Home Distiller

Hello all
I have been working to improve my Vodka. I started out several years ago by building a 1.5 meter, 50 mm refractory still from designs I got off the home pages. I did a little modification for better cooling and ended up with a nice efficient little still. As I said it was several years ago. At that time it seemed to me that Turbo Yeast was the way to go. I made a bunch of batches. I tried all kind of things to get to taste right. Thinking I must be doing something wrong. I gave up but every once and a while I would give it one more try. Damn Turbo yeast. Well One day not so long ago I came back to the Forum. Low and behold I discovered Birdwatchers recipe. It perked my interest. I figured got to give this a try along with stripping runs. So I scoured the forum and the home pages. Read all I could. This is what I came up with. I did a 52 liter ferment using Birdwatchers recipe. I then did two stripping runs without the Stainless Steel Scrubbers. (My still pot is not big enough to do it in one) I took the first 200 ml of each stripping run and threw away. I separated the runs in ½ liter containers. I stopped taking product when the temperature reached 90-C. then combined the hearts of the two stripping runs together and Came up with 4.5 liters. It was diluted to less than 40% then added Sodium carbonate. I replaced the scrubby pads and fired up the still. Let it warm up 100% reflux. Pulled off the first 50 ml. Once again product was collected in ½ liter containers. First container set aside and started taking hearts. The still was stable throughout the run. On temp rise I stop taking hearts. I continued until 90-C then shut it down. So I have just one question for you. Does it look like I did this right? Any suggestions you have I would love to hear. I am hoping to dilute this in a couple of days. I guess the proof will be in the hooch. Sure would be nice to have clean tasteless run.

What style of reflux still is it? LM VM CM?

Are you letting it air before you make your cuts?

Don't want to sound like a smart A$$ but you answered your question in your last sentence.

You are doing good. Along with the turbo is the idea they promote that pretty much all of their product can be drunk.

The parts of your statement I question are...1, "then combined the hearts of the two stripping runs together", and 2, "First container set aside and started taking hearts."

1. Stripping runs have the hearts mixed up with the heads and tails, even with the foreshots unless they were taken off slowly before the actual strip. Usually all of the strip is run again as a spirit run.
2. You shouldn't know which are the hearts - of a spirit run - until after the tasting session. You can have a good idea that you are in the hearts, but I have found that simply going by the numbers or a hunch ends mostly in disappointment and having to re-run more than I should have. I collect everything in small containers. If I'm feeling confident I put the early heads in a bigger container, and sometimes the middle hearts too, but it's too easy to get the middle hearts wrong and have to cut out the bigger container.