first pot still and first rum

[Lukehghs]

hi there here is a pic of my first pot still build, thanks to everyone on here that offered advice along the way, I ran my first rum wash a bit over a week ago and it was clear but when I watered it down it turned cloudy! has anyone else had this problem? I used rain water to water it down and have it soaking in oak chips now, it just looks like crap but lol.

[Saltbush Bill]

but when I watered it down it turned cloudy! has anyone else had this problem?

Sounds to me like you may have gone to far into tails, or kept to much tails when you made your cuts.
I presume you have already read Kiwi Stillers Guide to Cuts?, If not you will need to.

[GCB3]

First time that happened to me, I tried everything possible to clear it up with no luck. I finally just threw it into the next run and it came out fine. I was too new at that point to have any concept of how to make cuts. Do check out Kiwi’s guide to cuts. Lots of good info there.

[Lukehghs]

oh ok. I will check it out, might be why it doesn't taste all that great lol. I forgot to mention it was crystal clear before I watered it down, is that just what happens to tails after you water it down? I also stopped the still when the alcohol got between 40-50 percent. is this too low do you think?

[GCB3]

As I understand it, the oils in the tails are not really water soluble. So, when you add water for dilution, the oils come out of solution and create the cloudiness. Exactly what happened to me even using distilled water. It’s all about how the cuts are made and how you blend them back into the final product. Read, read, read!

[Od1tspyd3r]

Try catching in smaller jars and finger testing the output at begging middle and end of each jar change,helped me force myself to make better cuts. I also proofed each one before mixing them. Read the process some where in hear..

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[zapata]

Did you double distill? Could be the problem with both taste and cloudiness if not.

Did you thoroughly clean the still first, including a sacrificial run? Flux might be to blame on a 1st run.

[Lukehghs]

I didn’t double distill as I was hoping to have some drinkable rum as soon as possible, save some Dunder and do a double distill next time (just sick of paying so much for alcohol when most of it is tax). I did a vinegar and water mix run first upand then did a 20 litres sacrificial rum wash after that. Perhaps not double distilling and having too much tails is the culprit?

[Shine0n]

It's the tails as mentioned, on a simple pot with no thumper you definitely want to double distill.

If you add a thumper you could get away with a single run as some of us (me) do.

Take what you have now and add it to the next run and you'll up the abv, try making enough wash to run 3 times then cut to 30% and you'll be glad you did

[Lukehghs]

Ok mate will do. Thanks for that.

[Deerhunter]

Re-run it and cut with RO water...