Can you reuse a sugar wash?

[mendozer]

As I get my first still set up, I have two heads for it. I'm going to the big 3 (water, 50/50 vinegar, sugar) for the cleaning of each head. I'm wondering if I can run the sugar wash through the second one as it's cleaning run which at that point won't be a wash but rather a low wine. Is it important that it's a WASH vs something higher?

[Salt Must Flow]

It depends. Can you place 2 of the heads inside the boiler while you do the cleaning run/runs with the other head installed? If so then it only requires you do it once.

Are your heads soldered or are they prefabricated parts? If they're prefabricated parts you can just clean them with soap & hot water so you don't have to do multiple cleaning runs just to clean the heads themselves. If the heads are soldered & fluxed (especially paste flux) is not so easy to clean up and would do better if they were either in the boiler or in the vapor path.

To answer your question directly, yes you can keep the low wines from a sacrificial sugar wash, dilute them and use them to do another sacrificial cleaning run.

[mendozer]

I didn't even think about putting a head in the pot. The reflux column is the Acloengine so no. The pot head will be a mixture of a 12" copper pipe, a SS elbow, SS 45, and eventually a TB condenser. I could be able to fit everything in there except for the condenser maybe. I assume condenser needs to be since it's copper soldered/TIG welded

[mendozer]

when diluting the low wines, i assume you use distilled water. so i should save the distilled water product from the first run too

[SW_Shiner]

Tap water is fine for low wines. Actually, depending on where you are, (ive heard some places dont have good tap water), tap water is fine for every stage. Save the distilled water for proofing final product if you really want to use distilled water.

[mendozer]

ok cool. my waters good. WA has good water plus I have a whole house filter on top of that. This water's so good you could drink it!

[Yummyrum]

ok cool. my waters good. WA has good water plus I have a whole house filter on top of that. This water's so good you could drink it!

Drink it ….. what …. Straight water

[Dancing4dan]

ok cool. my waters good. WA has good water plus I have a whole house filter on top of that. This water's so good you could drink it!

Drink it ….. what …. Straight water

Better move this over to “What not to do”

[mendozer]

how silly of me. water's only for diluting booze