Highest ABV to distill

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Pikey
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by Pikey »

Fivey wrote:
...........If you are confused about the names given to different still designs, read more threads in the Novice Distiller > Stills and still building and Hardware > Pot Distillation and > Column Builds sections. It appears you are confused about the difference between a still and a boiler, so you have got some more reading to do yet. When people here say reflux stills, they mean reflux; when they say hybrid, they mean hybrid; when they say pot still, they mean pot still.

On that note, put the maths down for now. You are way too early in your discovery of this craft to be trying to science out how much alcohol you’re going to get. You just don’t have a grasp on all the facts you need. For instance you write ‘=95.55 ABV(. Azeotropic)’ as if we need to be told what azeotropic means. Except you are wrong, 95.55ABV isn’t azeotropic. I will leave it to you to research this more rather than just giving you the answer - you’re more likely to believe it if you discover it yourself.

What you say (I must do an experiment’) implies to me you are already running a still. I suggest you stop for a moment and absorb the wealth of information here. .............
Doesn't have many posts and doesn't say much, but been here a good while (Two and a half years) and obviously been reading and progressing and when he does speak - It's good stuff !

Hope to hear a bit more from you Fivey ! :thumbup:
SherrodBrown
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by SherrodBrown »

If you do whisky the cask strength is lower and more oils gives great flavours. The typical extra low proof is synonumous with quality Bourbon. I know its a bit off topic but speaking of highest ABV one might be interested in the differences in tradition between European and US whiskeys. When we europeans talk quality we treat Whiskey like gin. That high inbound ABV and /or huge casks in order to prevent the considerable angel's share for 21 years of maturing.

So our EU whiskeys are something between Canadian brown vodka and US whiskey. To me the typical 3 year old bourbons with low cask proof in small barrels are a bit closer to what I consider High Quality. off topic yes but I love the redistilled fusel oils
Fivey
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by Fivey »

Pikey wrote:
Doesn't have many posts and doesn't say much, but been here a good while (Two and a half years) and obviously been reading and progressing and when he does speak - It's good stuff !

Hope to hear a bit more from you Fivey ! :thumbup:
Thanks for the kudos Pikey - I don’t have many posts, because every time I had a question, I figured I should search for answers first, and always - ALWAYS - found an answer. Sometimes took a bit of digging around, but it is all there.

I recently doffed my cap to Tater et al who having been archiving old novice threads and reorganising tried and true recipes etc, and making it even easier to access the good info. :thumbup:

There are no excuses - there IS such a thing as a dumb question, and asking it just makes a guy look like a plonker, and who wants that? Just do what the old hands say, read the introductory sections and search using HD Google Search when you have a question. That’s what i’ve learned!
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by Fivey »

SherrodBrown wrote:Of course the increment would be different from still to still, even from run to run. By doing a test run you automatically get the some kind of calibration for a specific type..A hint what ABV you should feed your boiler with to get reach your target.
There is your mistake. If you are trying to hit a target ABV you are doing it wrong. Put the maths down and pay attention to the craft.
SherrodBrown wrote:I was wondering because I'm running a reflux still myself. It is a boiler with a reflux unit on top. Pot still have a natural reflux too.
I admit I must learn more on the various types but any pot still would reflux, any hybrid which is more than a sause pan will also reflux , hence my curiosity for the new grammar.
There is no new ‘grammar’, or lexicon. Yes, any still will have some amount of reflux. But to quickly summarise for you: a pot still is a traditional still which exhibits minimal reflux. A reflux still has a column in which reflux is accentuated. A hybrid also has a reflux-still-like-column, but without the design elements that produce high degrees of reflux, hence ‘hybrid’. This is not a new understanding or definition. The terms speak to the operational behaviour of the still.
SherrodBrown wrote:Most in here seem to use Azeotropic interchangably for highest reachable ABV. What do I know? Forgive me if I'm wrong. 
You are not wrong about that. You were wrong about it being 95.5%ABV. The correct answer is a subtle distinction, and may not account for a hill of beans, but it is a red flag to me that someone is chasing magic numbers, without necessarily understanding what is going on particularly well.
SherrodBrown wrote:If you are going to rebuke something out of the blue, please at least take the time and read through some of the post I've made and see if you understand the conclutions I made. It's just a few. Feel free to rebuke or give me a better understanding. The 2.7 is spent wash to distill ratio from big commercial distilleries.
Ok, maybe I was a bit rude. Sorry about that. However, before you post a question saying: ‘I’m new to this forum and I’m a bit confused about the terms you are all using and what do you think about my equation to figure out what the ABV of my wash should be to hit my target ABV output’ perhaps you should take the time to read through the posts already here. That’s what I have done, and I recommend it. The answers are here. Use the HD Google Search to find them.
SherrodBrown wrote:With this attitude your learning curve will be very slow.
My attitude of keeping my mouth shut and my eyes and ears open and soaking up everything the old hands say? 8)

