Taste can't be right

[markbec]

Hi Guys,

Have done numerous washes with pot and reflux from puredistilling.com. Whenever i do a UJSM with corn or pure barley it tastes like corn and not in a good way. The taste is over powering and i think i'm doing something wrong. My gravities are fine 1080-990 depending on sugar but it's the taste that never changes. Normally i do the distill 1.5 method and for the first time i'm doing 3 stripping runs and then the spirit to see if the taste is more to my liking. Possibly the issue may be with the temperature/speed of the water pump. I'm running a pump with only 100L and heard it can change the speed at which the spirit comes out of still as the water gets hotter. It basically pours out, there are no drops. I have completed a corn wash till gen 5 but the taste never changed from the first. Not sure what i'm doing wrong, i would appreciate some help.


Mark

[Prairiepiss]

Are you running the pot still? Does it have a way to control the heat you are putting into the boiler? Sounds as if you are running it to hard. And you may be getting smearing? That still has a 2000w element. That is quite a bit of heat for a pot still of that size.

The temp of the distillate coming off can have an effect on flavors. But keep in mind the above. You need to be able to turn the heat input down to adjust your takeoff. A slower takeoff speed from a lower heat input. Will come off cooler.

And you didn't mention if and or how your making cuts? If your not this will have a big effect also. This thread can help with making cuts.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13261

[rad14701]

Agreed that we need more information in order to be of much help... I doubt that your pump is the problem here but, rather, operational procedures related...

If you are running a reflux column pissing like a racehorse then you need to close the take off valve so you get more reflux and if the temperature climbs out of the 172F - 180F range you're pushing too much heat...

Pictures of your exact setup would be helpful, as well as detailed explanations of how you are running in both pot still and reflux modes...

[Prairiepiss]

Puredistiller stills are just like a T500 but they have a short copper LM and an interchangeable short pot still head. So its a still head on a big coffers pot with a 2000w 220v element. But I don't think they have any kind of controller on them. From what I can tell.

[rad14701]

I have issues with the claims that Puredistiller makes on their site and in their Youtube videos... They are very misleading and either know little about distillation, are more concerned about luring in new sales than being truthful about the complexities of distilling ones own spirits, or both...

Very few condensers will perform the same if the inlet and outlet are interchanged... And there is no such thing as turn it on and forget about it... Making it sound like you can turn a still on and have it produce quality spirits while you go on about your busy life is irresponsible to say the very least...

The site in now way even attempts to convey the very core beliefs that we strive to instill upon potential home distillers here on this site... I am truly disappointed and would urge them to make immediate changes should they happen to read this post...

[markbec]

Hi Guys,

Think i'm pretty good with the cuts now, using both taste and smell. I do believe it's to do with not being able to control the boiler heat output. It is the 2000w and i'm using the pot still. The runoff starts at around 60c for the foreshots and not long later the temp is up to 90c which is where the main run starts. Havn't payed to much attention to the temp just running on cuts. I generally stop at 98c and find the ABV to be 20%. I read briefly about a thumper a couple of weeks back, isn't that a way of controling the output? As for the puredistilling guys i think their understanding of pot distilling is less than mine. Heading off to fiji tomorrow so will be away for a week, will check this up when i come back.

Thanks for the help

Mark

[Prairiepiss]

I would say you need a heating element controller. So you can get better control over the output. Remember you aren't controlling temp. You are controlling the output flow with how much heat you put into the boiler. The ABV of the still charge controls the temps.

[markbec]

So i need a different boiler or are there controllers/modifications that can be done?

[Prairiepiss]

You can build a controller. You will need one that is 220v and can run the 2000w. A phase angle controller would work good for it. I'm not sure if there are any thermoswitches in it? But if there are. They can be bypassed like a hot plate. So it would be much like a hot plate mod. Lots of info around here about controllers.

[markbec]

Awesome, will look into this.

Thanks again,

Mark

[markbec]

Have purchased and built the Jaycar motor speed controller, nobody seemed to know what a phase angle controller was. Have tested the speed controller on a 100w lamp and works fine. Will attempt to distill my 6L of stripped alcohol diluted down to 30% and see what happens. If this doesnt change, I will try a gen 1 barley I have ready.

[Samohon]

Have purchased and built the Jaycar motor speed controller, nobody seemed to know what a phase angle controller was. Have tested the speed controller on a 100w lamp and works fine. Will attempt to distill my 6L of stripped alcohol diluted down to 30% and see what happens. If this doesnt change, I will try a gen 1 barley I have ready.

I cannot comment on what you have built above, but a PSR-25, maybe what you are looking for... Very easy to wire as well...

Heres a Topic on HD...
Rad and Mulekicker should be along soon...
Keep us posted and hope it helps...

[rad14701]

That controller has you limited to a 2000W element at best, considering a bit of safety margin, unless you used higher rated components...

[markbec]

It says on box that will take 2300w, just finished a stripping run with it and will do the spirit tomorrow. That controller gets pretty hot. It worked and it does effect the output, taste so far on the stripping run is still the same though. Will try a spirit run on the 7.5L of 60% Alc(will dilute to 30%) and see if that changes the taste a little. Otherwise I will probably try the reflux with no packing and hope it gets rid of the strong corn taste. Another idea is to try using a turbo clear to remove the taste a tad if the other fails. The finish product on it's own is not to bad to drink, but I normaly add a dash of coke to drink. For whatever reason the corn taste is much more noticable after the coke been added(imagine drinking corn syrup).

[rad14701]

It says on box that will take 2300w

True, but I don't know of any 2300W elements... Standard ratings are 1500W, 2000W, 2400W, 3200W, 4500W, and 5500W... Therefore 2000W is the largest you can run, as I pointed out... You cannot safely run a 2400W element with a 2300W rated controller because you will be over driving the controller... The element has to be rated at 2300W or less...

[Prairiepiss]

His element on that still is rated at 2000w. I think he was talking about the controller box saying it will take 2300w. So he should be good to go. But I do bet it will get hot.

[markbec]

Yeah the element is 2000w and the controller takes up to 2300w. It didn't change anything really, taste is still too strong. I have a real corn after taste, maybe it's the design of the still? People normaly use this pot still for gruppa(fruit based spirit) or whatever it's called. Shouldn't a stripping run be done fast, how fast is fast? Is it pouring out or dripping? Also will doing a couple of spirit runs dilute the taste a little? How full should the boiler be, is 25L in a 30 L boiler ok?

My set up:
1x 30L boiler with 2000w element
2x 30L fermenters(filled to 25L)
3.5kg of Barley
1kg Rye
6kg-8kg Dextrose 1060-1080 and 990 for gravites
Pot still
Reflux Still

[markbec]

Completed my spirit run and it's bloody good . Filled the boiler with water and diluted alc to 30%. Slowed the output to a slow pour and collect to 92c or 58% ABV on my spirit run. Not sure if it was the element controller combined with higher ABV or the 3rd run. Maybe a bit of everything, gonna keep doing it this way now for the Puredistilling pot still. The 1.5 method for me doesn't work, taste is too strong. Thanks everyone for all your help.

[markbec]

Just to add to it, my boiler stopped working and I received a replacement. Found I didnt need the motor controller anymore, it was a faulty boiler playing up all along. Now when distilling my temp stays around 90-92c for about 90mins instead of 20mins. It would normally stay the longest on 92-95c, i always thought it was something i was doing.