Novice strip and spirit run question…

[Bull Rider]

Small containers at transition points, which you will learn to spot as you gain experience. I collect the hearts part of my spirit runs in half gallon mason jars, but I use half pint jars for the transitions. Once I'm into tails "past" where I will be blending I just collect in whatever I have handy.

Backset also has some residual alcohol that starts off the next mash with a bump.

Heads can really have a negative impact on aging on oak, I'm way conservative regarding heads when I blend.


Bull.

[Suburban Guy]

I think you're good with what ya got. 200ml is a good start for learning your cuts. When ya figure out what your doing you can consolidate some. For instance, collect the first two or three jars after fores @ 200ml, then collect 5-6 jars @ say 400ml, etc.
To see how your cuts work start with jar #10 then work your way out, often the differences will be rather subtle until you get well into the heads or tails. A lot of people can tell a lot by smell but it just doesn't work for me. I sip a little in and then "roll" it around in my mouth and hold it there for a few seconds to get all the flavor.
Some find a parrot very useful. I don't use one, so it's up to you. I always just use a test tube with my spirit hydro. It is nice knowing where you're at with abv and with experience it will help a lot, especially with your cuts in the tails.
Big R

I’m glad to hear that, it will cut down on the number of collection vessels to deal with, etc. I’m starting with my nose, but I did take samples with equal parts of water during the run, btu I think I will do it again now that they have had a day to air out. I’m going to stay away from the parrot until I get somewhat of a handle on the taste and smell of head, hearts and tails.

if you're gonna drink it white that would work. If your goin to age it then ya might want to include some of the tails and maybe some of the heads, although I pretty much exclude any heads. With proper aging using some tails can add siginificantly to the flavor profile.
With sour mash the backset is used primarily to reduce ph and help prevent bacterial infections, it also introduces some flavors. It was primarily initiated years ago by bourbon distillers.
With rum it's actually called "dunder." The purpose of using it with your wash is to use the flavors left in the dunder. You're only gonna want to have 15-25% of it in your mash. The more you use the "heavier" your rum will be, more rum flavors. It's not actaully necessary to include the dunder in your mash unless you are actually wanting the heavier flavor. Some here use fresh dunder and some are experimenting with aging their dunder before using it. If you prefer a lighter flavor don't include the dunder in your mash. Big R

I don’t really have an interest in drinking it white at this point, so I will now start to play with blending I guess. Interesting about using the backset/dunder to increase flavor. 15-25% is a value that I will remember. As it stands right now having a heavier rum flavor is attractive to me, but that may change.

Thank you both for your feedback!

[Suburban Guy]

Well, here are my readings:

Bottle # ABV %
1 49.00%
2 47.00%
3 46.00%
4 46.00%
5 43.00%
6 42.00%
7 41.00%
8 39.00%
9 36.00%
10 32.00%
11 31.00%
12 26.00%
13 24.00%
14 21.00%
15 16.00%
16 8.00%
17 0.00%
18 0.00%
19 0.00%
20 0.00%

Doesn’t the ABV seem rather low?

[rtalbigr]

Doesn’t the ABV seem rather low?

Not for a strippin run.

With a wash of 7-8% my strippin runs generally start around 50-55%. There are some here that just do single runs but most pot stillers double back and run their low wines again. I usually run my low wines with some wash at about a 3-4/1 ratio, then take the feints and run them with my next strip run.

With my AG mashes I usually do at least 200 lbs of grain so I'm using my feints and doublin back a lot. With rum I'm usually looking at 40-50 gal a wash so I'm doin the same.

But I don't use sugar (unless I'm wanting some vodka) so I'm working with washes mostly in the 6-8% except for my rums which will be around 10%.

If ya want to keep some of that run SG, probably jars 3-4, maybe 5, are drinkable. I'd take the rest and combine it with your next wash and run it. Your abv's will increase to probably around 70% and it will actually help you learn your cuts because the flavor gradient will be more distinct.

On stripping runs I generally stop my run around 10-15%. Some here stop way before that. Beyond that you're just wastin energy and that $$.

Big R

[blind drunk]

If you have another wash handy and ready to go, add all of these low wines to the wash and do a slow single run. It'll be awesome. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Good luck.

[Suburban Guy]

Doesn’t the ABV seem rather low?

Not for a strippin run.

With a wash of 7-8% my strippin runs generally start around 50-55%. There are some here that just do single runs but most pot stillers double back and run their low wines again. I usually run my low wines with some wash at about a 3-4/1 ratio, then take the feints and run them with my next strip run.

