Drinking everything that comes out of the still.

luther-blissett · Post by **luther-blissett** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:45 pm

I was wondering if anyone does just that here - though the majority of people here I guess like to make cuts to improve their technique. I hate the concept of wasting anything, but am still undecided. Though so far I've kept everything.

Post by **LWTCS** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:50 pm

If they drankin commercial,,,they likely drankin all of it.

Most does not go to waste here either....All gets cycled back to the next run or saved up for a larger feins run through the column,,,or the like.

Most here love the idea of laying their head down after a real bender and waking up fresh as a daisy.

wildrover · Post by **wildrover** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:50 pm

Oh man that's the hardest part. Getting over the "Greed" part of collecting the distillate because you put so much time and effort into it how could I only keep 500 ml, etc. Well I gave myself a heck of a hangover new years by drinking everything so no thanks.

Post by **LWTCS** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:55 pm

Once you get 2 or 3 fermenters going and something fermenting,,,something clearing,,,,and something ready to charge your boiler at any given point,,,,it gets really easy to be very selective about the quality of your drinking stock.

Still your likker very strictly and drink it for just a few short months......Then it will get really tough to drink store bought. You'll see.

You'll run your self out of your own likker and be all pissed off ya gotta go buy some.

Post by **blind drunk** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:57 pm

Less is more in this hobby

luther-blissett · Post by **luther-blissett** » Fri May 20, 2011 2:00 pm

Yeah I guess you're right LWTCS, though beggars can't be choosers

i'm interested though how much the flavour improves so i will try that out at some point.

Post by **LWTCS** » Fri May 20, 2011 2:04 pm

luther-blissett wrote:Yeah I guess you're right LWTCS, though beggars can't be choosers i'm interested though how much the flavour improves so i will try that out at some point.

All the time in the world Sir.
Best fun ever.
Cheers

Post by **blind drunk** » Fri May 20, 2011 2:13 pm

though the majority of people here I guess like to make cuts to improve their technique.

The majority do it to improve the likker and for health and safety reasons as well ...

luther-blissett · Post by **luther-blissett** » Fri May 20, 2011 2:23 pm

blind drunk wrote:
though the majority of people here I guess like to make cuts to improve their technique.
The majority do it to improve the likker and for health and safety reasons as well ...

I was just under the impression as since orange/apple juice apparently has more methanol than the average (or all?) moonshine distillate, theres almost no need to worry if you dont drink huge amounts very quickly.

Post by **blind drunk** » Fri May 20, 2011 3:21 pm

I'm not a scientist ... but I've never woken up with a blinding splitting pounding wretched headache drinking orange juice ... or apple juice ... but I have woken up that way drinking a neighbor's shine, once or twice

jake_leg · Post by **jake_leg** » Fri May 20, 2011 3:25 pm

There's a second time for everything

Post by **rad14701** » Fri May 20, 2011 3:58 pm

Even when I'm low on stock, or out, I never get that desperate... My foreshots are for my alcohol stoves and my feints get diluted and run separately... They aren't there to fall back on... And while I've tried some of my stripped low wines that had no cuts made I'd never just up and drink them as potable spirits... I don't need the headache...

Post by **blanikdog** » Fri May 20, 2011 5:33 pm

The thought of hangovers horrifies me. Was sorta cool as a youngin, but I no longer need to be crook to be cool.

Post by **WalkingWolf** » Fri May 20, 2011 5:47 pm

blind drunk wrote:I'm not a scientist ... but I've never woken up with a blinding splitting pounding wretched headache drinking orange juice ... or apple juice ... but I have woken up that way drinking a neighbor's shine, once or twice

I woke up with the worst headache I have ever experienced in my life from drinking homemade persimmon wine. Man that stuff was good. My head hurt for three days. I knew when I started stillin that I wanted clean liquor and that's what I run. I don't feel any is wasted as I pitch back with the next run. One day I'll have me an a alcohol can stove (or not

) and use up my fores in that way. I have been experimenting with going a little longer in the tails and I haven't been disappointed. Pulled a gallon with "long-tails" out from under the bed with 3 months oak and it has a nice complexity. For those not familiar I run mixed grain UJSSM.

