First AG mash

[PirateShiner]

Hey All,

I ran my first all grain mash. I used a combination of brewers malts to the tune of around 10lbs of malt with 5 gallons of water with red star bakers yeast.

I heated thé still on high until the vapour got just past the thumper and turned it down. I ran about 4-4.5 gallons of the strained mash in the pot. At about almost a half gallon of clear liquid, the still started producing a light amber liquid….. it smelled and tasted the same as the clear liquid so I’m not sure if I was in tails or what was going on, I even turned down the heat lower so I’m a bit confused as to what was going on and how I could correct it.

Thanks for the help,

Dave

[Dougmatt]

Sounds like a puke to me. What kind of still are you running? Was it a stripping run? Did you put anything in the bouker to reduxe foaming like copper or butter?

[Sporacle]

Same as Doug, small puke me thinks.
Couple of things that may help is some butter or neutral oil in boiler with the mash.
When you heat up, don't rush. I let mine get heat about half way up my riser and then I cut power and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Be mindful of your charge volume.
Can someone help me out, what is the technical name for the headspace in the still?

[PirateShiner]

Sounds like a puke to me. What kind of still are you running? Was it a stripping run? Did you put anything in the bouker to reduxe foaming like copper or butter?

I run a pot still to a thumper and I got rid of the crappy coil condenser and made a Liebig condenser. No I didn’t use butter or anything. I honestly didn’t know about it lol

[Demy]

I recommend that you turn the power down gradually, i.e. before the heat reaches its peak... generally as the heat progresses I gradually lower down to operating power.

[bilgriss]

Demy is right on. As you approach a boil, dial it down. Makes it easier to get fores out of the mix and not have a puke. After it boils a little, you can increase the rate again to whatever your condenser supports for the strip.

Do a google search for butter or puking prevention.