With my AG mashes I usually do at least 200 lbs of grain so I'm using my feints and doublin back a lot. With rum I'm usually looking at 40-50 gal a wash so I'm doin the same.

But I don't use sugar (unless I'm wanting some vodka) so I'm working with washes mostly in the 6-8% except for my rums which will be around 10%.

If ya want to keep some of that run SG, probably jars 3-4, maybe 5, are drinkable. I'd take the rest and combine it with your next wash and run it. Your abv's will increase to probably around 70% and it will actually help you learn your cuts because the flavor gradient will be more distinct.

On stripping runs I generally stop my run around 10-15%. Some here stop way before that. Beyond that you're just wastin energy and that $$.

Big R

Holy smokes Big R, you are running some volume through your still, WOW!!! When you say 3-4/1, I am taking it as 3-4 wash to 1 low wines, is this correct?

I decided to set up my parrot on my stripping run today and am taking your advice to stop at 10-15%. I’m already starting to find out that propane doesn’t last forever when stillin’…

[Suburban Guy]

If you have another wash handy and ready to go, add all of these low wines to the wash and do a slow single run. It'll be awesome. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Good luck.

I’m trading off between All Bran and Rum Wash, so once I get back to the Rum, I will do just that, looking forward to it…

Having this many collection vessels sure seems like a pain in the ass man!!!

[Samohon]

Glad to see your distilling skills are coming along nicely SG...
Try to get some 1 or 2 gallon glass jars, they take up much less room. Also, a SS keg is a great container for your shine...

3 to 4 runs will give you enough low wines to do a spirit run.

My low wines are about 55% to 60% abv (depending on the amount of feigns I added) when they are combined. I then dilute to 40% abv.

Something I have started to do that some of the other members have great success with is the addition of wash. I take 10L of UJSSM wash @ 10% and add 20L of 40% abv low wines. This gives the flavour profile a boost and ensures that I take a high abv that can be tempered down for ageing...

Note:
I never use the backset (stillage) from a spirit run for my next wash. Only the backset from a stripping run should be used...

Keep at it man, soon it will become second nature and your skills at distilling will take on a new level of proficiency...

[rtalbigr]

Holy smokes Big R, you are running some volume through your still, WOW!!! When you say 3-4/1, I am taking it as 3-4 wash to 1 low wines, is this correct?

No, 3-4 low wine to 1 wash.

Big R

[Suburban Guy]

Glad to see your distilling skills are coming along nicely SG...
Try to get some 1 or 2 gallon glass jars, they take up much less room. Also, a SS keg is a great container for your shine...
3 to 4 runs will give you enough low wines to do a spirit run.
My low wines are about 55% to 60% abv (depending on the amount of feigns I added) when they are combined. I then dilute to 40% abv.
Something I have started to do that some of the other members have great success with is the addition of wash. I take 10L of UJSSM wash @ 10% and add 20L of 40% abv low wines. This gives the flavour profile a boost and ensures that I take a high abv that can be tempered down for ageing...
Note:
I never use the backset (stillage) from a spirit run for my next wash. Only the backset from a stripping run should be used...
Keep at it man, soon it will become second nature and your skills at distilling will take on a new level of proficiency...

Yeah, my local brew shop is out of 1 gallon jugs right now. I am thinking about ordering some 2 gallon ones online, they would be perfect.

I’m looking forward to a spirit run, I have 40 liters left to strip.

Question: I will have run a total of 90 liters of wash, why type of drinkable yield should I anticipate, knowing that my cuts will be conservative, I have no interest in cutting too heavy into either heads or tails?

Good to know about the backset on the spirit run, I will be sure to toss it.

I’m workin’ it man, I am workin’ it!!!

Holy smokes Big R, you are running some volume through your still, WOW!!! When you say 3-4/1, I am taking it as 3-4 wash to 1 low wines, is this correct?

No, 3-4 low wine to 1 wash.
Big R

10-4

[Bull Rider]

Price out cheap wine in gallon jugs at the Big Volume grocery outlet store. I've found that I can buy a gallon or two liter glass jug for about the same price as new virgin bottles.

You can dump the wine, drink the wine, use it for cooking, give it to your mother in law, or distill it.



Bull.

[Suburban Guy]

Price out cheap wine in gallon jugs at the Big Volume grocery outlet store. I've found that I can buy a gallon or two liter glass jug for about the same price as new virgin bottles.

You can dump the wine, drink the wine, use it for cooking, give it to your mother in law, or distill it.

