StillSmart

@ Mr Four Square, question if you don't mind please - where do you find your bulk golden syrup?

Seems to be a bit thin to find up North, guessing there's more call your end....

I got mine from a grocery wholesaler called Moore Wilson. Lower North Island based. There has to be an Auckland equivalent where bakers and restaurants buy supplies. There's also a company called Toops. Not sure if they are up your way?

Happy days stillers. SG is now 0.09 or below . Lovely golden colour wash wiith a slight smell of butterscotch. All done in a week.

A fast strip and then I'm ready to run.

It's ok I'm not about to streak at Lords ... fantastic to see those charmless boof heads get handed their asses.

Off out this evening to watch the All Blacks play the Wallabies.

ATTN. Mr 4 Square. I didnt think of it before but you have Vegemite available. Ideal source of nutrition for yeast. Dead cells and plenty of B vitamins.

I will look forward to your cachaca results. The better you do on a stripping run, the better you can do on the spirit run.

Push the still. No reflux. No packing.. You want flavour to come accross.

Thanks RJ I'm clear that I need to run the strip run fast and deep. I'll collect that down to 10%

I'm not clear yet about how I'm going to do the spirit run. I've read you say I'll need to push it a little harder. That's a bit uncharted for me. All my other spirit runs are done super slow.

The manufacturer reckons optimum pot mode ( whatever that means) is about 1300 watts. I usually keep mine around 500 till I'm well clear of the heads. Then collect the good stuff around 1000 watts. Crank it up to 1800 when I'm well in to the tails.

Does that tell you enough to suggest how I might do the rum run ?

I reckon I'll stick with the boiled yeast and B vitamins for now. It seems to have worked a treat.

Did I read there was a typhoon in your neck of the woods?

Crikey it's 130 am...I'm losing sleep after losing to the Wallabies.

@ Mr Four Square. Thanks for your response, will be by Moore Wilson's next weekend - Beer Fest will check them out. Toops/Gilmours retracting their operations. Haven't seen them in the far North for a long time. Will do some serious search in the Auckland region, tho' OTTOMH I can't recall an equivalent for Moore Wilson.

@RumJohn, re Vegemite - what about the sodium content? Have used Vege as a substitute for vit B in other washes with no detriment to the outcome, as far as I could tell. Have previously been cautioned by this board as to the use of. Planning to do a wash soon as I get golden syrup supply sorted in quantity other then retail; Vegemite within scope.

@Mr Four Square: Not sure where you picked up the "run deep" and down to 10%. I am NOT an advocate of going so far. That low is enough to contaminate the run and make the spirit run more difficult. Stop sooner. The cleaner your strip run finishes, the easier it is to get an even cleaner spirit run.

Re. slow spirit run. If your doing a neutral then yes. Slow and steady. It takes me 2.5 times as long to do a neutral as it does a rum. My neutrals are odourless and tasteless, as they should be and as such do not need to be carbon filtered.

@ Packapoo. The best medium ever to get yeast to kick arse is coconut juice. But probably a little difficult to get your hands on. And perhaps not. There used to be a large population of islanders around Auckland. I wouldn't worry about the amount of sodium. You don't need much Vegemite. Marmite is saltier and I would avoid.

But learn for yourself and run a comparison of what you have available. Get 3 or 4 clear glass containers. Add equal amounts of say, coconut juice, plain water, white sugar water and brown sugar water. Get all to same temp and pitch equal amounts of yeast. Observe which becomes the most active.

Aha RumJohn....up here for thinking, down there...:-) I get the picture AND it is readily available, in my local supermarket vege section. Will check it out thank you....

RJ I read your advice too late for my first strip anyway . Ran it all the way down till it was just about water. What you wrote about a cleaner strip making cleaner spirit runs makes perfect sense.

I'm trying for a bit of flavour from this not a neutral so how does the stilling for that differ?

At what sort of ABV do you normally stop collecting on the strip run?

Do you bother using the backset to make your next wash or start fresh every time?

The high spirit coming straight off the still 2 litres in tasted great !

@Mr Four Square: Jesus mate - I cant type. However will destroy the two fingers I do use.

Sorry I didn't get to you before you did the run. I have been out of the country for nearly six weeks.

Apart from a neutral, shooting for flavor is an ideal aim. But taking it down to water/zero % will have caused you to pick up more flavors that you intended. I shut down at 30-40 % ABV. Below that, you will still be pulling off something, but its quality will be deteriorating rapidly. Its just not worth it. Especially in time and power usage. You will also have an abundance of fusil alcohol and when you water down the spirit run to say 40% ABV, it will be cloudy/milky.

I do not use backset. Always start from fresh, If I was making grain based washes on a more regular basis I might consider it. But not likely.

What still and what volume did you run??

Always appreciate your responses RJ.
I'm making 2 x 25 litre washes. Running it through a nice big 2" copper pot head attached to a t500 boiler. 2 KW element with a controller.

On fruit washes I strip 5-6 litres per wash. Add them both together and dilute total under 30% ABV. Usually gives me 15 litres for my spirit run.

I'll shut down my second cachaca strip per your advice and run till 40%. Then add that to the too far stripped run and see how the spirit run goes.

Will be sure to do my next 2 x 25 runs as per your advice.

Hope those figures give enough info to advise me how fast to run the still on the spirit run.

NZ has a free trade agreement with China. Feel free to organise a business trip and we'll see what we can cook up !

@ Mr Four Square: I was born in NZ and do get there on occasion. Next trip will be sure to look you up. But no immediate plans.

I'll look forward to it RJ. If you are visiting let me know. We have offices in Auckland and Christchurch so the occasional trip is always on.

You say you usually stop collecting on your strip run when the output gets 40% when you are making a neutral. Do you go lower than that when you are making cachaca ?

@ Mr. Four Square: To be on the safe side, quit collecting on both strip and spirit runs at about 40% ABV. I rely primarily on temp though.

The amount of spirit you collect beyond 40% is minimal and gets more insignificant as it goes down. The rise in temp becomes more rapid. It's game over. Don't risk ruining a good run.

These numbers apply to a neutral also. But I don't believe in having to carbon filter.

A word on stirring a wash. Once you have pitched your yeast, leave it alone. I totally disagree with those that believe giving it a stir is acceptable. I understand it is tempting, especially to a beginner, but the best advice a new distiller can absorb, is an understanding of patience. In all aspects of the process from fermentation, distillation, breathing/resting, ageing.

Wise words for us all

I did my second strip wash as per your suggestion. Stopped my first collection when the still output fell below 40% . 3 liters @ 50% ABV. Wash was 22 liters @12%. Collected the rest for my feints jar.

My first strip wash went all the way down to 15%? Collected 6 liters with an average 38% in the jar.

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