StillSmart Home distillation made easy! 2008-12-20T18:36:48+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/feed.php?f=4&t=13 2008-12-20T18:36:48+00:00 2008-12-20T18:36:48+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=380#p380 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> Statistics: Posted by alan — Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:36 pm


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2008-12-20T18:18:38+00:00 2008-12-20T18:18:38+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=378#p378 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> Been reading this thread and would like to ask -
If you intend to re-distill,is it ok to leave the heads and the tails in, as when you do your final distill you take them out then ?
The reason I ask is because I have a really bad brew of beer that I am distilling into whisky, and i have 40 pints of the stuff, doing it in 2ltr (4 bottle) batches I have been running the machine till I get 800ml, storing it and doing another 800ml. The plan was then to re-distill it removing the heads from the final go putting it though the activated carbon & get arround 45% or more.
is it OK to do that ? or must the heads be removed first - iam i right in thinking doing it my way will result in me needing to remove more heads - say 100ml from the final still ?
thanx
Ian

Statistics: Posted by umpa — Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:18 pm


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2008-12-16T04:14:05+00:00 2008-12-16T04:14:05+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=288#p288 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> Regards, Q

Statistics: Posted by quietman — Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:14 am


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2008-12-16T04:01:21+00:00 2008-12-16T04:01:21+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=287#p287 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> I don't re-distill it at 52% i just drink it but mixed 50/50 with ginger ale or something.

Statistics: Posted by bluecap — Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:01 am


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2008-12-14T21:10:18+00:00 2008-12-14T21:10:18+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=267#p267 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> When you redistill the 1.5l @52% how much do you end up with and what is the final abv?
Regards, Q

Statistics: Posted by quietman — Sun Dec 14, 2008 9:10 pm


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2008-12-14T21:07:18+00:00 2008-12-14T21:07:18+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=266#p266 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> Regards, Q

Statistics: Posted by quietman — Sun Dec 14, 2008 9:07 pm


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2008-12-14T01:03:31+00:00 2008-12-14T01:03:31+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=261#p261 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> That though is making sure the wash is 20%, i always use 48 turbo but use 8.5 kilo of sugar rather than the 8 it says on the packet as it says between 18 and 20% alcohol I’m pretty sure 20% is impossible with 8 kilo as 8 seems to max out at 18%.
I ferment it like i would a wine at about 70 to 75 degrees using a fishtank type heater this make the finished wash have almost no smell.
I used a brew belt to heat it on my first attempt and the finished wash stank rotten (if stanks a word)
Is there anything to be gained from chucking the first 100 ml?, from all i have read there is only need to chuck the first 20 ml but as they say don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
Here’s a calculator that might be of interest.
http://www.homedistiller.org/pot_calc.htm
The settings for easystill
Initial Volume of Wash 4 L

Alcohol Content % by (whatever the alcohol content of the wash)

Initial Temperature C optional (it just tells you how long heating up time is)

Power during Heat-up 320 W

Power during Distillation 320W

%Internal Reflux 25%

Time-step for calculation 20 min

Statistics: Posted by bluecap — Sun Dec 14, 2008 1:03 am


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2008-12-13T23:37:34+00:00 2008-12-13T23:37:34+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=260#p260 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> Think about it this way, you have 4000ml of liquid, at say 14% when it goes in. That means that 560ml of that is alcohol. If the still was 100% efficient, you could pull that out but as it is not, you get more non-alcohol out at the same time. What starts coming out will be at about 60% and then it'll drop off the more you collect. In this example, if you take 800ml you'll get about 49%, if you take 1 litre you'll get about 46%.
The key part is when what is coming out of your still is so weak that it is diluting your alcohol quickly - the overall ABV isn't dropping that fast, but you're not 'adding benefit' if you see what I mean, you're just adding weak, bad tasting alcohol to what was OK. If you stop at 800ml, what is coming out of the spout when you stop is about 39%. If you wait for 1 litre it's about 31% so although you have 46% overall it is dropping quite quickly.
Here's a real-world example - have you ever been in the bath whilst still running it, and you suddenly realise that the hot tap is actually putting cold water in and making your bath COLDER not warmer? Similar sort of thing, once the alcohol starts running out you're not gaining anything by leaving it going.
Anyhow, back to the example - say you take 800ml at 49% - that means that half of that (near enough) is alcohol, so 400ml. Compare that to what we had originally (560ml) - that means that what is left in the still is about 3.2 litres of liquid with 160ml of alcohol in it. That means that it's 5% or thereabouts. If you put that into a still, the very first (i.e. strongest) stuff you'd get out of it would be 32% and it would tail off fast from there. There's no way to make it stronger without either re-fermenting it or distilling it, and I don't find that it's worth the hassle for that little gain.
Finally, why do I leave mine longer when the quality has dropped off? Because I tend to re-distill, so I want to take more in the initial run and go for quality later - also, taking 1 litre makes it simple to redistill 4 runs for the second batch.

Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:37 pm


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2008-12-13T21:29:47+00:00 2008-12-13T21:29:47+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=253#p253 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]>

I tend to bin the first 50 to 100 ml's and then run my table top device for the suggested 800 ml's (from 4 litres of wash)

So in a standard distilation you bin the first 50-100ml then collect 800ml after that.
Is there anything produced from the still after the 800ml?

If so what do you do with that bin it or re-distil next time?

Do you filter the 800ml before consumption?

Statistics: Posted by HangOver — Sat Dec 13, 2008 9:29 pm


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2008-07-19T23:59:55+00:00 2008-07-19T23:59:55+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=47#p47 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> With my sugar washes, it's just been the "alcohol evaporation" in the mouth/on the throat sort of taste, and with my distilled cider, the same as the sugar wash but with a distant hint of apples.
No hideous taste or horrible smell.
Bonus!

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Sat Jul 19, 2008 11:59 pm


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2008-07-15T10:56:13+00:00 2008-07-15T10:56:13+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=41#p41 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]> Statistics: Posted by ex expat — Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:56 am


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2008-07-12T23:48:55+00:00 2008-07-12T23:48:55+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=39#p39 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]>
Testing by flavour seems to be quite difficult to do with sugar turbo wash, as there's basically bugger all flavour to it prior to being "run" - I tend to bin the first 50 to 100 ml's and then run my table top device for the suggested 800 ml's (from 4 litres of wash) or until the thermometer hits about 86/distillate is less than 50% ABV (from a full 25 litres) in my reflux device.
do you have any other ways of testing for poor quality ? Because I also run "modified" cider kits (extra sugar, tannin and acid) and it doesn't seem to matter where it's at between 50 and 85% ABV because there's been no hideous smells or off flavours that I can detect.
So if you have any links etc, that'd be great.

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:48 pm


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2008-07-07T12:16:40+00:00 2008-07-07T12:16:40+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13&p=36#p36 <![CDATA[the need for filtering]]>
a professional stillman knows that even in a coluum still its necessary to "top and tail" the distillate as it comes off, that means that the first liquid and the last should not be allowed to run into the collector , taste is a good way to see if the light and heavy ends of the run are coming off. if you do this carfully it is not necessary to filter your product at all but it does take practice. t

Statistics: Posted by ex expat — Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:16 pm


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