Home Distiller

Good day everyone... here's a quirky one. We were distilling yesterday, as I've done many times before, -- 10 gal pot over propane, 2 inch piping, -- liquid was a mix of corn and rye that was fermented and filtered so there wasn't any chance of scorching or such.... We were running it hard and fast for a good strip. We had to go through roughly 15 gallons -- basically 2 runs of 8 gallons each. We ran first batch, with nice and clear drip for almost 3 liters. Then came a cloudy drip for a just shy of a liter.... then back to clear. Percentage was still pretty good on the cloudy bit....
I know we were running into the tails, but it was strange that it went back to clear after a cloudy bit.... This has happened to me previously, but I've never really thought about it till yesterday. Insight please.

Hey grappa, I have had a similar thing happen on stripping runs. Middle was frequently cloudy. By putting a sight glass at the base of the riser I could see what was going on. foaming turned out to be the issue for me. Makes a small puke in my set up when running hard. Started adding a Pat of butter to the boiler and it hasn’t happened again. Leaving head space in boiler helped as well.

Grappa-Gringo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 18, 2022 6:53 am 10 gal pot over propane, 2 inch piping, -- liquid was a mix of corn and rye that was fermented and filtered so there wasn't any chance of scorching or such.... We were running it hard and fast for a good strip. We had to go through roughly 15 gallons -- basically 2 runs of 8 gallons each.

What happen is puking caused by foaming from the grain mix being run hard with an over filled boiler..

Either low your stripping speed and / or reduce the boiler to below 75% or both.. and adding anti foaming agents will help some but will require cleaning of the unit after a few runs..

Mars

Grappa-Gringo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 18, 2022 6:53 am We were running it hard and fast for a good strip.

Grappa-Gringo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 18, 2022 6:53 am We ran first batch, with nice and clear drip for almost 3 liters. Then came a cloudy drip for a just shy of a liter.... then back to clear

I wouldn't call "dripping" a hard and fast stripping speed.

I see this too but don't worry about it on a strip run. Spirit run will clean it up nice and crystal clear. Sometimes i'll get a mild puke but I typically do fill my boiler almost full on a strip with some EVOO, and once up to temp dial back and run for a good hour-90min low and slow for fores and protein break and pukes are minimal. After fores I'll typically ramp it up to medium heat until about a gallon or so is taken off then slam it full power for the rest of the strip. I could probably run it faster with a bot more head space but that's how I like to do it when I make time to run.

Cheers!
-j

Interesting how we all develop different method for stripping..

My strip runs consist of 30 - 35L in a 50L boiler (60% of boiler), fast heat up to first drop, heat break (shutoff power) for 3 - 4 min, then 3500w (65% of 5500w) for rest of strip.. from heat up to stoppage is 1.5 hr and turn around for second run is 4 min, and the second heat up takes 10 min less than the first.. that has been my standard method for all strip, be mash, wash, or rum, also my ferments had been will cleared..

Mars

My strips are 28 L in a 30 L kettle, packed 3" x 90cm riser full tilt (3kw) start to finish.
I get some small flecks but no worries.
2nd strip 25m less than first thanks to Nzchris putting me onto a preheater. Less than 12m turn around.
4 x strips.
29L in the boiler for the spirit run.

Saltbush.... my description of the event's wasn't clear enough I guess-- The outpour was not a drip... it had a good flow to it, not a dribble, The Keg was filled only 3/4 of the way.... It wasn't a legit PUKE.... maybe just a bit to make it a bit cloudy.... we gave it lots of head space in the anticipation of a PUKE.... to keep ourselves safe.
Glad to hear others have had a similar issue....

Grappa-Gringo wrote: ↑Wed Jul 20, 2022 7:10 am Saltbush.... my description of the event's wasn't clear enough I guess-- The outpour was not a drip... it had a good flow to it, not a dribble, The Keg was filled only 3/4 of the way.... It wasn't a legit PUKE.... maybe just a bit to make it a bit cloudy.... we gave it lots of head space in the anticipation of a PUKE.... to keep ourselves safe.
Glad to hear others have had a similar issue....

And on a strip run I say it does not matter. on to your Spirit run and don’t look back!

Maybe you were just past the oils and got into sweet water territory.

ShineonCrazyDiamond wrote: ↑Sun Jul 24, 2022 3:44 am Maybe you were just past the oils and got into sweet water territory.

Good one SCD.. missed stating that, as I've just recently (past yr) collecting the "sweet water"..

Mars