StillSmart

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-11T09:09:06+00:00

iirc, it's about double the regular time. No never mind in practice as you don't have to babysit it much, just an occasional glance to see how it's doing and with a little experience you can predict when you need to be there.

I found the half power runs to be much better. No real benefit doing the strip run half power though.

Statistics: Posted by John51 — Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:09 am

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-09T16:43:53+00:00

Hi John,

How long is your spirit run when you are using the light dimmer? It will be longer, but how much longer? Does this reduce the smearing?

Chuck

Statistics: Posted by chill — Mon Jun 09, 2014 4:43 pm

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-09T11:02:47+00:00

Hi Andy, the airstill is a great little machine.

To give an over simplistic answer to your original question:

Foreshots, aka fores, are the nasty stuff that comes off first when doing a run. Must never be drunk but they are good as a cleaning solvent.

Heads. These come off next. It's not advisable to drink them as your head may pay the price the next morning. Can be tasty though. Almost every commercial spirit has some heads in it.

Hearts. This is the good stuff. aka ethanol, ethyl alcohol or simply 'neutral'. No taste, no distinctive odour, no hangover. Comes out of the still after the heads.

Tails. The last to come from the still. Can really do your guts in. Has a horrible odour akin to manky cardboard. A good way to reduce tails is to turn the still off earlier.

Heads and tails can be recycled sort of. In practice, there is a lot of smearing as the various alcohols come out of a pot still. So a small amount of heads comes with a fair amount of hearts and the recycling is to get those hearts. Some of us find that tails are not worth the effort of recycling.

With the airstill, I found that using a light dimmer as a power controller really improved the spirit run. About half power for the still and run the fan from a separate socket.

Have fun.

Statistics: Posted by John51 — Mon Jun 09, 2014 11:02 am

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-08T16:47:01+00:00

haziflad wrote:
thanks rhinus where do I locate this guide

thanks

andy

download/file.php?id=60

That should do it.
Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:47 pm

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-08T05:30:52+00:00

thankyou too easydrinker

Statistics: Posted by haziflad — Sun Jun 08, 2014 5:30 am

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-08T05:15:18+00:00

thanks rhinus where do I locate this guide

thanks

andy

Statistics: Posted by haziflad — Sun Jun 08, 2014 5:15 am

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-08T02:42:55+00:00

Welcome Haz.

The link above is the place to get started. Also make sure to get a copy of Aidan's guide. Follow those instructions and you will be on your way.

Rhinus

Statistics: Posted by rhinus — Sun Jun 08, 2014 2:42 am

Re: HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-07T22:52:17+00:00

Hi and welcome,
Have a look at this link,it should answer your questions. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=765

Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Sat Jun 07, 2014 10:52 pm

HELP tops,hearts, bottoms

2014-06-07T18:30:23+00:00

Hi, Iam new to this hobby and Iam reading as much as possible, please could someone explain tops bottoms and hearts......I have just bought a still air and looking forward to my first run with my wash on the go...

many thanks

Andy

Statistics: Posted by haziflad — Sat Jun 07, 2014 6:30 pm