turbo pure 48 / ethyl acetate

hotshotharry · Post by **hotshotharry** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:55 pm

Hey guys, i just stumbled across your forum, and i must say very nice lots of info. but i have a couple questions i could not find the answer to and would appreciate your input.

I have been using turbo pure 48, now when i distill this mash, a little better than half my distillate is ethyl acetate. ( so i think because i get about a degree split between these two) i am running a reflux tower and a digital thermometer. getting >94% purity. the yeast ferments white sugar to dryness at about 18% (7kg) at about 20C - 22C

1) is this a normal amount to collect
2) if so is there anyways of reducing this or re processing it to make it ethyl alc again?

would splitting up the yeast into two 25L carboys and running to 10% solve this problem?

and has anyone had any bad tastes associated with using sparkalloid as a clearing agent? i used it once and the shine tasted off? also had a white powder collect at the bottom of my shine jugs (they are clear so it is easy to see)

anyone have good/bad luck with dextrose?

thanks for your help and you input is appreciated

linw · Post by **linw** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:22 am

Hi and welcome. I think it would be more accurate to say that more than half your product is tainted with ethyl acetate. The great bulk of it will be ethanol. Are you letting it equilibrate (100% reflux) for about an hour before taking product? It would be interesting to know at what rate you are taking it as well. Also, what is the power being used.

You can simply re-distill the product you are unhappy with or you could try treating it with activated carbon.

Splitting the wash won't fix the problem. I don't think there is anything wrong with your wash.

Never used sparkalloid - it isn't necessary. Never used dextrose, either, but it would be fine. Just more expensive!

In conclusion, you are probably not getting the column equilibrated and you may well be taking it too fast (just an informed guess!). I think I am guilty of the latter, too, as I seem to be getting the acetate taste too far into mine, as well. But when this happens, let carbon be your friend.

Good luck and let's know some more about your run. Temps would be good, too.

hotshotharry · Post by **hotshotharry** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:54 am

lol thanks

yes tainted perhaps,

i usually run the column at 6kw but i had to run this one at 3 due to a leak and it seemed worse for getting acetate.

i was taking it off at about 3L an hour perhaps i will run it again and see if i cant get that margin a little tighter. From everyone i talk to no one seems concerned about the acetate. However it would be nice to know how much is actually produced in the mash and then i could get a good idea of my efficiency.

LOL i was gonna pour it all in my car

maybe i will try a slower run first

i know the car would like a drink too though .......

Post by **Grayson_Stewart** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:23 am

6 Kw and . 94%? Is that a 4" diameter column?

linw · Post by **linw** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:54 pm

Holy Moses, 6kw and 3ltr/hr! I run with 824W, 50mm column and take at an avge of 600ml/hr!

This is way too fast to expect good separation. Bet it's quick, though!!

The Chemist · Post by **The Chemist** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:19 pm

If you're making that much ethyl acetate, where's it coming from? You have to have acetic acid to make the acetate. Did your mash taste like vinegar?

knuklehead · Post by **knuklehead** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:45 pm

linw wrote:Holy Moses, 6kw and 3ltr/hr! I run with 824W, 50mm column and take at an avge of 600ml/hr!

This is way too fast to expect good separation. Bet it's quick, though!!

I'll second that. That must be one hell of a big still, wow

hotshotharry · Post by **hotshotharry** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:25 am

haha actually it is that big due to a miscalculation haha, it holds 12 gal

i wanted to run 240v elements on 120v so as to lower the watt density ( so the elements spreads the heat over a bigger distance) but if you chop the voltage in half then the wattage is actually only 1/4 lol (not 1/2) so then i thought, right on i will just run it on 240 and let it rip haha, it will boil the wash in about 30 min

The wash tasted pretty good actually not vineagry at all. So i guess i am just running too fast

i have a 2 inch column on it. so i guess i am pushing it. I did it just as the package says so...

i guess i am just getting too greedy haha. thanks for pointing this out

oversight on my part. i will rerun the batch at a lower power setting and see if i cant get it a bunch better. and post back.

so can anyone tell me what you normally collect for a 5gal wash 18% for acetate?

thats for your help guys.

The Chemist · Post by **The Chemist** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:15 pm

Normal range for ethyl acetate in new whiskies runs from about 90 to 200 ppm, depending on type. It increases with aging, and the highest I've seen reported is 717 ppm.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:56 pm

many times your wash can start turning into vinegar without you even knowing it. Yes a small amount of vinegar will affect taste of the wash...but an even smaller amount will affect the distilate.

How long do you let your wash sit before distilling?

knuklehead · Post by **knuklehead** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:38 pm

hotshotharry wrote: so can anyone tell me what you normally collect for a 5gal wash 18% for acetate?

5 Gallons of wash at 18% = 0.9 gallons of 100% alcohol.
If you take approximaitly 30% of your expected yield this will be very close to the amount of heads to collect. So 0.9 gallons x 30% = 0.27 gallons of heads. 0.9 gallons x 40% = 0.36 gallons for the heart of your run and 0.9 gallons x 30% = .27 for the tails of your run. These numbers are very rough but it will give you a good idea until you are more comforable making cuts based on smell and taste.

hotshotharry · Post by **hotshotharry** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 2:11 pm

thanks for all you input guys. i guess i was just going too fast. i dropped down to 3 kw and 35-40ml/min and it stayed rock solid at 78.1C on my thermo and made cuts according to smell and taste

i guess i just caused my own problems haha too greedy