Just bought me Still

possum · Post by **possum** » Tue May 02, 2006 2:17 pm

The Amish sell it.
They are in league with me, but I keep eating the delivery men.

I'm actually on the east coast of USA now, the sunken city is just my permanent mailing adress.

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Thu May 04, 2006 8:21 am

hey swag...

what do you mean when you say you strip 4 - 5 washes and then do a spirit run?

its prolly the lingo i not up with yet

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Thu May 04, 2006 9:11 am

A strippin'run is a fast one, collectin' all the product goin'out the still between (for example) 80 and 50%ABV. You don't try to keep constant 78°C and/or 90% ABV...
Spirit run is a final run, made slowly... to increase alcohol level and purity of the product comin' from your strippin' runs.
Thats double distillation!

TEC · Post by **TEC** » Thu May 04, 2006 12:41 pm

gulflarger

yes you can do a stripping run first .
but with a few added things and a little tunning you can do it all in one run and acheive between 90 to 95.5%

I have no problem getting 95%+ out of my still. It does a very good job at separating ethanol from water, it's what is in that other <5% that is the problem. If I do several stripping runs and then combine them and dilute to 40%-50% abv with clean water. The end product comes out cleaner and the separation between heads and tails is more pronounced.

Edit, that should read "separation between heads - mains and mains - tails

Swag · Post by **Swag** » Thu May 04, 2006 2:07 pm

hey swag...

what do you mean when you say you strip 4 - 5 washes and then do a spirit run?

its prolly the lingo i not up with yet

Stripping is running with no reflux (or a pot still), and taking everything from the forshots up to 96 - 98 degrees C. It refines and greatly reduces the volume of your wash. You then combine a bunch of stripping runs together to do a spirit run.
I find I get a much better end product if I do stripping runs first. That goes for whiskey and vodka.
It's much easier for me to make cuts in a spirit run than right from a wash, especially with whiskey. And like TEC said, you get a much cleaner vodka if you strip first.
People do it both ways. You may want to try it and see if it works for you.

knuklehead · Post by **knuklehead** » Thu May 04, 2006 2:30 pm

I always to double runs for flavored spirits in which I strip of several batches and do one combined spirit run however for neutral spirits I do a single run in my reflux. I have a very high column so I find it makes just as good a product with one run then if I did a stripping run first. I am not disagreeing with the point Swag made but for me if there is any difference at all it's not worth firing up the still so many more times to get virtually the same result. If a reflux tower runs well it should be able to do the job in one run.

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Thu May 04, 2006 4:43 pm

chhers guys

next question... i just started me pot still with UG Simple Sour Mash

the still temp went straight to 85deg and is staying there. Is this ok as drinking alcohol?

and is it still design that alters this temp? as cant reflux

Swag · Post by **Swag** » Thu May 04, 2006 5:07 pm

chhers guys

next question... i just started me pot still with UG Simple Sour Mash

the still temp went straight to 85deg and is staying there. Is this ok as drinking alcohol?

and is it still design that alters this temp? as cant reflux

After your heads cut it will be.
A pot still only has one "plate" of distillation, while a reflux column has a bunch. 85 degrees sounds fairly normal. Try testing the ABV and make sure you taste and smell it throughout the run. A little bit on a spoon right out of your still will get you accustomed to the different flavors and odors that develope during your run. Collect in a bunch of little jars and number them. Then you can better tell where you like your middle cut to be. Taste the beginning, middle and end to get a better idea of the different flavors.
Read Tony's site for a more detailed description of where to make your cuts.

Stangas · Post by **Stangas** » Fri May 05, 2006 4:41 pm

WOO HOOO!!

The distill went well, got 3L @ 40%.. first litre was at 50%, the second at 45% and the third at 30%, the fourth was at 20% so i discarded this portion.

The Woo Hoo was from the fermenter.. i half filled the fermenter with cold water, then put in 5L of sour mash, put in 3.5kg of sugar, and a teaspoon of di ammonia?? (yeast nutrient).

The bloody thing went off.. literally.. it bubbled, then started foaming throught the bubbler, so i took it out of me brew shed and put it on the lawn to settle, came back an hour later and there was a 6" slice out the side of the fermenter and grog all over me patio, concrete, lawn. Quite a sight really. At least i knew me lid was sealing.

The question is... where did i go wrong? Too much sugar? Yeast Nutrient?

ps.. i was using turbo yeast from the previous ferment.

Thorin · Post by **Thorin** » Sat May 06, 2006 3:40 am

turbo shouldnt be kapped for the first day, i think, because of the extreme speed of fermenting. (leave the lid of, and use a piece of cloth or something to stop bugs from entering you wash) else than that, i cant really see any error...