Again, sorry if you got a burn. I don’t sit on here pouncing on noobs, but something you said poked me into responding.
SherrodBrown wrote:I admit I know little or nothing about certain topics and that will not keep me from debating them.
Ah, there’s the difference between us. If I know little about a subject, I don’t inject myself into the debate, because my ruminations are likely to be flawed. I might draw attention to facts I am aware of when something counterfactual is stated, but I don’t tend to announce my ‘reckons’ because that is likely to expose me as a noob with naive ideas.

All the best. There is really good stuff here on this forum. Ignore me and dig into it.
SherrodBrown
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by SherrodBrown »

My son. Your sins are forgiven. But admit it we all hate a newbie pretending to know stuff. ha ha besserwissers. I love maths and I approached all thos from the pot still google info
Paymanz
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by Paymanz »

even 10% abv is flammable at 49c , you boil it , its always flammable. that safety 40% is not that much accurate thing.
LordL
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by LordL »

With 40% still charge ABV, i would never heat it up above 23C.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/etha ... d_989.html

You are exceeding the flash point and by doing so and having a leak, you would have a bad time. 40% is way above safety standards if heating above 22C.

I'd recommend you to just feeding the still with 100% water and be 100% safe, i guess.
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Yummyrum
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by Yummyrum »

LordL wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 2:27 pm With 40% still charge ABV, i would never heat it up above 23C.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/etha ... d_989.html

You are exceeding the flash point and by doing so and having a leak, you would have a bad time. 40% is way above safety standards if heating above 22C.

I'd recommend you to just feeding the still with 100% water and be 100% safe, i guess.
It does not mean it will spontaneous combust . It means if you try to light it , it will burn at that temp .
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by LordL »

Yummyrum wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 2:34 pm
LordL wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 2:27 pm With 40% still charge ABV, i would never heat it up above 23C.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/etha ... d_989.html

You are exceeding the flash point and by doing so and having a leak, you would have a bad time. 40% is way above safety standards if heating above 22C.

I'd recommend you to just feeding the still with 100% water and be 100% safe, i guess.
It does not mean it will spontaneous combust . It means if you try to light it , it will burn at that temp .
I'm thinking a propane heated still. Getting a leak on the boiler with a 60+C boiler charge would not be a great time. Open flames are kind of a big no-no in my book.

I could try to pour 60C 70+abv ethanol on my induction plate and see what happens vs. what would happen with 60C 20abv ethanol on an open flame.
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Harley
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by Harley »

Hi guys,

For a spirit run in a column, my understanding is that diluting the low wines ABV to ~20-30% will give you a cleaner product than if it were 40%. However, when I draw it out I can't make sense of why that would be. Can someone please correct me?
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NormandieStill
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Re: Highest ABV to distill

Post by NormandieStill »

Smearing doesn't work quite like you seem to think it does. It's more linked to vapour speed and boil rate than abv in the boiler.

In a column the separation is a function of packing type and height, power and reflux rate. Whether you start with 10% or 40% in the boiler. The advantage of diluting the still charge is that the compounds that make up tails, by and large, have a greater affinity for water than for ethanol. So by having more water in there you can leave more of them behind in the boiler. The stinkyness of what I emptied out of the boiler after my last reflux run was testament to this effect.
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