Putting older posts here. Going to try to keep the novice forum pruned about 90 days work. The 'good' old stuff is going to be put into appropriate forums.
I am a newbie........running a VERY BASIC homemade pot still with a small (8 ltr) stock pot as the boiler. No thumber. Just Boiler, arm and condenser. Thats it. I ras water through first to check the system. All is well. I then ran through a few gallons of cheap 12% ABV red wine, throwing out the first 100 ml of each run and tasting towards the temp rise for the tails. When I finished that run, I added the tails to the next run of fresh wine and let her rip. What I got out of the condensor seems like rocket fuel!!! :D:D It's clear as day and a whiff of the stuff will knock a buzzard off a shit-wagon (it's not a bad smell at all, just strong ). My question is that when mixed at a ratio of about 60% distillate and 40% water, it's a nice, smooth yet still strong drink. And I only ran it once. I did not double distill.
My question is this:
Can I just leave it as a single distillation and char-oak age it for a few weeks..........then screen it through the activated charcoal and mix it up with water at the above ratio and call it a day? Or is there any reason to run it through again before the aging process.........if I am happy with where it is right now?
Sorry I can't give you any answers on alcohol content or SG.......don't have the tools yet (but have them on order).
if you like the taste, just keep it as it is.
you will loose taste if you distill it an extra time. (and energy, time, ..)
but it looks like you don't have an alcohol meter, buy one, it's useful.
dont oak it and then run thru charcoal. defeats the purpose of oak. charcoal strips the flavor. why flavor and then strip. if you like the taste oak it and then drink it. charcoal or carbon is for fixing mistakes. after you figure stilling out you will throw that stuff away.
:D:D It's clear as day and a whiff of the stuff will knock a buzzard off a shit-wagon (it's not a bad smell at all, just strong