Home Distiller

I am a novice distiller and I have a couple questions for the more still savvy people here. I've distilled about 6 washes so far, two grain, one rum and three sugar. What has come out tastes fine. It isn't chemically or solvent like. When I compare it to store bought alcohol, rum, lets say it has a profoundly different feel. The store bought rum is smooth and cooling whereas my distillate is hot. Of course I take off the first 100ml of distillate, and stop collecting when the distillate reaches about 50%. What could be causing this "hotness", and how could I fix it? Thanks,

Your store bought rum has likely spent two years on on oak and in some instances another year on glass,,,then filtered......Couple that that with bottling with a bunch of sugar/syrup..........Is that what you are also doing?

I've read that the heads are a big factor in the burn, maybe you just need to cut out more of the heads?

Also it sounds like you are collecting ALL of the heads in the run too, so that may well be the problem.

I only make neutral spirit as I have a super reflux still

I make some gin , without the packing

however do make the occasional bourbon using essence from the HBS for my wife

My latest experiment is to add Jack Daniels wood chips for BBQ's which smooths the spirit well

I am now trying a new batch with a vanilla pod as well

bear in mind my wife will add coke to the bourbon

both seem to smooth out the spirit

Rod, making good cuts are important. Oak will mellow it with time. I think vanilla bean also does a great job along with oak. But in the end, time, %abv, oak, vanilla bean, and good cuts should solve your problem.

Hard to tell from what you said...but if your only cut is taking 100ml up front and you take it down to 50% ...there in lies your problem. That's most likely too shallow for heads and too far for tails regardless of the still you are running. And yes, time/aging/oaking/blending, etc..will all help. But, you might want to start out taking a bit more for heads side cut. And stop a bit earlier.

Where did you get those figures? (ie., take 100ml up front and stop at 50%) And what kind of still you running?

It took me about a year to learn how to properly make cuts and blend my stuff, but once I learned that I find the opposite of what you find. My stuff tastes smoother to me than most store bought stuff. I believe your problem is likely heads in your blend. The hardest lesson I learned was not to be greedy when blending. I learned its much better to have 2 liters of good hearts whiskey than a gallon of heads laden whiskey. Once I realized what good results I often get with all feints runs (again with tight cuts and blending) it became much easier to throw heads and tails in the re-run jug. Try this: your next run of anything take the 2-3 middle jars, air it a few days, dilute to 80-85 proof and taste. I believe you will be surprised.

Good luck.

BG

+BG. Good advice.

It isn't chemically or solvent like.

That's a good sign. "Heady" hooch is best left to age for a bit. If you've kept out the chemical and solvent portion like you did, then time and oak should reward you with some fine distillate. The heat will dissipate. If you want to drink your likker a little quicker, you'll need to make tighter cuts. Good luck.

I think what you are calling hot is the alcohol on your tongue. I learned comparing top shelf vodka to neutral that a tiny bit of sugar changes how it feels on your tongue or palate. The sugar will move the bite from your tongue to your throat. Smoothing it out some. I am convinced they add sugar or glycerin.
On rum make good heads cuts, collect deeper into tails for flavor and add a little fancy molasses until you have a slight amber color.

Your not making cuts. Just throwing out the fores and drinking the rest isn't gona give you a good product. You will need to make a heads hearts and tails cut. Until you do this you won't be happy. Remember greed has no place in this hobby. Except when it comes to hording copper.

Here give this thread a good read through. But don't stop there. The new distiller reading lounge is full of great must read information. Some of us feel its required reading.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13261

On my pot still, I take more than 500 mls of heads. I collect heads untill that fruity smell is gone, and I taste untill the burn is gone, then I know i'm in hearts. I've been saving all my heads to re-run, as I'm sure there's still good booze left in it, but I'm not sure how well it'll work. Either way, my rum is way smoother than store bought stuff, even only aged a couple of weeks! hope that helps!

rumbuff wrote:On my pot still, I take more than 500 mls of heads. I collect heads untill that fruity smell is gone, and I taste untill the burn is gone, then I know i'm in hearts. I've been saving all my heads to re-run, as I'm sure there's still good booze left in it, but I'm not sure how well it'll work. Either way, my rum is way smoother than store bought stuff, even only aged a couple of weeks! hope that helps!

Tossing out numbers or percentages to a novice does little good because there are a lot of variables that need to be taken into consideration... You just collect as much of each cut as required and to hell with the numbers... Or collect in multiple small collection jars, sized in accordance with boiler charge size, and choose which ones to keep after airing for 24 - 48 hours... Both methods work equally well and personal preference dictates which one works best for a given individual...

All that said, it's not hard at all to make better spirits than the commercial guys who have to answer to the bean counters in the corporate offices...

Are you cutting down the alcohol content or drinking the straight distillate?

edge wrote:Are you cutting down the alcohol content or drinking the straight distillate?

I just logged on to ask the same thing. Also, what size is your boiler charge?

Silly me. I just assumed he was making proper cuts and dilution and went more cerebral on him. There goes my blind faith in humanity again. I need to keep that in check. Or tied up in the closet.

mash rookie wrote:Silly me. I just assumed he was making proper cuts and dilution and went more cerebral on him. There goes my blind faith in humanity again. I need to keep that in check. Or tied up in the closet.

Maybe you assumed correctly. We don't really know yet for sure. He's gotta come back and answer some questions ...

Thanks for all the help! I'll answer a few questions now;

My still is extremely homemade. It works as both a reflux still and a pot still (though not simultaneously). I've added pictures of it with the column without the condenser (1), with the condenser (2) and with the pot still attachment (the condenser goes on the end) (3). For both rum and neutral ethanol, I used the column, for grain washes I use the pot still.

I make 100 ml head cuts because I only distill 6 liter runs and stop once the still is putting out 50% and discard the rest (I know I'm wasting plenty of alcohol). My runs usually last about 6-8 hours, and with a 12% wash, I'll collect about 700ml of 75%. Before trying I dilute it with distilled water down to about 45%.

As for aging, there usually hasn't been much of that. Thanks for your help, I look forward to more responses.

Learn to make cuts like already pointed out.

6 - 8 hours to distill a 6 liter wash is WAY too long, even for a reflux run...