Home Distiller

Hi All,
Just finished my first spirit run !
it was about 20 litres of 32% low wines.
It took about 2.5 hours, maybe a little more.

I took an advice I got here, and collected almost everything (up to 8% ABV). of course, in small jars, between 220 to 300 ml.
It is now left for overnight aeration, and tomorrow, hopefully, I will blend it.

The thing is, I was looking for some cloudy distillate in the tails, or film on the surface, but did not see any of those.
I also did not smell the wet dog/cardboard smell. The most dominant smell I got in the tails was butter. very buttery. but not a bad smell.
Does this makes sense at all ?
Ah, another thing - I threw the foreshots in the stripping run already, and I went on the safe side, and threw about 250 for 17 litres of wine.

Here are the fraction, if this can help:
1. 225 ml | 76.5
2. 240 ml | 77
3. 250 | 76.6
4. 230 | 76.3
5. 225 | 75.9
6. 240 | 75.6
7. 235 | 75.4
8. 230 | 75.1
9. 255 | 74.4
10. 255 | 73.6
11. 280 | 73.4
12. 245 | 72.4
13. 245 | 71.9
14. 245 | 70.9
15. 230 | 70
16. 255 | 69.3
17. 225 | 67.8
18. 265 | 67.3
19. 220 | 66.3
20. 250 | 64.1
21. 225 | 63
22. 300 | 61.5
23. 240 | 59.2
24. 215 | 57.2
25. 300 | 55.2
26. 265 | 51.7
27. 230 | 48.7
28. 225 | 45.8
29. 245 | 41.6


And it goes down to about 10% area.... I don't think it is that interesting...


Any good advice for the blending ? is it possible that I can go deeper into tails if they smell good (and keep the fruity taste) ?

Thanks !

May take a run or 2 more to keen your senses in ..Some folks first time, others some practice.
I'd keep somewhere around jars 8-9 thru 27 or so to start with ..Adjust to your likens ..
Never put foreshots Back ..Excellent charcoal starter the first time!
Keep the rest in your feints jar.
Yes, go as deep as you want into tails ..I never go below 39% myself ..But you'll find your spot if you keep at it.

cant say i get strong smells either, but you'll see oils tomorrow, in the right light. use a white paper under it and look from an acute angle.
the taste gives it up for me, tails can be nice but most have a bitter drying (astringent) effect at the back of and in the middle of my tongue, and opposing on the back of the throat.thats what i pay attention to, what and where on the tongue the flavours show up.
practice from the middle of the cuts out. it gets easier.

The tails can often be difficult to differentiate from the late hearts. I say from roughly 62% to 56% is where your transition will occur. How sharp the transition is or exactly where it is, are impossible to say, as there are too many factors involved. I say try samples from the 62 and 56 jars and try and see if you can taste a noticeable difference and figure out maybe somewhere in between where you want to make your tails cut.

The heads I find to be very easy. The solvent/fruitiness is very characteristic of heads and in the first 5-10 jars you will see the fruitiness slowly reduce as the heads gradually transitions into hearts. These are just guidelines but they will point you in the right direction.

Remember: QUALITY not QUANTITY is key! Don't get greedy, because once the cuts are blended, for all intents and purposes, it's final unless you mix everything back together and re-run the batch. Learning to make good cuts takes time!

I find cuts much easier when blended with equal parts of water. The small measuring spoons work well for this. One spoon of water and one of spirits in a bigger spoon or small glass.

Thank you all !
Done the blending.
I took 2 ml from each jar and diluted it with 2 ml of water tasted snd decided what goes in ant what does not.
I took from jar 9 to 29. 30 and above were bitter, except 33 which was very good tasty and smooth.
I ended up with about 5.5 litres of 60 % abv brandy.
my first home made brandy.
I diluted like with the jars and it tasted really nice and smooth. Lots of flavor, and it doesn't burn on the tongue.

I guess amknth or two in oak barrel will make it better

I still have another spirit run to do, and feints run afterwards.
Thanks again, and happy Sukot.