New Owner of a Turbo Air Still

[randomdistiller]

Yes I know I know I know. I should build my own, I should have a bigger still etc..

Okay, so my wife and I drink distilled water and she mentioned that we could just get a water distiller and do it ourselves. I've been brewing beer for years and right now have a 50lb bag of DME that I got a killer deal on and since it's already been boiled my plan is to make about a 5% wash resulting in approximately 5.333 gallons so I'll have enough for 5, 4L runs (the still capacity is 4l). From what I've read and what I've been told I want to discard the first 50ml per run, and save the last 100ml per run to add it to the next run, until I'm done running the same wash. This still is supposed to get to 38-40% on one run, so if my math is correct:
Starting with 20L
Each run is 4L and results in 500ml, 50 of which is discarded 100ml which is held to run through with the next run. So I should lose 50ml per run plus 100ml at the end (or save it for a day I make the same wash).
This should result in approximately 2150ml of whiskey, to be aged with oak spirals or chips, correct?

I'm also thinking of making gin and am wondering if I just make a sugar wash and run it through a few times then cut it how would I add Juniper berries?

Thanks!

[Odin]

Hi Random,

If you have got 20 litres at 5%, you will have 5 first distillation runs. I usually collect 1.3 liters per first run, so in 5 times you will have 5 times 1.3 is 6.5 litres. enough for two 3.25 liter runs ... You are right about throwing things away: the first 50 ml per run, but finally should try to make your cuts based on taste. First runs wil bring the 5% to 15%. Second run will probably get you to 2 litres at around 42/43%. On the parent site, there is a great pot still purity calculater. You probably need to put in 300 wats and 35% of reflux, 20 degrees centigrade as starting temp and 4 litres on your content level and get some guidelines.

My experience in distilling beer is that you get better results with beer that is less hoppy and a bit stronger. I used 8% and 10% beers and liked the results better than with 5% beers. Just too much taste comming over! But try and see if you like it! Interested in your results. There are not so many distilled beer lovers around, but I am one of them.

For gin, you might want to look up a thread I wrote a few months back. Making Dutch Geneva it is called. You will find other threads on other methods there as well. In summary: make a sugar wash, doubble distill and take out foreshots, heads, tails, put alc percentage back to 35/40%, macerate crushed junipers and other botanicals and distill. On 4 liters you collect 2 liters and bring it back to around 40% strength. If you really crush the juniper berries, throw away the first 6 to 7 ml that come out. They contain heavily oily fractions!

Odin.

[randomdistiller]

Hi Random,

If you have got 20 litres at 5%, you will have 5 first distillation runs. I usually collect 1.3 liters per first run, so in 5 times you will have 5 times 1.3 is 6.5 litres. enough for two 3.25 liter runs ... You are right about throwing things away: the first 50 ml per run, but finally should try to make your cuts based on taste. First runs wil bring the 5% to 15%. Second run will probably get you to 2 litres at around 42/43%. On the parent site, there is a great pot still purity calculater. You probably need to put in 300 wats and 35% of reflux, 20 degrees centigrade as starting temp and 4 litres on your content level and get some guidelines.

My experience in distilling beer is that you get better results with beer that is less hoppy and a bit stronger. I used 8% and 10% beers and liked the results better than with 5% beers. Just too much taste comming over! But try and see if you like it! Interested in your results. There are not so many distilled beer lovers around, but I am one of them.

For gin, you might want to look up a thread I wrote a few months back. Making Dutch Geneva it is called. You will find other threads on other methods there as well. In summary: make a sugar wash, doubble distill and take out foreshots, heads, tails, put alc percentage back to 35/40%, macerate crushed junipers and other botanicals and distill. On 4 liters you collect 2 liters and bring it back to around 40% strength. If you really crush the juniper berries, throw away the first 6 to 7 ml that come out. They contain heavily oily fractions!

Odin.

