Toasted

[rgreen2002]

So I am trying to get my 70 gallons of bourbon done and into the barrel. The first 35 gallons went well... I did about 20 gallons in a pot still strip and then did the next 15 gallons with the salvaged (about) 2 gallons of low wines in a 1.5 run through the 4" plated flute. Good results and I put it in to the barrel for safe keeping. Started the next 35 gallons the same way.... strip of about 20 gallons via pot and then I was planning on the next 15 to have those low wines plus the spirit from the first 35 into the final mix.
During the strip I noticed what appeared to be a little vapor from my liebig...no worries. I fiddled with the power and the cooling and it seemed to go away. It kept coming back and I started to wonder if it wasn't vapor... It sure didn't smell burnt...

After the strip run

Now I am neurotic about filtering the mash.... I ferment in a bag which maintains all the grain (all 100#) and I filter the mash twice: once through the 1 micron "socks" into 5 gallon pails and then once again when the wash goes into the boiler (after a week or two of settling). A little yeast frequently gets through and I usually leave it behind in the buckets. This is the first time I have ever had this happen and it isnt my first all grain rodeo for sure!

So how did I get here....? I smelled the low wines again today and no burnt smell.... I smelled the element....burnt smell... I cleaned the element and whatnot but now I am at a loss... Can I still throw everything together for a final run without finding some new burnt smell potentially ruining 4-5 gallons of good likker?

[StillerBoy]

and then once again when the wash goes into the boiler (after a week or two of settling).

Why filter a second time, wouldn't just racking it be better, less disturbance of the sediment vera filtering again..

I would say is probably ok.. you don't smell the burn, so it was probably minor, and I would taste it also.. if both don't carry any smell or taste, I would give a run and see..

I filter my AG once, let it settle for a few days, then rack it... the other thing is the element itself maybe nearing the end of it life, and that is how it might behave by providing a higher wattage than normal... have an other element to try.. just a thought..

Mars

[BayouShine]

I feel your pain there. I just went through a similar issue with a 4 grain whiskey I've been making.

If your low wines don't smell or taste scorched, you should be fine. A good cleaning of the boiler may be in order too, just as a safeguard. I found that the top of my keg had some brown funk from where the the wash foamed up and stuck to the walls.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Did you do a conversion check? Could be starch, which filtering wouldn't fix. That would explain a one off, if that's what happened.

What do I know

[rgreen2002]

Thanks folks...

SB - I rack and filter...neurotic.....
BS - That's in the plans...its a mess in there!
SCD - I had a pretty good conversion on my starch test - complete (or pretty near) best I can tell.

I'm more worried about throwing it all together and killing a few gallons of likker. I still think like Bayou and if I can't smell anything now, it should be fine...

[lmnyr]

So this happened to me today for the third time out of my last 5 all grain Rye strip runs. Im at my whits end, and my wife is tired of hearing me complain about it. Its so frustrating to not use runs that this happens to. I still see myself as a newbie but Ive been doing all grain Rye and Bourbon for 2 years now. I have a mash/run going nearly every 3 weeks, and gone through, at minimum, a dozen stainless elements at $45 a pop.

I use SEB enzymes in my mash to ensure good conversion. I dont usually do an iodine test. I get a starting gravity using a refractometer usually around 1.060-1.067. I ferment off the grain in a conical fermenter and let it settle for a whole 7 days using Whitelabs yeast thats probably on its 3rd generation. They all finish at around 1.004 tested with a beer hydrometer (not usually under 1.000). Then I rack off into secondary fermenter to let it clear some more for at least 3 days. I rack off the top again into my 26 gal boiler powered by one 5500ulwd on 240v (dial controlled). Sometimes there is some white spider-legs film on the top of the liquid but I usually pay no attention to that since Im not bottling a beer. At start up I throw 10A at it for a little while and then incrementally turn it up to 15A-18A. Sometimes there is white smoke and burnt smell, sometimes just burnt smell.

At this point Im building a new controller to be able to dial control two 4500ulwd elements at 10A each. I hope that will solve the problem. I guess my question is do you think this an electric still protocol problem or potentially something else like a mashing/ferment problem. Im also trying to research more about mashing too hot and unfermented sugars potentially burning elements.

Thank in advance all!

[rgreen2002]

Hay lmnyr....

Ya know... I'm still at a loss as to what happened here. I've been running all grain myself for a while and like I said I am somewhat of a "Nazi" when it comes to "cleaning up" the wash. I usually ferment for longer than a week (maybe 2...) and I let it settle for at least a week if not longer. The majority of my bourbon gets a lacto infection but I agree with ya...I am not worried about that one bit. I also use both hi temp enzymes as well.

The only things I did differently here: I added a different amount of wheat/rye (went for a more even ratio) and I changed my type of ground corn (southern states vs TSC). I can't think of one other thing different.

I ended up letting the jars sit for over a week and went back to check them. The last 0.5 gallons of those low wines really had a burnt smell and I ditched them. I added the 1.5 gallons to the next run (as a 1.5 run) and everything seems to have come out fine (minus the extra 0.5 gallons of course ). I dropped it all into my 5-gallon barrel and there she sits.

I had cleaned the hell out of the element between runs too and the 1.5 run had no issues. Sooo... I don't really know. Like you I run slow and then come up to about 15 or so amps for the majority of the run. I did run the first wash through my pot and liebig but I have certainly done that before without an issue...

I have to guess this is somehow related to the mash.... but I am not sure. Unfermented sugars is a possibility but this was a simple grain mash: corn, barley, rye/wheat, water, yeast.... never had an issue with it before and got great conversion with iodine(for the starch) but somehow I'm skeptical. The element has worked MANY times before...at similar power without any issue... I want to know dammit.... certainly don't want it to happen again!