StillSmart

Corps012588 wrote:......Upped the abv to 11.5 this time as I only managed to get 1500ml of drinking spirit at 45% from my original 9% wash.

That must be some really harsh cuts to get so little drinkable juice from a 26 litre wash.
These days I have the benefits of a larger pot still,(easier/fewer cuts,less waste/recycling),and would expect at least twice,nearly three times your quantity from a flavoured wash,at such ABV strip percentages.
I still do the odd sugar wash to 13% ish for carbon filtering for other assorted uses,but I (currently) believe low ABV,fast,(3 day)ferments are the way to go for a flavoured wash.
And personal opinion,based upon experience,-unless you have a hard to clean boiler,don't wait forever for the wash to clear,from the day the yeasties stop working,the flavour dynamic of your wash is changing.
Maybe you are seeking the sour taste.
I have not tried UJSM,so cannot comment on that practise.
As an aside,I think you would need to throw Allinson's yeast (which I do sometimes use) into a duck pond in the middle of winter and call it names,before it even blinked,let alone got stressed!
Happy Stillin',
Robert.

I ended up throwing some of the cleared wash as I disturbed it in the bottom of the fermenter.
I had almost filled my smartstill and then the fermenter rocked and I just thought ah sheet!
I would've got another strip run had I not.
I threw the first 50ml
Collected 350ml heads
500 ml hearts
Another 250ml possible hearts
100ml maybe tails
100ml probably tails
I did collect another 100ml but didn't like the smell of it so threw it.

Hey Hey!

I'm glad to hear that everything worked out with Gen1 and you are moving on to Gen 2. You'll see that once you get around to 4 and 5, the taste really starts to shine. Also,using a mixed grain bill will give the taste some complexity. I have had some really good success going light on the oak and putting it away in the attic and forgetting about it. I just took some from the attic that was Gen2 that I made last November and it is really good. The heat and cold from the multiple seasons does make a real difference.

I now try to keep my basic UJSSM "bourbon-style" going in one fermenter and my experimental batches in another. That way, I always have something to do. It also let's me experiment with variations of my recipes while making more of my main stuff.

Now that you've got the hang of it, your next goal will be getting the right amount of oak and age for your liking.

Funny story... I am mainly a bourbon drinker but these days, I mostly drink my own stuff. Since I control the cuts the way that I like, my palette has adjusted to drinking less heads in commercial hooch. Now, almost every time I drink something commercial that isn't super high end, I have bad hiccups and heartburn. Oh well, I guess I have to just make more of my own!

I feel the same way about most commercial stuff now. The sharp taste of heads makes it unpleasant to drink.

I keep seeing on other sites guys mentioning collecting between 70% down to 60% on the
Spirit runs.
No one has mentioned why. Does anyone here use that guideline?
When I had my sip. There wasn't really a taste of corn but it was infinitely better and tastier than
Alcotec48 sugar washes.
The spirit I collected is now in 2 mason jars,
One with 6 large jim beam chips and the other with 6 large JD chips
I know it's not a lot of oak but I thought if I just leave it alone for a few weeks and see what happens.

That is not enough details to comment on that guideline. For me, with an AirStill, 70% down to 50% is where I expect tails to appear (60% to 50% is where they do appear). A reflux still is an entirely different beast and VM/LM/CM and different stills will all show differences in output.

No worries buddy. Do you find those percentages to be pretty close with most of your washes?
I've been tasting by collecting a teaspoon and then adding the same amount of water
And making my judgement based on that taste.

Those percentages are based on what is in the still (ratio of water to other compound) and that the temperature rises as the percentage of ethanol decreases. So the dropping ABV is a proxy measurement for rising temperature in the still. As the temperature rises, more of the higher (lower, I forget which) alcohols boil off and tails appears in the output. In other words, yes, those percentages are consistent. If you put in a higher ABV strip, the initial ABV out of the still will be higher. That is where you will see the difference.

Just stripping gen2 and am noticing plenty of corn smell again.
This wash is meant to be 12% but at 650ml I'm down to 56% combined
And 40% coming off the still.
Does this sound ok?
I just don't want a crappy yield like last time!