Thanks this is EXACTLY the info I was looking for! Okay for some reason I thought with this specific still I could put through a 5% wash and end up with around 40% as they state on their website rather than having to run it through twice to get that ABV. If this is the case I will up the ABV just a little bit.. Have you used champagne yeast at all? I know its more alcohol tolerant than most ale yeasts and it's much cheaper. Are you building up big starters from liquid yeast? If I can do the job with cheap champagne yeast that'd b fantastic. I don't plan on hopping the wash at all, just enough DME dissolved in water to top off with water and get the ABV I want to start with and keep in my temp controlled fridge. Sooo much simpler than the all grain brewing process I typically use to brew beer which takes a good chunk of the day!

I just read your details on the numbers for the whiskey again. The brewing of the wash seems way simpler than with beer, though the distilling itself will be quite time consuimg. We need to stock pile plenty of distilled water (my wife and I are trying to drinking a gallon of distilled water a day and it takes about 12 hours to get a little less than 1 gallon since water has such a higher boiling point lol), then I will start running through some beer I've made that I have not been happy with. I know it is hoppy but hey, it's either run it through the still or pour it down the drain Most beers I've made have been delicious but I've got about 9 gallons that I should have dumped months ago lol call me a beer pack rat.

As for crushing the berries and making the gin that is fantastic info and I'll read you recipe, what I'm mostly concerned about is getting the berries actually into the still itself. I don't wan them to burn to the bottom and this still isn't designed with an onion that is easy to open. I can probably unsrew or pry it apart I'd just hate to break some part of it in the process. I hope this question makes sense.

Thanks!

[randomdistiller]

There are not so many distilled beer lovers around, but I am one of them.

This is something I've realized going through threads. It sounds like a lot of people don't control their fermentation temps etc, it's going to be fun to make my father in law (loves whiskey) do some taste tests What do you suggest aging it on? My homebrew shop has the oak chips and spirals. I'm thinking of toasting the oakchips myself and aging it in a big Pendleton bottle

[Prairiepiss]

I have a stupid question. Why do you drink distilled water?

[randomdistiller]

I have a stupid question. Why do you drink distilled water?

Not a stupid question at all. My wife and I are on a diet right now (so no drinking for about another month ahhh! But I can MAKE alcohol for when I'm done ) and one part of it is drinking about a gallon of water a day and the folks who created the diet highly suggest distilled water, it just doesn't have all the crap in it tap water has and is better for you than RO water which you can buy in 5 gallon jugs. We were looking into getting a 5 gallon jug dispenser which is about $150, though you can only get spring water or RO in those large jugs and distilled water only in 1 gallon jugs which over time is more costly then buying the still itself (homebrew shop special ordered it for $175+tax, the cheapest I could find in town or online). It just takes sooo long to distill water we have to make a stock pile before we start using it for other things

We also make mead and I just happen to have about 5 gallons that hasn't been backsweetened yet so it's still very dry, below 1.0 gravity. I'd like to run 4L through the still. Would adding more honey to sweeten it up serve any purpose other than making a higher gravity and making the still sticky or should I run it through before we sweeten it? I think this mead would be delicious as brandy.

[Prairiepiss]

I would just like to ask you to do some more research on drinking distilled water. And what it can do to the chemistry of your body. This is where I normally preach the gospel of water. But I don't want to take this tread any further off topic. So I won't.

Good luck and be safe.

[Odin]

Random,

If you are going to try a plain sugar wash after your beer run, I would advice you to go to the true & tried recipe department of this side. I think it was RAD who posted about a few recipes giving you a good basis for a neutral. And that is what you need for a vodka or gin. You might also want to use a turbo yeast for the first time. Just to keep you going and to give you a comparison for later on.

Crushing gin berries and putting them in your boiler... just read my post. It is all there! Its just about how much and what flavour you are after. Also read, I suggest, the gin topics on the parent sight. Insightfull!

Odin.

[randomdistiller]

Random,

If you are going to try a plain sugar wash after your beer run, I would advice you to go to the true & tried recipe department of this side. I think it was RAD who posted about a few recipes giving you a good basis for a neutral. And that is what you need for a vodka or gin. You might also want to use a turbo yeast for the first time. Just to keep you going and to give you a comparison for later on.

Crushing gin berries and putting them in your boiler... just read my post. It is all there! Its just about how much and what flavour you are after. Also read, I suggest, the gin topics on the parent sight. Insightfull!

