Raising proof of strip run?

[roosterjim]

I would like to raise the proof of my strip run to 120pr. I am using EC-1118 yeast for UJSSM wash. My heads start at 120 but then drop fast to about 110-105 and hold for a while. I save anything under 100pr for backset. When I combine everything I end up with 105pr. I would like to get it at 120 so that I won't send it sky high when doing a spirit run.

I am running a keg still with 2" copper tower and no packing inside.

for a run of about 12 gal I'm ending up with about 1.25 gal of 105pr finished product.

Thanks, Rooster

[trigger985]

Hey there, I am a total noob and by no means am I pretending I know much about anying but a question for you. Why do you want to push your proof so high on a stripping run? From what I have read you would have to dilute your stripped spirits down to 40% minimum to be safe to re-distill on a spirit run and a lot of people seem to dilute to as low as 30% to be safe. And why stop collecting at 100 proof on a stripping run? That is leaving a lot of alcohol in the backset. If you run it down to 60-80 proof or until the power input becomes more then the % coming out you would end up with more low wines for your spirit run thus not have to dilute your low wines as much with water or backset for when you do your final stripping run. Again just a noob here so if I am way off base I am sorry.

[trigger985]

Sorry ment to say *final spirit run

[corene1]

I have to agree with trigger. You are going to cut your low wines to 40% or less to re run them so it really doesn't matter if you cut 55% down to 40% or 60% down to 40%. As far as 1.25 gallons of 52% from 12 gallons of wash. I couldn't say if that is good or bad as we don't know the starting ABV of the wash. If it started at 10% abv you pulled about 1/2 the alcohol from it. Personally I collect down to about 30% and then shut down.
Also it sounds as though you want to load your pot with 60% to do a spirit run. Bad idea. If you start that high it will surly give you very high proofage but it will be very hard to make cuts. It also is not a safe practice to do! What you collect under 100 proof that you are calling backset is actually tails and you should stop collecting around 30% plus or minus according to what you smell in the distillate. Backset is the hot liquid left in your pot after the run. Many people here use a small percentage of it to go back into the next wash. That is the basis for UJSSM . backset sugar and water to start the fermentation over again.
Personally I would make my first run and throw away the foreshots and early heads. then collect down to around 30%. Do this for a few runs til you have enough to make a spirit run. Then what I do is combine all my stripped collections in the pot cut it to 45% with good water then add some fresh wash from my fermentation to bring it down to 35% then run it slowly and make good cuts. the little bit of fresh wash brings some flavor into the spirit run.

[googe]

Whats the abv of your wash?. How fast are you running it?, broken stream is a good output for good flavor. Your getting ok abv though for a normal pot. Maybe a bit low but not bad. Do a second run if you want it a bit higher, you can add wash to your low wines also to get some more flavor. Good luck mate

[Prairiepiss]

I would like to raise the proof of my strip run to 120pr. I am using EC-1118 yeast for UJSSM wash. My heads start at 120 but then drop fast to about 110-105 and hold for a while. I save anything under 100pr for backset. When I combine everything I end up with 105pr. I would like to get it at 120 so that I won't send it sky high when doing a spirit run.

I am running a keg still with 2" copper tower and no packing inside.

for a run of about 12 gal I'm ending up with about 1.25 gal of 105pr finished product.

Thanks, Rooster

Can you maybe reword this? Because I can't tell what you are trying to do here?

Why get your strip run so high? You just got to dilute it back down to 40% or under for a spirit run. You would ne netters off getting as close to 40% as you can.

And what do you mean you keep anything under 100pr for backset? Backset is the stuff left in the boiler. It's not gona be 100pr. If you are stopping at 100pr. You are stomping way early. If you mistaken backset for feints? Then you have another problem. You should be collecting everything that comes off the still down to around 30% less the foreshots. It is a stripping run. You get feints after making cuts on the spirit run.

But se I'm now assuming I mite know what you are talking about. But really I'm cornfused by your post. And we need more info to help you.

[roosterjim]

OK, so pretend I don't know anything (because I really don't, only what I've been told by family) Grandpa used to make corn whiskey that came out at 120proof. He helped his father make it during the great depression to support the family. My grandpa passed away last year and well memories and nostalgia got me to try brewing his recipe. It's basically UJSSM - sugar, water, cracked corn, and yeast. He would let it ferment in crocks and then make his run. What I remember as a kid and what my uncle told me was that he would throw away about a half of a quart mason jar from the heads and begin his collecting. It would start around 140 proof and then taper down to 100. He would cut it off at 100, mix what he collected and it would even out to around 120. Anything that happened after 100 down to about 75ish would be saved and loaded in with the new wash for the next batch.

Take it easy on me as this info combined with a couple of books is all I have to go on so far. I am trying to get the same 120 proof corn whiskey grandpa made. I wanted to show up to a family gathering with some of "grandpa's stuff" I have been told that he got the 120 on the first run. He would run the 120 again to get motor fuel if they needed it. I know it's probably all wrong to modern standards but that is how I was told he did it. Keep in mind this was before there were books and internet sites all about the stuff.

