All the same?

[RumBrewer]

Very cool. Gonna have to try that. Thanks for sharing

Give it a go. I'm pretty happy with it.

Now back on topic:
I pulled all but 1 scrubber out, left it at the very top of the column.
Put about 6" of scrubber in the libeg and all I can say is "Welcome to flavor country!"
This rum run is going (and tasting) GREAT!
Steady stream up from a broken drip and very clean flavored distillate.
Also have about a gallon of feints added, so there will be more of the good stuff!
W00T! Couldn't be more excited!

[RumBrewer]

Ok. I know I'm pretty hard headed, but this is stupid!

After blending, Sniffing jars, cutting with distilled water, so-on and so-on.... carbon filtering, oak aging.... in a blind sniff test, the wife still says.... Yuck. that smells like nail polish remover.
The worst part? She's not wrong.

I drove by an auto shop today and smelled paint... I like that smell. I wonder if that's whats causing me to blend wrong.
I am sure that I have some hearts somewhere, I'm just jacking it up post distillation I guess!

I guess I'm going to be distilling some oak aged rum! DAMMIT!

[Prairiepiss]

Rumbrewer is your wife helping you make the cuts? My wife is the official cuts sniffer around here. She can smell much better then I can. And she can pick the hearts out even on my worse runs. I usually set the jars up after airing for 24 to 48 hours. And the both of us go through them. I only second guessed her one time. And ruined that batch with to much tails. I haven't done it since. And I haven't messed a blend up since. Se if you can get her involved. My wife doesn't really have any interests in the stillin part. But she does like the cuttin and blending part. I've read many times women have a better since of smell. And can associate them better. This makes them a better candidate for making cuts. My wife noted a smoky smell in a mid tails jar on a all bran run I did. I couldn't smell it. And I came across a post by MashRookie that I think his wife found the same smell in a jar close to the same place in his run as my wife did in mine.

I have no doubt that without my wifes help. My stuff wouldn't be nearly as good as it is. I would still be fumbling around making crap.

[RumBrewer]

I asked her nicely tonight to be ready a few days after the next run... for that exact reason.

[astronomical]

I reread the thread. Are you using all the feints? That could be an issue. I also saw you did a run that was only about 2.2L over 11 jars. I personally could not make proper cuts on that small of a run. IMO, the smaller the run the harder to blend. Sounds like you're still doing single runs and I really dislike single runs. I ran my first run of allbran as a single run vodka at 95+% and I didn't like the taste. Maybe you're the same way.

I'd strongly suggest you do NOT recycle your heads feints (maybe not tails either). Its only going to complicate things right now. You can always save the rum oils up (late heads IIRC) and use them in the future once you have a handle on things. Id also suggest saving up a decent amount of low wines and then doing a spirit run.

I often reflux off the heads on my potstill runs at 95% then switch columns to my pot. This is an option. Then you could again take very tight cuts on the heads side and you'd know for a fact if it was heads all along. They'll be much easier to disstinguish when they are extremely compressed.

I havent done a rum yet, but, I definately notice those types of smells when I add too much heads. It seems like over time these smells will subside so long as your cuts don't suck. When you look at the "How to make cuts" chart, the visuals depict the heads going pretty deep into the run. I'm not sure how realistic that depiction is, but, it seems realistic to me. I let my booze air for a few days. I always run low wines, not single runs.

You could just say F it and see how you like it in a month. She may have a biased opinion. Try a different yeast. Try diluting a bit more. Try a larger still charge so the hearts section is larger thus cleaner.

How old is the spirit anyhow? Definitely set some aside, it may just need a bit of time. You can always turn it into vodka at a later date,

Lemme just finish this by reiterating that I have terrible success with small single runs. I think it would come around if I actually aged it (months minimum), but, I want good shit now. I make extremely tight cuts on 12 gallon spirit runs and turn the feints into vodka. In the future I'll let things oak longer and be a bit more liberal with cuts.

blah blah blah.. nuff said.. I wish you the best of luck.

