To pot still or not...

[marc83]

Sorry guys,i asked another member in there post whether or not he pot stilled his sugar wash and if it was necessary,but thought i better not hyjack anothers thread.
I have a 25L birdwatchers on the go,my first non turbo wash,and its going well,starting up another today.My question is whether or not it is necessary to potstill this wash??i have a essencia reflux still(i know i know) and read kiwi's thread on detuning these to become potstills a couple of times.I am just wanting to get neutral spirit out from it,and realise that the yield will be less than what i was used to with the turbo's,but i am going to make a few so not worried about it.
I have read and read and cant seem to find out the answer im looking for,maybe its staring me in the face...thanks all.
Any help appriciated...

[LWTCS]

When You say "potstill this wash", do you mean to ask if the wash should be stripped first before making your spirit run?

Lots of gents like to strip first with a pothead, then put the low wines thru the column for the spirit run. Saves time as the strip is to shed bulk amounts of water. Then dilute to 40% and a push trhru the column with proper cuts for a clean nuetural.

Some strip bulk amounts and save up for a larger (marathon) spirit run.

If thats not what your talkin bout then,,,,,,,,never mind.

[marc83]

Yes sorry LWTCS,thats what i meant.
Man that was a quick response too by the way..

[LWTCS]

Dude , I'm all freaked out by your speedy reply (I am sipping as we speak).

If you are interested in a nuetural, then stripping with a pot head my be the ticket for you.

In truth, the way to get on top of your consumption curve is to get more fermenters on line.

[marc83]

haha,day off work so im doing some research and tinkering while the house is quiet.
Ok so to pot still it is.
Is this just so once i have a few stripped washes behind me,i can get a higher proofed spirit from using only the stripped stuff in the spirit run??
I have two fermenters freed up from the other day so down another one goes.
Another speedy reply bought to you from
Marc83

[LWTCS]

Is this just so once i have a few stripped washes behind me,i can get a higher proofed spirit from using only the stripped stuff in the spirit run??

Yes, Sounds like you are on track.

Make sure you dilute to 40% if needed.

[marc83]

Make sure you dilute to 40% if needed.

Is that the "low wines" before the spirit run?
so il be doing a spirit run on 20L or so of 40%(after dilution),is that right?
I would have thought the spirit run would consist of a still full of lower %,eg20-30%
sorry for the dumbness
Il be on my way once ive got this part down!

[LWTCS]

You may not need to dilute. I could only get 35% with what would have been my typical input for my stove top unit.

No matter, that much more water will have been stripped away for your spirit run.

[olddog]

The result of your stripping runs should not be distilled at a higher ABV than 40%, because of the volatility of applying heat to a spirit higher than 40%, less is OK but not higher. I hope that makes it a bit clearer.

OD

[marc83]

Sure does old dog,was exactly what i was thinking,heating up a any volume over that % could be asking for it...i will shoot for 35% when i do my stripping run.
Thanks guys,you have been very helpful.
I suppose i should have posted this in the q & a section.

[marc83]

I have just finished my first strip run on a BW wash.Took it down to 30%abv and ended up with about 4L.I topped off the 5L demijohn with water andwith it full i have 45%abv.For now i will be leaving it at that until i do a spirit run where i will dilute down a bit more before putting in the still.Dont want to run out of storage space

I may do the other strip run on the other wash that has been clearing for some time tonight,tomorrow night maybe.So by that i will need to put on another wash,and hopefully will be enough low wines to do a spirit run
So far so good anyway.

[marc83]

Just finished the other strip run,Another demijohn full and its at 50%,so a bit more dilution required.
I wonder whether or not i have enough for a spirit run,if i dilute everything down to say 30-35%abv.I will dilute some more tomorrow night,need to free up another demijohn so will bottle what neutral is left in one.

[Braz]

marc83,

On your strip runs you can take it down lower than 35%. I typically run mine down to 20%. I figure as long as I have everything up to temp I might as well suck as much alcohol out of the wash as possible. My pot head setup starts out giving about 75% and gradually drops. The drop from 30% to 20% happens pretty quickly and when I see 30% I can get ready to shut down. I usually end up with something averaging around 45% and don't need to dilute much for the spirit run.

[marc83]

Cheers for the tip BRAZ,I took both runs down to 30% where i started shutting it all down,so just about there.First couple of strip runs ever.so decided to cut it off somewhere about there.Have seen others taking it down to 20% and will do a little later.Baby steps for me mate Trying not to get ahead of myself,probly tghe wisest option.