Odin.

Thanks for the info, I didn't know you could put juniper berries directly into the boiler for some reason I thought it would burn to the bottom. I will read that post! As for turbo yeast I think I'll steer clear of that. I don't mind fermenting at a lower abv. Thanks!

[Odin]

Random,

With the airstill you are okay. Heat input is relatively low and wel dispersed throughout the bottom part of your vessel. If you would use a propane gas burner on a pot still, I think it might not work, unless you are really carefull with how you heat.

If you want to stay clear of turbo's, I think using an champagne yeast might work wel as a basis for your vodka. I heared it works clean & tolerates higher ABVs, but I did not use it myself.

Someone else here with advise on how to make a non-turbo sugar wash so clear & nice that you can make a vodka potdistilling?

Odin.

[randomdistiller]

Random,

With the airstill you are okay. Heat input is relatively low and wel dispersed throughout the bottom part of your vessel. If you would use a propane gas burner on a pot still, I think it might not work, unless you are really carefull with how you heat.

If you want to stay clear of turbo's, I think using an champagne yeast might work wel as a basis for your vodka. I heared it works clean & tolerates higher ABVs, but I did not use it myself.

Someone else here with advise on how to make a non-turbo sugar wash so clear & nice that you can make a vodka potdistilling?

Odin.

Great about the heat disbursement, as for champagne yeast I've used it would mead and have taken it to around 13% with mead though I know it could go higher. The mead we also have is a melomel which is a mead that also has fruit, we used mixed berries from costco and it turned out quite delicious. We're going to run 4L from the mead we just made that's still in the fermenter (has been for several months) and probably get about 850 ml out of it

[randomdistiller]

From the reading I've done about champagne yeast I've heard it sugested for a neutral spirit but don't see anything about using it for a whiskey wash. I don't mine using ale yeast it's just more expensive but I have a good quantity of both types of yeast on hand and if the champagne will allow me to get a higher abv without imparting anything negative I'd rather go there. With the DME I have I have no cost issue and since I'm not using grain themselves I can add as much DME as I need to hit the gravity that whatever yeast I use can handle. I don't want to push it but if I can do it and not have negative side effects that'd be great.

[Prairiepiss]

Why not just give one of the tried and true recipes a try? They aren't called tried and true for nothing. And many use bakers yeast and work just fine. Some work better. And its readily available and price is right.

[randomdistiller]

Why not just give one of the tried and true recipes a try? They aren't called tried and true for nothing. And many use bakers yeast and work just fine. Some work better. And its readily available and price is right.

After talking with a homebrew shop on the phone a few minutes ago it sounds like champagne yeast will work just fine but I think I'll stick with ale yeast for this run at a lower ABV so I don't have to worry about a big krausen, blow off tube etc as I won't have much headspace in the fermenter I'm using. As for tried and true recipes I saw on the parent site someone explaining using a very simple malt extract recipe (just enough to get a 1.050 wash I think it was) so I will do that, simple. Ferment a low gravity wash with ale yeast and run it, sounds simple enough! As for bakers yeast I have a lot of ale yeast (I almost opened up a homebrew shop which is why I have so much dme and yeast on hand...and grains but I don't feel like doing the all grain process for this just yet, I figured this would be a great way to get rid of all the DME I have )

[randomdistiller]

Hi Random,

If you have got 20 litres at 5%, you will have 5 first distillation runs. I usually collect 1.3 liters per first run, so in 5 times you will have 5 times 1.3 is 6.5 litres. enough for two 3.25 liter runs ... You are right about throwing things away: the first 50 ml per run, but finally should try to make your cuts based on taste. First runs wil bring the 5% to 15%. Second run will probably get you to 2 litres at around 42/43%. On the parent site, there is a great pot still purity calculater.

Odin.

