Home Distiller

So I have my last strip of this starting soon then the spirit run. I've noticed my copper boiling chips are bright and new looking after sitting in the hot dunder overnight. Bravo all you guys that say soak in hot dunder cleans...it really works!

Ok I'm putting ice in my condenser barrel to set up for my spirit run I have 5 gallon to work with planning on taking tight cuts with a bit of tails as usual all heads are saved

Warming up the spirit run now my water is cooled back down I have another bag of ice ready I have my cuts jars ready and I saved 4 gallons of dunder for the next batch

I'm cutting it up in half pint and pint jars I've got 11 half pints so far this recipe works just about the same each time a quality product from sbb

21 jars total and now running mid late tails

The tough part is waiting the year or so to let it mature after this intense stilling session.

rolling wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:30 pm The tough part is waiting the year or so to let it mature after this intense stilling session.

I have a gallon of rum already been aging a year

Hi @Not sure, if you could please edit your post when adding just another sentence, it would be easier to read. Otherwise readers can get bombarded with a bunch of single-sentence posts that make little sense on their own.

MartinCash wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:15 pm Hi @Not sure, if you could please edit your post when adding just another sentence, it would be easier to read. Otherwise readers can get bombarded with a bunch of single-sentence posts that make little sense on their own.

At least it was different.

What annoys me is a long post being quoted and re-quoted every time someone comments.
We can all see what it is about without that.

Geoff

Hey SBB and crew,
First up thanks SBB for the awesome instructions.
I've done two runs on my home made boka, absolutely loved it. It really becomes something special at the 6 months mark, amazing really!
I've since upgraded to a 4" glass, 5 tray bubbler which Im still learning to drive!
I've done a few neutrals on it so far and getting the hang of it.
I've got 150lt of all molasses wash bubbling away at the moment.
My new still has a deflag on top of the trays, I get between 92 - 94% ABV depending on heat input and reflux amount. I haven't put a rum through it yet.

My question is on your 4 tray bubbler do you run any reflux at all?
Im unsure whether to stabilize still in full reflux / recycle to allow separation of fractions then let it rip by stopping the deflag cooling - no reflux, or to keep it steady with reflux as I would with a neutral vodka run?
I was going to take one of the trays out which is easy enough to give me 4 trays as per your instructions.
Any advice much appreciated and again thanks for the recipe and instructions.
Im really enjoying the journey!
Cheers!.

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm I've done two runs on my home made boka,

Ive never tried to make rum with a Boka.

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm My new still has a deflag on top of the trays, I get between 92 - 94%

By trays do you mean Perforated Plates or Bubble Caps? 92% is the happy place for most perf plates running 4 plates.
Ive run caps once in ten years so wont comment on them.

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm My question is on your 4 tray bubbler do you run any reflux at all?

Yes that is how Bubblers / Flutes/ plated columns are meant to be used. having said that they can be used in pot mode if you do turn off water to the Defleglamator. I use mine for stripping sometimes that way.

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm I was going to take one of the trays out which is easy enough to give me 4 trays as per your instructions.

My preference is for four plates, some use 5 , some choose to use 3. best I can say is experiment and see what suits your taste buds.

I found all molasses wash doesn’t work so well on a flute . Well more to the point , the flute doesn’t run so well on a low ABV wash .
So I strip half of the wash and add this to the other half .With a higher ABV in the boiler , the flute runs better for longer and makes a nicer product .

And yes I have reflux running , you have to otherwise the plates won’t stay loaded and secondly , you might as well just use a pot still .

Thanks Saltbush Bill,
I ran the boka as a pot still for the rum, with 1 scrubber in it. I was pretty brutal with the cuts and only kept 1.2 litres off a 45 litre wash. Very tasty!
The new still is bubble caps, I wasn't sure if to much reflux would impact the flavour carryover.
Ok cool, think I'll run 4 bubble cap trays as if I was making a neutral spirit. As you say I'll see how I like it and go from there.
I still have a striped 45 litre wash run from the boka.
I was deciding weather to keep the hearts or run through the new still.

I wasn't sure what a flute still was so googled it, results showed a still like mine - bubble caps.
I have read the same as you suggest Yummyrum regarding higher ABV is better suited on these stills. Some say a mix of one stripped rum run to one rum wash for good results. So many things to try - Im loving it!
Thanks again.

Claypot wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 3:23 am I'll run 4 bubble cap trays as if I was making a neutral spirit.

You wont make neutral with 4 plates, 4 plates with a packed section on top may get you there.
Plated columns are made for making flavored spirits.

Awesome cheers, will give it a crack in a week once my wash has finished, cant wait. Thanks again.

Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:57 pm

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm I've done two runs on my home made boka,

Ive never tried to make rum with a Boka.

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm My new still has a deflag on top of the trays, I get between 92 - 94%

By trays do you mean Perforated Plates or Bubble Caps? 92% is the happy place for most perf plates running 4 plates.
Ive run caps once in ten years so wont comment on them.

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm My question is on your 4 tray bubbler do you run any reflux at all?

Yes that is how Bubblers / Flutes/ plated columns are meant to be used. having said that they can be used in pot mode if you do turn off water to the Defleglamator. I use mine for stripping sometimes that way.

Claypot wrote: ↑Thu May 06, 2021 3:43 pm I was going to take one of the trays out which is easy enough to give me 4 trays as per your instructions.

My preference is for four plates, some use 5 , some choose to use 3. best I can say is experiment and see what suits your taste buds.

