Would this improve my vodka

[Archee72]

How did you damage it?

Because to strip with a T500 reflux you need to run almost no water or no water at all ,the black plastic top part then seems to gets extra hot and warps/ distorts in some way.......it can then leak ethanol vapor into you surrounds.
At least thats what happened when I tried it , and Ive heard of it happening to others.

You can strip a bit slower using some water, it still comes out at >90%. Never had trouble myself?

[CuriosityKilt]

My question was which I think has been misunderstood, is it worth putting the hearts I have collected through the t500 one final time and would it improve the product.

This thread has bordered on hostile at times which is confusing but also probably due to confusion. I think this question brings it to the crux.
As stated "Is it worth" is very subjective. Will you get an improvement? Yes. Will it be worth the time/cost? Probably not. Ultimately the answer is to try it and see for yourself. That is the great joy/science of this hobby. FWIW: In my experience if the neutral has off flavors, re-distilling has little noticeable improvement and you have to consider filtration.

I think people are working backwards to why you are even stripping a neutral. You are putting a lot of time/energy into something you probably don't need to do. Re-distilling is the same thing as distilling with more reflux except you have to pay that initial heat-up cost again.

That being said, you may have your own reasons for stripping. For example, I can strip a wash, store it in an airtight container, start a new ferment and repeat a few times until I have enough to fill the boiler for a hard reflux run. While this might be more time/energy overall, I'm dividing the labor over time periods that are convenient for me. Ultimately you are the judge of that equation.

[guest5234]

If you are able to isolate objectionable foreshots on the second spirit run - and also any heads/tails that may have been left in after 1st spirit run then yes it would be cleaner because you would then be able to capture those in refluxed fractions. If it's as you describe and pure 100% hearts then you shouldn't be able to concentrate any further foreshots, heads, hearts, tails into separate fractions... Give it a try and see how good your cuts are in that first spirit run..

It won't hurt and collecting a second refluxed spirit run may lead you to make tighter cuts 1st spirit run pass - or not?

Cheers!
-jonny

thanks, thats the answer what i was after after being misunderstood by a member

[guest5234]

My question was which I think has been misunderstood, is it worth putting the hearts I have collected through the t500 one final time and would it improve the product.

Yes there will some improvement by running diluted hearts a third time, but also at some lost of overall amount.. diluting will always improve the end product but at some lost, and cuts still need to be made..

Mars

Thanks, interesting that there will still be cuts to be made after running just the hearts, I see what you are saying.

[guest5234]

My question was which I think has been misunderstood, is it worth putting the hearts I have collected through the t500 one final time and would it improve the product.

This thread has bordered on hostile at times which is confusing but also probably due to confusion. I think this question brings it to the crux.
As stated "Is it worth" is very subjective. Will you get an improvement? Yes. Will it be worth the time/cost? Probably not. Ultimately the answer is to try it and see for yourself. That is the great joy/science of this hobby. FWIW: In my experience if the neutral has off flavors, re-distilling has little noticeable improvement and you have to consider filtration.

I think people are working backwards to why you are even stripping a neutral. You are putting a lot of time/energy into something you probably don't need to do. Re-distilling is the same thing as distilling with more reflux except you have to pay that initial heat-up cost again.

That being said, you may have your own reasons for stripping. For example, I can strip a wash, store it in an airtight container, start a new ferment and repeat a few times until I have enough to fill the boiler for a hard reflux run. While this might be more time/energy overall, I'm dividing the labor over time periods that are convenient for me. Ultimately you are the judge of that equation.

Thanks, I am not stripping a neutral, In my post I said I am doing a strip run on a 5 gallon sugar wash, THEN making cuts after the spirit run which i collect in numerous small jars.

[Saltbush Bill]

Thanks, I am not stripping a neutral, In my post I said I am doing a strip run on a 5 gallon sugar wash,

Most people use sugar washes to make neutral or as close as they can get with what they have.
People are going to assume that if your stripping a sugar wash your going to try to make neutral with the resulting low wines imo.

[guest5234]

Thanks, I am not stripping a neutral, In my post I said I am doing a strip run on a 5 gallon sugar wash,

Most people use sugar washes to make neutral or as close as they can get with what they have.
People are going to assume that if your stripping a sugar wash your going to try to make neutral with the resulting low wines imo.

I make a 5 gallon sugar wash with bread yeast and nutrients, when fermented out I run this baby fast through my pot still taking out the first 50ml of foreshots, I then run through the T500 column making my cuts collecting in small jars and then smelling and tasting and just keep the hearts, I throw the heads and tails down the drain.

[Yummyrum]

I make a 5 gallon sugar wash with bread yeast and nutrients, when fermented out I run this baby fast through my pot still taking out the first 50ml of foreshots, I then run through the T500 column making my cuts collecting in small jars and then smelling and tasting and just keep the hearts, I throw the heads and tails down the drain.

OK , sounds like you are doing it just right .Well the method is right .

The quality will depend a lot on how fast the take off rate is .

If you are dripping the stuff out slowly then you probably are doing pretty much as good as it gets and not worth the time and effort to re-run .

But if you are running that T500 at a fast pace , then it’ll be putting out mediocre stuff and you will see an improvement if you re-run it with your same rigorous collection and cut method .

It comes down to do it once , do it properly.

[guest5234]

I make a 5 gallon sugar wash with bread yeast and nutrients, when fermented out I run this baby fast through my pot still taking out the first 50ml of foreshots, I then run through the T500 column making my cuts collecting in small jars and then smelling and tasting and just keep the hearts, I throw the heads and tails down the drain.

OK , sounds like you are doing it just right .Well the method is right .

The quality will depend a lot on how fast the take off rate is .

If you are dripping the stuff out slowly then you probably are doing pretty much as good as it gets and not worth the time and effort to re-run .

But if you are running that T500 at a fast pace , then it’ll be putting out mediocre stuff and you will see an improvement if you re-run it with your same rigorous collection and cut method .

It comes down to do it once , do it properly.

Cheers, i run the T500 on the spirit run about 55 to 60 centigrade with gives a steady trickle, would i be better adjusting the water flow so its just a fast drip instead of a continuous trickle? I understand it would take much longer to finish though.

[Windy City]

I use Shady's Sugar Shine for my neutral.
I strip it with my 4 plate (bubble cap) still and the spirit run through my 4" packed (siporax) CM still.
Even though it comes out at 95.4 I truly believe the best filter for vodka/neutral is water. So after doing cuts I dilute down to 40% and run it again.
I recently worked up a good amount of neutral and wanted to make the cleanest best neutral/vodka I could . So it was all run through the 4 plate to strip, then I diluted down to 40% and ran through my packed column making cuts and then rediluting it to 40% and running it again. I did this a total of three times. The final product is fantastic (in my opinion) and is about as clean of a ethanol as I have ever tasted.
Yes it took a ton of time and loss of product but after all I am in this hobby because I love it and spending time in front of my still is my time and what I enjoy. As far as loss of product oh well I guess I am going to have to spend more time stilling

[jonnys_spirit]

You can also make a feints cut to save for an all feints run as well as a firestarter cut for cleaning windows and killing ants.. So hopefully not all is lost!

Cheers,
j

[Ridgeback816]

My vodka journey greatly improved once I started doing all grain vodka. (rye wheat and oats) I strip down to 35 percent and when I do a spirit run I water it down to 20. Run very slow lots of reflux takes me 6 hours to get 18
400ml jars. If you do the same recipe a few times you can really drill down on your cuts. I always add my feints back in still lots of good usable alcohol in there that can be separated out