Bull.

I love the 4 liter Carlo Rossi jugs, have 4, but the cheapest that I have found them so far is $10.00. I will check out Costco, much like Sams Club if not familiar.

I wish I could find a restaurant that used that nasty stuff for their house wine, I'd take the empties off of their hands for sure!

SG

[Usge]

I think I will slow it down a bit next time fella’s. I put 20 liters in the boiler and collected just short of 12 liters of low wines in a 4 hour period. One would assume that I have somewhere in the vicinity of 7 liters of backset still in the boiler? I’ll have to wait until it cools down a bit.

I must say I am pretty disappointed thus far. I combined the 12 liters of low wines together and just got done taking my first readings, which are coming up around 15%, something doesn’t seem right here...sigh.

My initial SG was 1.080 and just under 1.000 at the end. The wash fermented well, I racked it, let it settle and ran it earlier today. Any thoughts ?

Ok...lets just back up a min. Yes..you do need an alc meter....but something not looking right here. You say you had 20L going in of wash. And you collected how much????
12 liters??

Distillation doesn't "make" alc. It takes whatever alc is in the volume in your pot....and it extracts it into a smaller/more concentrated volume. Looks like to me you took it down to zero, and then you just kept running and were just collecting back water. If you run it long enough...you'll just end up with what you started with. On a 20L wash run of 10%....I get about 1 gal back of low-wines at 30-35%. It's easy enough to approximate about how much alc you should expect to collect. 20,000ml x .10 = 2,000ml of 100% (theoretical/potential) alc. You'll collect at less than 100% but that will at least give you some ball park figure. From there, if you divide that by 200ml (for your jars) you get 10 jars. If you want to use 12 jars, then just divide the 2,000/12. That will tell you how much to collect per jar.

I find it easier to just use pint mason jars on a similar sized rig (ie., 5-6 gal charges). It's marked on the side in 100ml increments. So, you've already got a guide. It's easier to use larger jars and just collect smaller amounts in them...than having to buy multiple sizes, etc. For 10-15 gal rigs..I'd by the quart jars.

[Suburban Guy]

I think I will slow it down a bit next time fella’s. I put 20 liters in the boiler and collected just short of 12 liters of low wines in a 4 hour period. One would assume that I have somewhere in the vicinity of 7 liters of backset still in the boiler? I’ll have to wait until it cools down a bit.

I must say I am pretty disappointed thus far. I combined the 12 liters of low wines together and just got done taking my first readings, which are coming up around 15%, something doesn’t seem right here...sigh.

My initial SG was 1.080 and just under 1.000 at the end. The wash fermented well, I racked it, let it settle and ran it earlier today. Any thoughts ?

Ok...lets just back up a min. Yes..you do need an alc meter....but something not looking right here. You say you had 20L going in of wash. And you collected how much????
12 liters??

Distillation doesn't "make" alc. It takes whatever alc is in the volume in your pot....and it extracts it into a smaller/more concentrated volume. Looks like to me you took it down to zero, and then you just kept running and were just collecting back water. If you run it long enough...you'll just end up with what you started with. On a 20L wash run of 10%....I get about 1 gal back of low-wines at 30-35%. It's easy enough to approximate about how much alc you should expect to collect. 20,000ml x .10 = 2,000ml of 100% (theoretical/potential) alc. You'll collect at less than 100% but that will at least give you some ball park figure. From there, if you divide that by 200ml (for your jars) you get 10 jars. If you want to use 12 jars, then just divide the 2,000/12. That will tell you how much to collect per jar.

I find it easier to just use pint mason jars on a similar sized rig (ie., 5-6 gal charges). It's marked on the side in 100ml increments. So, you've already got a guide. It's easier to use larger jars and just collect smaller amounts in them...than having to buy multiple sizes, etc. For 10-15 gal rigs..I'd by the quart jars.

I agree with you. What you are speaking of is my first true run. Now that I have my parrot up and running, I have close tabs on the ABV and am taking readings to 15-20% and then shutting her down. I had these grandiose ideas in my head that I would be able to recoup 50% or more of the wash as low wines.

Question: Are there any ballpark figures out there for the amount of low wines you should yield from a certain amount of wash?

Looking back, the first run was a colossal waste of propane…

Oh, as for collection vessels, I have a dedicated numbered set of 24 750 ML bottles that are marked at the 200 ML line, this specifically for making cuts when the time comes. I am in search of glass jugs for my low wines, backset, etc.

