Lava Rock Require Maintenance
Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 3:40 pm
Recently ( started a few months back ) I run into an issue with yellowish tinted distillate at the beginning of a spirit run, namely with the fores and head section..
When first encountering the issue, I cleaned the whole column sections, using a mild vinegar solution.. that helped some but the yellowish tint was still present, but not to extent it was before..
What the f**k is going on ? ? never encounter this before.. well, after using the same lava rocks for the past 2 yrs or so on a weekly bases, it so happen that the lava rocks got coated with a yellowish film which is created from distilling, similar to what coated the column walls during distilling runs.. and the lava rocks are rinsed five time with hot water after each usage..
While this was happening and trying to figure out what was going on, the idea of cleaning the rocks with mild vinegar had help some, meaning it didn't run so far into the head section, but it was still present.. and I processed to start making a new set of lava rocks.. in the process, the idea that the vinegar had help some, why not a stronger acid bath, like citric acid..
Bingo.. the citric bath clean the rocks.. a solution of 2 tbsp of citric acid in 1 gal of hot water and a soak for over an hour, did the job..
After 3 runs, the distillate is clear from the very start.. so this bit of info is posted for those that may encounter the same issue with using lava rocks.. keeping in mind that I've been using the rocks on weekly runs, so it take a few yrs to build up to the level dis-scripted here..
Mars
When first encountering the issue, I cleaned the whole column sections, using a mild vinegar solution.. that helped some but the yellowish tint was still present, but not to extent it was before..
What the f**k is going on ? ? never encounter this before.. well, after using the same lava rocks for the past 2 yrs or so on a weekly bases, it so happen that the lava rocks got coated with a yellowish film which is created from distilling, similar to what coated the column walls during distilling runs.. and the lava rocks are rinsed five time with hot water after each usage..
While this was happening and trying to figure out what was going on, the idea of cleaning the rocks with mild vinegar had help some, meaning it didn't run so far into the head section, but it was still present.. and I processed to start making a new set of lava rocks.. in the process, the idea that the vinegar had help some, why not a stronger acid bath, like citric acid..
Bingo.. the citric bath clean the rocks.. a solution of 2 tbsp of citric acid in 1 gal of hot water and a soak for over an hour, did the job..
After 3 runs, the distillate is clear from the very start.. so this bit of info is posted for those that may encounter the same issue with using lava rocks.. keeping in mind that I've been using the rocks on weekly runs, so it take a few yrs to build up to the level dis-scripted here..
Mars