I've been playing with the calculator which as you mentioned is extremely helpful. One thing remains constant though; it does mention approx how much tails to collect (I've read 100ml per 20l wash, and 50ml for a 4l wash), and it also shows distilling for 200minutes after the still heats up and starts to drip. Is this a general rule of thumb? The numbers you mention are right in line with the calculator so I am assuming that 200 minutes SHOULD get me the heads and the hearts and I keep whatevers left to run through the next time I distill the same wash, correct? I was born with no sense of smell so I cannot rely on that and with this type of still I don't really have a way to go by temp. I'm fine with the general rule of thumb but an just curious. I know toward the end of the 200 minutes the ABV goes down a bit but the average ABV when adding all the cuts together comes to the same ABVs you've been mentioning here.

I was also reading your gin recipe which I will definitely do soon! Reading this recipe I realized that once you've stripped the heads in reflux (or I am assuming you can run the sugar wash through a pot still several times to get the purity you want), then you don't have to when you're running it through with the berries. Does this also mean that the first time I run any other wash through my pot still I discard the heads but on subsequent runs I don't? I don't mind discarding them I would rather do that then end up with a poor product, just wondering if it's necessary or if it's only not necessary once you get to a certain level of purity.

Thanks for your time and understanding of my newbiness!

[Odin]

I will try to answer your questions. First on how much foreshots/heads to collect & throw out. I usually discard the first 50 ml that come out of my airstill on any wash. Be it sugar or grain or wine (for brandy making). About how much tails to collect, as you say, I am not sure that is what the parent site talks about. The topic is throwing away foreshots/some heads, right? If I am mistaken and you do want my opinion on how much tails to collect, let me know where to look, and I wil try and follow up. Anyhow, some tails are necesary if you want to make a product with taste, like brandy or whiskey. When going for a neutral, you do not want any tails. Fortunately, in a sugar wash tails are less abundant than in other mashes, like grain or wine based. For a neutral, sugar wash, just stop collecting when the output gets at around 40%.

Yes, when you use a reflux to distill your sugar wash and seperate foreshots, heads, tails there, than you do not need to do it again on your pot still run, like I do it in the Gin recipe.

But if you do not have a reflux and just operate your airstill, it does not work like you suggest: throw out the first 50 ml on your first distillation, and then on the second or third run you do not need to do it anymore. A pot still just does not have the same level of seperation a reflux column has, that is why. When I still made neutrals with my airstill (now I have a reflux as well, so I always use that), I tripple distilled and made generic cuts on all the runs. Say, you start with a 15% sugar was of 24 litres. That would take 6 first distillation runs (6 times 4 being 24 liters). On every one of that first distilling runs, I would throw out the first 40 to 50 ml and distill until I the output is at the level of the wash I started with. In this case 15%. You can use the calculater on the parent site to get more info about when you get where (but check with your alcohol measuring rod). If the total output of these 6 runsis 8 litres of 40%, that would be in line with expectations. 8 litres of 40% means you have two second distillations of each 4 litres at 40%. Again, throw away the first 40 to 50 ml, collect until output is 40%. Delute back to 40% with distilled water and go for your third distillation runs. Probably throwing 50 or 40 mls out is over the top, but 20 ml should do it. Water down to 40%, give it a lot of air, put in some activated charcoil for a week or two, filter through coffee filter and enjoy! The filter that comes with your airstill can be used on collecting your first runs. After that the percentage of ABV you collect is too high for this filter to be any effective. And in general: the filter you got with the airstill is not that effecctive at all. Make sure you rince it out with warm water for some time before using it, is my experience!

Good luck, Odin.

[randomdistiller]

I will try to answer your questions. First on how much foreshots/heads to collect & throw out. I usually discard the first 50 ml that come out of my airstill on any wash. Be it sugar or grain or wine (for brandy making). About how much tails to collect, as you say, I am not sure that is what the parent site talks about. The topic is throwing away foreshots/some heads, right? If I am mistaken and you do want my opinion on how much tails to collect, let me know where to look, and I wil try and follow up. Anyhow, some tails are necesary if you want to make a product with taste, like brandy or whiskey. When going for a neutral, you do not want any tails. Fortunately, in a sugar wash tails are less abundant than in other mashes, like grain or wine based. For a neutral, sugar wash, just stop collecting when the output gets at around 40%.

