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Hello all,

Iam quite new to distilling, not a complete novice even thought my questions might sound like it, i have bought a new still and took in all the advice that was given me by the seller, things like what purity i could expect to get from the still, no need to use carbon because the still is meant to be so efficient, the still is a fractionising/compound set up, the last time i did any distilling was about 4 years ago with a reflux still and i always needed to use carbon to clean it up, with this new still i did not know i needed to do a stripping run first because i was told this still is meant to be so good.

Can anybody explain the stripping run to me including the obvious points of the exercise,
Thanks
lee

What do you want to know?

A stripping run gets rid of the solids, yeast and all the other stuff that would make you need to use carbon. Run it through and collect everything down to 20% or so. Then charge your still back up when you have enough to fill it, and run it slow and make your cuts.

Doing this with your old still probably would have prevented having to use carbon.

I like the analogy on the parent site; that its easier to clean a muddy kid if you spray him off outside and then put him in a clean tub, rather than trying to soap up a muddy kid with muddy water and do it all in one step...

I was resistant to the idea of having to do two runs until I really gave it a try. I make mostly whiskey, but the same process would work for vodka. Make a mash, do a quick run and collect everything. set it aside and repeat the process. When I get about 4 runs set aside I'll combine them all into the still and do a careful run. Take off the appropriate fores and heads and then enjoy the big yield of hearts. All the heads and tails get recycled in the next run. Its a beautiful process...

you say do a slow run??..

how do you acheive this.. i have a pot still.. well i also have a reflux, but want to use the pot.

i dont have any temp control.. only cooling water

i could slow it down with the reflux still, and just slow the water flow through the condenser shaft?

To slow a run down you need to be able to control the temperature of the boiler heat. It's easy enough with propane, you just turn it down. With electric elements you need some kind of current control.
Adding more reflux to a column will slow the output, but with a pot still you really need to be able to control the boiler heat.
I cut my heat at least in half after it boils. A slower run gives you more control and better seperation of the heads, middle and tail sections.
For a stripping run I run it a lot hotter and quicker.

Now, if i did the stripping run to how you advise, what amount of wash could i expect to be left in the boiler after the stripping, i do 25ltr washes, I am using a 10gallon Beer keg with heating elements, and my keg has a convex bottom to it , the heating elements do not sit right on the bottom, it takes nearly 2 gallons to cover my heating elements with the wash.

Thanks for all replies, they most appreciated.

You have to be sure that there will be enough liquid in the boiler to keep those elements covered. Not a problem with a stripping run, but it probably means you need to add clean water to the spirit run to keep things covered. How much you have left in the boiler after the run will depend on what proof is going in. if its 4 gallons of 100 proof then you will have around 2 gallons left. Seems like the parent site has a calculator for this question...

So really i recon my best bet would be to do a 7 gallon stripping run that should keep the elements covered, fire up the boiler, getting the heat up and just collecting everything, say up to when the temperature gets to around 90 then stop.

What sort of power/wattage do you run the still, do you keep it going at say 1500watt through the run.

I use propane and a water bath still. I run it pretty hot to do a stripping run. I just try to get as much of the ethanol off the wash as I can as fast as i can. You can stop at a little higher than 90. for me, 94 degrees. There will be a lot of alc. left in the wash if you stop too soon.

Strip runs that take out all taste-able alcohol leave me with 2/3 or more of the original wash volume.

stillvodka wrote: Can anybody explain the stripping run to me including the obvious points of the exercise,
Thanks
lee

I see lots of talk, but not what he asked for.

OK... here is what a strippin' run is and the point of it.

A strippin' run is runnin' yer wash/mash through yer still fast and rough the first time.

If yer usin' a pot still simply run it hot and fast till the abv% of the distillate dropps below 20% or maybe a hint lower.

If yer usin' a reflux still simply remove any packin' and run yer still hot and fast. Stop collectin' when the abv% dropps to 20%.

You should end up with roughly 1/3 the volume started with.

The point of this is to quickly remove a huge ammount of the water and concentrate the alcohol(s). This concentration will mean much better seperation in the next, slower, distillation.

Cheers guys

current control hey?? sounds expensive

spose a second heater element (smaller) inside the boiler would be the easy answer with two power sockets

Where would you go looking? hotwater systems?

Stangas wrote:current control hey?? sounds expensive

they pay aprox. $ 100
there are some topics about this device.

personally, i would cut the methanol in your stripping run.
-heat your boiler very fast
-when it's boiling, lower your energy input
-remove the methanol until the temp reaches +-78°C
-boost the heat up
-...

I just like the methanol to be gone as fast if possible.

stoker wrote:personally, i would cut the methanol in your stripping run.
-heat your boiler very fast
-when it's boiling, lower your energy input
-remove the methanol until the temp reaches +-78°C
-boost the heat up
-...

I just like the methanol to be gone as fast if possible.

It's ok to do it that way, but it's more work and more wasteful of ethanol... if the higher and lower alcohols are seperated from the ethanol during the second distillation there will be better seperation and purity.

how big is the % of methanol in the removed heads?
is it a lot of ethanol and a little methanol, or both, or lots of methanol and hardly ethanol,... ?
does anyone has an average %?

how big is the % of methanol in the removed heads?
is it a lot of ethanol and a little methanol, or both, or lots of methanol and hardly ethanol,... ?
does anyone has an average %?

It depends on what you're running. I have read that there is virtually no methanol in a sugar wash. However, there is more methanol produced by fermenting fruit such as apples and grapes.
Your methanol may vary.

I know the quantity of the methanol may vary, that was not my question,
it was: how is the methanol concentration of the forshot ( if I would use a reflux, with equilibrium,...)

Sorry, stoker, I don't have numbers, but I can say it does depend on the kind of still (reflux or pot). Most stillers take out the methanol before the heads, and THEN the heads are taken out. The stuff in the heads is yucky flavor and headache producers, but not the DEADLY methanol. The little bit of yuckies in the heads is a relatively small amount by volume, but spoils the good taste in the ethanol it is mixed with. It seems that even a good column can't seperate the yuckies compleatly from the good alcohol, so a portion is set aside, and eventually recycled.

The info on collumns is all second hand, but my pot still has similar results.

Hello All Distillers,

Would this be correct,
If i was stripping say 7 gallons of wash (just sugar yeast wash) in my 10 gallon boiler and i ran my still with no messing about with separating any of the chemicals, just running it fast 1500watts, or what ever you recommend best power setting would be, would i be left with the 2 gallons to cover my heating elements.

Thanks

Hello All Distillers,

Would this be correct,
If i was stripping say 7 gallons of wash (just sugar yeast wash) in my 10 gallon boiler and i ran my still with no messing about with separating any of the chemicals, just running it fast 1500watts, or what ever you recommend best power setting would be, would i be left with the 2 gallons to cover my heating elements.

Thanks

Yes. You won't be stripping much more than 2 gallons out of the seven anyway.

I know the quantity of the methanol may vary, that was not my question,
it was: how is the methanol concentration of the forshot ( if I would use a reflux, with equilibrium,...)

The methanol is concentrated in the forshots because of it's low boiling point (64.7 C). Methanol will tend to boil off before anything else does and is consequently the first condensate to appear. Anything coming out of your still when the head temperature is below 78.4 should be separated since it isn't pure ethanol.

Swag,
Thanks for that on both your post, i got a bit more work setting up, but when i have and i get distilling i will post on the forum let people know how i got on.

Thanks everyone for your help, it's most appreciated.