I think the 120 came from the fact that people used the alcohol in diluted form for mixing into different drinks. Plus I think it was a deal where you "got more for the money"

Hope that makes more sense, Thanks, Rooster

[corene1]

OK, so pretend I don't know anything (because I really don't, only what I've been told by family) Grandpa used to make corn whiskey that came out at 120proof. He helped his father make it during the great depression to support the family. My grandpa passed away last year and well memories and nostalgia got me to try brewing his recipe. It's basically UJSSM - sugar, water, cracked corn, and yeast. He would let it ferment in crocks and then make his run. What I remember as a kid and what my uncle told me was that he would throw away about a half of a quart mason jar from the heads and begin his collecting. It would start around 140 proof and then taper down to 100. He would cut it off at 100, mix what he collected and it would even out to around 120. Anything that happened after 100 down to about 75ish would be saved and loaded in with the new wash for the next batch.

Take it easy on me as this info combined with a couple of books is all I have to go on so far. I am trying to get the same 120 proof corn whiskey grandpa made. I wanted to show up to a family gathering with some of "grandpa's stuff" I have been told that he got the 120 on the first run. He would run the 120 again to get motor fuel if they needed it. I know it's probably all wrong to modern standards but that is how I was told he did it. Keep in mind this was before there were books and internet sites all about the stuff.

I think the 120 came from the fact that people used the alcohol in diluted form for mixing into different drinks. Plus I think it was a deal where you "got more for the money"

Hope that makes more sense, Thanks, Rooster

That sounds pretty close to what I get on a corn mash stripping run. My fores and early heads come out at about 145 then it settles in about 135 through the run then starts to drop pretty quickly after getting to 100 proof. The tails become very noticeable right at 90 proof so stopping at 100 and saving the rest for a all feints run or running them in with your next wash should be fine. I am running a pot still also.

[trigger985]

Ok that helps in knowing what you are trying to do. Basically what your gramps did was UJSSM style wash. After it fermented dry (the yeast had converted all or most of the sugar into alcohol) he did a single spirit run. Doing a single spirit run and running the still low and slow will bring over more flavor but you will nit get as high a proof end product. He may have gotten 120 proof but that will change from still to still and stiller to stiller. Even if you had his very still (you may I do not know) if you run it different then he did the proof will be different. Now in your original post you said stripping run which is where you run your still fast and hot to get the most alcohol out of the wash in a shorter time then a spirit run. You then save up your stripped alcohol which are called your lowines and when you have enough you dilute them to 40% or lower and do a spirit run. This spirit run will produce a higher proof then a single spirit run but a bit less flavor. Adding your heads and tails into the next run is a common practice or you can also save them and do an all fients run when you have built up enough.

Now there is a ton of variables with this advise. This is for a simple pot stil with no thumper. Adding a thumped to a pot still will up the proof and act kinda like a 2 distillation so you will produce higher % on a single run. If you are running a tower in pot still mode then you will need to talk to someone with more experience doing that. If you provide a detailed description of your setup, what the ABV of your wash is, and how you run your still people here will be able to help you a lot more. And make sure to read and re-read all of the new distillers reading lounge most of your questions can be answered there as well. I read them every few weeks so I always have the basics in my mind. Be safe and read read read and you will have people saying "dam! Gramps would be proud as heck to drink this" about your spirits in no time.

Trigger

[CuWhistle]

He was probably running a thumper?

In my efforts I have not been able to get the proofs your talking about on a stripping run from 10% wash. I start at about 120 and end at about 60 which makes the run average at about 80 which is just right for the Spirit run, give or take. Stripping runs aren't going to come out at 140 average, no ways. no how.

[Mulitpleg]

Yeah, I think your gramps wasn't stripping. He was probably collecting on a single run.

On a strip run I collect everything down to 20 - 40 proof (10-20%). I usually combine 2 strips runs to make a spirit run. I collect the spirit run in beer bottles at about 300 ml per bottle. Make my cuts and I end up with 110 - 120 proof of the good stuff and run the heads and tails from that through the reflux to make vodka.

I tried collecting on a single run with a bubble ball under the pot still head. I can't remember why but I wasn't happy with the results and went back to stripping and spirit runs. I'm curious to try a thumper but I'm happy with they way things are working as they are.

[CuWhistle]

Yeah, I'm curious to the thumper idea myself but it just seems like too much bother. If I was a moonshiner trying to get the best yield from a batch under threat of being caught I can see the point, plus maybe it makes good shit, but everything I'm getting, doing what I'm doing, just makes it academic really.

Still it would be good to have a go just for the sport of it. I've often wondered about building a rock furnace and copper boiler pot still with lyne arm into a charged thumper then into a big worm in a condenser drum. I think it would be great fun. I own a small property on a hill where the slope of the land just cries out, Still.

[Ayay]

Stripping precedes a final run. Strip is never final. A single run is not a strip run.
Best to strip first and then do a spirit run. If you want to raise the proof of a strip, then you want a single run.

[CuWhistle]

I understand what your saying ayay but you contradict yourself.