StillSmart

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-07-10T00:38:59+00:00

It is great to see such enthusiasm, and a great result.
Stick with it buddy and refine your technique.
It may seem a steep learning curve, but the result is worth it.
As you are learning.

Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Sun Jul 10, 2016 12:38 am

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-07-09T11:57:05+00:00

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the great advice!!! i am gonna order the controller, didnt know they could be got that cheap & as ive a little more experience with my still i think i will carry on with it.

just wanted to post some results!!!

I done another 26L batch which started at 1.090 and finished at 0.994. I then transferred to a secondary and done 3 x 3.5l stripping runs to get a spirit run done. when i done the spirit run i dumped the first 100ml to be safe, then collected the next 200ml for a heads run.

The next 600ml i collected which was perfectly clear and 75% i added approx 600ml filtered water until i had about 40% and ran it through a carbon filter, tasted great to be honest so im very happy with that. I left it to breath covered in a tea towel

I also collected the next 600ml which was at 62%, again clear and good quality smell. I added approx 300ml to bring it to 40% again taste and smell was good and i filtered through carbon and covered with a towel.

For fun i collected another 600ml just to see what the drop off was like and if it would be cloudy and surprisingly it was very clear, the percentage was 20% so should get some use from that too! very impressed with how it all turned out and thanks again couldnt have done it without your help! (and chills Method) :-)

Statistics: Posted by johnykappa — Sat Jul 09, 2016 11:57 am

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-06-01T21:37:41+00:00

+1 Mash - you're pumping far too many watts into your wash. You need to slow it way way down, and a power controller is definitely the right way to go. Cheaper than a new AirStill, as well!

The idea is to vapourise the alcohol out of the wash with as little water as possible - always tricky with an AirStill. Too much power, you boil the water too fast, leading to the results you are getting.

As for how far you should strip - read and re-read the AirStill Best Pracice guide, and don't be greedy!

Cheers

Hampk

Statistics: Posted by hampk — Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:37 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-06-01T13:48:26+00:00

I would give the power controller a go. £7 for the controller £3 for a container, with a wire and a plug you probably have kicking about form some unused computer gear.

Having said that, I also know it's nice to have the right thing for the right job.

I'm sure you are learning lots.. Enjoy it.

Statistics: Posted by Mash — Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:48 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-06-01T13:06:31+00:00

Hi Guys,

Thanks again for all the advice!

ive looked at the link for power controllers cheers, not sure how I could fit this or if spending is worth it... I may just buy a 300w commercial airstill instead. I realise the one I have may be no good for the job it was just a project really.

one thing I did realise is that with this still holding 3.5L its about 87% of 4L. instead of trying to get a 1.5L strip I should be aiming at most for 1.3L which is 87% of 1.5L. I may have to go lower I imagine and also now know abv is not the best guide. (nice to tick all the boxes though). I done a 1.3l strip and Ill measure the abv later just for info. may help someone else attempting this with an 800w still. The strip took 1hour 5minutes so deffo burning alcohol quickly.

before I modify too much im gonna get some 1.3l strips and do a spirit run & see how it turns out. ill sample every 100ML for abv/taste/smell and see the results. one question the tails taste sweet is that the corn like taste ive had on some samples?

Also @chill you say conventionally the strip is diluted, do you mean you get a 50%+ strip and add water?

thanks guys

Statistics: Posted by johnykappa — Wed Jun 01, 2016 1:06 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-25T14:52:27+00:00

As Hampk said, ABV is only a rough yardstick and a useless one when you are starting out. Even running washes that I know though a still I have years of experience with, I still only use it as a rough guide. The finer points are down to taste and smell.

And even as a rough guide, it is hard to know what to advise you on a still that I have no experience with. The ABV of a strip depends on how long you strip it for. If you run the still until it is dry, your strip will be the ABV of the wash, perhaps less a little leakage. I think that most people run it until the ABV of the combined total strip is 40%. I don't recall what the incremental ABV is at that point, probably around 20%. I cut my stripping runs short to avoid the smell of tails (wife hates them and by extension me) so I end up with a strip of 50%+. The conventional wisdom is to dilute the strip to 30% for the spirit run. I never measure so I am unsure what I run mine at, probably higher than that. I just figure half of a 24L wash in one spirit run and half in another with enough water in each to reach the Fill line.

Chuck

Statistics: Posted by chill — Wed May 25, 2016 2:52 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-25T07:14:08+00:00

Good call.. Turn it down.

Here is a link

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3904&p=32062&hilit=Power+controller#p32062

Statistics: Posted by Mash — Wed May 25, 2016 7:14 am

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-24T21:07:35+00:00

Ok, here's my tuppence on this one.

800W is going to boil your wash very rapidly - most of us AirStillers have units that run around 300W. You need to get yourself some sort of power controller to slow it down a bit I think.

Second, an AirStill/SmartStill/whatever you've got (!) is a pot still, and a compromised pot still at that. You are absolutely not going to be able to distinguish heads, hearts and tails by ABV. This is because it's the nature of a pot that what you get out is always going to be a combination of all elements of what's in it (including water!) - it's called smearing. An AirStill smears in spades.

The only way you are going to get decent results is to forget ABV - it's not going to help you other than to know when to stop collecting. Slow down a bit!

