Unique? Foreshots Cut Question

[realestwhiteboy]

I searched the forums here and also on the Google machine, and was not able to find anyone posts about a scenario like this. I distill with a buddy & we split the yield 50/50, but he has to drive over an hour to get to my house. Because of the 2+ hours of drive time each run & the fact he is mixing, he doesn't care about chasing the highest quality, he just wants something to drink when he gets home. So, our normal process is to sit aside 50ml per gallon as foreshots, splits the rest of the stripping run 50/50.

I save mine up until I have enough for a spirit run. I normally don't cut foreshots on stipping runs, so I have tossed them back in mine to get the volume up for the spirit run. Since my friend took half the yield and I added the foreshots back in, does that mean I should cut a higher percentage than normal? Or stick to the 50ml/gallon (I know it's more than needed, but I'm a worrier so I error on the side of safety )?

We are just doing a simple sugar recipe that's based on Popcorn's:
1 to 1.5lb sugar per gallon
1lb white corn meal per gallon
1 gallon of distiller's malt
Open ferment in a stainless keg until ready

[SW_Shiner]

Why add it back in just to take it out again?
Everyone has their own way that works for them. I toss the first 500ml on a 50L charge of anything. Might be excessive, but what isn't 'fores', was most likely not making it to the bottle anyway.

[realestwhiteboy]

Why add it back in just to take it out again?
Everyone has their own way that works for them. I toss the first 500ml on a 50L charge of anything. Might be excessive, but what isn't 'fores', was most likely not making it to the bottle anyway.

We run 15 gallons, so 750ml cut to average 50ml per gallon. Fairly close to your figure.

We aren't making precise cuts, because it is technically a stripping run. Just cranking the heat and pushing it through, so everything is smeared.

[Yummyrum]

I guess a lot depends on what still you are going to do your Spirit run in . If its a Pot still , then I would recommend doing a Foreshot cut on both Stripping and Spirit run . Because Pot stills are not very good at separating fractions .

If you are going to run it through a Reflux still , may as well just add your share back into the low wines as the reflux still will do an excellent job of sorting it out .

[NZChris]

For a pot still spirit run, taking a foreshot is only necessary if you want some solvent or fire starter, as the first jar off the still is never going to make the heart cut anyway.

Adding your foreshots back to the spirit run could mean that you end up taking an extra jar off for the heads cut. Use your taste buds and nose to decide this. If adding an early jar improves your heart cut, it's hearts, if it spoils your heart cut, it's heads.

[realestwhiteboy]

I guess a lot depends on what still you are going to do your Spirit run in . If its a Pot still , then I would recommend doing a Foreshot cut on both Stripping and Spirit run . Because Pot stills are not very good at separating fractions .

If you are going to run it through a Reflux still , may as well just add your share back into the low wines as the reflux still will do an excellent job of sorting it out .

Interesting, I hadn't heard about cutting both runs on a pot still before. I am using a pot still, an old beer keg.

[NZChris]

I've seen foreshots from spirit runs mentioned many times on forums, but I've never seen an explanation for why it would be a good idea.

In some countries, 'foreshot' is the word used for 'heads' from the spirit run and that might cause some confusion if you don't take into account the terminology used by the distiller you are talking to.