Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper
Im stoked, just done my first double pot-stilled sour mash corn whiskey! I cannot believe how good it tastes..
With a bit of help from olddog, I think I got the cuts right.. I have a couple of jars that are real close to perfect, but I can still taste the feints..
Only thing Im a bit confused about is out of a 30l wash I ended up with about 750 ml of hearts at 70% I know the next one with the feints added will give me more, but my reflux gives me almost 1 1/2 litres at 90% from the same wash...
Anyhoo,very happy, now I have to somehow wait for it to age... (yeah right!, might just taste it again to make sure)
What was your mash percentage? 750ml seems pretty low.
It is the very things that we think we know, that keep us from learning what we should know.
Valved Reflux, 3"x54" Bok 'mini', 2 liebig based pots and the 'Blockhead' 60K btu propane heat
Hi Hawke, just had a chat to olddog and looks like I was WAY too conservative with the cuts.. I should have been a lot more generous.. Unfortunately I have already tossed them all into the feints jar..
This is what comes from running refluxes all the time..
Since I started stilling, I can smell and taste the heads and tails in commercial spirits.
Some of it just has to be there to get the proper character. Most commercial stuff goes too far though.
I still use the small jar method when I know I am near the cut line. Let them air for a day or two, then make the final cuts based on an acceptable amount of feints.
It is the very things that we think we know, that keep us from learning what we should know.
Valved Reflux, 3"x54" Bok 'mini', 2 liebig based pots and the 'Blockhead' 60K btu propane heat
If you run it too fast you will get more heads and tails smeared through the hearts part of the wash. Once you've done a couple of spirit runs you will work out how fast to run it and get more clean & bigger hearts section.
I am with AH on this one. Getting only 750ml left of hearts, and having to make such drastic cuts to get there, sounds like you ran things too fast, thus carrying over all sorts of shit the whole run.
Not sure if you are double stillin' or not, but I have found that a good way to go. A lot like to use a thumper, and that may be fine if your boiler is big enough. However, I would rather strip out 3 or 4 full runs, and PACK my boiler with 35% low wines which contain everything from the strips (deep into tails). And then run that really slow, and make careful cuts. It may 'sound' like a little more work, doing 5 runs vs 4 single runs, but 4 out of the 5 runs were done very fast, and with little to no 'wasting time' monitoring the run. Only the last one was a full 'careful' run.
There are many ways to skin that cat in this hobby. Find what works for you, and practice doing that over and over, is the best advice I can give.
H.
Hillbilly Rebel: Unless you are one of the people on this site who are legalling distilling, keep a low profile, don't tell, don't sell.
Well guys you were all right! I was running it too fast and hot for a spirit run.
Did my second run today, a light rum wash, ran it slow just less than a stream, really fast drops....
Got 2 1/2 litres from a 25L wash.. I did use my doubler for a first time ( ) with some molasses and wash in it..
Taste is fantastic.. I cant believe its taken me this long to do a proper flavored spirit.