SG

[Usge]

For 19-20L of wash at 8-10%, you should be getting back about 1 gallon of low-wines @ 35% or so.

[The Baker]

'I love the 4 liter Carlo Rossi jugs, have 4, but the cheapest that I have found them so far is $10.00.'

Full of wine? Surely you aren't looking for a better deal than that??
Or were they empties?

[Husker]

My boiler is 16 gallons and I am running a worm condenser and currently have 20 liters of All Bran wash going through. I was planning on capturing 12 liters…sound about right?

Sorry to come late to the party.

First off, if you have 20L of wash, and collect 12L of low wines, then you are running quite a bit too long. I usually shoot for 1/5 to 1/3 volume, it would depend upon the still, and the starting ABV of the wash. You DO want to remove all the ethanol. And if making a flavored drink, you do want to remove a little more, because some of the good flavors are deep in the tails, so you want to make sure you have plenty of them. For a neutral, I would collect less, as soon as the ethanol is out, STOP.

Since you mentioned a keg and a worm, I will assume this is a pot still. One tool to help 'plan' a strip run, is the pot still calc from the parent site, or better yet, get the Win32 pot still calc I wrote (or the php version I wrote). They are here here and here.

Simply input the proper initial ABV, your heat input power. If using propane, you can out the time it takes to to bring to boil and mess around with power input and find the 'right' number for power. Then let the calc tell you how long to run, and how much to take. It does a pretty good job of computing when all the ethanol will be stripped out.

H.

Here is the output of what I think your wash is, against 2KW power (this was computed from the 3rd link).

Code: Select all

Distillation by Alembic still. We are using the below parameters:
Alcohol Content       =     12  % (%ABV of wash/Low wines)
Volume of Wash        =     20  L   
Initial Temperature   =     28  °C  
Heat-up Power         =   2000  W/h 
Distillation Power    =   2000
%Internal Reflux      =     10  %
Main Run Time-steps   =     10  minutes
Main Run Max-Time     =    120  minutes
Tail Run Time-steps   =     15  minutes
*** Main Run -- Heatup Time: 42 minutes
                                             Ave      Total       Total
  Time    Boil Temp  Vapor Temp  Collected   Purity   Collected   Purity
  ------  ---------  ----------  ---------   ------   ---------   ------
  10 min    93.27°C     82.66°C      806mL    51.9%       806mL   51.88%
  20 min    94.16°C     83.19°C      769mL    47.6%      1.57 L   49.81%
  30 min    95.01°C     83.82°C      732mL    43.1%      2.31 L   47.68%
  40 min    95.80°C     84.58°C      698mL    38.3%      3.00 L   45.52%
  50 min    96.52°C     85.51°C      666mL    33.5%      3.67 L   43.35%
  60 min    97.16°C     86.61°C      637mL    28.8%      4.31 L   41.20%
  70 min    97.72°C     87.89°C      612mL    24.2%      4.92 L   39.09%
  80 min    98.20°C     89.32°C      590mL    20.0%      5.51 L   37.05%
  90 min    98.60°C     90.83°C      572mL    16.2%      6.08 L   35.09%
 100 min    98.93°C     92.35°C      557mL    12.8%      6.64 L   33.22%
 110 min    99.19°C     93.80°C      544mL    10.0%      7.18 L   31.46%
 120 min    99.40°C     95.11°C      535mL     7.6%      7.72 L   29.81%
*** Tails Run
                                             Ave      Total       Total
  Time    Boil Temp  Vapor Temp  Collected   Purity   Collected   Purity
  ------  ---------  ----------  ---------   ------   ---------   ------
   4 min    99.47°C     95.59°C      212mL     6.2%       212mL   6.21%
*** Summary of Distillation ***
Starting:    20.00L @ 12.0%  (2.40 L pure Ethanol)
Main Run:     7.72L @ 29.8%  (2.30 L pure Ethanol)
Tails Run:    0.21L @  6.2%  (13mL pure Ethanol)

In boiler:   12.07L @ 0.71%  (86mL pure Ethanol)

[LWTCS]

++1 Husker.

I typically figger a 1/3 of the boiler charge.... Certainly results can vary depending on cuts and percentage of abv in the boiler.

When you get your drinking stock built up and a few runs under your belt,, all the academic stuff
gets easier to shrug off....

I take the likker I feel keeping and the rest gets re-run with the next batch. What it is,,,is what it is.

