Tell us about your mistakes.

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The Baker
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by The Baker »

Getting a bit vague myself.
Can't tell you about my mistakes, I can't remember them!!!

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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Dancing4dan »

At times I have used a microfibre cloth in a funnel to filter out the oils in low wines. Never had a problem but this time I chose a nice clean cloth rather than one of the well used ones. These are the yellow cloths from COSTCO….

Apparently repeated laundering removes the yellow dye…. Or you can use some 20% low wines.

Lost about 1 1/2 gallons low wines as it turned a nice yellow
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Yummyrum »

Dancing4dan wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:59 am
Lost about 1 1/2 gallons low wines as it turned a nice yellow
I’m at two minds about this . If its just the yellow in the low wines that you are worried about , I’d just run it anyway as often I’ll get a puke during a stripping run that will colour my low wines .

But , what really worries me is that you are running it through a synthetic material .I think You’d be better off just use a piece of paper towel rather than a micro fibre cloth if you wanted to filter the low wines . Thats your call .
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Dancing4dan »

Yummyrum wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 1:41 pm
Dancing4dan wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:59 am
Lost about 1 1/2 gallons low wines as it turned a nice yellow
I’m at two minds about this . If its just the yellow in the low wines that you are worried about , I’d just run it anyway as often I’ll get a puke during a stripping run that will colour my low wines .

But , what really worries me is that you are running it through a synthetic material .I think You’d be better off just use a piece of paper towel rather than a micro fibre cloth if you wanted to filter the low wines . Thats your call .
I agree about the synthetic material. Wasn’t prepared to try running the portion that turned yellow.
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StillerBoy
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by StillerBoy »

Dancing4dan wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:59 am At times I have used a microfibre cloth in a funnel to filter out the oils in low wines.
I often filter the low wine especially on rum, but I use a white wool fabric, which has been previously washed before use, and can be cleaned a few times, so the cost is small..
Does it improve the end product, don't really know cause that's how I been doing it all these times, but it does keep the column clean during the run..
Mars
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Bradster68 »

Recently iv been watching some vids from Single Malt TV and Edradour Distillery. Very interesting info. Iv been watching the ones about the spirit safe. An 11 part series. When I got to episode 9 the gentleman mentioned blue clouds in the distilate when you cut from 70% to 35% and you know you've got it right provided the nose is well. And that's a form of quality control there.
I definitely have been reading tons about this topic. Most say it's a copper from a bad ferment or too much nutrient that came through or maybe a good cleaning of the still is needed.
When I make a mash,must or wash (most from the tried and true, but a few of my own experiments). I always check temps,ph,gravities etc. Iv been keeping notes. Iv noticed the blue only in the sugar washes.The only thing I haven't done is used a cleaner on my still. I always wash with soap water and a metal scrub pad after each use. Of all the ferment recipes iv done,about a years worth( I'm guessing 100 or so). Iv only got a blue cloud twice. I will be purchasing a copper test kit( which is on the way as I type).
My question is not so much as to why I'm getting the occasional blue cloud,but why this gentleman says they see it in the commercial Distillerys. Again, not to beat a dead horse but I'm still learning and gathering info so it would be nice to know what this gentleman means when he said that. Maybe this is a mistake on my part? Any feedback is much appreciated.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

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Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:54 pm The only thing I haven't done is used a cleaner on my still. I always wash with soap water and a metal scrub pad after each use.
Two statement with each confusing ends..
Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:54 pm The only thing I haven't done is used a cleaner on my still.
What is meant by the about statement..
Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:54 pm I always wash with soap water and a metal scrub pad after each use.
And this statement, the use of soap water, to clean what.. soap should not be used anywhere in the distillation process, as to the best cleaner, if required, is just plain white vinegar..

Mars
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Bradster68 »

StillerBoy wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 3:13 pm
Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:54 pm The only thing I haven't done is used a cleaner on my still. I always wash with soap water and a metal scrub pad after each use.
Two statement with each confusing ends..
Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:54 pm The only thing I haven't done is used a cleaner on my still.
What is meant by the about statement..
Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:54 pm I always wash with soap water and a metal scrub pad after each use.
And this statement, the use of soap water, to clean what.. soap should not be used anywhere in the distillation process, as to the best cleaner, if required, is just plain white vinegar..

Mars
Sorry SB. I have done a vinegar run and a sacrificial in the beginning. I usually wash the still ( only the pot not the condensor)after a couple uses with soap then a disinfectant. Iv read there are some commercial copper cleaners but haven't tried any. I guess I'll run a vinegar again to see if that helps. It's only happened twice but needs addressing before I carry on
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by StillerBoy »

Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 4:58 pm I guess I'll run a vinegar again to see if that helps. It's only happened twice but needs addressing before I carry on
Don't need to a vinegar run again to clean things.. just some vinegar, some hot water, and a rag will do the job, same for clean the raiser or column..

