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After every run I rinse my column, condensing coil & boiler pot with clean water......well this evening while cleaning up after my second run on rye, barley & oats wash I found that the bottom 2 to 3 inches of my column & a ring about 6" higher had some build up that I've not seen before. On the surface it looks like a shimmery metallic foil but is an oily liquid. In the one picture you can see where the natural refluxing in the column kept it from building up & the other side is where I smudged some off with my thumb. When I rinsed the column with hot water all of this washed right out. Below are a couple pictures of what I found.

The first run I did last weekend didn't produce anything like this build up. I used about 1-1/2 gals of backset from that run it this run and didn't notice any sort of oily sheen on the wash. I run about 30L in a 45L boiler. No packing in the column.

Has anyone else seen this type of build up in the bottom of their columns?
Would the oiliness from the oats cause this?
Having used the backset would that have concentrated some oiliness?
Any other ideas of what has created this?

The distillate was totally clear and came off with a good bit of rye spice & malt essence. I collected from 79% abv down to about 67% abv and didn't experience anything out of the ordinary during the run. There is no off smell whatsoever.

I've only run rum at this point and not had any sort of accumulation.

I've only been distilling for a short while and found that shiny metallic residue after my two rum batches also. I'm curious what it is too....

I also have no useful answer for you. But I’d like to applaud your use of “schmutz.”

That is all.

ShineRunner wrote:I also have no useful answer for you. But I’d like to applaud your use of “schmutz.”

That is all.

I also have no input but schmaltz is rendered out chicken fat.

I have ben distilling rum and whiskey for years and never had this on any runs until recently. Previous runs have been TPW, rum and whiskey.

The only and only time I have experienced the exact same issue was 100% rye batch. Just like you have commented its silver and oily, same issue here.

I wouldn't be too concerned. I'm sure it's just natural oils.

FYI I ferment and distill on grain.

Oy vey. My notes say:
"Predominant with rye." ...and.. "NZ Chris and HDNB say 'fusel oils'"

Its leftover likker residue thats settled and collected in the lowspots after distallation..Layn it down on its side made mine collect excess in the lowspots.

Some rigs aren't modular so a hot rinse and good up and down shimmy ifn you will to drain and air dry it out..
I noticed it yrs ago just taken my modular and storing it all together instead of breakn it down.
No worries.
After a couple yrs, I did take it all apart, caps and plates..Boiling them in 50/50 water vinegar and wow, did they clean up..Kinda surprised me.

Thanks for the replies everyone.......

Thanks ShineRunner "Schmutz" just seemed to be the only word I could think of that represented what I was seeing.

hpby98 I can absolutely guarantee no chickens were harmed in my process

I fermented using a method similar to UJSSM but used dry malt extract in place of the sugar & obviously rye, oats & barley in place of the corn. I find it interesting to know that rye tends to create this type of residue & that it propagated on the second run, not the first. Perhaps a combination and accumulation of the rye & oats oils.

I'm curious to see what happens after the third run.