I have a 8gal milk pot still that can be run as a pot, column or reflux still. Ill bet you can guess the brand.
So my first run was 10L or crappy wine. It was the some of the first wine I ever made and never got drank cause it was off...over oaked, to acidic, bad ferment character, bad all around. So P ran it in the still just post style, straight from the pot to the condenser. It ran for 3.5 hrs gradually climbing from 78*C-96*C. I collected 5- 500ml bottles measuring 68%-60%-50%-40%-30% respectively. Then I stopped collecting. All of these had a strange aroma that I couldn't quite identify. It didn't smell like the classic fusel alcohol nail-polish remover that they taught us in BJCP. I can put my finger on it but it is unpleasant kinda woody or phenolic. I chalked it up to the bad wine. Of this run the 3rd, middle heart bottle of 100 proof was clearly the best.
So IU want really thrilled with the way the first run turned out, but I blamed the starting wash. For the second run I fermented up an old winexpert 3gal (12l) sherry kit from '07 that was brown it was so oxidised. But I had asked a local homebrew shop owner what he ran in his still and he said "old, oxidized wine." So I ran that to 18% with additional sugar and wine yeast. The finished product tasted good. Very oxidised and a little residual sweet, but good. Way better than the first wash.
I ran the still with the column this time. 2"x30" column packed 1/2 way with copper and ceramic. It started at 78*F, but quickly found 82*C. It stayed steady there over the course of the first 3-500ml bottles. The first measured 85%, the next two around 80%. Then the temp started to rise gradually and collection efficiency fell to somewhere in the ~60% range on bottle 4 and 50% exactly on the fifth bottle. By this time I was at 94*C and stopped collecting.
This batch was a little better than the first but I am still getting a funkiness in the nose. Is that just young moonshine? It tasted way better than it smells. Its not really shoot-able, and the funky aroma seems to shine through when mixed.
I took a 1/2oz of the hearts that was 80% and cut it 50/50 with water to 80 proof and took the shot. It had some real nice brandy character, but still a little rough on the tongue and really rough on the nose.
What do I do with this stuff now? Cut it with water? Oak it? What kinda of oak?
I took the tails bottle that was 50%, cut it to ~40% and made a liqueur with a liquor-quick peach brandy extract and some sugar. Haven't tried it yet, but it still has that off nose.
I got some questions in here already, but first Id really like to know what I'm smelling. Fusel? I'm BJCP trained and familiar with beer off flavors, and some wine, but I cant place this. Id really like to get my shine up to the quality of my home brew and wine so any advice or direction is much appreciated. Help a newb out
