pot stillin Q

[Mr.Spooky]

when yall are pot stillin,,, do you adjust the heat as you go to keep a good even streem throught out the process,,,,, or do yall just adjust it in the beginning and then let it do what it wants???? thanks!

[LWTCS]

I bring to temp rather quickly. Some go slower.

Typically I would adjust my heat down to acheive a pencil lead size stream or smaller. Perhaps even on the verdge of a broken stream.

I been doing things with alot of input lately as I am trying to evaluate for performance limitations with all my appliances

As the run progresses and alcohol gets depleted, you may notice that the discharge rate will slow. This is a good sign with which gage the progress of your run.

Some will take fores and heads at a nice slow pace then ramp the heat up a notch to take hearts. But not to much as you don't want to push your tails into the heart section.

Some just take it low and slow the entire run.

[Mr.Spooky]

thanks,, this time i was more pacient than i usually am and i did as you said,, started slow and ran a led sized stream. as the stream turned to a fast drip,, i kinda bumped the heat up to get my stream back. i did notice that my proof took a big drop about the time that the "drips" started, so i made a note as to witch collection jar that it was. next time, ill not mess with the heat and compair the "flow rate" to the proof of alcohol so i might begin to learn all of the components.
thanks again
spooky

[Husker]

It depends on if I am stripping, or doing a spirit run. If stripping, I simply heat up at full power, then once I get a constant stream, I kick it down to about 3/4 flame (to save gas). I get about the same output as full, but waste less heat. If i am distilling some 'on the grain', then I heat up much slower, with some stones in the boiler, and do not put on the still head, until the thing 'almost' boils, so I can stir some prior to boil up. When doing on the grain, I keep the flame really low. I also like to distill like that on as hot of days as I can, so that I can keep the flame lower, but still get decent output rate.

For a spirit run, I bring up a little slower, and once I hit a broken stream, I back quite a ways down. I run like that taking off fores, and then heads. Once I am SURE I am clear of the heads, I probably run at about 2/5 power (just under half). I will make adjustments based upon ambient temp. If it is pretty warm, then 2/5 power is about right. If it is cold (under 45 F, especially if there is a breeze), then I will run at least 1/2 power, or it will not output too much.

For the spirit run, you want to run slow enough, that you can get good cuts. For a strip, you do not care at all about any cuts, you are simple collecting. For 'on-the-grain', or with fruit mush (which I have not done), the biggest concern is avoiding scorching.

Also, my 'on the grains' are the only whiskeys which I do single runs on (usually I strip and spirit run). The on-grain are done to get a very sharp grain flavor. I would not want to run the primo hearts a 2nd time, and lose that. I have not done a run like that in a couple years, and will likely have to do a couple runs of them once the corn/millet come in this year, as my supply of white is out, and my stock of aged and aging will not last another year.

H.

[Tater]

With my still .On my single runs I heat up still at a good clip till reach temp . I always use boiling chips. Soon as I reach temp I drop heat till Im running a small tooth pick size stream.1 qt takes between 20 to 25 minutes.At that temp I watch and when stream changes mine kinda takes a pause and resumes with slightly smaller stream so does proof.And I know heads are about gone .I check bead taste feel product.And if happy start collecting watchin and tasting and checkin proof till bead drops that's around 80 proof and I quit collecting for drinkin and start catchin tails . turn heat up for that to around a qt every 15 minutes.Once ya get a few runs under your belt and learn your still ya can do this by route .My 15 gallon beer keg still take 45 minutes to 1 hr to heat up depending on outside temp.And 20 to 25 minutes a qt to run.Most my runs take around 6 hrs start to finish.

[Mr.Spooky]

With my still .On my single runs I heat up still at a good clip till reach temp . I always use boiling chips. Soon as I reach temp I drop heat till Im running a small tooth pick size stream.1 qt takes between 20 to 25 minutes.At that temp I watch and when stream changes mine kinda takes a pause and resumes with slightly smaller stream so does proof.And I know heads are about gone .I check bead taste feel product.And if happy start collecting watchin and tasting and checkin proof till bead drops that's around 80 proof and I quit collecting for drinkin and start catchin tails . turn heat up for that to around a qt every 15 minutes.Once ya get a few runs under your belt and learn your still ya can do this by route .My 15 gallon beer keg still take 45 minutes to 1 hr to heat up depending on outside temp.And 20 to 25 minutes a qt to run.Most my runs take around 6 hrs start to finish.

thanks. this all makes sense now. do you use the same approach (".At that temp I watch and when stream changes mine kinda takes a pause and resumes with slightly smaller stream so does proof.And I know heads are about gone .I check bead taste feel product.And if happy start collecting watchin and tasting and checkin proof till bead drops that's around 80 proof and I quit collecting for drinkin and start catchin tails") when you do a strip then a spirit run? i have seen these pauses and never put the two together. do the tails usually come in around 80 proof when you run like your talking about? huh,,, i gust read this back to myself and kinda got lost hope you can follow... thanks
spooky

[blanikdog]

I do pretty much identical to taters method.

blanik

[blind drunk]

i have seen these pauses and never put the two together.

I notice the pauses too but never put the two together either Helpful tip that is. Cheers, bd.

[Tater]

Naw wouldn't say they come in at exactly 80 proof but if ya quit by then ya wont get any bad tail in product.Least me doing recipes I use. Some quit at 90ish.Agin I guess its a taste thing .What I see happen time and again is greed.Trying to get the last bit of usable product out of a run .If that's your thing to each their own.Ive just always did the ferment ran what it made and was happy with what it made.Just keeping taste of the heads all the heart and a hint of tails.

[LWTCS]

Naw wouldn't say they come in at exactly 80 proof but if ya quit by then ya wont get any bad tail in product.Least me doing recipes I use.

Think you teached me that the first time tater

[vicrider]

I also do as tater does. One note though, if I am stillin a sugar wash, I bring it up to a boil at full power then dial it back, but an all grain batch will foam and puke every time (for me anyway) unless I bring it up REAL slow. Of course, I have a small boiler with very little head space. V

[Mr.Spooky]

vicrider,,, its good to see somebody from the hills! im in south ga now (been here 1 year) but i grew up not too far from you. damn i miss those hills. when i moved down here my first thoughts were,,, " if something hapens around here, where am i gonna hide! its all flat. something about them mountains gave a sence of security.

[vicrider]

vicrider,,, its good to see somebody from the hills! im in south ga now (been here 1 year) but i grew up not too far from you. damn i miss those hills. when i moved down here my first thoughts were,,, " if something hapens around here, where am i gonna hide! its all flat. something about them mountains gave a sense of security.

I know what you mean M S. I spent a few years down in Jacksonville and I sure was glad to get back. V