[RumBrewer]

At this point, I'll take any ideas.
I am running 10 gallons at a time.

[rad14701]

At this point, I'll take any ideas.
I am running 10 gallons at a time.

Are you blending and diluting or diluting and then blending...??? I've had instances when diluting and then blending produced better results than blending first... I would dilute to 100 proof, blend, then dilute further if I wanted 80 - 90 proof spirits... It's sometimes amazing just how much a little water opens up the spirits to expose subtle tastes and smells...

[RumBrewer]

It's sometimes amazing just how much a little water opens up the spirits to expose subtle tastes and smells...

I just dilute in a brandy snifter with a splash of water. I like the idea of taking everything to 50%! Compare apples to apples so to speak.
Crap I'm glad I don't have a flute yet!

[Boda Getta]

Just a few thoughts from a fellow noob:
Seems to me you may want to settle on one wash until you get the best results you can, then move on to different washes.
I think I would perfect my base product before I started playing around with favoring and infusions.
IMHO, you should do stripping runs, combine low wines, dilute and then a spirit run. I run the same type combo column from Mile High as you do; my first experiences were similar to yours. I learned that it is very important to make the spirit run as slow as possible. I use propane and I have to have the heat as low as it will get without going out to get the proper slow run. I at first had the column packed full of copper scrubbers, but got better and more flavorful results after I took most of the scrubbers out. Put them back in if you run in the reflux mode, but I think I would also perfect the pot still mode before I started messing around with the more complicated reflux mode. As mentioned, my column is also the "combo" type but I am not convinced we will get "true reflux" results unless we go to a true reflux column. You can always make additional pot still runs to strip the favor toward a neutral; this also gives you more "still time" very important for beginners. When I ran too fast (during spirit runs, you can't run too fast in stripping runs) the wash smeared and it was next to impossible to get good cuts, especially for a beginner. Again, IMHO, making the cuts and blending is the hardest skill for a beginner to properly learn. I learned that discarding about 2 times the amount of foreshots than recommended helped me with my cuts (I'm sure I went into the early heads, but that's no loss) I started airing out the spirit run longer that the recommended 1 or two days before blending, I've had runs where it took a week to settle down. The hardest lesson for me to learn was not to be greedy and try to maximize the final amount by making too liberal cuts, just a little too much late heads will ruin your entire blend. Once I realized that the excluded cuts won't go to waste because I could rerun them in feints runs.

Good Luck
BG

[kiwistiller]

No one has asked about your ferment temps yet - nail polish is normally an excess of heads, which can be generated by a bad ferment. Make sure your fermenting practice is perfect. I'd ditch the ale yeasts and try something with a more neutral profile if you're getting cogener problems. Don't get me wrong, I love nottingham in a cider or an ale, but it's bred to create english ale esters, and ferment maltose. Try to get hold of a strain for fermenting sucrose or fructose. EC1118 is a good fallback option if you're getting funk though, it's pretty neutral across a wide range of temps. make sure you pitch plenty.

[RumBrewer]

No one has asked about your ferment temps yet -

Pretty confident in that.
I think that Premiere Cuvee might be my next yeast.
Excessive heads seems to be what I have, so.... Yup. Could be. But it's not from excess ferment temp.
Everything is staying around 68-72 currently.

[kiwistiller]

cool - Premiere Cuvee is the EC1118 strain as well I believe, should be a good choice to try to cut down on the cogener production. You could also look into something designed for sucrose.

[RumBrewer]

cool - Premiere Cuvee is the EC1118 strain as well I believe,

Yes it is. Red Star is a bit easier to get if I'm not ordering online.

You could also look into something designed for sucrose.

Um. If it's that big of a deal, what would happen if I inverted all the sugar before fermenting?

[blind drunk]

I drove by an auto shop today and smelled paint... I like that smell. I wonder if that's whats causing me to blend wrong.

Interesting

It took me a while to get the nasty heads cut out. Maybe that's why too. There is something alluring about them. Any doubt, leave it out. Good luck.

