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Hey there,
I've just finished Bucaneer Bobs stripping run. I have 5 litres of low wines (thrilled to be on target).
My boiler holds 60 litres. Following the recipe I am to add 5 litres of water for the spirit run but 10 litres in my boiler looks kinda small and I'm worried that the propane burner I have may not go down low enough for a nice slow spirit run.

Should I add more water?
Or ferment out another batch, strip it, and run the two together in a stripping run?

Thanks in advance

Jolly_Roger wrote:Hey there,
I've just finished Bucaneer Bobs stripping run. I have 5 litres of low wines (thrilled to be on target).
My boiler holds 60 litres. Following the recipe I am to add 5 litres of water for the spirit run but 10 litres in my boiler looks kinda small and I'm worried that the propane burner I have may not go down low enough for a nice slow spirit run.

Should I add more water?
Or ferment out another batch, strip it, and run the two together in a stripping run?

Thanks in advance

strip enough to fill your boiler with low wines..........................................

I have been doing 3 stripping runs then a spirit run

Get a bigger fermenter. One that holds four charges is very convenient and makes it much easier to get some aged likker in the cellar.

rager wrote:

Jolly_Roger wrote:Hey there,
I've just finished Bucaneer Bobs stripping run. I have 5 litres of low wines (thrilled to be on target).
My boiler holds 60 litres. Following the recipe I am to add 5 litres of water for the spirit run but 10 litres in my boiler looks kinda small and I'm worried that the propane burner I have may not go down low enough for a nice slow spirit run.

Should I add more water?
Or ferment out another batch, strip it, and run the two together in a stripping run?

Thanks in advance

strip enough to fill your boiler with low wines..........................................

+1 rager

Anyway...IF you decide to run such low amount (seen in perspective of your boiler), i think it can be done.
As you are running propane, why don't you just jack up the boilerstand with a few bricks for example..?
You would gain a little extra distance from your burner, if you are worried about it can't be adjusted low enough.
What's the ABV on your low wines..?

5 liters or 5 gallons...the rate of takeoff is determined by your heat input. If you could dial the 60 liter charge to the point of desired takeoff rate, then you should be able to do it with the 10 liter charge.

But....5 liters will get to temperature much, much quicker.

And 40%ABV runs much different than 10%ABV. A spirit run is not just another strip run....you'll see.

Regardless, I like to do 3 strips and then a spirit run just like the others have advised.
ss

Thanks for the input.
The ABV of low wines is 52%
I have an empty 100 litre fermenter right now, so I think I'll get another 60 litres (triple batch) of Buccaneer Bobs started today.

My boiler shares duty as a brew kettle and isn't easy to move up or down when in use with all it's hard plumbing. I transfer everything with pumps (no lifting)

Low wines need to be diluted to below 40% before running.

Well, at 52 % ABV, you will just have to add 1,5 L water to get down to 40%. (6,5 L total).
At 3,7 L you are at 30 % ABV.. (8,7 L total).
If you add 5 L of water, you are down on 26 % ABV.
Now that you have another batch fermenting, i think you should wait and toss the 5 L into the next spiritrun.
You'll end up with a much more consistant product, and you will have better judgement on the cuts.

Don't mean to hijack, if i am apologies. But same topic. I don't usually strip with my potstill runs but am trying to improve. I stripped 13.5 L of 35%ABV are my calcs correct that that would yield about 5 qts of 100% or 10 qts at 50% if you got all ETOH. If I assume tails will start at 40% any estimate of quantity I could expect? BTW I know I committed a cardinal sin when the heads were finishing I swallowed the first tablespoon. This wheated Bourbon should be soo good. I've been told many times sinning is my downfall.

The tails may not start at 40%. Keep a nose out for the wet cardboard smell

Robb..there are calculators on the parentsite to help you out.
Btw...don't assume your tails to set in at 40% ABV..i can't say mine usually come in at 30%, cause it will be different from ferment to ferment.
But i would expect something to happen around 30%.
Well...i wouldn't call it a cardinal sin, but your tongue certainly would...as you figured already heads are disgusting..!
Are you aging on wood..?
For your next batch, try making a strippingrun first, give it as much heat as your condenser can handle.
Then do a spiritrun afterwards...i am sure the quality of your spirits will improve wastly..even if you have in mind to age on wood.

