New Rig - Better Results

Other discussions for folks new to the wonderful craft of home distilling.

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Barefoot Bob
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Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:46 am

New Rig - Better Results

Post by Barefoot Bob »

Running temp
Running temp
Temp adjust - more like 89%-90%
Temp adjust - more like 89%-90%
2" Boka - 48" Column
2" Boka - 48" Column
I have been struggling with my cuts despite some very helpful advice from a few board members. A few days ago I finish a 2" Boka and ran my first Vodka yesterday. What a difference a still makes! It took an hour to go from boiling hot wash to equilibrium in my column. Then drip out my forshots, turn up the heat and balanced the column again. This rig forced me to run slow - and I needed to be forced. The speed of the drip is limited to keep the head temperature from climbing (slow drip = steady temperature; fast drip = rising temperature). It took over 5 hours to run 5 gallons of Vodka wash and I cut it off when I could smell tails (first time I could smell them clearly!!!) Now that I am running slow, all of the advice I have gotten makes more sense.
Lessons learned so far:
1. Slower is better. Running too slow is hard if not impossible as a rookie (for a spirit run). I would rather run too slow and spend a few more hours watching the drip than trying to make cuts in smeared product.
2. The advice that I got here for making cuts was good advice; heat up slow, run slow, use small jars, let it rest before making cuts, touch-smell-taste, ... . It didn't work for me because I wasn't running slow enough to be able to cut anything.
3. Run slow
4. Run slow
5. To Be Determined

Okay, my list is repetitive. I basically just learned to slow things down, but I did learn it. I hope some other rookie sees this and it helps.

I ran 5 gallons of what I though was 8% wash but I ended up with more alcohol than that so my math was off.
I ran at around 2 drips/second and threw out the first 4-5 ounces, then started keeping product. I switched jars every 8 ounces. After it smelled sweet (end of jar # 2) sped the drip a little. Still not stream but 3+ drips/second. After about 5 jars of 8 ounces the head temp started to raise a little and I had to slow the drip down again (tried to keep head temp reading around 173 F). At this point I switched to 4 ounces each jar. I collected 4 jars (16 ounces) and then the temp started climbing and I could smell tails. I shut it down because it was 11 at night by then.
I collected about 56 ounces total - all of it 85%-90% AVB. First jars were reading 94% and last jars were reading 90%. My temp was between 70F and 74F so the hydrometer readings are about 5 points high. About 9%-10% wash to almost 90% ABV product in one run - I think that's not too shabby.
All things considered I'm pleased with the results - I feel like this is the first time I had run a clean product that came out the way it was supposed to.
Thanks for all the help and I'm sure I will need more!
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