Airing it out

[Boxcutter]

Had a run airing out with coffee filters on the jars. My number one jar went from 140 proof to 115 proof. Had it airing out for 7 days. Can someone send in the right direction explaining why this happens can't find the answer here. I'll do the reasearch just can't find a logic answer.

[MitchyBourbon]

Evaporation, that's all. The alcohol in your jar is the most volatile liquid in the mixture. As such, it will be the first liquid to evaporate.

I wouldn't think more than 2 days would be necessary for airingout. The reason we air it out is that the higher alcohols that can cause some off flavors are even more volatile than ethanol.

[S-Cackalacky]

There was a big discussion about airing time a while back. I think the consensus was that less is better. Any more than one day and all you're doing is loosing good alcohol. You should also avoid drafty areas.

[Boxcutter]

I knew it would evaporate I just didn't think it would be that much are that much proof lost also. I would of thought that alchol would evaporate slower than water does. Guess I was wrong. Learning from mistakes

[jedneck]

I think I remember awhile back someone saying that dry air proof goes up, damn air proof goes down. Can't remember who it was but kinda makes sense. And not sure if it would be a noticeable difference without extended time.

[Boxcutter]

That kind of what I thought would have happen. The more it evaporated the higher the proof would of gotten. Does maybe the cooler temps has anything to do with it ? I would of thought hotter temps would of made it evaporate quicker

[NZChris]

The more volatile something is the quicker it will evaporate. You can get some idea of what is evaporating fastest by looking up the boiling points.

The earliest jars have the most undesirable volatiles, so they would benefit more than the hearts. Just because a day of airing is good doesn't mean a week is better, but longer does make for happy angels

[still_stirrin]

boxcutter, is the air dry where you are? That would aggravate the conditions too. But the lesson learned is worth hours of reading, right?
ss

[OBX Phantom]

I think I remember awhile back someone saying that dry air proof goes up, damn air proof goes down. Can't remember who it was but kinda makes sense. And not sure if it would be a noticeable difference without extended time.

If I remember correctly. that post said that your alc. will absorb moisture from the damp air, therefore reducing the %alc. I don't remember it saying anything about dry air increasing %alc.

[OBX Phantom]

Also I believe it said that the higher the %alc. the more water that it will absorb. Think about it this way... Alc. needs water to exist, this is why azeotrope is 96.3% (I think that is the right no.) So since you just removed all of the water out of it that it needs to exist, then it is going to try to replenish the water by absorbing it from the atmosphere.

[Boxcutter]

boxcutter, is the air dry where you are? That would aggravate the conditions too. But the lesson learned is worth hours of reading, right?
ss

Not dry but humid. It has been cool this past week

[still_stirrin]

boxcutter, is the air dry where you are? That would aggravate the conditions too. But the lesson learned is worth hours of reading, right?
ss

Not dry but humid. It has been cool this past week

Oh I see. The relative humidity would affect evaporation rate. But if your relative humidity was high, that should slow evaporation. Cold dry air will suck it up though, more than warm humid air. However, hot dry air will evaporate alcohol quickly.

But the volatiles will evaporate off in 24 to 36 hours. So 7 days is a bit too long. I guess the angels love to hang around your place, don't they?
ss

[Boxcutter]

Absolutely

[S-Cackalacky]

Pour a little pool of high proof alc. on a glass surface and the same amount of water beside it and see which liquid evaporates faster. You'll be amazed at how fast the alcohol disappears.

If you can't get to your cuts after 24 hours of airing, put lids on the containers until you have the time for the cuts. I put my collection jars inside a cardboard box with the flaps folded shut to help prevent any air from moving around the open jars.

[rad14701]

You should see how much volume I lose if I let my spirits air for more than a few hours when the central air conditioning is running...!!! I can lose roughly 12% - 25% even if the spirits came off the still at room temperature or below... The basement is also air conditioned... The barn is too hot... That only leaves the pool house if I want extended airing...

[T-Pee]

I usually put a dish towel over the jars while airing. Keeps the bugs out and slows evap due to our dry climate. <48 hours from still to bottling in any case.

tp

[DetroitDIY]

I believe you Rad... I distilled my first neutral 2 weeks ago. Been out the habit on a slow build over the past 2 years. Collected 11 jars at 400 ml each, aired them for a day or two and wasn't sure I had the right cuts. Decided to let them rest another day or two. Got busy. Went on vacation. Just got back and went out the to shop to finish making by cuts. All the jars were down to ~200 ml !! And the shop smelled strong. Holy shnikies! I just evaporated away half of my keepers. Just learned the same lesson the hard way as Still Stirrin mentioned... one I won't forget now.

Those jars were at 92 ABV, and when I measured them today they were at about 87.5 ABV. Not any water absorption I expect, just lots of evaporation, slightly preferential to the ethanol side (but it was mostly ethanol anyways).

Funny thing is, I've had a few gallons of feints for the past 2 years in a glass carboy where I left a coffee filter over the top all that time in the same shop. I can't say for sure how much evaporation or ethanol loss there has been, but nothing near the pint jars loss. I measured the ABV of the feints a while back and I think it was in the high 30's still. So such extreme evaporation from my pint collection jars was very surprising.

Regarding the water evaporation in a dry environment, I've experienced that. I've had some 5 gallons of rum in a 15 gallon barrel in the basement, where I run an extreme duty dehumidifier constantly... very dry. Over the past 2 years, the ABV in that barrel has risen from something like 62 to 76 or so. And the volume had decreased substantially, but most of that was into my cups.

[freefall]

I think I remember awhile back someone saying that dry air proof goes up, damn air proof goes down. Can't remember who it was but kinda makes sense. And not sure if it would be a noticeable difference without extended time.

I think that was about barrel ageing. More angels share if it is dry and less if it is humid.

[DetroitDIY]

Yes, two different things. My evaporation was just through the open tops of several wide mouth jars with coffee filters.

I've only stored one batch of spirits for along time, and that was in the dry environment. So I don't have experience whether there's more or less angles share in a dry vs a humid environment (though more evaporation in dry makes sense from an attempt to achieve equilibrium standpoint). But, the preferential evaporation of water in a dry environment vs. ethanol in a humid environment is what I am liking. I can always add some clean water back in, that angles share I don't mind. Ethanol evaporation is a loss that is harder to make up.

[Desolus]

Also I believe it said that the higher the %alc. the more water that it will absorb. Think about it this way... Alc. needs water to exist, this is why azeotrope is 96.3% (I think that is the right no.) So since you just removed all of the water out of it that it needs to exist, then it is going to try to replenish the water by absorbing it from the atmosphere.

I can assure you that there is absolutely no reason ethanol needs water to exist, heck you can buy food grade anhydrous ethanol on Amazon...

[Pikey]

YAWN |
wtf is the purpose of responses to a thead which is Zombified and had little to say when those who started it were still here ? !!!!

[Desolus]

YAWN |
wtf is the purpose of responses to a thead which is Zombified and had little to say when those who started it were still here ? !!!!

No idea, I just saw it in my recent posts feed.

[steelmb]

YAWN |
wtf is the purpose of responses to a thead which is Zombified and had little to say when those who started it were still here ? !!!!

You just took time out of your busy day to respond to it.