Post by **bentstick** » Fri May 20, 2011 6:33 pm

Hell no I am not as young as I once was I don't recover like when I was 20 don't like self inflected pain, moderation and clean likker makes it much easier to look through my eyes in the am.Have done a dandy nite about 2 weeks ago started drinking before ya know it looking for my pillow up the next morning told wife she said ya ass you where drinking out of the uncut jug 60% but no headache felt damn good for being toast 6 hrs before.

Post by **Bushman** » Fri May 20, 2011 8:51 pm

If you would have asked me when I just started the answer would have been different. It's amazing the more runs I make the less from each I keep. Like the wine saying goes "lifes too short to drink bad wine" you can change the saying to fit the situation!

Post by **rtalbigr** » Sat May 21, 2011 2:11 am

Just thinkin' 'bout whats in those fores and heads is enough for me. I'm like bentstick & LW, gettin' to old to self-inflict pain and I like wakin' up in the mornin' with a nice clear head.

Big R

Post by **myles** » Sat May 21, 2011 6:44 am

Some of the eastern european spirits collect everything, but I suspect they use real careful fermentations to minimise the crap. I don't drink everything and I don't get a bad head. Makes sense to me to use good cuts.

Post by **rubber duck** » Sat May 21, 2011 1:59 pm

No they don't Myles, they keep it all and man if you saw how some of those folks ferment and what they distill with you would think twice about drinking it. It is mighty tasty stuff though, I wonder how much better it would be with cuts?

Post by **rad14701** » Sat May 21, 2011 2:51 pm

rubber duck, you sure you weren't drinking hooch made from a chew and spit ferment...

Post by **rubber duck** » Sat May 21, 2011 3:10 pm

Man I went on a real bender and the next day I went out to the shed to see the gentleman's rig, it was a 55 gallon steel drum and a galvanized pipe, soldered with lead.

His fermentor was and old stock tank.

I really regretted drinking a whole quart of it.

Post by **LWTCS** » Sat May 21, 2011 3:12 pm

Recon he was a proud papa too.

Post by **rubber duck** » Sat May 21, 2011 3:33 pm

The thing about Easter Europeans is that everyone has a still, or at least it seams that way sometimes, and turning down someones home made sljivovica is an insult. They will use any excuse to drink, and if they're drinking so are you.

So ya some of it is crap and some of it is pretty good but I don't think anyone really makes cuts. It would be much better if they did.

Bagasso · Post by **Bagasso** » Sun May 22, 2011 11:12 am

Interesting question. My pot developed a hairline crack in it and although I felt this wasn't a problem for stripping the wash I had on hand I would not risk doing a spirit run with it. This left me with about 18 liters of low wines with half of them already being ph treated and feeling that I may run dry before throwing together another rig I decided to leave the other half alone.

Well I did run dry and thought well it's store bought or low wines run through activated carbon. I ran the low wines through the carbon and was pleasently suprised by the outcome. Now it wasn't great but it was alright. It was better than alot of the commercial stuff I have tried and Friday night I mixed and enjoyed nine 1.5oz jiggers at 37% and saturday morning I felt no hangover at all. YMMV.

The things that would make it different from normal low wines is that I only collected to 96ºC, I did a 50ml fores cut and that it is run through carbon. I actually calculated the amount of ethanol I get from my still at one degree intervals and used it to compare what I pay for propane and what it costs me to put on a fresh wash and came up with 96ºC being the break even point.

Now I know that to some it makes no sense to filter out the good flavor. In my opinion, if it filters out the hangover (if that is what did it) and/or bad flavors as well as the good flavors then the good flavors are expendable.

Home Distiller

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