Spirit Run

[Lickercabnit]

Morning Ya'll!

Happy Easter weekend to everyone and God Bless.

2 weeks ago I stripped my all grain 80-12-8 corn/barley/rye mash and I'm going for my spirit run this morning. My hearts are real nice and clear & smell great. Only thing is that they are 80% abv... I want to make whiskey with this run and like my whiskey to be in the 40-45% abv range. I want to barrel age this batch.

Is it a typical practice to cut the licker before aging or will she mellow out as she ages? Thanks as always. -Licker

[Braz]

I assume you are running a pot still. Your ABV will drop through the run (as you are probably seeing by now). You won''t know your final ABV till after you make your hearts cut. Then you can dilute it to barrel strength for aging. "Barrel strength" is up to the distiller but I think most shoot for 55 to 65%. After it has aged to where you want it you can then further dilute it to your desired drinking strength.

[Lickercabnit]

Hi Braz - yes I'm pot stilling and I'm measuring every 150ml off the still. I have collected 7 jars so far and (including heads) have been 80 abv. I just read a thread on Flavoring and Aging in 5l barrels and yea your spot on with diluting down to 60-65%. Any suggestions on what to dilute with before aging? Distilled water?

[rtalbigr]

My spirit runs start out around 75-80% but by the time I get into tails (usually around 60%) my collected hearts are around 70%. I age at 65% so I don't have to dilute but very little. I always use RO water when diluting both for aging and then down to bottling strength.

Big R

[Lickercabnit]

Hey thanks Big R. my licker tastes AWESOME! Nothing like a 160 proof shot at 8am to get that blood moving Thanks for all the help. Next week imma see if I can repeat my batch. Next run gonna do like ya said and use another 1/3 more barely.

[Braz]

Any suggestions on what to dilute with before aging? Distilled water?

Either RO water as Big R says or distilled water. Tap water or spring water might or might not work depending on what minerals are present. Sometimes they cause cloudy spirit or worse, so why chance it. I once had a well that had lots of iron in the water. Mixed with scotch it would turn the drink BLACK! Used to tell my friends it was witchcraft.

[ipee7ABV]

if your abv is too high you could dilute below 40% to get your target abv during your spirit run.

[Lickercabnit]

Thanks guys.

I have well water that we only use to bathe and wash clothes and dishes with. Real bad sulpher water. Wish there was a smiley face that pukes...

[DFitz]

Thanks guys.

I have well water that we only use to bathe and wash clothes and dishes with. Real bad sulpher water. Wish there was a smiley face that pukes...

I picked up a refrigerator filter at a home center that solved the issues with my water. I adapted it to a garden hose using the fittings I bought there as well. about $30 in all. It just screws right on to my garden hose and I remove it after bottling a few gallons for extra essentials.