"Sour" still

[rug]

Hi.
My still, or more precise my boiling kettle and CM has gone sour.
Smells like if I have vommited into it. The destilled product get a "sour smell" ....
Why?
What to do?

[still_stirrin]

More info needed:

1) what material is the boiler?
2) what material is the CM reflux head?
3) when was the still last used?
4) what type of wash did you run?
5) have done a cleaning run?
6) did you use any special post-run protocol?
7) how do you store your still?

Perhaps something crawled in and died.
ss

[Corn Cracker]

Sounds like you did not get it as clean as you thought after your last run

[Demy]

As Stillstirrin said you need to give more information to give you an answer.

[MihiT]

.

As Stillstirrin said you need to give more information to give you an answer.

Not really...

What to do?

Clean it. Vinegar run. Sac run.

[Stonecutter]

Like SS said, in order to give good info we need good info. Do you use any cleaning agents?

[kimbodious]

Tails in the packing will do this.The other issue could be a copper plated steel pot scrubber that has badly corroded. No need to ask how I know these things.

[rug]

More info needed:

1) what material is the boiler?
Steinless steel
2) what material is the CM reflux head?
Stainless steel cm filled with copper scrubs.
3) when was the still last used?
Recently
4) what type of wash did you run?
Sugar, yeast, gin-spices
5) have done a cleaning run?
No, an old still used for years
6) did you use any special post-run protocol?
No, should I?
7) how do you store your still?
Dry, dark and cold
Perhaps something crawled in and died.
Hehe, well, I just found a dead mouse in my car so maybe one in the CM?

ss

[dragon9874]

What to do?

Clean it. Vinegar run. Sac run.

bingo... bango... bongo. always start there!! d-(^_^)-b

it's like a reboot of a computer/system. when in doubt, reboot. translates here to... wait for it........

"When in doubt, clean it out!" vinegar/water (50/50) HOT & HARD for an hour (+/-, some will say 30 mins), then your sacrificial run (SW/BW). then, try another run, go from there. good luck!!

edit: added the water part to the vinegar, don't want anyone using 100%.

[cob]

this is one of several posts on HD that state for a vinegar cleaning run use

50% vinegar and 50% water. this is misleading as store bought vinegar is

already 5% vinegar and 95% water. so the correct ratio for a cleaning run

is 2.5% vinegar and 97.5% water. 100% vinegar is quite acidic and likely

difficult to obtain. stronger solutions than 5% are available for non home

uses but not readily available outside of industrial suppliers. so

50% store bought vinegar (5%) and 50% water is the correct cleaning ratio.

I would hate for someone with access to 75% vinegar to use it at that strength.

[dragon9874]

...50% store bought vinegar (5%) and 50% water is the correct cleaning ratio.

thx Cob!! d-(^^,)

during the 1st part of your reply, i was like: "man, i've been doing it "WRONG" this whole time?!?" but you talked me off the ledge w/ the latter part of y your post. 50/50 is the mark (for your 'typical', grocery store purchased white vinegar). you would potentially need to FURTHER dilute (by possibly quite a bit) if using a more powerful vinegar, such as POSSIBLY some (or all of) the afore mentioned ones. thx for the schooling Cob!

LOVE IT!!!
~web

[MihiT]

this is one of several posts on HD that state for a vinegar cleaning run use

50% vinegar and 50% water. this is misleading as store bought vinegar is

already 5% vinegar and 95% water. so the correct ratio for a cleaning run

Well... yeah nah.
Acetic acid is a constituent component of vinegar. I think to be called or sold as vinegar it needs to be 4-8% acetic acid. (The balance being water and insolubles)(and if you make your own vinegar with wild aerobics you'll generally end up at a similar acid concentration)

If one was buying pure, or lab grade acids, then yes. But anything you can buy as "vinegar"... 50-50 is about correct.

[ThomasBrewer]

Exactly, MihiT. No one is confusing glacial acetic acid or acetic anhydride with vinegar.