Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper
After some busy weekends I got time to distill the two carboys of WPOSW that I had put down about a month ago. While they fermented OK, I think I need to do a bit more reading on how to clear them properly, as they were still quite cloudy when I racked them into the still. I have a 2" bok still made by OD, some pics of the still in this thread http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 50&t=21932
I used about half of the first carboy for the sacraficial run, then loaded the rest of that one plus a second carboy for my keeper run. Being a first run I grabbed about 100ml of foreshots, then about 400ml of heads before grabbing 2.5L of hearts. The temp probe never budged from 77.9C through the hearts and once it hit 78.0C I collected a bit more tails. The temp sure can shoot up fast at the end! I measured this takeoff at 92%abv but I didn't measure the temp so it could be a bit off. This product when watered down to drinking strength tasted a bit organic for want of a better word, probably from the yeast that hadn't cleared, so I emptied out the still and poured 15L of clean water in it then all ~3L of my hearts/feints back in for a second run. Collected 2.3L of hearts this time, and the product collected from this second run was awesome! Very nice and clean, very happy with it!
Comparing my vodka on a scale of 1 (smirnoff) to 10 (ciroc) I give it an 8/10. Airing it out now which should improve it a little more from what I have read, which is pretty good for a first spirit distill!
Congratulations on a successful first run. Pretty cool, ain't it?
If you have the means to do so, refrigerate your wash for a week after the fermentation stops. It really helps it clear. I have a couple old refrigerators that cost me nothing. I rack the finished wash to another bucket and put in the 'fridge for a week. If I have time I'll rack it a second time. I also rack from the carboy into the boiler making sure to leave any remaining trub behind.
Thanks for the tip Braz. I have a second fridge in the garage filled with mostly alcohol funnily enough, might see if I can fit a carboy in it if I rearrange the shelves.