Mars
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

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StillerBoy wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:19 pm
Bradster68 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 4:58 pm I guess I'll run a vinegar again to see if that helps. It's only happened twice but needs addressing before I carry on
Don't need to a vinegar run again to clean things.. just some vinegar, some hot water, and a rag will do the job, same for clean the raiser or column..

Mars
Sounds good. Thanks and 🍻
I drink so much now,on the back of my license it's a list of organs I need.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by NormandieStill »

Tonight I tried to redistill a batch of gin that's been macerating for a while now. I've been busy with work, holidays and rebuilding my controller and I've not run the still in over 3 months. I've got about 5 stripping runs to do, the spirit run for my first batch of rum, and have a pastis and gin both waiting to be redistilled. Time to get back on the horse.

My liebig has been sat in the shed since I last ran the still and while I'd clipped a cover over the tri-clamp, the product end was open. I gave it a blow through and thought I saw something come out so I took a look down it. About 40cm from the product end were a couple of smooth bulges. I assumed that a spider had got in and laid eggs so I hunted down a stick that was long enough and narrow enough and prepared a quick clean out. Running water through didn't do anything, so I made a little ball of tissue paper and used my stick to push it down the liebig from the tri-clamp end figuring that I wouldn't have to push the resultant mess so far.

Suddenly I feel resistance. I tamp a couple of times but nothing budges. I remove the stick and look down the tube but obviously it's now blocked. Now I wonder if those bulges aren't solder that ran down when I was putting it together... I'm not sure I've ever looked down it before. In any case, I now have a piece of tissue stuck which needs removing before I can distill anything. I try to reach it with my stick, but it's the wrong side of the solder blobs (of course they're solder blobs, now I wonder how much of the huffing problems I originally had were because of them!) so I tape two kebab skewers together to make a longer stick and push them in from the other end. I hit the solder blobs and try a few times to dislodge the tissue and then the inevitable happens; I get the kebab skewer stuck. I pull gently and remove one stick, the other, with tape attached, is still stuck between the solder blobs.

I decide to shorten the liebig (there was about 15cm after the cooled section) to get better access to the stick, but lacking a pair of long needle nose pliers it makes no difference. The skewer is indifferent to my attempts to persuade it out with a variety of tools. At this point we see why even the cleverest of men reverts to caveman when presented with an obstacle that has proved to be a greater foe than expected... I decide to burn the stick. I figure that there's even a slight chance that I'll loosen the solder. After singeing my eyebrows during my first attempt, I manage to direct heat from my propane torch down the end of the liebig... at which point the solder at the first joint melts, a small amount of water inside the tube flashes to steam and the molten solder spits out of the joint.

Tomorrow, I'll be attempting to break down the liebig in order to access the part of the tube where the blobs are and melt them out. One of those fucking days... I hadn't even been drinking!
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Ridgeback816 »

Did leave enough head space for my oat mash good news the hose is right round the corner
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Yummyrum »

NormandieStill wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:52 pm I gave it a blow through and thought I saw something come out so I took a look down it. About 40cm from the product end were a couple of smooth bulges. I assumed that a spider had got in and laid eggs so I hunted down a stick that was long enough and narrow enough and prepared a quick clean out.
That sounds like a shit show Normandie .
Hey you should get a Buret cleaning brush . We use them at work , about a metre long and would clean the spider out without getting gnarled up in the solder .

Went searching for a pic of a buiret brush and found this .
Looks even better . Every distiller should have one LOL .

https://www.aimsindustrial.com.au/indus ... gLSnvD_BwE
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by StillerBoy »

Agree with the shit show.. I use 16 gauge shotgun brass wire brushes for cleaning, and have others in small size, best tool for cleaning tubes with..

Mars
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

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Ridgeback816 wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:43 pm Did leave enough head space for my oat mash
Nap, on the head space..

From what the picture indicates, the starting Ph was possible to high, and the mash looks quite thick.. a high starting Ph (anything over 6.5) will cause more foam.. cap should not raise more than a inch if the Ph is right..

Mars
" I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent. Curiosity, Obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my knowledge and understanding "

– Albert Einstein
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by jonnys_spirit »

A (long) piece of copper wire twisted up with a cloth or bristles on the end might also work...

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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Ridgeback816 »

StillerBoy wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:26 am
Ridgeback816 wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 1:43 pm Did leave enough head space for my oat mash
Nap, on the head space..

From what the picture indicates, the starting Ph was possible to high, and the mash looks quite thick.. a high starting Ph (anything over 6.5) will cause more foam.. cap should not raise more than a inch if the Ph is right..

