StillSmart

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-11T11:51:28+00:00

I'm going to check it out this evening. Stuck my nose in the hearts cut this morning and it was virtually odourless. Quite excited how this is turning out

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Mon Apr 11, 2016 11:51 am

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-11T11:28:46+00:00

Honestly if you run it through the still and make decent cuts the carbon is redundant.

For neutral this might mean re diluting and doing a third run. I am very sceptical about the need for carbon filtering myself.

I know some folks filter for hazes, but you really don't need to filter to take out flavour.

Its up to you though. You may decide that using filtration is more cost effective than the power used for an additional run.

Its just a different way to get the same results.

Of course if you are a JD fan you might filter to put flavour in, but that is different again.

Statistics: Posted by Myles — Mon Apr 11, 2016 11:28 am

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-10T17:54:19+00:00

Yes, it's for a neutral. Will be using some of the Still Spirits essences on some of it. Really happy with how it's turning out. Will check it tomorrow, dilute and decide whether to filter. Reckon it probably won't be necessary but I'll wait and see.

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Sun Apr 10, 2016 5:54 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-10T17:44:21+00:00

Is this for a neutral spirit Seagull? Taste what you have then decide, if you think it could still be a bit more neutral then filter it. If you are happy with what's there then filtering it might be a bit pointless, save the carbon for something that you really think needs it

Statistics: Posted by Benoit — Sun Apr 10, 2016 5:44 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-10T16:45:41+00:00

Is it worth carbon filtering after a double distill? I have the EZ filter and the Essencia (not yet used the Essencia cos I still have a few EZ carbon cartridges left)

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:45 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-10T16:41:27+00:00

Doing my run and making cuts for the first time.

I didn't think I'd be able to tell the difference. - I don't have a sophisticated palette.

But wow!! The difference is incredible! I wish Still Spirits would include this in the instructions. People would be much happier with their results.

I'm glad I found this site and the brilliant advice in it.

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Sun Apr 10, 2016 4:41 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-08T09:01:21+00:00

Hi Seagull I ran something similar through my boiler a couple of weeks back. From memory it was 15 litres of mixed feints @ 40% ABV. A real cocktail. Pot still run fruit and rum feints, TPW and wheat reflux feints. It took about the same amount of time as my usual 23 litres @ 10% wash.

I took a small middle cut of hearts and it was the cleanest neutral I've made in 4 years.

Combined the rest into a perfectly acceptable "vodka".

Hope that helps

Statistics: Posted by Mr Four Square — Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:01 am

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-05T00:25:34+00:00

A few folks running bigger boilers have reported that they stabilise and remove heads. Then shut down, I imagine running the condenser in full reflux untill the boiler cools down. And then continue the run the next day.

To me that does not seem logical. The only way to know for sure is to try your boiler and power configuration (at that charge ABV) to see how it performs.

Once you know that you can adjust your boiler charge volume next time to get a convenient run time.

It is a "mistake" a lot of folks make. They have a boiler that they use to run fermented wash, and they then fill it with the same volume of low wines without considering that it is going to take a lot longer to run.

It is one reason that neutral "specialists" do things like hydro-separating the low wines. It reduces the volume of heads going into the boiler in the first place, which helps with run time reduction.

Statistics: Posted by Myles — Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:25 am

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-04T23:15:16+00:00

Easydrinker wrote:
I'm not really qualified to advise here, as I don't have a T500, but my assimilated knowledge tells me that around 5 hours is the average time that owners of such stills work on for a second distillation...
Go for it.
If someone better qualified comes by with something better to say, great!

Robert.

Cheers Robert. I've been trying to decide whether to run the still when I get home from work or whether to wait for the weekend when I have more time.

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Mon Apr 04, 2016 11:15 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-04T22:44:23+00:00

I'm not really qualified to advise here, as I don't have a T500, but my assimilated knowledge tells me that around 5 hours is the average time that owners of such stills work on for a second distillation...
Go for it.
If someone better qualified comes by with something better to say, great!

Robert.

Statistics: Posted by Easydrinker — Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:44 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-04-04T12:47:20+00:00

Haven't done my run yet. Quick question:

Given that I'll have 30% abv in my boiler rather than my usual 13%, and I want to run the still nice and slow to get a quality neutral, will the total distilling time increase significantly from the usual 5 hours or so that the lower abv would usually take?

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Mon Apr 04, 2016 12:47 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-03-26T18:36:22+00:00

Brilliant. Thanks for that. Looking forward to trying this out on Monday

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Sat Mar 26, 2016 6:36 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-03-26T18:25:31+00:00

Get it all setup....start the boiler, as it heats up turn the PC on so that the column goes into reflux.

Keep it like that for 15mins or a bit longer....then back off the water to start the flow....the slower the better.

Statistics: Posted by Icefever — Sat Mar 26, 2016 6:25 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-03-26T18:19:13+00:00

These numbers will just be a guide because these are from the classical cognac method, but they will give you an idea.

Based on a boiler charge of 28%

Heads 1%
1st quality Hearts 28%
2nd quality hearts 6.6%
Tails 6%

These are volumes as %age of boiler charge. Pot still mode, so if you are collecting at higher purity your volumes will be lower.

Statistics: Posted by Myles — Sat Mar 26, 2016 6:19 pm

Re: Planning to double distill

2016-03-26T17:48:15+00:00

Cheers Ice. Think that'll be my Monday job then.

Looking forward to experience the difference after the second long and slow run.

Statistics: Posted by Seagull — Sat Mar 26, 2016 5:48 pm