Where did all my distilate go??

[Fattiusmaximus]

It sounds silly , but I'm still a rookie, I had a really good mash proof out about 18%. When the still hit operating
Temp it started foaming really badly until the head reached 174°… after that my temp kept on shooting up really
Really high(180°) .....after about 6 hrs and minimal collection of distillate I shut it down......did some thinking,
Re routed my cooling lines , and fired up again.....same thing minus the foam....sky rocketing temps at the head
And minimal collection.....any advice.....I am using a 220v electric heating element ran by a temperature controller
With a thermocouple...... I mounted the thermocouple at the top of the reflux column.....Any advice would be appreciated
I've ran this still about 6 times and never had any trouble .

[sambedded]

Do you have a pot still or reflux column?
In any case - don't use temperature controller.
If i't pot still - don't pay attention to thermometer, just give more heat and you will have all your product

[Fattiusmaximus]

I have a valved reflux still.....a 16 gal keg. Should I put the thermocouple in the keg or at the top of the column??

[rad14701]

You can't use a thermocoupler to regulate the still... Add more heat... A reflux column will seek it's own ideal temperature if you provide enough heat for proper reflux... There are several topics detailing proper operation of a reflux column in the New Distiller Reading Lounge... And plenty of theory on the parent site...

[Fattiusmaximus]

I have had 6 successful runs with this still......I've recently added a chiller unit to keep cooling water cool, and had to
Re route my cooling lines.....I have an internal condenser and had to wrap another bit of tube around the outside of
The head as well.....the thermocouple and temperature control module worked flawlessly until the other night.
The other variant or deviation from my prior runs is the mash.....instead of turbo I used a distillers yeast good up
To 22% at 90° ....I let it ferment for 8 days , and ran it, as I did with my turbo ......didn't filter it either. I figure that must
Have been why I was getting foam out of the still head......my theory is that the foam cooled the thermocouple significantly
Causing the burner to stay on and I was boiling the mash and evaporating all of my alcohol to boot!!....make sense??

[NZChris]

The boiling point of a wash at 18% ABV is over 187 F, so if you control the temperature below that it will never boil.

A thermocouple is only useful as a thermometer. You should know this already. Turn your still off and do some more reading.

[pfshine]

How many times does this have to come up? Do some research and figure things out. If you want crap drink keep using turbo and pay no mind to what this or any other forum says. Read and figure things out is all the advise i have.

[redmud]

Welcome.. Sometimes with my measly 8% to 10% washes I won't see any product until I hit around 175 to 180 degrees. I would ditch the thermocouple and run it how it is outlined on here to achieve a quality product. And let your ferment complete and clear then rack it.

[Fattiusmaximus]

Thanks guys....made another run at it with another 15 gallons of mash and came up with just shy of 3 gallons!The temperature variant was the key.....the sweet spot for that specific mash was 187°… she cooked off like a champ!

[Devon_Moon]

@pfshine
With all due respect to you pfshine, and your obvious incredible experience, but by giving a newbie a response such as yours will normally illicit 3 responses.
1. Give the whole thing up because a hobby stops being a hobby when people outright insult you for your lack of experience.
2. Ignore you competely because you lack social skills when people ask your advice or
3. Get upset with you and liken you to the illegitimate son of a Mongolian goat.

There are, IMHO, better ways of pointing new members in the right direction than giving your opinions on the fact that a particular question has been asked before in such an insulting way.

You were new to this once and no doubt you made the same mistakes. I can guarentee you didn't like some of the responses you got either. Do not make the mistake of perpetuating the 'noob-bashing' you may well have recieved.

Try this response...." Hey buddy, I can understand your anguish. However, this topic has been covered before on this forum. Here's the link......... hope it helps"