first time run. hints?

[dirtyshank]

Hey I wanted to tell you that I did my first cook. I am going to Alberta for work so I didn't get to leave my rum wash to complete fermentation. It was already going real slow. So what I noticed was that the element alone was not enough to heat the wash so I also used a single burner 66,000 btu .. I put in the full 50 liters. Ran it pot still style. Used 3 plate levels without the plates. At the very start I got rid of 700 ml then started collecting. The rum was coming out at 70 abv but I think that maybe high because the condenser was at 30 Celsius at the time so I started using fresh water at all times rather then recycling it. After that I kept the condenser always below 20 Celsius. It took me about 2 hours to cook the wash and by then the abv got down to 50 ABV. The boiler temp was 95 Celsius and the defrag temp got to 84 Celsius. I did not run any water through the defrag. By then the rum was coming out real slow so I turned it off.
What I realized once it cooled down was the there was close to 40 liters of wash left. Does that seem right? What should I have done cooked longer? Let it get to higher temp?
Any hints or questions?

[Oldvine Zin]

First thing - get rid of that thermometer, assuming that you are doing a strip run run it down to 10 or maybe less. And yes it is amazing how much liquid is left after you have stripped all the alcohol out of it.

Hope that you have done your cleaning runs prior to this or you might just call this one your sac run.

OVZ

[NZChris]

What is the abv of the total collection?

For a rum stripping run, many of us aim for around 25% to 35% abv. Temperatures or the abv at the spout are irrelevant compared to that.

[Pikey]

SO you started with 50 litres and have 40 litres left - that should mean you have collected 10 Litres (incl foreshots) - yes ?

It is not clear from your write up - but I assume the 50% you refer to is the abv "at the spout" - in which case you have left quite a lot of alcohol in the boiler.

As you can see from previous comments, we all have slightly different ways of doing our runs and presumably achieve different taste profiles from these.

Personally I DO record both of those temperatures you quote, because I like to watch the temps go up, so I know when to switch the water on ( as the boiler gets up to production temperature) and I like to know what the temp is doing at the "Head" - however my temps are entirely different from yours and I think each (pot) still has it's own performance profile.

I have an expectation of how the temps will rise and over what period. Any major deviation from this performance would have me looking for possible problems and why people would not look at their temperatures I do not know, but some do - it appears.

Some also do "stripping runs" and "spirit runs" - Some do not.

Again it is not clear from your write up whether you are intending to redistil or not.

[dirtyshank]

the still is a 4inch diameter flute still but i only ran 3 plates without the plates to use it as a pot still. i was told that a 50 liter boiler was on the small side for a 4 inch diameter..
i got a little over 8 liters of rum at 55% abv. i will not distill that run again because i want the flavors of rum.
i have been reading about rum "dunder" is the rum dunder the 40 liters left over ? do i use some of it for flavour?
i took some pics but cant post it because it say the data is too big, sorry

[Pikey]

..........i took some pics but cant post it because it say the data is too big, sorry

"Open with" - "Paint" - At the top of the screen, you will see "Resize" - click that, click "Pixels" Cahnge the largest number to 800 and the other should change automatically. Then "File" "Save as" - change name (I usually add "Resize" to whatever it is called) then click "Save". should then be ok to submit.

[Pikey]

The rum "Dunder" is the 40 Litres yes. There are all sorts of ways it is used by the good folk on the forum. I have not managed to make a "Real" DARK Navy Rum as yet so I don't use it in my "Bacardi(ish)"

Here's picture of some "Bacardi(ish)" I ran t'other day, which shows how mine "Cuts" - only the centre portion will be used and that will be diluted b/f consumption.

The 70 cl bottle contains most of the "Sharpness" of the HEads and the cloudy demijohn is the "Tails",, which also contain a lot of flavour and those who do "Spirit runs" will have all of that in their "Low wines" and hope to amalgamate some of the Flavour from both ends - My tails just go back in the pot for the next run. If you run into small jars all the way through, you can taste your way to making the "Cuts" and only use those portions you fancy.

If you did not "Cut" you will have the "HEads" and some "Tails" in your collection.

That run is 25 litres at around 10% plus the tails and some of heads from the last run I did. and the dj's are 5 litres in size. I ran until my output at the pipe was a little below 20%

[dirtyshank]

Is what is left over from the cooked mash called dunder? What can I do with it?

[still_stirrin]

Is what is left over from the cooked mash called dunder? What can I do with it?

"Dunder" is what comes out of the still after you've stripped the alcohol out of a rum wash. It is called "backset", if it comes from an all grain mash, and sometimes even from a sugarhead wash. Backset is a more general description than dunder which is reserved for a rum wash.

What's left in the fermenter after racking a wash/must/mash is called, "dreggs", "trub", or "lees" by brewers. Call it what you will, but don't call it "dunder". Confusing?
ss

[dirtyshank]

A little confusing but I'm getting it. I read that you can use backseat to flavor the rum. True?

[HDNB]

is you are making a dark rum you can add a small amount of dunder back in. start with maybe a tablespoon and work up to maybe an ounce per gallon. it enhances on aging, not sure if you will like it on fresh likker, i didn't until it was a couple years gone by.

[Danespirit]

the still is a 4inch diameter flute still but i only ran 3 plates without the plates to use it as a pot still. i was told that a 50 liter boiler was on the small side for a 4 inch diameter..
i got a little over 8 liters of rum at 55% abv. i will not distill that run again because i want the flavors of rum.
i have been reading about rum "dunder" is the rum dunder the 40 liters left over ? do i use some of it for flavour?
i took some pics but cant post it because it say the data is too big, sorry

Congrats to your run.
A 4" plated on a keg, is fine. Bigger than that, it will suck your boiler dry in no time (provided you have heat enough).
Furthermore, weight will add one more possible problem.
Make a small test batch when you want to add dunder to your Rum (measure and calculate, to scale up).
That way you won't ruin the whole batch if you add too much.
Save some of the dunder for a "dunder pit"....it'll make a good addition to your next Rum ferment and add plenty of flavor and complexity.
First-time Rum can be a little weak and lack complexity, next generation will be better and so forth....
Do an HD Google search to learn about how to make such a pit...
If you got it going, you'll never look back.
What I wrote is for the STRIPPING RUN, as you won't have any dunder from the spirit run. (just to clarify ).

[dirtyshank]

thanks a lot Danespirit... i will look at making a dunder pit