Yes, when you use a reflux to distill your sugar wash and seperate foreshots, heads, tails there, than you do not need to do it again on your pot still run, like I do it in the Gin recipe.

But if you do not have a reflux and just operate your airstill, it does not work like you suggest: throw out the first 50 ml on your first distillation, and then on the second or third run you do not need to do it anymore. A pot still just does not have the same level of seperation a reflux column has, that is why. When I still made neutrals with my airstill (now I have a reflux as well, so I always use that), I tripple distilled and made generic cuts on all the runs. Say, you start with a 15% sugar was of 24 litres. That would take 6 first distillation runs (6 times 4 being 24 liters). On every one of that first distilling runs, I would throw out the first 40 to 50 ml and distill until I the output is at the level of the wash I started with. In this case 15%. You can use the calculater on the parent site to get more info about when you get where (but check with your alcohol measuring rod). If the total output of these 6 runsis 8 litres of 40%, that would be in line with expectations. 8 litres of 40% means you have two second distillations of each 4 litres at 40%. Again, throw away the first 40 to 50 ml, collect until output is 40%. Delute back to 40% with distilled water and go for your third distillation runs. Probably throwing 50 or 40 mls out is over the top, but 20 ml should do it. Water down to 40%, give it a lot of air, put in some activated charcoil for a week or two, filter through coffee filter and enjoy! The filter that comes with your airstill can be used on collecting your first runs. After that the percentage of ABV you collect is too high for this filter to be any effective. And in general: the filter you got with the airstill is not that effecctive at all. Make sure you rince it out with warm water for some time before using it, is my experience!

Good luck, Odin.

Thanks I really like the rule of thumb of distill until what comes out is as strong as what you put in. I'm getting very confused because now I'm reading (other threads) that I need to discard the foreshots at around 50ml, then I need to set aside the next heads "cut/amount" and since I have no sense of smell I have no idea how much this is, then I keep the next portion, and save the tails to mix with the heads later if I want to.. I know there's multiple ways to do this but since you've actually had experience with the still I have I would like to go with what you're saying.

So, yesterday I did my first run of 5.6% abv whiskey wash. I filled it to the 4L line and got some puking action which I understand is boilover and a lesson learned; could have been worse. Once clear spirit came out I went overboard to be safe and chucked about 125ml. I saved the rest until I had about 1075 ML which I know is longer than I should have let it run as the output was probably around 4-5% (didn't have the alcohol rod, going by the calculator and I just let it go for too long, won't do that again).

Now if I run this amount through again by itself since I tossed so much the first time would you suggest tossing the first 50ml still? It's fine if the answer is yes just curious. Then since I ran the heads through and collected it since I'm distilling again, can I get by with not collecting the heads? The guide you've given me based on ABV I really do appreciate since at least that gives me some frame of reference to start with. It also sounds like once I get the distillate to the ABV I want, run it one more time, cut it off when the output gets to the ABV I started with, THEN dilute back down, I assume this is to get even better flavors not just saving space for storage, correct?

Since I want to bring a small amount of this to a family member this weekend and I may not have time to do all the runs I was planning on with this first wash I'm thinking of just running through what I collected yesterday, then whatever total ABV I end up with going by that guide for a third run of the same distillate. so I'll have gone from 4l to less, then less, and less once more. Even I end up with a small amount for this trip it'll be fun to bring it to my father in law

[randomdistiller]

Based on the Pot Purity calculator at 1.075ml, 300w power up and power during, at 35% reflux, 15% wash (estimating), it shows that the first 20min should give 192ml at 60% then 143ml at 33% to make what's collected 49% then just 1% purity at 110ml to make 47%... so based on that if I just rerun what I did yesterday should I just get the first 40min/335ml of spirit less the first little bit to toss? I wonder if I hit a strange range on the calculator which made it jump to 1% or if that's just because at that point it says it'll probably be at 100c.

[randomdistiller]

If the spirit is going to be consumed in a couple of days is there any reason why I'd want to run it to be stronger than around 40% and dilute it down? So if I just take what I collect from my first two runs, then run that together and the spirit is around 40% is there any reason that would not be able to drink? I understand that with aging etc you want to distill it stronger then dilute it before drinking but this will probably be consumed within 4 days..