Danespirit thanks. Yes this is a spirit run after a strip. I only have a Alambric pot still. I do Oak for a month or two till color and taste are right for me. In the past I had always done a slow single run for pretty good stuff and felt tails starting at 38-40% but as this is a cleaner start I can see tails coming much later. I usually blend a little Heads into my drink as I find it slows my consumption. Self-imposed libation control. I save more hearts for friends. LOL. I am no expert but this 30% wheat has a very nice taste, corn, caramel, and ??. Looking forward to it. May be whats' coming to S3:16? Just pulled 3rd pint and still 75%

robb wrote:BTW I know I committed a cardinal sin when the heads were finishing I swallowed the first tablespoon.

Yup...!!! Undiluted high proof spirits will tear your taste buds and throat right up and you may not recover from the damage for days... Be safe... Be responsible...

OP, i think you are on the right track, making more strips for a larger run. it will help a lot with cuts when you have litres of fractions, not mL's.

Robb, we were just talking about this on another thread. Rager says he gets about 30% of the available alcohol back as hearts. mathematically the numbers have been quoted at 60% hearts, I'd say i get something in the middle. I also think it will be dependant on your equipment and how you run it. Bigbob has pretty good luck on his alembic...so tell us how things ended up for you!
I'm betting close to 4L at 63%. average abv.

NZChris wrote:Get a bigger fermenter. One that holds four charges is very convenient and makes it much easier to get some aged likker in the cellar.

Sorry to hijack a three year old thread. I’m trying to figure out how to be more efficient. If I got a bigger, say 18 gallon, fermenter but stuck with my ten gallon brew pot, would I be able to successively add in mash to the fermented as I make the five gallon batches? In other words, can I get one five gallon batch fermenting then add another batch a week later to the same fermenter? Or does this mess something up? Promise I tried to find an answer on previous threads but can’t seem to. Thanks.

school wrote:...In other words, can I get one five gallon batch fermenting then add another batch a week later to the same fermenter?...

Of course you can. But, you don't aerate the fermenting wort like you would a wort fresh out of the kettle. The active ferment is already in latent fermentation, ie - non-aerobic phase of it's cycle. Oxygenating it would likely cause the activity to slow or even stall.

But, feeding more fermentables into an active ferment will simply keep it going. But note, as you increase volume in the fermenter you're essentially diluting the yeast population (which will rebuild naturally). But, as a result you may see the bubbles stop for a few hours after the addition.

However....I wouldn't wait a week to add the 2nd batch of wort...a couple of days, no problem. But if you wait until the yeast is starting to flocculate you may have a much longer time to wait until the ferment regains activity. If you "add in" during the high Krausen period, it will continue the vigorous activity of that phase. You can even add a 3rd "add in" if you need even more volume (yet you're limited by your mash tun size).

The nice thing about doing "add ins" during a peak activity is that the flavors of the different mashes will homogenize. They'll form a nice combination of flavors.
ss

still_stirrin wrote:

school wrote:...In other words, can I get one five gallon batch fermenting then add another batch a week later to the same fermenter?...

Of course you can. But, you don't aerate the fermenting wort like you would a wort fresh out of the kettle. The active ferment is already in latent fermentation, ie - non-aerobic phase of it's cycle. Oxygenating it would likely cause the activity to slow or even stall.

But, feeding more fermentables into an active ferment will simply keep it going. But note, as you increase volume in the fermenter you're essentially diluting the yeast population (which will rebuild naturally). But, as a result you may see the bubbles stop for a few hours after the addition.

However....I wouldn't wait a week to add the 2nd batch of wort...a couple of days, no problem. But if you wait until the yeast is starting to flocculate you may have a much longer time to wait until the ferment regains activity. If you "add in" during the high Krausen period, it will continue the vigorous activity of that phase. You can even add a 3rd "add in" if you need even more volume (yet you're limited by your mash tun size).

The nice thing about doing "add ins" during a peak activity is that the flavors of the different mashes will homogenize. They'll form a nice combination of flavors.
ss

Perfect. Thanks so much!