[kiwistiller]

cool - Premiere Cuvee is the EC1118 strain as well I believe,

Yes it is. Red Star is a bit easier to get if I'm not ordering online.

You could also look into something designed for sucrose.

Um. If it's that big of a deal, what would happen if I inverted all the sugar before fermenting?

I haven't ever done any inverting experiments in a controlled sense, so can't give you hard data on it, but it is commonly thought to assist fermentation. You should experiment and report back!

[RumBrewer]

I haven't ever done any inverting experiments in a controlled sense, so can't give you hard data on it, but it is commonly thought to assist fermentation. You should experiment and report back!

Looks like plenty of folks have. http://homedistiller.org/sugar/sugar/invert" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
If it'll shorten ferment times, I'm in. What the heck... not gonna hurt anything.

[rad14701]

I almost always invert my sugar and have posted some good guidelines in several different topics on the various methods...

[Washashore]

I almost always invert my sugar and have posted some good guidelines in several different topics on the various methods...

Yup... I've got several of your gold nuggets cut and pasted in my "distiller notes" document.

[Titus-a-fishus]

Hey Rumbrewer
Just going to add my two cents worth here.
I have been having a hell of a time with UJSSM as many may have seen
All my spirits came out without a taste of corn

My ferments were usually no higher than 10% as I was trying to minimise off tastes.
I was doing slow single runs and cutting out only what I could taste as the hearts
Diluting to 55% and storing in a ss keg to air

Most of that was wrong.
While there is little to no taste of corn in my ferments, the flavour is there.... hidden.
Build up a store of low wines and run it for a second time.
No matter what I thought I was tasting the heads were there and making everything confused in taste.
By doing a second distilling it sorted out the heads and made for a nice clean hearts.

(Keep the heads seperate to run by themselves.)

While I still store my double distilled spirit in a ss keg to age I now dilute before drinking.
By doing this the very faint corn flavour is there. It is no longer hidden by being too strong or by heads smearing into the hearts.

There is still a slight amount of heads in the hearts but it is not hiding the corn flavour.
No were near enough corn for me but at least I can now taste it.

Guess my next move will be to a flute to see what happens with that.

It can be a long journey finding out what is a good spirit and what are good methods to use.
Keep going we will both get there eventually

TAF

[blind drunk]

Have you no flavor/same flavor guys tried insulating your pot column? Would be worth a try if you haven't already.

[RumBrewer]

Have you no flavor/same flavor guys tried insulating your pot column? Would be worth a try if you haven't already.

That was my next move, but all I needed was to pull out all but 1 scrubber. The Flavor is there for me now, but I really screwed up the cuts. So I'm running the next 10 gallons, if I can't cut it right, it's all going back in for a spirit run.

***To clarify, I'm screwing up the blending of the jars.... not making bad cuts.*****

[big cheese]

I am very new at this but I think the flavor people keep talking about very hard to comprehend. I have run 3 washes. Two sweet feeds and one UJSM. To me they all smell and taste the same. I had my wife help smell them and they have very subtle differences. I am not sure what I am going for but at the moment I am not a very big fan of anything I have made so far. I have 4 diff quarts on oak. Two of them have been on oak 2 weeks the other just a few days. Three are just under my sink the other I have been putting in the freezer to experiment with distress ageing. So far the one I have been distress aging for 2 weeks has turned a lot darker color than the others but does not taste much difference. I hope over time I can get a product that I will enjoy drinking.

Big Cheese

[Titus-a-fishus]

Hey Bigcheese
Mate when you get to the point that you can't count how many washes you have done, you will be getting to the point of a little knowledge.
I only say that cause that's where I am.

Understanding the taste of the various parts of the distillate, what to keep, what wash works for you and ..... takes time and effort.
The art of distilling is a long journey..... welcome to the start line.

All I am trying to say is keep going and things will become clearer, just like your likker

TAF

[blind drunk]

I hope over time I can get a product that I will enjoy drinking. Big Cheese

You will. Nose to the grindstone

[RumBrewer]

You will. Nose to the grindstone

or airlock as it may be!

Yes... I am an airlock sniffer!