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Hi folks, appreciate any help I can get.
I am running a 36 quart SS pot still with a coil condenser making mostly fruit brandies and false brandies with good luck, but I am still a novice.
Last week I ran two batches of submerged Cabernet pumace and got a very tasty grappa. After discarding foreshots the yeild was so low that I only had about 4 pints of distillate above 40%abv (tasted great to me on first run) and about 5 pints of under 40% down to maybe 20%. It smelled good so I re ran all the feints and then mixed the product in with the rest, based just on smell with out tasting. (big mistake)
Now the grappa has a nice flavor up front and a really mean bite at the end, tastes like chewing on concentrated grape seeds, and leaves a taste in my mouth the next day and my ears ringing. (more so than most grappas I mean)
I have now read almost every post I can find on grappas and have some idea of what I did wrong: greedy novice not cutting tails being the main sin.
My question is more about saving this batch. I poured it through a coffee filter with some activated charcoal sachets at the bottom, and am continuing to air out with coffee filters on the mason jars. It has improved, but at this rate it will take years. I understand that this is a common problem with grappas and greedy novices, but what would you suggest, cold filtering, re- running all and discarding tails? I don't want to lose that grappa flavor if I can avoid it.
Thanks in advance,
-Thirsty

There is nothing wrong with running feints and or tails. Don't bother with the carbon at all, it is just used to cover up bad technique. By the sound of it you didn't get the cuts quite right. You can dilute the lot and rerun it. You will loose a bit more flavour but it can't be helped.

With such a small yield the cuts will be more difficult. To maximise your yield you will need to collect in smaller quantities and blend them later. Dilute a sample of each jar to drinking strength then test by taste before deciding if you will keep it or discard it.

You could make some more and add the stuff with bad cuts into your boiler along with the mash to re distill it.

sounds like a great excuse to make more grappa.

Than you much, I guess I thought as much, no magic bullet. I took two more 6 gal buckets of the pumace and added 5 lbs of sugar (+ water) to each for a re-ferment since the pumace was still fizzing on its own, almost done now. I think I will add this grappa back in to the lot and end up with a 3/4 " real" grappa, and the sugar boost should give more room to make the cuts, although I will definitely collect smaller quantities. All in all a great lesson on the importance of cuts even on a brandy, with this kind of amplified flavor slam that even I can't help but to taste. Its all about learning (then drinking)
Thanks again
-Thirsty