Percentage Second Distill

[v4mpy]

I am going to put my wash through the still for a second time.

After the first run i watered it down to 40%, should I put it in the smart still at 40% or water it down to about 20% for the 2nd run?

I\'m not sure which is best!
Thanks.

[optic]

The general opinion is to cut back to 40% as you have done,i now dont bother cutting back and just run as it is,i now collect a litre at 50% on the first run,the only thing is doing it this way you need to be checking the abv every 100mls because it will drop of really fast,you have just got to make up your mind before you start as to what abv you are looking for and change over your collection jar once it drops below that figure,myself i normally collect till it drops bellow 80% then swap over and collect until it drops below 50%,this i save up until i have enough to do a run,this has then been run three times and the qaulity is superb.

[v4mpy]

Thanks optic.

What do you do with the below 50%.

If it goes back in, does it go in on the next run or throw away?

[optic]

I suppose you could save it and add it to your next wash but i dont bother i am happy enough with what i have collected at 80% plus some at 50% to save up until ive enough to run that through.

[makum101]

I used to put my first run straight back in at its uncut 60%, but Now I cut it back to 40% with mineral water then run it again and collect 2 Litres (from a 4L run) which averages at 75%. I then cut it in two giving 4 litres of nice clean spirit at 'shop shelf' 37.5% strength. (I cut it less water if I want stronger).
I normally get 6 first runs from a 26L wash = 4.2L first run spirit (6X 700mils)

Cut this with half volume mineral water 4.2 + 2.1 = 6.2L (2.2L spare see below)

Run 4L on second run = 2L from second run

cut with 2L water = 4L total finished spirit.

And keep 2.2L aside for next wash when I can do two second runs with the two 2.2L's spare from each batch. (I keep the extra 400 mils aside to top up a short last wash load if needed)
Finally I filter the finished cut second run spirit.
Total bottles from two washes = 17.71 bottles. (or 8.85 per wash) of very decent spirit.
Methanol (fores): I discard 5 mil on the first runs and 50 mils on the second. However I have been told I dont need to throw out any on the first runs if I'm putting it through a second time.

[Jimmy]

I tend to dilute to volume rather than strength - adding clean water to make the whole batch divisible by 4 litre runs. That way I can say I\'ve got three runs of 4 litres at 34% or whatever, and use the calculator to work out the yield and as mentioned above, find the spot where the strength and quality start to drop off.
There\'s no \'sweet spot\' for wash strength like there is for carbon filtering, it\'s just using whatever works best for you in terms of time and effort. Diluting does make the distillation more gradual in terms of the strength dropping off, so it helps make it easier to manage when dealing with these smaller quantities.

[MrCat]

The thing I watch out for is to make sure that I am never heating anything that is over 50%. All it would require is one spark and you would have a container of liquid on fire with a flame that you couldn\'t see.