Just tried adding baking soda to spirit run for first time, and wow major improvement, I've had this pervasive smell/taste (smaste?) Without the soda, it's hard to describe in a single word... Musty? Oilly? Vaguely reminiscent of the scotch I buy myself for Christmas (Laphroaig) but only the "rank"-ness aspect, and on the tongue a lasting, "dirty" aftertaste
It's been detectable through the whole run and Ive been making my cuts to minimize it which has led to some very inefficient runs, and lots of recycling, and redistilling wasn't very effective,
Add some baking soda and poof it's gone, not just out of the hearts but the whole run, the heads and tails smelled way better, but now I want to know what I was smelling and why, if I want to make a fancy brandy or other flavoured spirit in the future I don't won't to wrestle with this must again.
I'm assuming because it dissapered with the soda that it should be an ester(I think) but idk of any ester described as smelling like this, I was just reading that isobutanol is described like my must but would that be eliminated by a base? I don't think so, what about an organic acid like butyric acid, I know vinegar is produced by distillation, maybe others can vapor over too? If that were the case the base treatment would neutralize, idk just thinking out loud
Oh and the wash I use, is sugar/fruit based, I keep it below 14%abv and around 20-50% of wash volume is fruit puree, I use redstar cotes de Blanc or cuvee yeast, I ferment very cleanly and my wash is drinkable on it's own,
no infections, so that all but rules out butyric acid
And it's not the condenser it's been thoroughly cleaned and used several times
It may seem strange to ask why I was having a problem after I've already solved it but the resulting likker was very "neutral" and I'm not sure that's what I want, especially when I'm spending money on fruit
What am I smelling?
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