Head heart and tails

[mrgt]

Ok I am very new to this (working on my third and fourth batch 5 gallon). I done a fair bit of reading but still learning lots. So far I have made a birwatchers sugar wash ad well as something I got called black beards rum. (2 lbs of brown sugar to every gallon of water, 1 cup of honey to 10 gallons of water, 1 to 3 oz of yeast per 10 gallons (i used bakers yeast) and I substiuted some fancy molasses for brown sugar ( approx 1 pound worth). I cut it in half and made 5 gallons.

I am using this still that I bought of ebay:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ALCOHOL-ETHA ... 1c310304fa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow


BTW I am not the seller, just want to give people an idea of my equipment. seems to be a very good unit. The thermometer is at the top of the dome and for the 4 times i ran it starts producing at 87 - 88 C (190 F) and I usually would stop at at 95 C (203 F). I think the higher temps are due to the fact that the top of the tower where the copper tube turns down is cooler than the top of the dome so . It has consistantly started at this same temperature. My friend used the still too on two runs with the temps being the same. The therometer was measuring air temp , not liquid temp. I throw away the first 50ml

On my rum batches I seperated the first and last 250 ml ( approx 1/4 of a quart or half a pint) from the run , total run was aproximately 2 liters ( half gallon). Both my wife and I actually like the tate of the heads better than the hearts. The smells were all different between the head , heart and tails , but none of them were unpleasant with basically Heads being favorite, hearts second and tails third. I just ended up mixing it all together. On one batch I dumped the tails back in to be re run in next batch. second batch I didn't bother because I really didnt mind the taste.

I kept everything on my sugar wash and ran it all through a carbon filter ( 30 inch tube with carbon from local wine and beer store)
and it tasted awesome. I stopped producing at 95 C (203 F)


I was expecting a much fouler taste from both heads and tails but in the end I was pleasantly suprised. My question is what am I missing? I really anticipated differnt off tastes, I think I have a good pallate, for sure my wife has an excellent sense of smell. Everything I have read was preparing me for much worse tasting heads and tails. I am a little confused

[Ayay]

You have a good minimal pot still, and looks like you are doing it right. In time your tastes will become more refined.

Cuts are very slippery and it takes time to find what works for you. Sooner or later you will desire less of the heads and tails in your hearts unless you are ageing on oak.

Activated carbon works best on off-tastes and tails, and blowing air through your product using a fishtank airator works best for removing heads.

[Prairiepiss]

As ayay stated. Over time your tastes will change. Almost all new distillers have this problem. But after a while the heads and tails of most runs will become repulsive. I say most because some recipes nice stuff can be found in some weird places. Like rum oils deep into the tails. Or a good corn flavor found in some tails. But you will also find that adding to much of either heads or tails can screw up a really good run. You mite think its fine by itself. But when you add it to the mix. It all of a sudden turns to crap. Your new you still have a little to learn. It doesn't just happen over night. Just go with the flow and soon enough you will realize man that stuff is nasty. Especially after the next morning when you have a killer hangover.

[copperking]

[quote="mrgt"]Ok I am very new to this (working on my third and fourth batch 5 gallon). I done a fair bit of reading but still learning lots. So far I have made a birwatchers sugar wash ad well as something I got called black beards rum. (2 lbs of brown sugar to every gallon of water, 1 cup of honey to 10 gallons of water, 1 to 3 oz of yeast per 10 gallons (i used bakers yeast) and I substiuted some fancy molasses for brown sugar ( approx 1 pound worth). I cut it in half and made 5 gallons.




This sounds like yum. After i make my first ever batch of shine . Im goin to try this recipe .Possibly with a few modifications .tata