start and stop

[VAPER]

What is the down fall of stopping a run (just got to darn late)and then restarting again? If there is any.

[nzbourbonhead]

Just what I am about to do now 5.am here and only got my new still up and running this afternoon. Did a staem / water run then started a 50 litre suger mash run but cant keep the peepers open any longer Seems to be working well to

[Guest]

Same here, just got the thing running a 20l wine run, started at 9pm. I'm collecting 400ml at a time but I think I may have jumped the gun with the foreshot- the first take is a litte cloudy and really smells of grape. Should I throw the whole thing out- or throw it in my second run? Also, the temp remained a pretty constant 172F for about five hours and collection was a good rate, I collected 1200ml of the body of the run but by the end it was barly dripping so I just kept turning up the temp 2deg at a time, collected until barly dripping then repeat, until 178F. At 2am I shut It down. This morning I restarted and began collecting at 176F and got another 400ml. When exactly do the tails begin? After the collecting slowed I turned up the heat to 186F in order to get anything to come out, collected another 250ml and called it quits. Not really sure if this is the way to do it, seem to have gotten some really good brandy though. Total 8hrs for 1600ml 92%. Does that sound right to anybody?

[VAPER]

Sorry, forgot to log in on that one.

[nzbourbonhead]

Vaper I presume you are in NZ by the time frame of these posts If so where abouts I am just out of Palmerston north here

[knuklehead]

Not really sure if this is the way to do it, seem to have gotten some really good brandy though. Total 8hrs for 1600ml 92%. Does that sound right to anybody?

Collecting at 92% sound really high to me when making brandy. That sounds more like you are going for neutral alcohol then brandy.

[VAPER]

I'm not really sure what I'm going for, all I know is that brandy is made from wine and that is what I used. It ran at 172f for 5 hrs; and then the morning 3 hrs was a little rough , but another 400ml is worth it I guess. Now I think I will run It thru some carbon and rest it on oak for awhile, how does that sound. See what goes on.

[knuklehead]

I'm not really sure what I'm going for, all I know is that brandy is made from wine and that is what I used. It ran at 172f for 5 hrs; and then the morning 3 hrs was a little rough , but another 400ml is worth it I guess. Now I think I will run It thru some carbon and rest it on oak for awhile, how does that sound. See what goes on.

Sounds to me like you are going for neutral spirits. Your right, brandy is distilled wine but by the sound of your run collecting at 172 for 8 hours it sounds to me like you stripped all flavour form this wash in your reflux still. Then to run it through some carbon now, you will have yourself some very nice vodka. Here's a tip, if you are going to make brandy with your tower then only pack it half ways. Make sure you are not forcing any reflux and start your collection with no equilibrium. Adjust your heat so the product is dripping out not pouring out in a steady stream. Toss the first 200 ml that comes over then start collecting the heads. They will have a high alcohol content compared to the heart of the run so smell, taste and measure the ABV closely until the sweat taste disappears and the ABV drops down to around 70%. Then start collecting your Brandy, the fruity taste will increase as the run goes on and the temperature will not sit steady at all, it will rise slowly though the entire run. Once you get down to around 40% or until your senses tell you to stop then stop collecting for your Brandy. Strip off the rest of the alcohol and add it the the heads. Save this until you have enough form many runs to do a reflux run and make some vodka and/or liqueurs.

[VAPER]

Thank you very much-- being a brewer for many years I'm use to keeping temps a constant-- whatever the recipe calls for. I'm sort of new at this art so bear with me. I was going for drips (that was my main focus) from 172 on, so when the drips stopped I turned up the temp. Your saying the temp should rise on it's own but like I said It stayed pretty steady for hours, is that normal? I seperate takes in 400ml jars so I should measure what I'm taking as far as ABV and then seperate them into what I want the final product should be (ie)brandy or vodka? Like anything I need experience but I really appreciate the input -- knowledge is power. I mainly concentrated on the middle run and probably missed alot of the tails. I went with the sure constant middle. So much to learn--had fun and got product. Thanks again I will definately take you advice for my next 7.5 gal of wine.

[Guest]

I hear ya mackerel--I just built the reflux with the intention of doing sugar washes, but when I told a friend of mine about it, he said I got about 40 gallons of left over wine from last year If I wanted it, so I jumped on it.

[Fourway]

what he said...

only thing I'd add is if you want to push good flavor up a column more than abt 18 inches even without packing, drive the boil very hard on both runs.

an uninsulated unpacked vertical column refluxes quite a lot if it's running slow and the air around it is moving... both from condensate on the column walls and from the vapor actually cooling enough to spontaniously precipitate and re-evaporate in the hot rising vapor below.

[VAPER]

Thanks guys, I will definately use your info. and let ya know what happens-- I appreciate all the advise. Thanks again.