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I was curious if different styles of alcohol taste better because of temps. Should a brandy leave the PC, or rc for that matter, then say a corn whiskey?
Does the hight of the PC matter, should it be closer to the downturn or would some distance add to a better flavor?
Thanks
Tōtō

From the lack of reply am I to take it as a stupid question or something that makes no difference to your taste buds. In my cooking I know it makes a difference I can't see how it wouldn't in distilling. I would think a pear brandy's subtle flavor would be ruined coming out at 160* compared to 110* F.
Tōtō

I can't say I target any specific temperature for my distillate outside of being cool to touch on a spirit run and not much more than warm to touch when stripping.

I see what you are thinking, delicate flavour compounds could escape via evaporation at higher output temperatures as compared to cooler output temperatures. Conversely, if trying to make neutral it might be desireable to have unwanted congeners to evaporate. Never really considered it outside of cooler alcohol is safer than hot alcohol, so I try to get my product as cool as reasonably possible.

If discussing an RC, then things are different. You don't want to over cool the reflux distillate, only just condense it. If you send reflux down a colum that is far too cold it will upset the column and reduce performance.

I always aim for 60 degrees F since that is the temperature my alcometer is calibrated for. I would think colder is better. All the vapor needs to get condensed or you will be blowing vapor out the end of your condenser and losing product. I don’t actively monitor my condenser output for temperature, I just know that if my water coming out of the pot still condenser is just warm to the touch, then all is good.

I wouldn’t want to mess with 160F or 110F alcohol running out of my condenser. That seems like a safety issue and might lead to product loss as I would think the alcohol will evaporate faster at a higher temperature (as mentioned above, that might be desired). I would think running the still at the proper rate would have more of an affect on the flavor than your collected distillate temperature. The alcohol/water mix has to condense at less than 173F, and once condensed, I don’t see how cooling it more would adversely affect the taste.

If I am running a CM or LM still, I let the RC water get hot to the touch, probably around 130 to 140 ish degrees. On my LM still I put a bowl reducer on the top of the still that has a port that fits a 1/4” tube. I attach a small piece of tubing on it and put a loop into it. If I get any condensate in that loop, I know I need to increase the flow to the RC. I have only done one trial run with my plated still but I am going to try to get the temp of the vapor leaving the RC at 185F so the distillate is around 150 proof. For the PC on an LM or CM still, I treat it the same as a pot still and the water is barely warm to the touch.

I like distilling in winter because the water is colder and electricity is cheaper.

The temperature of the liquid product doesn't matter.

The temperature of the vapor being turned into product matters a lot as this is your alcohol content.

I watched a newbie running a Turbo through three plates and then through a parrot that had steam coming out of it. I warned him not to light a fag, but he already knew that . Maybe the hot parrot got rid of some nasty VOCs during the run, because his finished product was surprisingly ok, good enough to keep him and his friends happy after using HBS essences and sugar to make his end products. I haven't tasted any of them yet, but the likes of Sambuca Essence can swamp just about anything.

NZChris wrote: ↑Mon Feb 27, 2023 10:17 pm… good enough to keep him and his friends happy after using HBS essences and sugar to make his end products…