Re-distilling sugar wash distillate ?

[Phantom]

Has anyone distilled any sugar wash and then re-distilled it ?
I only ask because, I regularly get between 57 and 60% ABV, but it occurred to me that I might be able to up it a bit......... ?
Of course, I'm aware that the tabletop smart still is basically a pot still and understand about the limitations that the design imposes....
For instance, if I re-ran some 57 to 60 % distillate, is it likely that it'll come out of the still at a rate of knots ? when it gets up to temperature.
Or should it be diluted to, oh, I don't know, say 50% or something like that ?

[Jimmy]

I have triple distilled mine on a number of occasions - you seem to top out at about 84% which is still pretty good. That stuff is lethal, you can practically see it evaporating before your very eyes.
My method is to do the first run very loose, not even bother to take off heads or anything, just literally stick 4l in and take 1 litre out at 45 - 50%. Then add those together, take a reading of the strength, and use the calculator to work out a decent yield from the next batch(es). This time I take off heads, and likewise if I go again I do the same.
Then when I have it as strong as it's going to get, I dilute down to 40% with pure spring water, and then filter (filtration works better at lower strengths).
Why? Well I was curious to see how pure you can get it, and also I wanted to experiment and see how different it behaved at those strengths - you can definitely tell by the feel of it, and how it burns on a spoon, etc. I believe it's good to learn about the craft, and it's all good fun.
I do think this method is quite wasteful though, although it does work. Next I intend to try distilling once, then diluting down to maybe 30 - 40% and distilling again - the theory being that it should turn out purer with less waste as the difference between alcohol and pure water should be more distinct.
Let us know how you get on!

[Phantom]

Oh, Ok I'll give that a try i.e. I'll still stick to taking 800 mls off of 4 litres at the 60(ish) % but then I'll just use a little distilled water to bring it back down to 50% before I run it again.
I think I'll try to keep a little spent wash and see if that registers on the alcometer....

[Jimmy]

Sounds good to me! It's always a balancing act, the less you take the purer you can make it, but the more you waste. It's personal choice whether you take more and try to smooth it out by filtering (as I do at the moment) or take less at a higher purity level and go for quality over quantity (a la Phantom).
I think what we've learned here is that I'm more of an alcoholic than Phantom, or at least my tastebuds are less choosy!
The best results I ever had were the earlier ones where I was more rigorous with the amounts I was taking, but recently I've opted for squeezing the most out of what I have as once it's filtered and drunk with a mixer it matters less. Phantom is more 'correct' though, for anyone taking notes here!

[bluecap]

The only time I double distill is the dregs as I call them.
I use the 48 turbo yeast and brew it to 18% which I think is the maximum with 8 kilos of sugar or at least that’s what the online sugar calculator says
http://www.brewhaus.com/Calculators_s/46.htm
Sorry if I’m not supposed to post links.
This time and bubbling away at the moment I have tried 9 kilos of sugar for the 25 litre wash which hopefully will fully ferment to 20% as the yeast says it can handle it but time will tell, from the 18% wash I scrap the first 20 mils and then take 1300 mils from the still that’s dead on 50% I then take 670 mils and save it to the end, so at the end I have 6 lots of 670 which is about 4litres and I get another 1 litre of 50% of it

[Jimmy]

Post as many links as you like, so long as they're not about enlarging organs and whatnot!

[quietman]

Do you get a purer spirit if you distill to the maximum strength and dilute or is this just fun experimentation?

[Jimmy]

It certainly seems to be purer, but as I said you waste more so it's a case of finding the magic sweet spot. I did a batch where I triple distilled, diluted with spring water to 45% or so and ran through about 1m of carbon in a pipe, treated as suggested by boiling it off first. The quality was excellent, far better than commercial vodka and I take it as being proof of the purity that we drank a lot of it in a week or two and nobody had any form of hangover at all, we all got very drunk and woke up feeling fresh as a daisy each time - result!

[goinbroke2]

See my post in the thread called "Really confused about types of still".
I ALWAYS redistill. No comparison in taste and quality. I run it off at 75% on the second run and dilute to 50%. Drinking the initial 50% after first run? Bah, no where near the same.