Vinegar...Sacrificial...Finally, Spirit

[Gator]

Well, Monday marked my first spirit run! It was a painful wait but well worth it: I completed the cleansing/vinegar run 2 weeks ago, my sacrificial run last weekend, and a simple moonshine recipe yesterday afternoon. I've a 5 gallon Alembic copper still and used a 33,000 BTU propane burner as my heating source. Since this was my first run, I started fermenting a simple sugar wash 2 weeks ago with an initial SG of 1.085 and starting potential alcohol by volume of 10%. As of yesterday, the SG was down to 1.005 and alcohol was at 1%, resulting in a ~9% alcohol mash. I cranked it up on high heat for the first 30 minutes to get a rolling boil then brought it down to low/medium heat when the heads started trickling out. I ended up taking a good deal more than necessary (250ml), but didn't mind since it was the first run. I had purchased a dozen glass mason jars and numbered them so I could collect and analyze the cuts. At risk of boring you too much, here's my breakdown of events:

Foreshots/Heads: (250ml) = 130 proof
1'st cut (10oz/300ml) = 125 proof
2'd cut (10oz/300ml) = 120 proof
3'rd cut (10oz/300ml) = 120 proof
4'th cut (10oz/300ml) = 100 proof
5'th cut (10oz/300ml) = 110 proof
6'th cut (10oz/300ml) = 105 proof
7'th cut (10oz/300ml) = 100 proof
8'th cut (10oz/300ml) = 90 proof
9'th (10oz/300ml) = 80 proof
10'th cut (10oz/300ml) = 75 proof
11'th cut (10oz/300ml) = 65 proof
Tails (250ml) = 55 proof (definitely more murky then the others)

After using the main site's calculator, I knew I was close to done by the 11'th cut, so I turned up the heat a little towards the end to finish up with my tails. It was pretty cool to smell and taste the evolution of each cut, so I'm glad I used so many bottles. Since I was outside it was convenient being able to finagle my hose to keep the condenser at a perfectly cool temperature. It's been great learning from your folks' experience on the site - definitely looking forward to the next run.

[S-Cackalacky]

Congratulations on a successful run. Sounds like you're hooked.

[HDNB]

sounds like a textbook 'ripper run, i'll bet the jars around 100-120 will be pretty sweet all on their own without a double distill spirit run.

congrats on your success!

are you going after something with a bit of grain in it next? maybe suggest a UJSSM, it's been a great recipe to build on. or are you goin' hard core AG?

thanks for sharing on the hose finagling

[shadylane]

Your addicted.
May I suggest doing 2 or 3 stripping runs in the future.
Then fill the pot with the low-wines, dilute to below the flammable range and do a slow spirit run.

[Gator]

sounds like a textbook 'ripper run, i'll bet the jars around 100-120 will be pretty sweet all on their own without a double distill spirit run.

congrats on your success!

are you going after something with a bit of grain in it next? maybe suggest a UJSSM, it's been a great recipe to build on. or are you goin' hard core AG?

thanks for sharing on the hose finagling

Thanks, guys! Yup, HDNB, I'm definitely going to up the ante next round. I've brewed beer for awhile and enjoyed making all-grain recipes, so it'll be nice experimenting with something along the lines of a UJSSM. And yes, for being relatively higher in proof I actually enjoyed the middle cut/hearts. They had a natural sweetness and overall pleasant taste.