Save dirty distillate?

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RazorCatchPrey
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Save dirty distillate?

Post by RazorCatchPrey »

I am sure this topic has been covered somewhere, but for the life of me I couldn't find it doing several searches.

I am doing my first run on my new reflux still after cleaning with vinegar, running vinegar, and distilling water.

However, the first liter or so of my distillate (a single-malt mash of about 12% abv) came out dirty gray. I tried filtering it and couldn't get the sediment out.

Can I salvage this by running it again, or should I just toss this dirty portion (heads anyway) and consider that part a loss?

Thanks, yall!
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dstaines
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by dstaines »

You're right, this topic has been covered about a million times. But its a really really important one and we will continue to address it everytime it comes up.

DO NOT attempt to salvage ANY of that spirit for drinking.

The bad news that you used a 12% single malt mash for this, but what you have just accomplished is called the Sacrificial Alcohol Run and it is a mandatory step in cleaning your still. The cloudiness is machine oils and flux residue that the steam and vinegar left behind. Drinking any part of this run, even the parts that don't look cloudy, can make you very very sick.

The good news is that now your still is actually clean, and you're ready to start over on your mash for your actual First Run.
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ben stiller
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by ben stiller »

Also looks like you missed the initial steam run which is very important to initially clean the still. This seems to be one of
the most overlooked topics and the biggest beginner mistake.
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dstaines
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by dstaines »

Ben Stiller good catch. Missed that.

if you didn't steam out the still (run on full with water first and then vinegar, with the cooling water turned off) then parts of your condenser may still have contaminating oils and residue. At the end of the condenser there will be parts that only ever touched the consended liquid alcohol but no hot vapor. Those parts will still be dirty. I would start over with cleaning your still before continuing.
I buy all my liquor at the hardware store.
bellybuster
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by bellybuster »

dirty grey??? Thats an issue in of itself. Do you have a pics?
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still_stirrin
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by still_stirrin »

Too much "moonshiners" on Discovery....

Now you know...the hard way. It's why there is a sacrificial run required.
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cantbuyathrill
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by cantbuyathrill »

I am running a clean still and on occasion I have gotten impatient on the low wines (bringing 12 gallons of wash to a "boil" takes so long and I sometimes get a little impatient) and I have had the still start spurting out dirty, greyish distillate and all I do is turn the still off, let everything cool down for a few minutes, open the boiler up, give the still a good rinse, and pour the dirty distillate back in the boiler and start over, albeit a good deal slower.
yakattack
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by yakattack »

Sounds like a puke. Just goes to show this hobby can't be rushed.
HDNB wrote: The trick here is to learn what leads to a stalled mash....and quit doing that.
cantbuyathrill
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by cantbuyathrill »

yakattack wrote:Sounds like a puke. Just goes to show this hobby can't be rushed.
Maybe so but once I resettled everything the low wines came out crystal clear, so a fixable mistake!
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shadylane
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by shadylane »

RazorCatchPrey Don't feel bad, you just had one of many learning experiences. mistakes
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moosemilk
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by moosemilk »

yakattack wrote:Sounds like a puke. Just goes to show this hobby can't be rushed.
Puke if the charge is kinda grey or darker. Any puke I have had with grains has been more of a heavy cream coffee. Grey to me would say scorching
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W Pappy
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by W Pappy »

What you using for a boiler?
Buy the ticket and ride the lightnin boys !!!
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RazorCatchPrey
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by RazorCatchPrey »

Using a 1/2 bbl keg for a boiler. I cleaned it out with soapy water then ran the whole thing with water for about 10 minutes with the condenser turned off. My buddy who built it for me ran vinegar and water before he brought it to me.

I tossed the liter of dirty distillate. Out of this 12 gallons of wash I now have about 1 1/3 gallons of low wines. So do y'all say I should toss it all, or do a spirit run on what I have left?

At least I still have a good bit of rum ready to run. It will be a shame to have wasted the money I spent on the 40 lbs of barley that went into that whiskey, though.
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still_stirrin
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by still_stirrin »

RazorCatchPrey wrote:... So do y'all say I should toss it all... It will be a shame to have wasted the money I spent on the 40 lbs of barley that went into that whiskey, though.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 7#p7299071
How many times do you need to read it? You better read it again!
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dstaines
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by dstaines »

Razor try not to get caught up on wasting this or wasting that. Believe me if you hang onto that attitude this hobby may be very frustrating for you, especially in the first couple of months/years because the learning curve is steep and the stakes are too high to take risks with safety. Your $40 bucks went to cleaning your still. That's not a waste. The dirty stuff that's in your distillate cannot be reliably removed and must not be consumed. Read this beginner's first hand account of why you must not try to save it for drinking, and then ask yourself if it's worth $40 to you to avoid a similar experience.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=46170

If the cost of your ingredients is still chapping you, keep some of the higher proof stuff in a jar away from children and clearly labeled POISON. It makes good lighter fluid for the charcoal grill. You can drip a little it on the weeds in the cracks in your driveway and burn them out. You can use it to clean label adhesive off of whiskey bottles that you end up collecting to store your fantastic homemade single malt in. But please please don't ask us again if we really mean that you can't drink it. I don't want to read about you in the funny papers.
I buy all my liquor at the hardware store.
Hound Dog
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by Hound Dog »

Right on dstaines! That was the post I was thinking of too. Has that guy ever been back on the forum?

Yea OP, flux, oil and all kinds of nasty crap are in the pipes during the build. Sometimes its a tough time to clean it up. This isn't really a cheap hobby or so my bank account tells me.
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W Pappy
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Re: Save dirty distillate?

Post by W Pappy »

Throw the shit out better safe than sorry sometimes 3 or 4 cleaning runs ain't enough! Don't know what flux was used water soluble or what!
Give er a partial steam run then turn your condenser on and check what comes out.
Buy the ticket and ride the lightnin boys !!!
Impatience is the root of all bad things in my book of makin likker!
The sound of a thumper is the heart beat of the rebel" Warden Pappy"
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