and use that same proof to dilute for drinking. I usually shoot for about 50% for drinking, but if it's between 45 and 50 percent, I'm happy.

[S-Cackalacky]

You ever see a commercial pot still making cuts by taste?

If you consistently run the same recipe you can make general cuts by the parrot with just a few smaller samples each side.

If you are going for a 1/5th premium hearts cut instead of a 1/3rd max yield cut then you might not even bother with the small samples.

It all depends what you want.

I recently visited a distillery that did cuts based on time. They had two collection vats - one for feints and one for hearts. They ran for X amount of time and then moved the output to the hearts vat. I assume they used the same procedure for switching it back to the feints vat for tails. Didn't see nary a parrot in the place.

[Jimbo]

It would take a lot to convince me that there's any great advantage to using a parrot.

Especially if you have a thermo on your still.

A parrot (or a thermo) dont replace tasting and smelling to make your cuts, for us home distiller types anyway. They are convenience tools, not tools to make cuts by. If you make the same recipe repeatedly, they will let you know about where your cut is, but I still use nose and taste to make that decision.

[rager]

I use my parrot on every run , even stripping runs. just nice to know where you are in the run. I don't use it for cuts. but also use it for diluting and proofing. I find it quite useful

[shadylane]

How important do y'all think using a parrot is vs just going by smell and taste?
Is it worth me building one?

Also I saw somewhere a guide to what product is being produced at a given proof. Do y'all know of it? I can't find it again

A parrot or thermometer will give you useful information.
A properly placed thermometer and a chart will give you the ABV.
The parrot will need a temp correction to give you the ABV.

My suggestion would be to use smell and taste,
while looking at the info the parrot and thermometer gives.

[Hound Dog]

Why don't you all just use a thermometer instead?




There's that damn can of worms again!

Just had to throw it in there

[touchmydrumset]

Its open now!

[MyUncleMo]

You ever see a commercial pot still making cuts by taste?

If you consistently run the same recipe you can make general cuts by the parrot with just a few smaller samples each side.

If you are going for a 1/5th premium hearts cut instead of a 1/3rd max yield cut then you might not even bother with the small samples.

It all depends what you want.

Yes - I watched the Distillers at Pacific Distillery take the tails cut... by taste and smell. The parrot was there... but in the end he cut based on senses. That was an Absinth run. It was my first time seeing a giant alembic in action. Beautiful.

I'd like to get one for some of the same reasons as mentioned above. Mainly to see where to cut it off at the end and watch for patterns in a recipe. In conjunction with the thermo in my pot still I will have lots of data to go along with the recipe if I choose to pass it along to my Kin! Or they will laugh because they just stick the ingredients in a machine and it spits out aged liquor... in the year 2030 when my daughter is 21.

[bearriver]

I do cuts some days later while blending using smell and taste. Not much a hydrometer can help me with there.

My parrot is useful for stripping runs, but otherwise only accomplishes moving my output to a convienant location above the ground level and away from my propane manifold.

On my reflux rig the tails can come through above 190 proof. So with a spirit run I still use a parrot for collection purposes, but forgo the hydrometer so I don't accidentally break it.