StillSmart

well may i say guys ive just had my first run (strip) first 350 ml 70%
second 55% third 30% slung the rest in the sink and started the next.. what i can say is that the first tasted not too bad but had an awful chesty throaty bite that most get when slinging tequila.. you know that horrible face people pull... by the 3rd its not so bad but the smell in my ktchen is just awful
i would say that the raw ferment smelt like that white lightning cider i used to drink but the smell in my kitchen was like boiling potatoes but rancid potatoes.. lol
however i am Proud of my achievement in running my first alcohol
i will play about with the heads hearts and tails when i do the second run which i think is called the "spirit run" is that so guys ??

i guess i have to go two more runs before i start to soak it in bourbon oak chips is that right? so far the result is far etter than expected. my GFs dad makes slivovica and other euro alco at 82 52 40 ratios % and it f/in tasty.. i dont know if what im doing will compete lol

Without wishing to be offensive, when I started posting here, I read more than I wrote.

Robert.

Easydrinker wrote:Without wishing to be offensive, when I started posting here, I read more than I wrote.

Robert.

hey mate no offence taken .. i do read but im at the run off point now.. its only gonna be 20% or less by the time i dilute.. probably i caused offence by too much detail.. howver the more i read the more i learnd so bear with me Thanks

Hi tasleBHC

You really don't want to be tasting strip, it's not very nice, but the process is very important, you are removing the majority of the alcohol away from the crap it's been fermented with, to create a base for the proper spirit run, it's also unavoidable during a strip that lots of other compounds come over with the alcohol, that's why it tastes like shit.

When you've done a couple of strips, you will have enough strip for a spirit run, at that point, water your strip down to 30%, fill your Still, during this run you will get a better separation of the compounds you don't want to drink and what you do want to drink.

Collect in small fractions using the airstill guide, and you will be able to start to make your cuts by cutting out the first and last fractions that you don't want in your drink, be careful it's easy to be a little greedy by adding more to your hearts cut, but this will spoil your end result.