Why not just ferment one big batch, and take out enough at a time to distil in your small boiler?
That's what I do. In fact I run two big fermenters so that I always have material ready to distil, no waiting for the new batch to finish fermentation.

Geoff

The Baker wrote:Why not just ferment one big batch, and take out enough at a time to distil in your small boiler?
That's what I do. In fact I run two big fermenters so that I always have material ready to distil, no waiting for the new batch to finish fermentation.

Geoff

Only have a ten gallon brew kettle (for now) and don’t usually have enough time to do three or four batches in one day.

school wrote:

The Baker wrote:Why not just ferment one big batch, and take out enough at a time to distil in your small boiler?
That's what I do. In fact I run two big fermenters so that I always have material ready to distil, no waiting for the new batch to finish fermentation.

Geoff

Only have a ten gallon brew kettle (for now) and don’t usually have enough time to do three or four batches in one day.

Why 'in the one day?'
If you have an 18 gallon fermenter you could run 9 gallons in the still and do the same whenever you can distil another lot.

Geoff

The Baker wrote:

school wrote:

The Baker wrote:Why not just ferment one big batch, and take out enough at a time to distil in your small boiler?
That's what I do. In fact I run two big fermenters so that I always have material ready to distil, no waiting for the new batch to finish fermentation.

Geoff

Only have a ten gallon brew kettle (for now) and don’t usually have enough time to do three or four batches in one day.

Why 'in the one day?'
If you have an 18 gallon fermenter you could run 9 gallons in the still and do the same whenever you can distil another lot.

Geoff

I’m sure I’m missing something stupid. But if I have a ten gallon pot I can only make five or so gallons at a time. So one weekekemd I make five gallons, the next I make another five, and so on. So it takes me a few weeks to fill that 18 gallon fermenter. I have to fill it up over time, no?

school wrote:

The Baker wrote:

school wrote:

The Baker wrote:Why not just ferment one big batch, and take out enough at a time to distil in your small boiler?
That's what I do. In fact I run two big fermenters so that I always have material ready to distil, no waiting for the new batch to finish fermentation.

Geoff

Only have a ten gallon brew kettle (for now) and don’t usually have enough time to do three or four batches in one day.

Why 'in the one day?'
If you have an 18 gallon fermenter you could run 9 gallons in the still and do the same whenever you can distil another lot.

Geoff

I’m sure I’m missing something stupid. But if I have a ten gallon pot I can only make five or so gallons at a time. So one weekekemd I make five gallons, the next I make another five, and so on. So it takes me a few weeks to fill that 18 gallon fermenter. I have to fill it up over time, no?

Okay, I was not allowing spare room at the top of the fermenter.

Geoff

still_stirrin wrote:

school wrote:...In other words, can I get one five gallon batch fermenting then add another batch a week later to the same fermenter?...

Of course you can. But, you don't aerate the fermenting wort like you would a wort fresh out of the kettle. The active ferment is already in latent fermentation, ie - non-aerobic phase of it's cycle. Oxygenating it would likely cause the activity to slow or even stall.
ss

Just to add my 2 cents to it..IF for some reason your ferment slows down to almost nothing, you can always add a "yeast bomb" to it after topping up.
Again, don't aerate the already fermenting stuff in there. Let the yeast bomb get some oxygen to promote yeast multiplication before you pour it in.
After a while, the ferment will bubble away again.

Danespirit wrote:

still_stirrin wrote:

school wrote:...In other words, can I get one five gallon batch fermenting then add another batch a week later to the same fermenter?...

Of course you can. But, you don't aerate the fermenting wort like you would a wort fresh out of the kettle. The active ferment is already in latent fermentation, ie - non-aerobic phase of it's cycle. Oxygenating it would likely cause the activity to slow or even stall.
ss

Just to add my 2 cents to it..IF for some reason your ferment slows down to almost nothing, you can always add a "yeast bomb" to it after topping up.
Again, don't aerate the already fermenting stuff in there. Let the yeast bomb get some oxygen to promote yeast multiplication before you pour it in.
After a while, the ferment will bubble away again.

Thank you, sir.