My first run!

[dtrb]

Hello everyone,
I have been collecting the parts to build a still using a 60L pot for the boiler, but life happens and it also happens with welders. So it may be spring before I can get my pot TIG welded and complete the build. A long while back I bought a Brewhaus PSII Extractor with an 8 gallon kettle. I decided you can only read so much before you need to see if you have really learned anything. So I pulled it out of the closet and did a vinegar run and sac run.

Yesterday, I did my first 'real' run. Knowing I was adding distilling to cider and wine making, I bought several gallon (glass) jugs of wine. I initially intended to use them for my sac run, but it seemed crazy to not make and use an inexpensive wash for the sac run. I save the 23 liters of wine and ran it yesterday. I also, had a couple of recently opened half full bottles to add.

First thing I learned; while I sort of use quarts and liters interchangeably, 23 liters is noticeably more than 5 and 3/4 quarts + the two partial bottles. Adding the partials in first did not help. I charged my boiler with probably close to 7 gallons of wine. My intent was to put in 6 gallons. I added a sight glass to the bottom of my column so I can hopefully catch a puke before it gets out of hand. Luckily the wine never got crazy.

My column is just under 60 inches by 3 inches and I packed it with 9 10-foot rolls of copper mesh. I did not attach the reflux cooling lines. I also learned that I need to get some insulation for the boiler and column. The 1500w element struggled with the 7 gallon charge. In the future I plan to stay around 5 gallons or under.

I turned my element on full power just after 1:00 and it took an hour and 35 minutes until the bottom of the first column section was hot and I lower power to about 75%. 20 minutes later the bottom of the second (of two) column sections was hot and I decreased power again to about 57%. Read % as volts, that is what my controller shows, 110 to 75 to 57. At this point the column heated up really fast and I got my first drip and it turned to a stream. I wanted to collect foreshots and heads slow so I cranked the power down. I went down to around 25% and then slowly raised it back up settling at 46% and 2-3 drips per second. First drip to 8 ounces of product (fores) took about 55 minutes.

I collected the the next 36 ounces (a little over a liter) in half pint jars over the next hour and 45 minutes and the ABV went from 88% to 84%. I did notice quite a bit of passive reflux through my sight glass at the bottom of the column. At the end of the 6th jar, the smell did not seem like it was singeing everything in my nose and the taste was loosing the alcohol heat, so I changed to pint jars and increased power to 61%.

I collected 6 12 ounce jar (about 2 liters) over the next two hours gradually increasing power to maintain a broken stream. On the 7th 12 ounce collect I was steadily increasing power to maintain my takeoff rate. I cranked the power to full and collected 2 more 12 ounce jars down to ABV 34%. Then shut down after an 8 hour run.

The first six jars smelled horrid, chemical, felt like I was burning the inside of my nose and tasting a drop was like Everclear. The middle of the run was interesting. It had a fruity and almost spearmint smell and taste. By the end of the run it still had that smell and taste but I would classify it as weak or soft. I never got to the wet dog or wet card board smell.

I don't intend on buying more wine unless I need more glass jugs for secondary fermentation so this was started out likely to be a one and done learning experience. Some of the middle showed some promise of the still, but it is all airing our and I will make cuts tomorrow. I suspect a lot may end up starting my feints jar. I am pretty sure I will get some to put on oak though. The spearmint thing was strangely interesting.

I am planning on running my still like this for a while, I have two batches of TFFV clearing to run later next week and will do a couple of more of those before trying a round of HBB. Throughout this I am building a fermentation chamber since even in the summer my garage isn't getting above 70 degrees. I submerged my TFFV ferment buckets in water filled trash cans heated with aquarium heaters. It seemed to work, but I think a chamber will offer more utility.

I am looking forward to blending tomorrow and preparing for the next run.

Cheers everyone,

RB

[Wildcats]

Congratulations on your first run. The first run of many to come.
If it were me I'd do a 3x stripping runs and save up low wines for a full charge spirit run. Cuts will be easier with the larger volume. And you'll end up with a cleaner spirit with two distillations. Some like a one and done. But personally I prefer twice through the still. You'll also get the added experience of running your still.

Congratulations man. Have fun and stay safe.

[Salt Must Flow]

Wildcats is right. You should really do a fast and hard stripping run then a nice and slow spirit run. That would have made best use of all that wine. Damn dude that's a LOT of wine you ran. I once fermented 26 tubes of grape juice concentrate (no fructose added), stripped it and did a slow pot still spirit run. It turned out pretty damn good. Low wines taste like shit. Low wines is the product of a single pot still run.

With respect, next time you plan to do a run, just ask and people WILL pipe up with recommendations.

[Yonder]

Congratulations on your first of many.

