first alcohol run

[carl1078lewis]

Hi all,

I ran my 1st successful alcohol run yesterday through my 2" bokakob LM still head with my whopping 1 foot of reflux column stuffed with a couple pot scrubbers. Thanks to everyone on this forum for the help.

12 liters of gerber wash. Followed the recipe in the Tried and True forum, didn't measure the gravities but at a taste it seemed maybe 8-11% ABV. Very dry tasting, like sake or sherry, but not quite a strong.

Started heating a little before 4PM. Came to a boil by 4:20, ran water through the condenser and equilibrated the column for about 25 minutes. Took off 50ml foreshots at 1 drop/second. Took off about 440ml of heads at 2 drops/second. Took off 390ml of hearts at 4 drops/second. Took off 150ml of tails at 2 drops/second. The run was finished by 7:05PM, the whole run took just under 4 hours.

As this is my 1st run and my still's alcohol 'cleaning' run, I made the cuts according to a formula found in the Making Pure Corn Whiskey book rather than by taste. Out of curiosity I tried a couple drops diluted in water as I made the cut to the tails. I could taste the difference between drops maybe 5 minutes apart, so I think my tails cut at least was at about the right time.

After the run, the remaining wash smelled heavily of yeast and very little alcohol. The foreshots smelled god-awful, the heads smelled like alcohol with some foreshot stench in them still. The hearts smelled like really strong vodka, and the tails were very aromatic and good smelling. My wife is an excellent cook and has amazing sense of taste and smell, and said the tails smelled spicy and a good hint of vanilla in it. We were shocked to find that it smelled so good.

Again, this was my 'cleaning' run so not for drinking. Instead I'm making dit da jow (chinese medicine for bruises and sprains) with the alcohol, as jow is for external use only (you don't drink it). Of course, I needed a gallon of alcohol and I only wound up with about a quart with heads, tails, and hearts mixed together (the foreshots went into a bottle of lighter fluid for the grill), so I guess my next run (20 liters of more gerber wash, should be ready in 2-3 more days) will also go into the jow to finish that project. Not a minute too soon-- I'd bought the herbs for the jow like 3-4 years ago and never made it because I didn't want to sacrifice a gallon of storebought vodka or everclear. It's nice to finish those projects that have been sitting around for ages and ages . . .

So that's the report. I'm calling the run a success, and can't wait to do the next one. Any feedback/comments/suggestions are certainly welcome! Thanks again to the folks on this forum, without you I wouldn't have ever gotten this far.