Head space question.

[fiery creations]

I think I'm going to give up on the Middleton process for my Irish pot still whiskey and just run everything I have through my smaller set up. 5 gallons of hearts, 3 gallons of feints, and 6 gallons of an initial strip.

I'm using a 15.5 gallon keg. Since all of this has already been through at least one strip, should I be ok with such small headspace if I run slow? That's gonna fill her up pretty close to the brim.

[SW_Shiner]

If its all feints/low wines, there shouldn't be any reason for it to foam up and puke. I fill my keg pretty much right to the top and have not had any issues. Only issue may be some spillage if the boil is too rigorous at the start. If you still run with some sort of riser then i don't see splashing to be a problem either.

[fiery creations]

If its all feints/low wines, there shouldn't be any reason for it to foam up and puke. I fill my keg pretty much right to the top and have not had any issues. Only issue may be some spillage if the boil is too rigorous at the start. If you still run with some sort of riser then i don't see splashing to be a problem either.

Yeah I’ve got at least 2’ of riser. Thanks!

[SW_Shiner]

As long as the boil isn't so rolling that it manages to splash some up it should be fine, though i just clicked that youre talking about a spirit run so that shouldn't be a problem if you turn down power before it comes over anyway.

[fiery creations]

As long as the boil isn't so rolling that it manages to splash some up it should be fine, though i just clicked that youre talking about a spirit run so that shouldn't be a problem if you turn down power before it comes over anyway.

Yeah final spirit run. Tired of having nothing on oak after spending an enormous amount of money and time on grains and mashing after nearly a year.

I think this process is best left to smaller set ups. It was definitely a stupid thing to try when first starting all grain.

[shadylane]

I think I'm going to give up on the Middleton process for my Irish pot still whiskey and just run everything I have through my smaller set up. 5 gallons of hearts, 3 gallons of feints, and 6 gallons of an initial strip.

I'm using a 15.5 gallon keg. Since all of this has already been through at least one strip, should I be ok with such small headspace if I run slow? That's gonna fill her up pretty close to the brim.

My 2 cents.
14 gallons in a keg still is pushing the limits too far and you already have all that work done.
I'd set the feints aside for now. After this spirit run is done you will have more to add to it.

On a side note, what is the abv of everything?

[fiery creations]

I think I'm going to give up on the Middleton process for my Irish pot still whiskey and just run everything I have through my smaller set up. 5 gallons of hearts, 3 gallons of feints, and 6 gallons of an initial strip.

I'm using a 15.5 gallon keg. Since all of this has already been through at least one strip, should I be ok with such small headspace if I run slow? That's gonna fill her up pretty close to the brim.

My 2 cents.
14 gallons in a keg still is pushing the limits too far and you already have all that work done.
I'd set the feints aside for now. After this spirit run is done you will have more to add to it.

On a side note, what is the abv of everything?

Guess it wouldn’t kill me to chuck a gallon of low wines from the strips or feints. Don’t really feel like saving it as I probably won’t be doing this process again.

Hard to know total abv till I mix it. I’m eyeballing volumes in mixed carboys. The hearts are pretty damn high. Stripped low wines are pretty low. Imagine they’re going to even out around 40%, but that’s just a guess.

[shadylane]

Guess it wouldn’t kill me to chuck a gallon of low wines from the strips or feints. Don’t really feel like saving it as I probably won’t be doing this process again.

Hard to know total abv till I mix it. I’m eyeballing volumes in mixed carboys. The hearts are pretty damn high. Stripped low wines are pretty low. Imagine they’re going to even out around 40%, but that’s just a guess.

Are the fients a mixture of heads and tails?

[fiery creations]

Guess it wouldn’t kill me to chuck a gallon of low wines from the strips or feints. Don’t really feel like saving it as I probably won’t be doing this process again.

Hard to know total abv till I mix it. I’m eyeballing volumes in mixed carboys. The hearts are pretty damn high. Stripped low wines are pretty low. Imagine they’re going to even out around 40%, but that’s just a guess.

Are the fients a mixture of heads and tails?

Yes sir. They are what’s left over from that second “spirit” distillation I separated the hearts from. It would almost be undoing that spirit run by remixing, minus the super low abv tails I left in the boiler.

[fiery creations]

If this helps.

6 gallons of low wines. 5 gallons of strong feints. 3 gallons of weak feints and foreshots(from second run)

[shadylane]

Plan B, to decrease the boiler charge.
I'd set a gallon or more of the hearts aside for drinking as white whiskey.

[fiery creations]

Plan B, to decrease the boiler charge.
I'd set a gallon or more of the hearts aside for drinking as white whiskey.

Haha. I wish I could. But the idea is to make pretty wide cuts on that second run since you’re going to run it again for the final spirit. So it’s… A little icky.

[shadylane]

Haha. I wish I could. But the idea is to make pretty wide cuts on that second run since you’re going to run it again for the final spirit. So it’s… A little icky.

Forgive me.
I finally read that this a triple distilled Irish pot still whiskey.
But there's still the problem of how much fits the pot. I'd set something aside.

[NZChris]

One trick I've used successfully is to leave out a gallon, run off a gallon, then add the extra gallon. Ran into small jars and chose my cuts at the end of the distillation, as normal.

[jonnys_spirit]

When filling the boiler I top it up as full as I can. One thing I have found is that volume expands as it comes up to temp so I have a max-fill-level below the throat of my milk-can boiler to prevent it from overflowing as it heats up. I use an 18" riser, whiskey-helmet, sight-glass to provide for any foaming or splashing during the run - more-so for strips though.

Cheers,
jonny