Get yourself a load of jamjars or something similar.

Load your still with as much low wines at around 30% ABV as it'll take. Warm it up. Slowly

Chuck the first 50mls or so - that's the stuff that smells like nail polish remover.

Then collect in 100ml volumes until your take drops to around 35% to 40% ABV. Some of this will stink too.

Turn the still off!

Leave your jars overnight to breathe, covered with a tea towel or something similar.

Now follow the cuts guide that you can find on here somewhere - been a long day and I can't remember where it is. Taste, smell, etc. Blend what you want, recycle what you don't. Basically if it smells and tastes ok, chuck it in, if it reminds you of pear drops or wet dog, it's out. Check the AirStill best practice guide as well - that document is worth it's weight in platinum.

Things will then start to make sense eventually

Cheers

Hampk

Statistics: Posted by hampk — Tue May 24, 2016 9:07 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-24T18:07:03+00:00

just re-read the previous advice that pre hearts & hearts should be above 80%, wonder if a 1.3l strip would help that or maybe it is just the still. with a wash of 14% or so what should be the percentage of a striped run?

Statistics: Posted by johnykappa — Tue May 24, 2016 6:07 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-24T08:35:16+00:00

Hi chuck thanks for the great advice!

I actually didn't even measure the strip beforehand. will do on the next for sure!!! The diluted Batch sounds right to me alright but I wanted to follow the guide as close as possible hence the 1.5l strip. I guess a 1.5l from 3.5l wash would benefit from a smaller strip

I know this still isn't ideal for product runs it was just something I came accross so kicked off a little life project really. I'd read about the difficulties with separation already so great tip on the power controller!

what do you aim for ercentage wise and size wise from your alcohol runs?

how can I tell when to stop collecting from my strip runs?

does the first 100 pre hearts sound low @76%? that would deffo indicate venting I suppose..

thanks again for all the help!!!

Statistics: Posted by johnykappa — Tue May 24, 2016 8:35 am

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-24T04:01:53+00:00

What was the ABV of the strip that you put into the still. The ABV and volume numbers of what you are getting out still seem really low to me. So either your strip was too low of an ABV, or your still is venting alcohol.

I will guess, based on "the 800watt beast seems to have advantages in that it can do a stripping run taking the first 1.5l of a 3.5l batch in 1hr 20minutes" that the ABV of the stripped run was low. I usually take a maximum of 1.3L from a 4L batch, so I hint you were running yours too long and getting a very diluted strip. But that is just a guess. My will is 325W and it takes 4:15 to get 1.3L from a 4L batch.

I am far from an expert on still design, but 800W of power into a 3.5L charge seems like you will have a "runaway" still -- it will be going so fast that it will be hard to get good separation of the heads, hearts, and tails. If it is not venting alcohol that could be fantastic for stripping, but might want to consider a power controller for your spirit runs where quality is king. Search this forum for "power controller"

Chuck

Statistics: Posted by chill — Tue May 24, 2016 4:01 am

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-23T22:52:40+00:00

hey guys, so I done 3 strip runs to get 4.5l to do a real run this time! my distiller has a max of 3.5l if it matters????

I ditched the 1st 100mls as fores(extra 50ml to be safe)

collected the next 200ml in a heads jar
collected 3 by 100ml as pre hearts all very clear...
1st 76%
2nd 75%
3rd 73%

collected next 500ml as hearts again clear and smelled good. 62% may have got some post hearts in this as next 100ml was cloudy....

collected the next 100ml as post hearts at 32% started getting cloudy here so stopped...

my measurements appear a bit off coz I added the 3rd pre hearts 100ml to the hearts 500ml and the slightly cloudy post hearts 100ml to give me 700ml... but my jug read 800ml... I took a reading after a stir and it's 57% which was close to the target, just have to work out how much to dilute now to get 35-40%. oh and carbon filter also....

I put the 1st&2nd pre hearts in the heads run jar.

does this sound right to the experience distillers? does that sound like the eco water is releasing vapour into the air??

the 800watt beast seems to have advantages in that it can do a stripping run taking the first 1.5l of a 3.5l batch in 1hr 20minutes.

thanks for all your help guys it's really appreciated oh and big thanks for the method chill!!! johny

Statistics: Posted by johnykappa — Mon May 23, 2016 10:52 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-05T23:01:34+00:00

johnykappa, best of luck with that, let us know how it goes.

chill, excellent responses by yourself, award yourself a gold star!
You have just saved me some tapping time, and probably done a better job of responding than I would have.

Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Thu May 05, 2016 11:01 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-05T19:31:52+00:00

will do chill thanks, I reakon I'll do 3 stripping runs to get 4l then try a spirit run!

Statistics: Posted by johnykappa — Thu May 05, 2016 7:31 pm

Re: newbie advice required for 800w distiller

2016-05-05T16:09:50+00:00

Ah! Now that makes sense! The purpose of the stripping runs is to quickly get rid of most of the water in the washes and some of the less pleasant tastes. This lets you concentrate on a spirit run of a higher, cleaner ABV load in the still.

Good luck on your next runs. Let us know how you get on.

Statistics: Posted by chill — Thu May 05, 2016 4:09 pm