Spirit run questions

[keadyn]

I'll lay the hardware out first as that seems to be the number one question when trying to answer questions (might put a pic up at some point)

I have a 50l stainless steel milk can with a 2" boko slanted plates style about 36" of stainless steel scrubber packing and then a condensor coil at the top (couple of holes at the top not sealed in any way) Heated with a 1500W hot plate. Built it my self and it works (in my mind at least) quite well. I run it in a bathroom which seems to work very well. I got the bath tub filled with water being sump pumped through the coil. And the bathroom fan running on full. I hate the flooring but have not been able to melt it yet so I can replace it I have the hotplate on two 1by4's and slate tiles as a heat sheild for the floor

I'm aiming for pure flavourless vodka. I have made a bunch of sugar batches (around 150l or so). I and ran them through with the packed colum (about 4 times @40l ish each time) with the take off fully open. I tossed the first 200ml and then collected the rest in Wide mouth Masson jars. Let them breath for 3-4 days then sealed them. At full take off I was getting around 75% ABV, the spirit was kinda nasty tasted like bannana's (think it's a yeast taste).

When I got 10L of 75% ABV I decided it was time for a spirit run. So here somes the questions.

Q1. What ABV do people aim for when heating. I added about 20l and brought it down to the 30%-40% ABV ran smoothly (no fires or other crazyness, I have read about)
Q2. Why do people aim for very high ABV if your just going to dilute back to 40%
Q3. I ran it slower and was taking off about 1l per hour (took a very long time in my mind at least) is there any way to speed it up? Increase take off rate lowers ABV so I gues this one ties into Q.2 not sure I can get any more heat as I'm inside and don't want to run propane
Q4. After a long time it just stoped, like 1 drop every 5 secs on fully open. At that point I shut it down (I don't have a parrot so don't know the ABV)
Q5. I plan to mix it back together and dilute down to 40% ABV then store in sealed WWM jars untill use. How long should I let it air for


Thanks in advance

[ArkyJ]

I run a pot still, so... others will be along to answer Q 1-5 for you.
But, I'd ditch the s/s scrubbers and go to copper instead.
That just might get rid of some of your bad taste.
ArkyJ

[Dnderhead]

not really a reflux driver,,,but
1) most just "save" the highest proof that is the 95% the rest is "recycled"
2) with a reflux still your after the "cleanest" possible, and at 95% that is as clean as you can git
3) a liter per hour is not bad,I beleve that is what most are doing,the slower you take off the cleaner your product.in order to take off faster you need a bigger column.
4)you ran out of alcohol or at least your still thought so.
5) airing is up to you,some just do a few hours others days.

[rad14701]

With the Bokakob dual slant plate, as with all reflux columns, you run by temperature more than any other indicator... Reflux columns can produce 95% or near 95% neutral spirits which can then be diluted to your drinking strength... By running at 95% you are eliminating virtually all off tastes and flavors which will otherwise reappear when diluted to drinking strength...

Check the New Distiller Reading Lounge for more information on the proper operation of a reflux column, how to make proper cuts, and diluting to drinking strength... You should be able to hold your Bokakob at ~78C/172F for most of your spirit run... Lower temperatures indicate foreshots and heads and higher temperatures indicate tails... Once you know your still intimately you will be able to duplicate good results almost every time, taking those occasional rogue quirky runs into account...

[keadyn]

I did pull some off at 90% but that was about a drip every sec or even slower. At that take off rate 10l would take me days which from a power usage point of view is crazy.


Thanks for the info I get it now.

[Dnderhead]

"I did pull some off at 90% but that was about a drip every sec"
welcome to refluxing,its slow,not for the impatient.some spend
many hours running their still.as much as 16-20.stripping
then a spirits run seems to speed things along but cant swear it
does,it may just seem that way as you are more involved.
after all this is a hobby like fishing its somthing to spend time at.

[rad14701]

I did pull some off at 90% but that was about a drip every sec or even slower. At that take off rate 10l would take me days which from a power usage point of view is crazy.


Thanks for the info I get it now.

A Bokakob with 36" of structured packing should be able to produce 95% at a rate of at least 600ml per hour or more... Even shorter ones have been known to produce at about that rate... We might be able to be more helpful if we could see pictures of your column...

[keadyn]

75% ABV was a guess When I dulited today it was 88% ABV with a take off 1L per hour.
So if I slowed it down by 40% to 600ml an hour I would expect I could get an extra 7% and run 95% ABV.

In the end I'm pretty happy with 12L of 45%abv almost neutral. That should last me awhile.

Now that I know it works and I have a decent stockpile I'm going to do some higher ABV slower washes.

[Dnderhead]

"I'm going to do some higher ABV slower washes."
dont "push" yeast to hard 14% is about tops,10% is better.

[rad14701]

Slower take off = more reflux = increased purity...

All that while pushing as much heat as you can without blowing steam out the top, or just a little below that much...

More heat = more reflux = increased purity...

And what Dnderhead said about maximum potential %ABV of your wash...

[Kal]

A banana flavour can be attributed to isoamyl acetate, which is a tails component. Running the bok with a takeoff slow enough to get 95% will help you get nice cuts and eliminate the tails (and heads).

Do you have your boiler or column insulated?