How long should a run take?

[100percent]

I have been unsuccessful lately, I have been ending up with a product that tastes like heads all the way until the tails. Really no hearts section. My very first run was by far my most successful. It was a 10gallon wash and I ran my still on about 50% power. I have since ran several 3-4 gallon washes at much lower power and at the same power and have not had good results at all.

My still is a 15.5 gal keg, 2" stainless head with roughly 12" straight up then making slightly over a 90* bend and a taper to 1/2" npt fitting, then a 42" Liebig, 3/4 jacket over 1/2" pipe. I do have 1 ss scrubber in the vertical section. My heat is a propane turkey fryer.

My main idea is that I'm running to fast. With my heat all the way down I can run a 4 gallon(12% abv) wash in right at 2 hrs. Yesterday I ran 4 gallons of stripped washes at 45% collected just short of 2.5 gallons in right at 2hrs. Tossed 100ml for good measure( had already tossed foreshots from stripped washes), collecting in 200ml(half pint) jars, first 1.75 gallons ranged from 82% first jar to 70%jar 27. At that point I was out of half pints and caught 4 pint jars. Abv went 64,54,45,33. And that's where I stopped collecting in small jars and let about a quart run into a gallon jar.

I'm thinking I am going to have to wait and charge my boiler with more wash or low wines. This would slow the speed up alot I think. If it is still too fast I will have to elevate my keg off the turkey fryer.

Scratching my head at this point and any advice or criticism will be noted and appreciated. I have a 4 gallon allbran wash that will be ready to run Monday or so, what should I try, what should I change, should I wait till I have 8 or so gallons??

Thanks in advance

[Usge]

Sounds a little fast..yes. You can try using a diffuser plate of some kind between your keg and burner — or a steel grate like a tuscan grill grate. Or maybe you could get a better regulator that has more control? Just be careful that however you do it...everything is stable...won't fall over, etc.

How you run your heat will determine how your pot blends the flavors. You'll need to find the sweet spot that gets the flavors you want and then run it that way every time. But, it sounds like first you are going to need more range of control of the heat than you currently have.

[100percent]

i was going to do some welding on the stand so it will be stable. What kind of output are you having? A steady stream? Fast drip? almost stream? I am filling my 200ml jars in a matter of a few minutes. The first thing i am going to try is running a fan on low speed. This is the easiest way to get a little heat away from the boiler. If i get bored i may go ahead and weld a plate on there. First thing ill try is a large charge and low power.

Is it possible to run it too low/slow? I would think it would simply not boil if the heat was too low.

[Usge]

You should be looking for it to "just" break into a stream as a starting point to work from. Of course..it will always stream out if your heat is higher. So, you have to check..to where if you reduce heat...it will revert to dribble. Put heat back..and it streams. Once you get it set...you'll pretty much be using the same heat setting everytime. This should, as I said..come out to somewhere between 20-50ml per min. This is easy enough to figure out. If you are collecting 50ml per min....it would take 5 mins to fill a 250ml jar. If you are running 20ml per min...it would take 12.5 mins to fill the same jar. These are averages. So, don't feel like something is wrong if the sweet spot on your still ends up a bit different.

The speed you run determines how much "blending" is going on of the various fractions (some call it smearing). This is purely a matter of taste. So, as I said before you have to find the spot that produces the best "blend" of tastes that you like. That is something I can't tell you.

What I can tell you is...in general...slower output/lower heat....means more separation of those fractions (less blending). This will tend to make every jar smell taste very different and leave your middle somewhat cleaner (more neutral). Can you run it "too" slow? Only in the sense of it not appealing to you. Some people find that running very, very slow (drips) leaves a jumble of different flavored jars that makes cuts and blending of the fractions harder (they all taste entirely different..and you end up not using more of it). But, it won't hurt anything. Running low heat...refers to your distillate run. You can use high heat to heat up your rig up and too you hear it coming up to a boil. Run it hot for a bit to get it up to speed. THEN reduce the heat, cut it back before anything starts to come over. It's not a matter of "slow". It's a matter of "gentle". Different.

Now, running faster, more heat...will as I said begin to blend those different flavors more and smooth them somewhat together. With less separation, it tends to "push" heads further to the middle, and pull tails further into the middle. Running "too" fast...will generally end up meaning that you taste the flavor tails very early in your run. Like I said...it's all a matter of "Blending" it. So, since it's fairly common that most run their stills just where it breaks a stream..this is probably the best place to start from. You can then try a run very slow (drips). And then one faster. and you'll readily see the difference. Then just dial it in where you like it. I will mention that the flow rate can vary from still to still. A small still with a tiny lynearm isn't going to take well to fast take off rates. So, that can be one of the variables as well. BUt, if you stick to just what the flavor is....you'll easily be able to sort through those issues and find the sweet spot for your rig. I just takes some experimentation/runs. If you don't like what you run..throw it right back in (on top of what is left) and re-run it at a different speed. Once you find the sweet spot...it should be farily consistent. Before you know it..you'll be able to do it without even thinking about it.

[100percent]

thanks a ton, just have to play with it more and see what i can do. I really appreciate your time and detailed responses.