[Dnderhead]

"there any reason why I'd want to run it to be stronger than around 40%"
a bit tricky, but lets try,,as general.the lower percent you distill at the more flavor you have but also
more unwanted alcohols etc. and this takes some aging,the more there is the longer it takes .
the higher percent you distill at, the "cleaner" the product is there for less ageing it takes.
there is exceptions to this.some products takes many times to git it right.
now if you look at different products you will see this. a "clean" product like vodka is not aged or very little.
on the other end mite be scotch which has lot of flavor and can take years to age.

[randomdistiller]

"there any reason why I'd want to run it to be stronger than around 40%"
a bit tricky, but lets try,,as general.the lower percent you distill at the more flavor you have but also
more unwanted alcohols etc. and this takes some aging,the more there is the longer it takes .
the higher percent you distill at, the "cleaner" the product is there for less ageing it takes.
there is exceptions to this.some products takes many times to git it right.
now if you look at different products you will see this. a "clean" product like vodka is not aged or very little.
on the other end mite be scotch which has lot of flavor and can take years to age.

So since this is whiskey, yes I know not aged on oak yet so may not be called whiskey, but was a low alcohol whiskey wash, I toss some of two runs, but those runs together, toss 30ml (only 1.65l spirit in the boiler), then collect until what starts coming out is the same abv that I put in (around 17%), then what I've collected is now close to 40% (I will dilute it to that if needed), should this be okay to drink? I know it will not be as great as after aging etc but as far as safety and getting people sick, does this sound okay? Thanks.

[Odin]

Random

In adition to what was stated in the last post by my estemed colleague, it is my experience that smearing heads into your hearts (the middle cut) and apearing tails in your hearts is much more at lower ABV. Put otherwise: at higher ABV there is less smearing from one fase to another. Easier for making your cuts! And the other part is indeed: distill, than dilute back to 40% with distilled water and distill again. What will be hapening is that with each distillation you get rid of some of the less fantastic parts and replace them by pure, good, old distilled water.

Now, what I also read is that you are in a hurry. You love your hobby, love your new still and want to show friends/family asap what you can make. Even letting some wash waiting and redistilling what you have got until now as "low wines"? Ehm ... my advice (speaking from experience) is ... reconsider. Your drinks are best served when you distill all your wash asap to at least low wines. Prevents your mash going bad and getting infections. Also, when you run your airstill with a full load of second or third distillations products, it is much easier to make cuts. Distilling will be more slow going (same wattage to a higher content level). Something else: when you are just starting this and want to impress folks: better to wait until you are ready to show off and not hurry there. If you get your friends hung over from your drinks, it might put them off for a long time

Than something about the puking. You did not overload the still. Given the low ABV that is certainly not the problem. Hell, even 40% can be rerun at full 4 litre capacity! Your problem is the "beer" you use. Beer has a lot of proteins and they will surge boil. Also, you may not have degassed enough, leaving a lot of CO2 in your base beer. If you heat that up, there definitely will be a surge boil!

My solutions. Throw your beer from one container to another. Again and again. In case of real beer every hour or two and that for the whole day. Then try putting the mash in the fridge to cool down and get rid of even more CO2 (cold makes liquid shrink, less place for the bubbles). Also, put in cooking stones in the airstill when distilling. And if that does not work: heat the content in your boiler for 45 minutes (it will be warm but not yet cooking). Let it cool down. Restart next day and go all the way.

Good luck again! Odin.

[randomdistiller]

Okay sorry for redundat questions here. My process (less the puking issue). 5.6% abv whiskey wash, toss 50ml, collect until what comes out is the same abv as what I started with, save what's left to run through again some day..

Did 2 runs with the above steps. First run started at 4l (lost some due to puking), second run started with about 2L.

Now I got about 1650ml of spirit in the 16-17 percent range, I run that through again, tossed the first 30ml or so, and collected in the same fashion as before.