Mars
The mash started super thick the ph was a hair over 6 though I had added some backset from a previous run that normally brings it down into the 5.8 range I willhave to pay more attentionto this I guess. In the end it finished out normal. I stripped it over the weekend and ended up not losing very much.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by NormandieStill »

Yummyrum wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:14 am That sounds like a shit show Normandie .
Hey you should get a Buret cleaning brush . We use them at work , about a metre long and would clean the spider out without getting gnarled up in the solder .

Went searching for a pic of a buiret brush and found this .
Looks even better . Every distiller should have one LOL .

https://www.aimsindustrial.com.au/indus ... gLSnvD_BwE
Looks perfect. But actually the spider egg sacks were blobs of solder. Looks like I'm going to have to cut it down a little to fix it. That'll provide an incentive for building a shotgun.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Saltbush Bill »

NormandieStill wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:52 pm Suddenly I feel resistance. I tamp a couple of times but nothing budges. I remove the stick and look down the tube but obviously it's now blocked. Now I wonder if those bulges aren't solder that ran down when I was putting it together... I'm not sure I've ever looked down it before. In any case, I now have a piece of tissue stuck which needs removing before I can distill anything.
Fancy Brush aint shifting that Yummy .....nope :lol:
Or a shot gun brush,
Or a copper wire and rag.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by NZChris »

I have no idea how anyone could accidentally get solder into the inner of a Liebig. :roll:

It would be easier to make that mistake when building a shotgun, so be careful.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by NormandieStill »

NZChris wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:02 am I have no idea how anyone could accidentally get solder into the inner of a Liebig. :roll:

It would be easier to make that mistake when building a shotgun, so be careful.
At one end of the liebig are a series of adapters to take me from the 16mm inner tube to the I-don't-remember-what-size needed to get me to a triclamp. While soldering them I clearly fed too much solder into the joints... and had the liebig the wrong way up causing the solder to run into the tube and not out of it.

Needless to say my soldering skills have improved no small amount since I built the liebig. I'm just surprised I never noticed it before! :wtf:
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Saltbush Bill »

NormandieStill wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:58 am Needless to say my soldering skills have improved no small amount since I built the liebig.
The first thing I ever built was a Liebig......they are a great beginners project......by the time you have it finished you've put a fair bit of solder on the floor , your feet/ shoes or boots........while this is happening you have learned the basics of soldering, your then ready to start on the still.
EDIT: As an after thought I'll add that at about that stage its possible to get solder almost anywhere but where you want it ......I understand exactly how you managed to get it inside the inner tube.......lol
Amazes me the amount of people these days who say " I Cant Solder" " I don't have the tools" 'No room" and a multitude of other things.........was a time in this hobby where you learned to solder and built or you just didn't have a still.
NZChris wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:02 am I have no idea how anyone could accidentally get solder into the inner of a Liebig. :roll:
It would be easier to make that mistake when building a shotgun, so be careful.
Interesting comment from someone who has always maintained that he farms his still building work out to others.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by NZChris »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 2:23 am
NZChris wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:02 am I have no idea how anyone could accidentally get solder into the inner of a Liebig. :roll:
It would be easier to make that mistake when building a shotgun, so be careful.
Interesting comment from someone who has always maintained that he farms his still building work out to others.
I only get friends to do what I can't do, or what they can do much better. My Liebigs are all my own builds except for one I was given, (there are quite few of them now).
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Renhoekk »

Here's one from a while ago.

I was running neutral and getting a nasty plastic taste, right from the start of the run.
It didn't go away as the run progressed. I think it even got stronger.
It was well beyond anything that could be coming off in the heads as congeners.

Couldn't figure out.
That is, until I noticed one of my plates had turned black.

Turns out I left the clear protective film on :crazy:
The film didn't look too good after having ethanol-water boiling away on it for half an hour...
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Knife_man »

Well there I was thinking "I'm glad I didn't make some of those mistakes and then I go and do something monumentally stupid.

Finished my first reflux run on my new Boka yesterday and was attempting to make the cuts by smell and taste .... pick up a jar slightly too full and take a sniff (can you see where this is going yet? ) tip said jar whilst taking a good hearty snort and snort up some 90%+ shine ......... that smarts I can tell you !

Even more annoyingly I can't smell a dammed thing now so the cuts will have to wait 😠.

Still you've got to laugh eh.

May have to add" to be taken orally only" to the label for my own private in-joke.
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squigglefunk
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by squigglefunk »

I dunno, I heard boofing is the way to go
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Knife_man »

squigglefunk wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 7:25 am I dunno, I heard boofing is the way to go
I had to look that up , and now I can't unlearn that 😮.
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by squigglefunk »

kids these days eh?
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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

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Re: Tell us about your mistakes.

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Didn't listen to my nose when It told me that the juniper I bought to make the latest batch of gin was old and had little smell or flavour.
Thought maybe my nose was a bit out of tune that day. Now sitting on 10L of Gin that I'm not happy with.
Lesson learned that should have been learned long long ago in this hobby.......the nose knows best......listen to what its telling you.
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