First ever alcohol run

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

So I did my first alcohol run today. It was the sacrificial run on my new pot still. Now I’m ready to get down to business. I made up a birdwatchers sugar wash that had an OG of 1.092. It took two weeks to ferment down to .993 and I ran it today. As this was a cleaning run, I ran the still hard and fast. Here are my notes from the run:

Fired boiler at 3:30

At 4:00 temp at lyne arm is 142°. thumper temp is 90°

Turned on condenser at 4:15 at 130° thumper.

First alcohol at 4:23 at 170° thumper.

160 proof at 4:31 at 190° thumper. Intermittent flow and vapor going through the parrot. Alcohol is pretty dry feeling. Kind of stings the tongue. Smelled like rubbing alcohol.

150 proof at 4:44 at 195° thumper. Steady flow. No vapor through the parrot.

140 proof at 4:58 at 200° thumper. Very clean smelling. Very dry feeling. Evaporates quickly. Smooth taste on the tongue. No stinging at all.

130 proof at 5:05 at 203° thumper.

120 proof at 5:16 at 207° thumper.

110 proof at 5:19 at 207° thumper. Alcohol started feeling oily. Stings the tongue again.

100 proof at 5:23 at 210° thumper.

90 proof at 5:27 at 212° thumper. Alcohol feels more oily. Still stings the tongue. Bitter aftertaste.

80 proof at 5:33 at 215° thumper.

70 proof at 5:36 at 215° thumper.

60 proof at 5:40 at 215° thumper.

At 5:45 still 60 proof, vapor comes though the parrot. Thumper temp is 215°

50 proof at 5:52 at 217° thumper.

40 proof at 5:56 at 220° thumper. Shut down the boiler.

1 gallon of 118 proof.

I was quite surprised at how fast the proof came down. I assume this was from running it fast. I would expect on a spirit run that is done slower that will change. Any of the experts want to chime in and tell me what I did wrong? I’m ready to learn so I can nail my first attempt at a bourbon.

[still_stirrin]

How big was the boiler charge?

What did you charge the thumper with?
ss

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

Boiler charge was 4.25 gallons of wash minus what I put in the thumper. I’m guessing I put a gallon in the thumper so a little over three gallons in the boiler.

[Shine0n]

Sounds pretty good for such a small volume.

I sometimes strip washes even with a thumper just because I can strip more wash, I do 3 of the stripping runs and a full chrge of low wines for the spirit run.

I'll add some wash to the boiler with the low wines on the spirit run for a bit more flavor, just low wines for the thumper tho.

Once you do a few runs, you'll get used to the process and what's coming out by smell and taste alone. Different washes/mashes will have different smells and tastes so that's why we emphasize airing out the distillate for a day or so to let the harshness get out and to make blending easier.

This completely depends on what YOU want to do and how much time you want to spend but what I do on stripping runs is collect down to 5-10% sometimes even down to zero because even though there isn't much alky the flavors are still there. Not so much on a sugar wash but grains, rums, brandies there will still be alot going on way down there and helps to not have to use water to dilute the distillate down to "safe" spirit run abv levels.

Good job on the first and hope there's many runs coming your way.

Be safe and enjoy, Shine0n

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

Thanks shine. I had a lot of fun and can’t wait to make something I can actually drink. What I gathered from runnin my pot and thumper hard and fast, and ending up with 120 proof, is that if I slow down and run slower, I really don’t have to do a stripping run followed by a spirit run. I can run one time and have alcohol at the right proof for aging. Am I on the right track in this thinking? If I understand correctly, the more times you run, the more flavor you strip out?

[Truckinbutch]

Mixed opinions on that , just like every other aspect . Try it both ways and what suits you is what suits you . I prefer a strip run followed by a spirit run myself .