Very first time... Air Still... ferment stall?

[rubberduck71]

it has been hard to follow:

your 4 or 5 jars became 3 or 4 jars.
your 250 ml became 150 ml.
and your “for batch 2 as a spirit run” has become “into batch 2 stripping run”.
and your wash is 7.5%.

Would you describe your method…. "first spirit run is 600 ml of strip" and “average 800 ml of feints + 3.2 L wash”…. as single distilling ?

..

Ok, let's start from step 1. English is my first language, but sometimes I'm none too good at it...

Make your mash/wash. Don't push above 10% as it could stress yeast & cause off flavors. Usually I aim for 1.060-1.070 specific gravity which = 8-9% potential alcohol if it ferments completely.

Upon completion you have several options:
1. 2x distillation -- this is standard for most of us
2. 1.5 distillation technique -- this one is a time saver & brings over "desirable" flavors from your mash but still gives you a meaningful hearts cut
3. 1-and-done distillation -- I've never tasted anything decent that was distilled just once

2x technique
Assuming you're using the standard 6 gal/22 L fermenter & allowing for 1 gal/4 L headspace (rounding for ease of explanation), and the AirStill has a 4L capacity you can either go the 2x route, which will give you just short of 5 runs (5 gal/19 L). As I mentioned above, a 4L stripping run charge will give you ~600 ml of low wines, or possibly even up to 750 ml. I run it down until 10-15% & stop. If you have 5 stripping runs, you'll end up with a total of ~3.75L of low wines @ ~35%. Throw them in the boiler & collect in 150 ml jars (I found this to be the minimum amount to be able to use the alcometer & graduated cylinder to measure the the ABV).

1.5 technique
Run #1 - stripping run & get ~600 ml of low wines
Run #2 - SPIRIT run 600 ml of low wines (or whatever amount it is you actually got from Run #1) & top-up boiler to 4L with wash. Collect 150 ml in each jar. I typically got ~500-600 ml of hearts & ~700 ml feints.
Run #3 - SPIRIT run heads/tails (aka feints) from Run #2 & top-up boiler to 4L with wash.
Repeat until you run out of wash.
Save feints from last run to use for next batch, but this time your Run #1 will be a SPIRIT run sine you already have feints from this run.

Clear as mud?

[Trapped-in-Oz]

2x technique
Assuming you're using the standard 6 gal/22 L fermenter ...
... I run it down until 10-15% & stop.
... collect in 150 ml jars (I found this to be the minimum amount to be able to use the alcometer & graduated cylinder to measure the the ABV).

1.5 technique
Run #1 - stripping run & get ~600 ml of low wines
Run #2 - SPIRIT run 600 ml of low wines (or whatever amount it is you actually got from Run #1) & top-up boiler to 4L with wash. Collect 150 ml in each jar. I typically got ~500-600 ml of hearts & ~700 ml feints.
Run #3 - SPIRIT run heads/tails (aka feints) from Run #2 & top-up boiler to 4L with wash.
Repeat until you run out of wash.
Save feints from last run to use for next batch, but this time your Run #1 will be a SPIRIT run sine you already have feints from this run.

my thoughts on you description of ‘2x technique’ and when using a small tool like an Air Still:
don’t limit wash ABV to under 10%…………. use a higher grade of yeast like EC1118.
don’t fix on using ‘standard 6 gal/22 L fermenter’……. with small tool make a small ferment.
don’t ‘down until 10-15% & stop’ …...... do a full strip.
and with 50 ml borosilicate glass measuring cylinder (with 1 ml increments) and a 210 mm long alcometer (0 -100%) I can measure ABV in 30 ml amounts.. and from the spout.

my thoughts on your description of ‘1.5 technique’ is that all your runs are strips and would suggest if following such a method to run all the low hearts again.

[rubberduck71]

my thoughts on you description of ‘2x technique’ and when using a small tool like an Air Still:
don’t limit wash ABV to under 10%…………. use a higher grade of yeast like EC1118.
don’t fix on using ‘standard 6 gal/22 L fermenter’……. with small tool make a small ferment.
don’t ‘down until 10-15% & stop’ …...... do a full strip.
and with 50 ml borosilicate glass measuring cylinder (with 1 ml increments) and a 210 mm long alcometer (0 -100%) I can measure ABV in 30 ml amounts.. and from the spout.

my thoughts on your description of ‘1.5 technique’ is that all your runs are strips and would suggest if following such a method to run all the low hearts again.

Just trying to be helpful. Do whatcha like...