Some times ya may want to run deep deep into tails so you can use the your collected volume to insure an untouched,,,,,or already properly diluted boiler charge for your spirit run...For instance,,,,if you were trying to land your spirit run abv as close to barrel strength as possible. This means you may be collecting higher volumes on your strip run....Results may vary,,,Etc,etc,etc.

You get the picture??

[Suburban Guy]

'I love the 4 liter Carlo Rossi jugs, have 4, but the cheapest that I have found them so far is $10.00.'

Full of wine? Surely you aren't looking for a better deal than that??
Or were they empties?

They were full of wine, which is of no value to me. Personally I don’t find it to be tasty at all. So yes, $10.00 for a jug is a bit rich for me and I am looking for a better deal…

[Husker]

I typically figger a 1/3 of the boiler charge.... Certainly results can vary depending on cuts and percentage of abv in the boiler.

I find that for a true pot still, and a wash of 10-14%, 1/3 is just about right every time.

The 1/5 was added for people using hybrid column type pot stills. For those stills, the ABV of the output will be higher, and thus you will rip the ethanol out of the wash with less end volume. For many of them, 1/5 charge volume is about right.

However, for any still, you will have to 'practice', to know just how it drives for a given percentage ABV wash when stripping. Once you have knowledge of how it works, stripping becomes very simple, almost to the point where you can time the run, and know exactly where the strip run will end.

H.

[Suburban Guy]

My boiler is 16 gallons and I am running a worm condenser and currently have 20 liters of All Bran wash going through. I was planning on capturing 12 liters…sound about right?

Sorry to come late to the party.
First off, if you have 20L of wash, and collect 12L of low wines, then you are running quite a bit too long. I usually shoot for 1/5 to 1/3 volume, it would depend upon the still, and the starting ABV of the wash. You DO want to remove all the ethanol. And if making a flavored drink, you do want to remove a little more, because some of the good flavors are deep in the tails, so you want to make sure you have plenty of them. For a neutral, I would collect less, as soon as the ethanol is out, STOP.
Since you mentioned a keg and a worm, I will assume this is a pot still. One tool to help 'plan' a strip run, is the pot still calc from the parent site, or better yet, get the Win32 pot still calc I wrote (or the php version I wrote). They are here here and here.
Simply input the proper initial ABV, your heat input power. If using propane, you can out the time it takes to to bring to boil and mess around with power input and find the 'right' number for power. Then let the calc tell you how long to run, and how much to take. It does a pretty good job of computing when all the ethanol will be stripped out.
H.
[/code]

Yes indeed, I ran my first run way too long. I’m starting to understand that tails are an important part of the equation for some washes, rum being one of them. I really had it in my head that I would see 50% or more of the wash as low wines, I now know that a 1/3 or less is where it is at.

Question: When you say “as soon as the ethanol is out”, I assume you mean when I start getting down to 15% or so, right? I’ve taken some advice and am now stopping my collections when I get down to 10-15% on my alcometer.

Correct, it is a pot still. Thank you for sharing the calculators with me Husker, I originally mistook them as a tool for electric and reflux type stills only so I didn’t really give them the time of day.

With every thread I read I am getting closer and closer to my goal, which is to sit back and enjoy a rocks tumbler full of my hard, but very enjoyable work…

++1 Husker.
I typically figger a 1/3 of the boiler charge.... Certainly results can vary depending on cuts and percentage of abv in the boiler.
When you get your drinking stock built up and a few runs under your belt,, all the academic stuff gets easier to shrug off....
I take the likker I feel keeping and the rest gets re-run with the next batch. What it is,,,is what it is.
Some times ya may want to run deep deep into tails so you can use the your collected volume to insure an untouched,,,,,or already properly diluted boiler charge for your spirit run...For instance,,,,if you were trying to land your spirit run abv as close to barrel strength as possible. This means you may be collecting higher volumes on your strip run....Results may vary,,,Etc,etc,etc.
You get the picture??

I have my eye on a 1/3 or less of the wash coming out as low wines now.

Yes indeed, I just need to keep running washes and reading, each day I am gaining ground, but I am also coming up with more questions too!

Interesting suggestion on how to use the tails.

Question: Even if the ABV is 0% on a sample, is it still considered tails?

[Usge]

On 5 gals of 10% wash...running mine down to zero% alc (water) has never left more than a gallon in volume at 30-35%. I'd have to run out 1/2 gal of water beyond that (which comes out "slow", even at max temp) to get 1.6 gals (1/3 of 5 gallons)...and the abv would probably be about 20%. Never been any different than I can recall.

