Ouch...

[swampdoc]

Just finished distilling my first run. It was a disaster. I ordered a nice reflux still from MileHi a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't wait to get started with fermenting the wash. I have brewed beer for a long time, so I decided to do an all grain. Used a mixture of flaked corn, malted barley, and rye similar to the Jack Daniels grain bill I saw on the forum. Got it fermenting, but MileHi was running behind on production, so after fermenting it sat for about 3 weeks. Got the distillation apparatus yesterday - it is really cool. Tried to filter the grain out of my wash by filtering through a pillow case, but I guess the pillow case thread count is too hi or something. Turns out all my pillow cases hold water. Who knew? The wash smelled nasty - very sour and rank, perhaps that's why they call it sour mash? Put it in the boiler, got things set up and fired up the heat source (propane). I was boiling 6 L of wash in an 8 gallon milk jug boiler. It took about an hour or so for wash to boil, but I noticed when it started boiling that the temperature would not hold steady. I fiddled with the reflux flow and the heat and finally got clear fluid. Discarded the first 100 ml just to be safe, then started collecting. Finished when the temperature started going up to around 188 F. The spirits taste very burned and a lot of the sour smell from the wash came through too. When I opened the boiler, the grain from the wash had turned to carbon in a layer about 3 mm thick all over the bottom of the boiler. Been scrubbing the boiler for the last hour. Man, that stuff is hard to get off of there! Is there anyway to rescue nasty burned spirits, or should I chalk it up to experience and dump the stuff?

[Hawke]

It's almost impossible to get the burnt taste/smell out of it. As this was your first run through the still, it really shouldn't be kept anyway.

Try some Oxy-Clean and a cup or so of washed gravel to clean out the boiler.

[swampdoc]

Thanks for the advice. I'll dump the spirits and try again. Is the sour smell most likely from a bacterial infection in the wash? I'm assuming a "normal" distillation will just have a sweet ethanol smell w/maybe a little corn? I've never seen/tasted/smelled home distilled corn whiskey before.

[rad14701]

Racking/siphoning your wash instead of filtering will yield better results...

[Dnderhead]

""Been scrubbing the boiler for the last hour.""
try oven cleaner or caustic drain cleaner (sodium hydroxide)

[Cornbread]

I am too new to be answering a question....BUT, when using the pillowcase - keep moving the liquid to a clean dry spot on the pillowcase. If you try to strain thru one spot in the pillowcase, it will stop up real quick...just keep "sliding the pillowcase so liquid finds a new dry spot every few seconds.

[kiwistiller]

Don't let initial results get you down mate, the next one will be better

another thing that no one has mentioned, Don't waste all grain on your reflux column, they're designed to strip as much flavour as possible. If you're after whisky, you need yourself a pot still, or to detune your column. probably best to start by refluxing a sugarwash or two to get the hang of it though

Best of luck with the scrubbing

[swampdoc]

On the bright side, the next one can't possibly be any worse unless I burn the damn house down, but I'm working outside away from the house, so that's not likey. I'm going to do a simple sugar wash today (if I can find a place with brewers yeast on a Sunday), and hope to do another run next weekend.

Cheers!

[Barney Fife]

Skip the brewer's yeast for a sugar wash! Just use baker's yeast. Any yeast. Give it lots of nutrients, and shoot for a low ABV wash for now. Make a few of these, and run them through the still to get the hang of driving the still. Low ABV washes can be ready in 2-3 days, so it's a really quick way to get some experience under your belt. Best way to clean the still, also!

[Dnderhead]

do not know what your useing for heat but it should be steady, if electric a voltage /current controller is in order . either way electric or gas
a plate under the pot will help spread out the heat.

those stills need a steady supply of water if your on your own water supply consider a recirculating supply or a regulator.

[swampdoc]

I'm using a propane burner for heat - part of my crawfish boiling setup. I was running water from the hose through the still, but plan to buy a pump tomorrow. I have a swimming pool that I plan on distilling beside, so I should be able to drop the pump in and have a giant recirculating system. How many gallons per hour should I look for in a pump? I think I've discovered a new diamond making process, the stuff in the bottom of my boiler still is indestructable. I've tried boiling water in it, oven cleaner (3 rounds), and gone through several scrubby sponges. I wasn't able to find any brewing yeast today, so I'm going to use bakers yeast like as suggested. It will be a race to see if I can get the crap out of the boiler before my next wash is ready to go. At this point, I think I'm betting on the wash...

[Barney Fife]

I know nothing of this style of still, but if you burned it that bad, you're running way too many BTUs for the boiler size, or for the thickness of the bottom!

You may have to burn off the remnants, maybe? If nothing else works, put the flame back to it, at a lower flame, please and cook it until it crumbles. Worked for my ex wife and her beef roasts.....

[Captain Morgan]

Worked for my ex wife and her beef roasts.....

Now thats pretty damn funny

[swampdoc]

Well, 5 rounds of oven cleaner, 2 rounds of oxyclean, and 3 scrubby sponges later, most of the chunky stuff is off the bottom of the boiler. I've got Uncle Jesses sugar/corn wash fermenting away, and am hoping to be able to do another run this weekend. Thanks to all for their advice. I'm planning on taking most or all of the packing out of my still (MileHi CM reflux) and running the wash in pot still mode. I'll make sure and keep the burner (propane) turned way down. I generally use it to boil crawfish, around 50 to 75 pounds at a time, so I'm sure I had it way too cranked. The wife is much more supportive of my hobby now that she has watched me spend hours scrubbing the equipment.

[Dnderhead]

I just herd of a ingenious way of cleaning ,don't know if it works but,,
a hand full of something abrasive in bottom like sand,crushed gravel, broken safety glass etc. and some cleaner.
then strap on top of the washing machine, and let rip--