Finished product freezes?

[moose]

After several runs of Gerber, I finally the hardware working like it should and the numbers (SG) and output like I've read on here....wahoo to that!

Put a bottle in the freezer...and it partially froze? Now, when I was buying vodka and popping it in the freezer, it would thicken a bit, but not freeze.

Is that normal for it to freeze?

[ScottishBoy]

Depends on what proof you are storing it at. Have you done a proof reading?
Alcohol with water content over a certain percentage will allow water crystals to form which will create a light haze all the way down to a slushlike drink with larger percentages of alcohol. Sounds like you may have more water in there than you thought.

You should check it with an alcometer at 60Deg F to see what your proof is.

[moose]

SB, yep hydrometer pegs it right at 80 proof

[ScottishBoy]

SB, yep hydrometer pegs it right at 80 proof

Thats odd. Im going to assume you are taking the reading at 60 Deg F ( Stupid american doesnt know the celsius equivalent...)
Different temperatures ( higher) will create falsely high readings in an alcometer, but I have never seen it off so much. What temp are you reading the proof by?

I have seen some 80 proofs freeze ( well its a slush really ) but most wont. Its usually the less expensive ones that will do that.

[moose]

ambiant temp...definitely over 60F though. Morelike 75+F

[rad14701]

It is also possible for lower alcohols and fusel oils to separate and freeze... This may be a prime indicator that you blended deeper into the tails than you originally thought... While everything blended may be miscible at room temperature the components can separate at low temperature (freezing) just like they do at high temperatures (distillation)...

[moose]

Rad, that may well be...I stopped collecting around 80C, and I do have a "sweet" flavor...although from what I've gleened here, tails are more "wet sock" like?

And when I did my final run, I got essentially the same yield, which I believe you mentioned wasn't that out of the ordinary, as Gerber is pretty clean after stripping.

[goinbroke2]

How did you blend for proofing? In other words, did you take X amount of alcohol at 70ABV and add X amount of water and then start filling bottles? One thing I've found is that water/alcohol don't mix as easily as people think. I mixed up a carboy (20L) of whisky at 40% and shook it quite well then proceeded to fill 750ml bottles. I added oak and peppercorns then stored them away. When drinking I found some "tasted" weaker than others. dumped them all together and rebottled. The NEXT carboy I mixed, I shook the hell out of then poured in bottles and checked ABV. AHA! Found a variance of 48%-31% (but the calculations were for 40%) Shook the shit out of it again and tested again and it was fairly uniform 39-40%.

Again, not a big deal for us at home but to go legal by law it has to be dead on or you get fined. I found out what micro's are doing is adding the water then circulating the liquid with a pump for a few hours then rechecking at top and bottom of tank.

I think, you didn't get a full "mix" and one bottle was a little low on abv. 40% won't freeze, if your is, it ain't 40%.