Home Distiller

First, I see different definitions of "feints" I'm calling it heads and tails. Are there any rules to how many times you can re-distill the feints? Also is it ok to mix already re-distilled feints with fresh feints? Running a pot still with small thumper. Thanks.

Feints from making what?

Whiskey, moonshine.

I usually put those feints on some spare oak while I save up enough for a run. When I have enough for about 2/3rds of a charge, I hold back some fresh wash to top it up with for a feints run, take my time getting it up to temperature, then holding it just below producing for at least half on hour before turning the heat up. The extra time with heat is to encourage esterification for better flavors. The oak goes into the boiler with the feints.

Depending on how the heart cut went, those feints can be anything from useful to downright nasty. Sometimes I keep them, sometimes they get tossed, sometimes they get put through my Bokakob with other feints.

I generally collect them for a second run, if I run small batches of different things I often mix them in order to get to a decent amount and get a neutral, as long as the feints are not derived from stuff with a strong smell .. but I don't have a fixed rule, I use them differently.

My feints get re-run, generally down to a neutral, or a good base for gin.

On feints runs, I tend to throw out more heads, and don't go deep into tails (finish at 40% abv or "no longer flammable")
But there will still be some heads and tails, that get re-feinted.

I save all my feints that aren't destined for the next run of the same thing, in a corny keg. Then run them through my CCVM to make neutral. They add up fast, average 70% and 5 gallons of 70% make a shit load of neutral.

It is largely personal choice, but for me I save feints (heads and tails, anything except foreshots that did not make the cut as keep) from pot still runs, or from low HETP and low RR reflux runs. Those get run through a high HETP and RR reflux run to recover some fairly neutral (though not perfectly so) booze. The feints from that run are used as cleaner / fire starter etc. I found for me the heads kinda pile up if you keep adding them back and the tails are so concentrated that I don't want to try and reprocess them.

zed255 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:07 pm It is largely personal choice, but for me I save feints (heads and tails, anything except foreshots that did not make the cut as keep) from pot still runs, or from low HETP and low RR reflux runs. Those get run through a high HETP and RR reflux run to recover some fairly neutral (though not perfectly so) booze. The feints from that run are used as cleaner / fire starter etc. I found for me the heads kinda pile up if you keep adding them back and the tails are so concentrated that I don't want to try and reprocess them.

I'm with you, keep it simple, pitch the fore shots and save the heads and tails down to about 10-15% abv. Save them in a glass jug ubuntil you have enough for a run depending on how big your pot is. Some of your best runs will be from feints.

NZChris wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:04 pm When I have enough for about 2/3rds of a charge, I hold back some fresh wash to top it up with for a feints run, take my time getting it up to temperature, then holding it just below producing for at least half on hour before turning the heat up. The extra time with heat is to encourage esterification for better flavors. The oak goes into the boiler with the feints.

That sounds like rum feints. I would ask how it works for whiskey flavors, but I'll find out shortly.

My next course is fermenting small batches of 4ish percent experiments and using them to dilute a too tails whiskey cut and some feints. Rye was first, very gummy, but way more manageable in a 6 liter ferment!

Next up sorghum flour that needs to disposed of, then toasted oats I think.

Is it esterification or maillardization with a slow heat up?

Probably combo platter.

Oatmeal wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:07 pm Is it esterification or maillardization with a slow heat up?

I doubt that there would much Maillard reaction happening in what I described doing, that needs sugars.

So you wouldn't run them more than twice even on a pot still? I have mostly just been running everything just once, no stripping run just a spirit run. Still is 9.6 gallon but I just run 5-6 gallon batches. The thumper is undersized at a little over half a gallon.

I have done a feints of feints run with some fresh wash in it, but it wasn't too flash. For fun, I over-oaked it to the color of cola with four times the usual amount of oak and aged it for a couple of years before I started experimenting with it. Used as oak essence in new make, it worked quite well.

Dammit NZChris, thanks for blowing my mind once again. One day I wanna be(juana_b) half as proficient as you are.
This f'ing job that I have keeps getting in the way though. It's really starting to interfere with this hobby.

I do as others have said above.
All spirit run fores get chucked into my cleaning jar, heads and tails are saved for a neutral run usually around a 45L charge in my keg.
On the spirit run I use 4x 4" plates and 500mm of 2" packed with scoria(lava rock) and copper (this is soon to be replaced with a 4" section).
I heat up slow then hold it in full reflux for an hour or so, bleed off about 2L of heads which go in to cleaning jar, look for the heart cut which is usually around 10-14L @ 94+%. As soon as tails start to show I kill the power.
The only thing I do differently is rum, where I keep late heads and tails for future rum runs.