Husker...you should turn that into an "app" for phone.

[rad14701]

My tried and true rule of thumb is to stop collecting as soon as the heat, coolant, and effort are greater than the results... This comparison works regardless of the %ABV of the collected spirits or the estimated amount of alcohol remaining in the wash... Most folks are gonna get to that point by the time the spirits %ABV is down in the 25% - 35% range... Collecting down to 0% - 10% is simply not practical...

[Suburban Guy]

My tried and true rule of thumb is to stop collecting as soon as the heat, coolant, and effort are greater than the results... This comparison works regardless of the %ABV of the collected spirits or the estimated amount of alcohol remaining in the wash... Most folks are gonna get to that point by the time the spirits %ABV is down in the 25% - 35% range... Collecting down to 0% - 10% is simply not practical...

As a new guy who has done his fair share of reading, it is frustrating to see the constant comments/suggestions concerning temperatures…

95% of the threads that even mention true pot stilling indicate that temperatures are, for the most part, inconsequential. Arguments?

So, where shall I mount a thermometer on my rig?

Rad, based on your post, only going to 25-35% ABV would mean that I would capture far less than a 1/3 of my 20 liter wash on a stripping run; a 1/3 of low wines seems to be the general consensus based on a 20 liter wash.

Question: Do tails generally contain a readable ABV?

SG

[Dnderhead]

a thermometer just gits confusing on a pot still. as it will just increas as the alcohol is depleted.
so to start collect in jars,then separate out what you want to keep by taste/smell/feel.
what you dont keep can be redistilld. I usually re distill tales as heads can become nasty.
this depends some on what your distilling.

[Suburban Guy]

a thermometer just gits confusing on a pot still. as it will just increas as the alcohol is depleted.
so to start collect in jars,then separate out what you want to keep by taste/smell/feel.
what you dont keep can be redistilld. I usually re distill tales as heads can become nasty.
this depends some on what your distilling.

Yeah man, that is kind of what I thought. The thermometer comment was a bit tongue and cheek if you will. The last thing I need is to make things more confusing; I just want to make a drink here!

[The Baker]

'I love the 4 liter Carlo Rossi jugs, have 4, but the cheapest that I have found them so far is $10.00.'

Full of wine? Surely you aren't looking for a better deal than that??
Or were they empties?

They were full of wine, which is of no value to me. Personally I don’t find it to be tasty at all. So yes, $10.00 for a jug is a bit rich for me and I am looking for a better deal…

I use any wine I don't want to distill for brandy, and if the brandy does not appeal I run it again for neutral.

[Suburban Guy]

'I love the 4 liter Carlo Rossi jugs, have 4, but the cheapest that I have found them so far is $10.00.'

Full of wine? Surely you aren't looking for a better deal than that??
Or were they empties?

They were full of wine, which is of no value to me. Personally I don’t find it to be tasty at all. So yes, $10.00 for a jug is a bit rich for me and I am looking for a better deal…

I use any wine I don't want to distill for brandy, and if the brandy does not appeal I run it again for neutral.

Serious? It turn out ok for you?

[rad14701]

Rad, based on your post, only going to 25-35% ABV would mean that I would capture far less than a 1/3 of my 20 liter wash on a stripping run; a 1/3 of low wines seems to be the general consensus based on a 20 liter wash.

Question: Do tails generally contain a readable ABV?

When running a pot still it is never a good idea to fixate on numbers... You get what you get regardless and relying on hard numbers for temperature, volume, or %ABV will just make you crazy...

Yes, tails have an ABV reading and they can start far higher than you might think... There is some great reading in the Reading Lounge which explains the various cuts for both pot stills and reflux columns...

[The Baker]

"I use any wine I don't want to drink, to distill for brandy, and if the brandy does not appeal I run it again for neutral."

"Serious? It turn out ok for you?"

Sure, that is how brandy is made; distilling wine. Traditionally in a pot still (I didn't notice your type of still) but you can use a reflux still with the packing taken out, in other words running it in 'pot still mode'. I just have a pot still but others can advise you better how to do it if yours is reflux.
Usually somewhat harsh white wine for the true brandy; but try it with whatever you have and if you don't like the result, use it to make more-or-less neutral spirit.

When I was first learning to distill I got several hundred bottles of sub-standard wine from my friend's winery and distilled it; the results were not all that good but would have been quite okay if I had understood more about making 'cuts' at that time!!!
And if you have not got a large quantity of (not-good-enough-to-drink) wine, you can throw it in with the feints from your last distillation.