Hey saltbush
I did this recipe in february 2019
Well its been sitting on oak since then.
I pretty much forgotten it.
Well i took it out and had a snort.
Omg.
It smoothed way out at 65%abv
The oak has sweetened it up
Its really good.
I got 1 gallon on oak.
I think i am gonna leave it till september.
That will get it through the heat of summer.
Then i may pull it.
Great recipe

Thanks for the feedback Duke.....glad it's turned out well for you.

Alright, I’ve had a fermenter of this on the go pretty steadily for the last few months, stripping and recharging whenever I felt the urge and found the time. Had some very settled washes!

I’ve had to do 35L batches but this last one should get me to a keg full of low wines.

Since I’ve invested so much time in this, I just wanted to check my plans. I was going to run it through the pot still as just low wines, collect in 500ml jars via a thin stream and really take my time with the cuts/blending. I’ll aim for a narrowish heart cut, avoiding heads/tails jars unless they really appeal and pass a small test blend as well.

Whatever I get, I’ll age on a small amount of med toast virgin US oak, probably around 55% to pull some of the sweeter flavours from the wood. I’m planning to leave it at least 2 years.

Any thoughts/comments/corrections ?

Your plan seems fine to me, I've always put this recipe through a plated column so cant comment on the pot still side of things.. Some feedback about how it turns out through the pot would be interesting. I think you will find its quite drinkable by 6 months ,but it will get better and better as time goes by.
Good luck with the spirit run.

Cheers Bill - I have a plated column on the way so I could wait to do the spirit run. The other option would be to split the low wines and pot still half now, and do another variant (1.5 run or just low wines) when the column arrives.

I’ll have a think on that, but if anyone has experience with straight pot stilling on this recipe, I’d love to hear it.

The ferments I use are not dissimilar and I've always double pot distilled mine, fermenting enough for at least three stripping runs and, sometimes, some leftover wash to add to the spirit run. Trying to put the same sized wash through the same boiler with a plated column on it would be too much trouble for my liking.

NZChris wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:26 pm Trying to put the same sized wash through the same boiler with a plated column on it would be too much trouble for my liking.

I'm a bit confused as to why this would be so much trouble Chris?
I always run a 25- 26 Gal boiler charge of mixed low wines, rum fients and wash using my plated column......it really isn't that hard.

My rum ferments are usually three or four still charges for my boiler and I don't fancy the idea of having to choose cuts three or four times.

I make cuts once....even if i did have to do it 4 times I dont find it a huge chore.

Thanks Chris, good to know you’ve had success double pot stilling. I’ll stay the course then I think.

I think you boys might be talking at cross purposes. I think SBB was suggesting a full keg of stripped low wines (no cuts), and then a spirit run with the column, not 3 or 4 spirit runs through the column.

Either way I’ll have a bunch of feints on hand when the column turns up, and then it’s easy enough to knock up another wash to try that method out.

Got it at last My boiler is a quarter of the size of Bill's.

I've seldom had a problem with flavor that wasn't a fault from the molasses or the yeast. The few times I've trialed successively feeding back feints didn't work using my pot, so the plater might be better if you want to do that. I've been experimenting with reprocessing and aging rum feints separately, with very good results and very high total yields.

NZChris wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:39 pm with very good results and very high total yields.

As your finding , there is a lot of flavour and good alcohol left in those feints.

I'd like to transition my SBB adventures to a Solara setup, but I'm not sure I should. I have 10 gallons of SBB on oak in half gallon glass jars with PTFE lids with pinholes. They've been up in the attic of the garage for a year and a half undisturbed. Some jars are darker than others, a bit of variety, but some are roasted oak, others charred. I took a taste of a random jar, and it's really interesting sipping. I was thinking of getting three Gibbs 5 gallon barrels to get started. My question is: If I put this rum into a freshly charred barrel will I end up over-oaking it? What char should I consider if I go this route? Is 5 gallon big enough? I don't want to ruin a good thing, but I like the concept of the Solara and want to go that direction. Thanks for any input. Bill, I love making this recipe, everything about it, I'd encourage anyone to spend time with it.

rolling wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:43 pm I have 10 gallons of SBB on oak in half gallon glass jars with PTFE lids with pinholes. They've been up in the attic of the garage for a year and a half undisturbed.

Ive tried the same thing and it seems to work well, I left one identical sample in the same place but with no pin hole......The difference in the two is very very noticeable after a couple of years. The one with pin hole, or in my case, nail hole is very smooth , the other still quite harsh,
The one with pin hole has also gone up in ABV, There has been very minimal loss of volume from the pin hole sample. .

rolling wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:43 pm Some jars are darker than others, a bit of variety, but some are roasted oak, others charred. I took a taste of a random jar, and it's really interesting sipping.

My personal favourite is Med toasted American Oak, having said that I have Rum sitting on all manner of oak and cant say any are really bad.......just that I prefer some over others. All of them would appeal to someone, we all like different things.

rolling wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:43 pm My question is: If I put this rum into a freshly charred barrel will I end up over-oaking it? What char should I consider if I go this route?

I've never added pre oaked Rum to a new barrel , so have no experience with that .....its always been white new make rum into a new barrel , or pre oaked Rum into older used barrels.......or a mix of both.
As for char/ toast Id stick to Medium Toast, but as above thats just my favourite.

rolling wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:43 pm Is 5 gallon big enough?

5 US Gal = 18.9271L That's a nice size for the job I think. I use the sizes that I do only because that's what I have.

Photo below is of samples Ive had since 2016, they all still have a tiny bit of oak in them, they are all good but they are all different ......they all came from the same run. I took that photo to update another thread, just haven't got around to it yet.

Thanks for the thorough reply Bill. I think I'm going to get the 5 gl. barrels, go easy on the toast, and set up my system. I'll report how it goes.