StillSmart

Re: missed cuts

2013-08-07T13:00:59+00:00

Great, thanks for all the info. I did turn it off after I missed the heads cut but just wanted to be sure I could start again rather than just carry on.

I was curious as to how much electricity it used so I ran the still with my meter attached and came out about 1.6kwh (pretty stable at 355watts) from cold to finish. Even with a restart that's pretty cheap by my reckoning.

I'd seen a suggestion about pre warming to 50 degrees on the stripping run and that came in at 1.36kWh, not much money saving but shaved about 40 minutes of the run time. Seemed to smell the same and produce the same abv.

Statistics: Posted by laviscus — Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:00 pm

Re: missed cuts

2013-08-07T08:13:37+00:00

@laviscus
as usual, +1 what Chuck said....
also (re 'emergent events) you can turn the still off at the time and then back on later;
ie resume your original/typicaL cuts...it'll take a bit more power usage (lowwines reheat, etc) but wont unduly change your expected output fractions.

Statistics: Posted by Frank — Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:13 am

Re: missed cuts

2013-08-06T16:10:18+00:00

I run it like a heads run. It won't hurt to toss a bit of fores. You will get more heads than usual and very little tails.

Chuck

Statistics: Posted by chill — Tue Aug 06, 2013 4:10 pm

Re: missed cuts

2013-08-06T07:56:23+00:00

Interesting, will definitely give that a whirl. Do I then run it like a normal spirit run with fores, heads etc or like a normal heads run? Cheers.

Statistics: Posted by laviscus — Tue Aug 06, 2013 7:56 am

Re: missed cuts

2013-08-05T18:13:26+00:00

Another thing to try: Collect your heads until you get 2L. Then add 2L of very hot water to that and stir in baking soda until no more will dissolve. It should bubble and fizz. Loosely cap to allow gas to escape and let sit overnight or longer. That should break down some of the ethyl acetate and hence result in extracting more alcohol from the heads portion.

Chuck

Statistics: Posted by chill — Mon Aug 05, 2013 6:13 pm

Re: missed cuts

2013-08-05T17:39:06+00:00

Brill, thanks very much. Don't like to waste any of the yeasties hard work

Statistics: Posted by laviscus — Mon Aug 05, 2013 5:39 pm

Re: missed cuts

2013-08-05T16:49:43+00:00

Welcome to the forums Laviscus, yes just run it again and all will be sorted.

Statistics: Posted by Capt-Cudellez — Mon Aug 05, 2013 4:49 pm

missed cuts

2013-08-05T15:57:40+00:00

Hi all

Like many, I've just started out in the home brewing route with a small 4l smartstill. Followed the excellent guides by aidanmac and mozr which really helped.

First two spirit runs went okay but just after I started the third I was distracted by a small plumbing emergency at home and missed some cuts, I ended up with 150ml fores and 400ml of heads. I guess I could just chuck the extra heads into the heads demijohn and bin the extra fores, but I wondered if I could just put it all back in and just start again. Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

Statistics: Posted by laviscus — Mon Aug 05, 2013 3:57 pm