Now I have around 630ml (not at home right now I have it written down), with about a 43% spirit. Now I SHOULD run it again and dilute down to get rid of nasties is what you're saying. And I CAN do that and would prefer to if it would make a better spirit. Now when I do that should I toss the first 30ml or so again? I will if needed, just don't want to chuck good spirit if I don't. I know this may be up to opinion but would like a frame of reference and greatly appreciate your patience. Now if I chuck that first little bit, collect until what comes out is the same abv as went in, I could THEN dilute that to the ABV I want to drink it at, correct? I've been using the pot still purity calculator to approximate ABV and will be getting an alcohol rod (sounds like a bad porn name) tomorrow so I'll be able to check the final product. The pot still purity calculator seems to flip out a bit when punching in the numbers for a .65L or so at 41% charge, it starts spouting off numbers showing a ridiculous amount of purity that doesn't seem to make sense (I could be wrong) so this third run I will actually use the alco stick to confirm the numbers.

Thanks again for the insight!

[Odin]

Random,

A few tips that may (or may not) be helpful. I gave a few general lines you can use for making cuts. In the end, since every wash can be a bit different, it finally comes down to smelling and (in your case more important, I think) tasting. If you are happy with it it is probably good and certainly good for you.

The problem working with small amounts to distill is that it is even harder to make good cuts. That is why I suggested to first distill everything you have, so that your second (when making whiskey) and third run (if vodka making is your goal) are done with a full still. 4 litre airstill is so small already, that's why.

The calculator on the homesite may be off for two reasons. First, you might want to put your wattage down to 275. The airstill has 300, but is not 100% effective. Some power is needed to keep the liquid at its temperature and to heat the still itself (just feel how hot the outside gets!). You might also want to put the timesteps from 20 minutes to - say - 10 minutes on the calculator.

Odin.

[randomdistiller]

Random,

A few tips that may (or may not) be helpful. I gave a few general lines you can use for making cuts. In the end, since every wash can be a bit different, it finally comes down to smelling and (in your case more important, I think) tasting. If you are happy with it it is probably good and certainly good for you.
Odin.

So with the steps I've done, tossing 30-50ml each run, everything has been distilled twice, it'd be safely drinkable? Going forward I will make more sugar washes (rum and gin are next) so it'll be easier to fill the boiler higher plus I'll be starting with higher ABV washes which I'm excited about. I have a bunch of champagne yeast that needs a good home That's what happens when you plan to open a homebrew shop and you don't

[Dnderhead]

" it'd be safely drinkable?"
if ya like it drink it..

[randomdistiller]

" it'd be safely drinkable?"
if ya like it drink it..

Sweet.. just did..now I'm drunk and have to make more!!...

Okay no I didn't really. will take a small drink though to make sure it's good I already told my mother in law that no one is mixing this with anything but water I'm usually the one mixing their Black Velvet with RC or tonic water

[Odin]

In a way, Random, the problem is your nose. Or the absence of smell, right? Normally heads can be smelled pretty easy. Bit of a flowery, buttery thing. In tasting it, I find that it is harder to discribe. If you've got something like a slight brandywine (fruit, grapes) taste, you know you have still got some heads in. Also ... if you like it, drink too much and wake up with a head ache ... then heads must have been present!

[randomdistiller]

In a way, Random, the problem is your nose. Or the absence of smell, right? Normally heads can be smelled pretty easy. Bit of a flowery, buttery thing. In tasting it, I find that it is harder to discribe. If you've got something like a slight brandywine (fruit, grapes) taste, you know you have still got some heads in. Also ... if you like it, drink too much and wake up with a head ache ... then heads must have been present!

LOL fantastic And yes I cannot taste. I can breathe in fumes and feel that there is alcohol, but not actually smell.

[Dnderhead]

I see this often,,when you ferment it does not produce anything different than wine or beer ,
then when you distill that does not create any thing,its just concentrates the alcohol .you are making
it about 10 times stronger,so if you drank 1/10 the amount you whould be drinking about the same
thing as a beer/wine.where people git into trouble is they tend to drink more hard stuff than beer/wine
as it is easier to drink a shot than a glass full.this is especially true of the "fruity tooty" stuff that is popular to day.