Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash question

[naeco]

Hello, I will be doing Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash in order to add it to a cider that does not taste to my liking that I want to distill. The cider has a low ABV(6-7%) and I was recommended this wash to increase the ciders ABV without compromising the taste.

I am new to distilling but have pretty extensive experience fermenting apple cider and I want to make sure I do this wash properly. I will be fermenting Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash in in a bucket and will wait until it's completely dry before I do anything with it. My question is : For the best tasting spirit, once it is completely dry, should I rack it to a glass carboy(remove the fermented wash from the sediment in the primary fermentore) to let it age and clear before I distill it or can it be distilled right away ?

[Dnderhead]

just let yeast settle very much like the first racking .no secondary fermentation needed

[naeco]

just let yeast settle very much like the first racking .no secondary fermentation needed

So I can leave everything in the primary bucket until it's clear. How long do you think it will take to clear ?

[Dnderhead]

couple days ,this depends on the yeast and if you have a cooler place will speed it up. just a few degrees will do it.you dont need it super clear
just the worst drop out .

[naeco]

Does anybody know if it would be better to run Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash question twice or once would be sufficient. Also, since this wash is not made from fruit, do you have to make cuts to it or is the taste pretty much the same for heads, hearths and tail ?

If I where to only keep hearths, it means I only keep what comes out of the still at 80 to 74% right ?

I'm a little confused. This recipe is suppose to give me an ABV of 12%. If I run it once, what do I keep and how high will the abv go to ? If I run it twice, it means that the fist run will give me a product with a higher abv(how much) and after I run it twice very slowly, the abv should be higher so how do I know how to make cuts. is it still from 80 to 74% ?

I know I've been asking allot of question in the past week but I want to make it right and be sure I know what I'm doing. I promise to share the knowledge acquired here after with others

Thanks again !

[rad14701]

naeco, where are you pulling those numbers and the other information from...??? Surely not here in the forums... Whether pot stilling or running a reflux column there are some great tutorials in the New Distiller Reading Lounge that you will find helpful...

You should always make cuts on your spirit runs but they are optional on stripping runs... Whether you run once or multiple times through the still is a matter of personal preference as well as depending on whether or not you do initial stripping runs... All temperatures are based on the ratio of water to alcohol present in the vapor so they will vary accordingly... For a pot still you don't need a thermometer because the temperature is not what you should be focusing on...

The time to do ample research is before you get yourself into trouble... Now is as good a time as any...

[naeco]

What I'm confused about is that I first wanted to distill a 6% cider that I have and I was told the most I would get out of that in the first distillation would be a +-20% spirit. In order to get to a 80proof, I would Have to run it twice. Now, I looked at the image in the Novice Guide for Cuts (Pot Still) section and the images confuse me: http://homedistiller.org/forum/download ... &mode=view

If the hearth is the spirit coming out of the still at 80-72%, Is it always the same no matter what the ABV of the initial product is. When distilling, will the hearth of my 6% cider be the same as the hearth of the 12% Wineos Plain Ol Sugar Wash recipe or does the ABV of the initial product affect that measure. If so, I assume the goal here is to get a certain abv before doing the spirit run and if so, what is an ideal abv for a spirit run ?

[Dnderhead]

with a pot still you git a percentage of what your wash is.each still will be a bit different.
so id suggest making a chart of your own. this also makes a difference how fast you run.
so running fast like a stripping run the ABV will be lower than a slow run.
so if you strip a 5% wash you "mite" git 15% out.then when you do the spirits run
it "mite"be 60% .this is between you and your still...this 60% whould be good for
aging if doing a flavored spirits.I like try and hit what i age at then you dont have to
water down,diluting flavors,no clouding etc.
these figures are not exsact .there is a chart on parent site.that will be much closer.

[rad14701]

Here is a link to the Calculation of a Pot Still Distillation Run from the original parent site... You can use it to calculate the results of multiple distillations by re-entering the results from the previous run...

If things aren't making sense yet you haven't done enough research... It may start sounding like a broken record but sooner or later you'll come to realize how true the statement really is... If you don't know where to find the answers you haven't looked long enough... I just spent some time looking for you, this time, but don't expect to be spoon fed answers to every question... We have better things to do than do your research for you... We don't walk around with all of the answers on the tips of of fingers... It doesn't do anyone any good for you to try to go too fast without enough comprehensive understanding planted firmly between your ears...

This topic is starting to go far beyond what we should be considering Welcome Center related...

[naeco]

Thank you rad14701 and Dnderhead for the reply. I will keep reading and mostly ... I will do my first distill. Before I distill my cider, I will distill Wineos 12% Plain Ol Sugar Wash recipe so that if I make a mistake, I can just start another one without feeling too bad about it and learn from my mistakes.

Thanks for your patience,

naeco