[MooseMan]

Well done on your first run RB.
Getting the first one out of the way it's always good and mistakes are fine as long as they are learned from.

I'd say do some more reading now you've got that under your belt, before you run that TFFV.
If you do have to run it, strip it hard and fast and store in your glass until you've got enough low wines for the 5/6gal run you planned.

[dtrb]

Congratulations on your first run. The first run of many to come.
If it were me I'd do a 3x stripping runs and save up low wines for a full charge spirit run. Cuts will be easier with the larger volume. And you'll end up with a cleaner spirit with two distillations. Some like a one and done. But personally I prefer twice through the still. You'll also get the added experience of running your still.

Congratulations man. Have fun and stay safe.

Thanks for the comment Wildcats. I went into this run knowing that it would be a long time before I accumulated more wine to run. I am making wine, but in single gallon batches and so far the wine I have made is showing promise. I do plan to run the TFFV in likely 4x stripping runs. I am only doing 5 gallon ferments and plan on two more batches after each of these first two. I do intend on leaving my column intact to see how the first two stripping batches run. I am planning to take out one section for the second two batches to see what difference it may make. Then all back together for the spirit run. Thanks again for the comment.

RB

[dtrb]

Wildcats is right. You should really do a fast and hard stripping run then a nice and slow spirit run. That would have made best use of all that wine. Damn dude that's a LOT of wine you ran. I once fermented 26 tubes of grape juice concentrate (no fructose added), stripped it and did a slow pot still spirit run. It turned out pretty damn good. Low wines taste like shit. Low wines is the product of a single pot still run.

With respect, next time you plan to do a run, just ask and people WILL pipe up with recommendations.

Thanks Salt!
I agree with both you and Wildcats. I would normally do exactly that, strip fast and then a slow spirit run. I don't expect to have any more wine to run for a long time and I could set all of these low wines aside until I do. Definitely something to think about. And 26 tubes of grape juice concentrate sounds like an interesting way to get another large ferment to add to this.
I also used this run to learn some thing about my still and take some observations. During my sac run, I just powered it on full and ran it until I collected about 4 liters of product. My only interaction was to switch the jars as they filled. This run, though, I was educationally entertained through the whole run. Learning is fascinating to me and I like data. Lots of future opportunities for both. This is a great hobby. Thanks again

RB

[dtrb]

Well done on your first run RB.
Getting the first one out of the way it's always good and mistakes are fine as long as they are learned from.

I'd say do some more reading now you've got that under your belt, before you run that TFFV.
If you do have to run it, strip it hard and fast and store in your glass until you've got enough low wines for the 5/6gal run you planned.

Thanks Yonder,

Thanks MooseMan,
Reading is great advice and I am still reading and following threads down never-ending rabbit holes. Tons of great information. Some things this run did for me is take things I read and conceptualized into understanding. What I perceived from reading to actually doing will fuel additional reading and comprehension. That will lead to more experiments. Before this run, I read a lot about cuts, heads, hearts, tail, feints, smells, feel, taste; now I have the beginning of understanding (from a physical perspective) what I was reading. Thanks again. Take care

RB

[MooseMan]

You are most definitely on the right track to a successful start to our wonderful hobby, I like your approach.

The physical "Doing" of running a still is at a certain point needed, to understand exactly what it is you are trying to learn from all of the info on this site.

It can seem a bit daunting to people who don't enjoy reading and research, to be told "Read until your eyes bleed" when they just want to make a bit of whisky etc.
But the time spent reading is as invaluable as the hours at the still. They both contribute to the quality of what goes into the bottle at the end.

[Wildcats]

Yep hands on is the best teacher. You will get more comfortable with each run. And everytime you do a spirit run, you can practice cuts. You should've seen me on my first run... I had this lil cheep hot plate that I thought I could use. And a cheep lil Vevor still that I thought I could make something worth drinking out of.
It was a mess. The hot plate surged and the only time I got product out of the worm was when the hot plate kicked on. Then it would shut down and stop producing. And I was trying to make one run and couldn't figure out why everything tasted so bad.
It didn't take long after I found this site and started reading. Soon I started doing stripping/ spirit runs. Made me a new condenser that would work better than the undersized worm I'd been using. And kept something fermenting and kept running my still. Wasn't long before I was making something that actually tasted good. Then it was time to upgrade my equipment.
I absolutely love this hobby. I love the whole process. It's a very rewarding hobby. Have fun with it man. Cheer's

[Wildcats]

Shadys Sugar Shine
All Bran
UJSSM
These are recipes in the Tried and True that IMO are great for people new to the hobby. They are relatively cheap and somewhat easy. Picking one that you like and doing it over and over again will teach you some much about running a still and making cuts.


Good luck.