Tell me more about 1.5 spirit runs

[Deplorable]

I'm leaning towards a 30 gallon open top HDPE barrel for fermentor for a couple of reasons.
1. it will yield me two strip runs for a saturday and a spirit run on Sunday.
2. I can fit my entire still inside and put the lid on and seal it up for storage.

Using a 13 gallon milk can boiler, and a 30 gallon fermenter yeilding enough wash for 2 srtipping runs of 10 gallons each before squeezing the grain bed, I should net 5 gallons for a spirit run. If Im not running a generational mash, and squeeze out the grain bed for an additional 2.5 to 3 gallons of wash, should I add that to the boiler with the low wines for my spirit run?
If I did that, could I freeze the backset from that run to add to the next ferment at a later date?

Ive been reading way too much while my 6.5 gallon fermenter is doing its job

[Beerswimmer]

If Im not running a generational mash, and squeeze out the grain bed for an additional 2.5 to 3 gallons of wash, should I add that to the boiler with the low wines for my spirit run? Yes, having fresh wash added to the low wines for a spirit run is basically a 1.5 run.
If I did that, could I freeze the backset from that run to add to the next ferment at a later date?Most people, me included, don't keep the backset from spirit runs. It's pretty thin by then.

[Deplorable]

Thanks BS.
After posting I reworded my search terms and found more information that helps.
Using a dillution calculator to determine the amount of wash to add to the low wines in the boiler for the spirit run to achieve the desired barrel strength is the key, so as not to have to dilute with water before barreling.

[Odin]

Yes, if you add organics prior to the finishing run, it helps create more flavor. It also lowers abv, which generally results in needing less (tasteless) dilution water on your final hearts cut.

Odin.

[kimbodious]

I am doing 1.5 spirit runs in a 50 litre boiler. In my case it is 15 litres low wines stripped from 46 litres of wash plus about 23 litres of wash. Makes a lovely flavourful drop. I keep stripping right down to 10% ABV, it is pretty rubbish by then. I take my spirit runs really really deep. The last blend ended up at 52% ABV, it smelled a bit funky at first but after a couple of months ageing is losing most of the tails character.

[DSmith78]

I do my rums with 1.5 distillations. Although not to everybody's taste, I love the amount of molasses flavour it brings across.

[MagicMan]

So if I were doing a 2 batch strip for a single spirit run would I run both strips and then add all the low wines back to the leftover backset from the second strip run and do my spirit run then ? Or would I simply add my low wines from the first strip to the second batch and run that like a spirit run ?

[Deplorable]

Add low wines from the strips to the boiler, and dilute with fresh wash, not backset. Backset is added to the new mash to adjust Ph and/or create a sour mash.

[jonnys_spirit]

I think a 1.5 run generally refers to using low wines and mash squeezings (fermented wort not yet stripped) not backset (no additional etoh). Ratios not necessarily defined. Fairly open ended. Two strips hard and fast to 20%abv or even one strip to 0%abv or 1.5 strips low’ish and slow’ish to 20% abv then top up low wines with fresh fermented wort - spirit run it low and slow and collect in fractions - blend to your satisfaction. Lots of variations on how you run your strips and down to what ABV and how much you add to the fresh wash will determine spirit run boiler charge ABV and therefore the ABV you collect for your cut. It gets real interesting when you dive in and fine tune the process end to end for different recipe protocols with a simple pot still before adding further hardware components like plates or a thumper.

Cheers!
-jonny

[Hambone]

You can add backseat to low wines for dilution/ flavor...but it's not a 1.5 run then.