Heyho

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infernalspawn
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Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:36 pm

Heyho

Post by infernalspawn »

Hi,

long time lurker, now i've decided to join.
Thanks to everyone in the forum so far, i've already learned a lot while browsing & lurking through.
I've been making fruit wines for quite some time now and i've started about a year ago looking into distilling.
I've finished my 3rd run with a sugar wash last weekend and i've got a couple of washes set up and waiting to be distilled (cacao, plum & kiwi-fruit).

Before i want to start with them i've been testing with the sugar wash (~10%) , figuring out temperatures etc, but it does not really line up.
Having a 5l copper pot-still i've added a (digital) thermometer for the last 2 runs, but the temperatures seem a bit off and i'm trying to figure out why.

My first drops come out usually @ around 80-83C which according to the books i've read seems quite high.
Going from a taste point of view and just having it dribble it makes some kind of sense ( some sharpness in the beginning , and towards the end a taste of dishwash @ ~ 20%)
Using a refractometer for measuring the % it seems to be above 80% for the first ~ 350ml i'm getting out of there (which seems a lot)

I'm doing cuts every ~ 80-90 ml, getting to about roughly 10 cuts with the last one beeing in the 20% range.

Any ideas why the temperatures seem so far-off (having 80-83C, while expecting ~75-79C), also the alcohol content for the first cuts seems quite high.

thanks for your help & for welcoming me

Infernal
Drunk-N-Smurf
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Re: Heyho

Post by Drunk-N-Smurf »

Your making the same mistake as many rookies.

I gather from your post your running a pot still. You don't run a pot still by temps. You just get to a Broken stream, then adjust your heat to maintain it.

Alcohol has a boiling point, water has a boiling point, alcohol mixed with water has a boiling point somewhere in between depending on the strength of the alcohol.

The lower the alcohol content of the was, the higher the temp the mixture will boil at.

Just regulate your power, and ignore your temp guage until you get a handle on how to drive your still, then you can look at your temps as simply a reference.
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InglisHill
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Location: New Zealand

Re: Heyho

Post by InglisHill »

Gidday mate, welcome.

After lurking for a year you must have seen that you can't make cuts by temp alone :)

Have a look at the lazy stillers guide to cuts in the reading lounge that should set you right :)

Same time as DS.
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moosemilk
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Re: Heyho

Post by moosemilk »

You've been given great advice above. I run a 12 gallon copper pot still and never even installed a thermometer. Get to know your rig without it. A therm can be useful in a pot still, but not really for a beginner IMO.

80% does seem a bit high for a single pot still run. Get yourself a good proof and tralle hydrometer if you want to check. I ran my first 6 months without one...everything I did was by taste and smell. Rarely use my alcometer even now. Single run pot still you can expect to start around 65% on the high side, unless you are somehow getting reflux. A pic of your rig may explain your 80% (this is the high end of what I get on a spirit run when I charge low wines of about 35-40% abv).
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HDNB
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Re: Heyho

Post by HDNB »

your abv and volume recovered seems close for the input charge size described. I'm betting you are running waaay too slow. how long to recover that litre...about 2 maybe 2.5 hours?
I'd think the whole job should not take much more than 30 minutes. Cranky's spoonfeeding thread (in moosemilks sig line above) will help in figuring the rig out.

cheers! welcome to the forum!
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now i drink for evil.
infernalspawn
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Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2015 10:36 pm

Re: Heyho

Post by infernalspawn »

@HDNB: yep i am running it very slow, to slow i assume, the whole procedure takes me at least 2.5+ hours.

As of my 'rig' it is a 5l Copper-Alembic Column which i've been running without the 'column' so far.

Similar to this one here Image
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