Grape vinegar bummer

[skow69]

I've been fermenting about 20 gallons of grapes for brandy for about 2 weeks. It had a strong vinegar smell. Came here for info, of course. Found 2 items that may be useful:
1. Vinegar tends to float above alcohol in the must.
2. Vinegar, being less volatile, tends to hang in the tails when distilled.

[1] So I kind of scraped off the top layer, about 4 gallons, and sent it to compost. It was mostly skins and crap. Bummer, no grappa.

[2] I took another 4 gal to strip. I think I'll swap jars a couple times during the strip. Maybe the vinegar will concentrate at the end and I can lose a little that way. Then I plan (hope) to take normal cuts on the spirit run and end up with vinegar-free brandy

The 4 gal in the boiler smells sour as hell, but vinegar is barely detectable, if at all. There is probably 2 more charges in the fermenter. Just right for a spirit run. Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted.

If anyone has any other tips or tricks, beside the obvious "Clean your stuff better." I would be most appreciative.

Skol
skow